8th MTR is ready to roll on its own, Advisors reflect on their year spent training Iraqi soldiers at An Numaniyah

Photo By Staff Sgt. Engels Tejeda | Staff Sgt. Ervin Jjuard Myers, an adviser to the Iraqi Army's 2nd Motorized Transportation Regiment, signals a truck at Logistical Support Area Adder in mid January. After advising the 2nd MTR on security training for nine months, Myers says the Iraqis are making steady progress and will soon be able to handle logistical operations on their own.  

01.26.2006

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

Two Army Reservists from Georgia who spent nine months advising Iraqi logistical troops said that their regiment's performance is proof that Iraqis are getting ready to take over military operations in Iraq, but that the Coalition must be patient.

"As far as transportation goes, our guys are ready," said Sgt. Eddie Conaway, a Lumber City, Ga. resident who advised the Iraqi 8th Motorized Transportation Regiment at An Numaniyah, about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad. "We still have to remind them of the details sometimes but they are pretty ready."

Conaway and Staff Sgt. Ervin Jjuard Myers from Savannah, Ga., spent most of 2005 helping the new Iraqi army build the 8th MTR. The MTR is one of nine logistics regiments that the Iraqis hope to have fully operational by the end of 2006. The 8th MTR and two other regiments have been declared fully functional, while a fourth is currently in training.

The regiments are charged with troop and equipment transportation, medical supply deliveries, and food and water movement. Eventually, they will replace the logistical operations for the Iraqi army bases, most of which are currently handled by Coalition troops and civilian contractors.

The MTRs consist of three truck companies, a security company and a maintenance company. Myers, a former police officer with the Savannah Police Department, advised the 8th MTR's security platoon. He said the security troops have shown they are ready. While on combat logistics patrols, they have repeatedly come under attack and without fail have returned fire and suppressed the enemy.

"I trust them because they are not scared to shoot. They aren't scared to defend what is theirs," Myers said. "When we were out on the roads, we came together as one, and they did, every time, exactly what we taught them. Sometimes they even shot a little too much."

The Iraqis conducted most of their logistic runs during night. On several occasions, they were hit with improvised explosive devices or roadside bombs and small arms fire, Myers said. In every instance, insurgents met strong resistance. So they are ready, but some guidance is still necessary, Myers and Conaway said.

"They are just like any other Soldier in our own army," Conaway said. "You have to remind them of the little things - to wear the Kevlar, to put on a seatbelt, not to point their weapons up, those kinds of things."

Weapon awareness, Myers said, is still a big concern. He points to an incident about two months ago in which an Iraqi soldier shot his foot because he had his finger on the trigger while jumping out of a truck.

But those events are rare, he said, compared to the frequency of mishaps the regiment experienced when it was first formed in the spring of 2005. Back then, for example, when they encountered insurgents, almost all the Iraqis would simply fire at anything they could. On one occasion, they even just shot into the air. But during recent attacks the Iraqis have been careful to properly identify their targets.

It was tough, but they succeeded. As of late 2005, about eight months after they first came to the regiment, the Iraqis were practically running their own missions, with Americans riding along solely as advisors.

For the trainers, it has been a rewarding experience, though at times it was concerning.
"When we were going out there [to An Numaniyah], we were told that about 90 percent of the Iraqis really wanted us there, but that we weren't sure about the other 10 percent," Myers said.

The 10 percent was reason for concern because although the Iraqis screen their recruits, insurgents have managed to infiltrate the Iraqi army before. Last year, for example, authorities foiled a plot to detonate a vehicle bomb inside an Iraqi base.

The base at An Numaniyah is mainly Iraqi, about 2,000, with Americans numbering in the low hundreds. But Myers said he wasn't too worried because the majority of the recruits are just trying to fix their country and because as a former cop, he had faced plenty of hairy situations before.

"I've been a police officer and I've dealt with everybody out on the streets, from old people to young kids, convicted criminals, you name it " people who just would do anything to get away from the police," Myers said. "So I wasn't that afraid. But I never let my guard down."

Conaway echoed the same thoughts.

Overall, though, the mission was simply rewarding, Myers said.

"I'll walk away with the satisfaction that I did my job. We trained them well, and we can see that we trained them well because of their higher standards," Myers said.

As for trusting the Iraqis to handling their own missions, Conaway explained, "I trust them. After they've saved your life twice, you begin to trust them."

Conaway and Myers are expected to return home in April with the 414th Transportation Company. Until recently, the 8th MTR was the 2nd Motorized Transportation Regiment.

• Date Taken: 01.26.2006
• Date Posted: 01.26.2006 10:03
• Story ID: 5205