Letter from Col. Mark N. Campsey: It's Not Over Yet in Iraq

IRAQ

03.07.2010

Courtesy Story

Joint Area Support Group-Central

By Col. Mark N. Campsey
Commander, 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based in Houston, Texas.

I want to congratulate our Iraqi partners. Their hard work prior to the March 7 parliamentary elections paid off with a large voter turnout.

During the elections, only three of the nearly 8,000 polling sites were closed temporarily due to violence, and these reopened very quickly.

With the Iraqi army and police out in force, there were no breaches of the security perimeters around the polling sites. Overall, this was great news for Iraq as it allowed the voices of Iraq to be heard on a historic day.

However, it's not over yet. In the coming months, there's still an elevated risk for violence as the new Iraqi government is formed. The seating of the government takes time, so our continued vigilance is essential to this election's success.

Here in the International Zone, our 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team headquarters is continuing to support, advise and assist the Iraqi army. The 21 other 72nd Brigade units from the Texas Army National Guard are also a part of this endeavor.

We're actively driving forward with our piece of the drawdown, turning over the remaining U.S.-run properties to the Iraqi government and gradually reducing our presence in local security. Currently, throughout Iraq, more than 200 military bases have been handed over.

There's hard work ahead. The 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team's challenge now is to redesign our support functions and capabilities as we transition to a smaller force.

Our brothers in arms, diplomats and contracted civilians are all part of this effort. Only by working together will we accomplish the task before us.

This month, our Texas Soldiers running the Camp Taji Theater Internment Facility relinquished control of detainees and its facility to the Iraqi government.

By August, complete detainee operations handover to Iraqi control is expected to be completed with the transfer of Camp Cropper, the last U.S. run internment facility in Iraq. Our Soldiers are heavily involved with that effort too.

Until we come home, I'm asking each of our Soldiers to commit to watching out for their buddy. We owe it to our Texas families to watch out for one another, always reinforcing right over wrong and never allowing a buddy in trouble to go without needed support. Together we are stronger.

Looking ahead, there's still more to accomplish. And I know our 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team Soldiers will continue to do great things.

I still deeply appreciate all the local support of our Texas families and organizations, like the Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo, which went the extra mile lately to get our message out during the 'Salute to the Troops Day' celebration.

We miss you all. We'll be home soon.

Col. Mark N. Campsey

• Date Taken: 03.07.2010
• Date Posted: 03.23.2010 09:49
• Story ID: 47076
• Location: IQ