Command Post Exercise

Photo By Maj. David Page | Lt. Gen. Aziz, commander, 4th Iraqi Army Division, talks with one of his advisors during a command post exercise at the Northern Oil Company here. Lt. Col. Eric E. Harris, chief, 4th IA Div. Military Transition Team, observes the exercise.  

KIRKUK, IRAQ

05.15.2006

Courtesy Story

133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Kirkuk, Iraq (May 11, 2006) - Chaos rained down on the streets of Kirkuk Wednesday as numerous attacks against key infrastructure sites and Iraqi Security Forces unfolded across the province; all taking place within hours.

However, for the ISF leadership, today's lessons aren't learned with blood, but with the stroke of a few pens during a two-day command post exercise hosted by coalition forces at the Northern Oil Company facility in Kirkuk.

"Today's command post exercise involves all the Iraqi Security Forces that guard the infrastructure in and around Kirkuk," said Maj. Timothy Troutman, executive officer for 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. "Seven major elements participated: 1st Strategic Infrastructure Battalion, two Iraqi Army Brigades, the 4th Iraqi Army Division Headquarters, the electric protection security service, oil protection forces, the local Provincial Joint Coordination Center and some Iraqi police elements."

The U.S. Army has long used command post exercises to train headquarters leadership to plan and react on the ever-evolving battlefield. Coalition forces are using similar scenario-driven models to increase the proficiency of the ISF headquarters elements.

"This exercise is modeled loosely on a U.S. military command post exercise," Troutman said, a native of Boone, N.C. "The headquarters for this element will react to, plan, coordinate and synchronize all the scenarios; all done in a somewhat virtual environment.

"My battalion will not only function as the facilitators of the event, we will service as the enemy " a thinking, fighting, reacting enemy " that those ISF elements would have to fight and maneuver against."

During the two-day exercise, coalition forces provided challenging real-world scenarios to test the reaction of each ISF element. The main test was to see if each element would cross talk and pass the information they gained up the chain of command.

"Anytime we can put them [ISF] in positions to forcibly make them work adjacent to other Iraq units, it is the right thing to do," said Troutman. "They did that today.

"In fact, there were seven Iraqi units that participated. Some had never worked with the others beforeâ?¦baby steps at first, but they did make significant improvement."

In charge of the command post exercise for the ISF elements is Lt. Gen. Aziz, commander of the 4th Iraqi Army Division. Aziz's division is responsible for security from Dibbis to Tarmiyah, and from Kirkuk to Bayji.

"This exercise came pretty late," said Aziz. "We should have done this a year ago. That way all these different organizations, which are the power protection unit, the gas protection unit, IP, IA, would have been on the same page."

Following the training, Troutman conducted an after-action review to help the participants identify areas were they did well and areas they could improve.

"The positive things that I can observe [from the training] are the quick reactions for all the office headquarters," said Col. Iyad, the operations officer for the 2nd Iraqi Army Brigade. "Simultaneously, it is like a rehearsal for our daily duties."

"One thing that they took away that will benefit them the most is the understanding of what each others duties and responsibilities are," said Troutman. "Unit A works with Unit B and C, but they don't really understand what units B and C really do. After this event, they do."

The exercise concluded with final learning points from Lt. Gen. Aziz.

"One of the beneficial points out of this exercise today is that we have good relations now," Aziz said. "We know each other on a personal level. We know who is working where so that is a positive.

"Second point, is we know what the other party is doing. That gives us an idea on how to assist them.

"Third point, we all have the same objective so we can all work together to achieve that objective."

The overall goal of the exercise was for ISF forces to build and sustain relationships with one another to help tackle future security issues between the different elements. This coordination will lead to the success of not only of this joint security force exercise, but will bring Iraq's security goals one step closer to fruition due to the lessons learned. Each day the ISF elements grow in their proficiency, bolstering the future of a free and sovereign nation.

• Date Taken: 05.15.2006
• Date Posted: 05.15.2006 11:19
• Story ID: 6376
• Location: KIRKUK, IQ