Military Transition Team advises, helps 9th Iraqi army Division along road to confidence

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Whitney Houston | 1st Lt. Jordan Clark, a native of Dallas, who serves as an explosive ordnance disposal expert with the 9th Iraqi Army Division Military Transition Team, attached to 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, removes an explosive substance from the end of an artillery round at Al Rasheed Iraqi army base in Baghdad Jan. 23. Capt. Seth Norman, a native of San Francisco, who also serves with the 9th IA Div. MiTT team, and an Iraqi soldier who serves with the 9th IA Div., watch as Clark does his job.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

01.28.2009

Story by Sgt. Whitney Houston 

Multi-National Division Baghdad

By Sgt. Whitney Houston
Multi-National Division – Baghdad Public Affairs Office

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Going back to Revolutionary War times, a foreign military influence assisted the United States in helping an unpolished military become one of the greatest in world history.

Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian-German officer who served as the first inspector general of the Continental army, taught military doctrine and discipline to a young military, providing a proficiency and sense of professionalism which they needed to eventually gain their independence from Great Britain.

In contemporary times, one can see history mimicking the noble role of von Steuben through the Military Transition Team, a conglomeration of Soldiers with many different specialties with the end goal of advising, instilling professionalism and ensuring continued success of the present-day Iraqi army.

"Our main job as a MiTT team is to professionalize the Iraqi army. We have officers and noncommissioned officers from a wide variety of military occupational specialties. I have a logistics officer, an intelligence officer, an aviator, EOD [explosive ordnance disposal], intelligence analysts ... and the list goes on," said Lt. Col. Thomas Seagrist, a native of St. Louis, who serves as commander of the 9th IA Division MiTT, attached to 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

"These guys are the leaders of their respective elements, and the advisory role is to help their Iraqi counterparts see that there's more than one way to skin a cat and open their eyes to other options."

The word transition speaks volumes to the nature of the MiTT team's broad mission and also denotes an element of time and genuine concern that are essential to build a base of success.

"The first thing you have to do as a MiTT team is establish your rapport with the people you work with, which is easier said than done," Seagrist said.

"You have to build a relationship with them by sipping chai tea with them and having normal conversations with them – even if the conversations have nothing to do with the job. They have to trust you, and you have to trust them, and that's definitely not an easy thing to do. You are not their friend – although friendships do occur – but there's also a working relationship that has to exist."

With rapport well established and nowhere to move but forward, the 9th IA Div. MiTT team is continually faced with deeply ingrained cultural obstacles, which require patience and perseverance to overcome.

"Many officers serving in today's Iraqi army also served under Saddam's regime, which is a totally different mindset. They grew up and prospered under a dictator who called all the shots," Seagrist said.

"They served with pride for their army and their country, and in an army in a new democratic society, we are trying to help them serve the people and a constitution rather than serving a man."

To overcome this lingering stigma of serving in a dictator's army, Seagrist and his MiTT team have suggested and reiterated the importance of strengthening the IA non-commissioned officer corps to distribute authority and provide a much-needed "backbone" for the army.

"One of the big things that myself and other members of my team are doing is not only trying to get an NCO academy going but legitimizing the NCO corps. In the Iraqi army, a lot of the Soldiers don't wear their rank. They don't feel like it means anything because they're not afforded the authority that an American NCO has," said Master Sgt. Ian Hutchinson, a native of Custer, S.D., who serves as the senior enlisted leader of 9th IA Div. MiTT team.

"We're trying to show them they can do more than just bring the boss chai – that they can take initiative and make things happen and make NCOs in the Iraqi army just as proud as NCOs in the American Army."

Although an arduous and time-consuming task, the 9th IA Div. MiTT team continues to advise and aid Iraqi soldiers and leaders to better perform their duties with the hope that their mentorship will have as lasting an effect on the Iraqi army as von Steuben's efforts had on the U.S. military so many years ago.

• Date Taken: 01.28.2009
• Date Posted: 01.28.2009 03:08
• Story ID: 29356
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ