302nd ING Battalion Spoils Aggressor's - Attack

CAMP INDEPENDENCE, IRAQ

11.10.2004

Courtesy Story

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CAMP INDEPENDENCE, Baghdad, Iraq -- Intelligence reports indicated that the threat of a big attack loomed over a Baghdad neighborhood and defending troops had limited time to locate the mastermind targeting 4,000 innocent Iraqis.

Decision makers sat huddled around the table in the tactical operations center at battalion headquarters, surrounded by maps and charts, mulling over possible courses of action and planning their coordinated response.

Leaders of the 302nd Iraqi National Guard Battalion participated in their first command post exercise at Camp Independence Oct. 25-28. Capt. Kevin Bradley, an adviser to the 302nd and plans officer from the operations section of the 1st Cavalry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, along with cadre comprised of personnel from throughout the brigade, has worked closely with the ING Soldiers and staff for the past seven months to bring them to their current level of proficiency.

Advisers from the 3rd BCT came up with the scenario, throwing anything and everything at the ING, in order to test their capabilities. "They tried to make it the worst three days they could possibly have in sector -- all the worst scenarios [such as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices [VBIED's], crowd demonstrations and media presence], that could possibly happen to you in 24 hours, happened at the same time," Bradley said.

"The point is, they've been able to manage all that. They don't always come up with the right answer, and sometimes they need prodding to work it all the way through, but they've handled the crisis, they're asking the right questions and they're calling the right people for help."

The 302nd has been involved in numerous missions already and shown the advisers they're able to plan, coordinate and track tasks, Bradley said. One of the bigger aims of the exercise was to get the ING staff involved in managing their personnel during extended missions.

"It was more to give them a taste of what it was going to be like -- for three days, 24-hours-a-day -- how they were going to keep everybody here, how they were going to continue a presence when guys want to go home, when the staff wants to go home and see their family," Bradley said.

"They're doing our missions, but they don't have the strength that we do, in that everyone's here, everyone's available, if you need them. You just go wake them up and they go on patrols," he said. "They've got guys who are at home, who are going to be off, how do they give them time off, things like that. That's what we were trying to get them to take a look at."

The other goal was to get a different set of eyes on the situation. Since he's been working closely with the 302nd for seven months, Bradley knows them and their quirks well. He wanted to get some of the majors on the brigade staff, as well as some of the captains out to see what they're capable of and to give them some different ideas for training, things they might have overlooked or gave up on, Bradley said.

Bradley credits the group of noncommissioned officers [NCO's] assigned from the 3rd BCT for their contribution to the success of the Iraqi battalion's CPX. He said they were instrumental in setting up the battalion staff sections, as well as the NCO corps and a functioning headquarters company for the 302nd, including property book and logistics systems.

Without a well-established base of operations, something that did not exist seven months ago, things at the top wouldn't run as smoothly. Despite coming from different units within the 3rd Brigade, the staff has banded together to build a cohesive advisory unit, helping to teach the ING Soldiers what they'll need to be successful.

They pretty much had to start from scratch, building from ground zero, said Greenacres, Fla., native Staff Sgt. Albert Amoroso, an adviser for the 302nd from 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3BCT. "They're open-minded to listening and learning, a lot of these guys really want to learn from us and they want to do great things for their country," Amoroso said.

Staff personnel of 3BCT have been involved in other tasks that have proved vital to the battalion's progress and exercise success. They've provided equipment, such as computers and radios, which has aided communication and coordination with higher and lower elements.

They've also helped develop and revise manuals, including a form of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, to assist with organization and discipline within the battalion, according to Sgt. 1st Class Robert Craig, from Pine Bluffs, Ark., a battalion master gunner with Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment who serves as the adviser to the 302nd headquarters company's first sergeant.

"They want to do what's right, and even though they've had a lot [of ING] shot and killed, they still want to have their country free," said 1st Sgt. William Tager of Company B, 3-8 Cavalry, who serves as a mentor to the 302nd's battalion sergeant major and staff. "They want to be part of that plan."

Although they suffered casualties, the 302nd was able to locate their target and avert the simulated terrorist's attack as the three-day exercise came to an end. Their advisors said that the Iraqi Soldiers can now take what they've learned from this exercise and build on it, allowing them to move closer to self-sufficiency.

• Date Taken: 11.10.2004
• Date Posted: 11.10.2004 14:41
• Story ID: 584
• Location: CAMP INDEPENDENCE, IQ