Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Sunday, April 3, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

By Edward Lee Pitts
Military Affairs

CAMP CALDWELL, Iraq -- Starting this month, the 278th Regimental Combat Team will reorganize to put greater focus on training the Iraqi army.

Soldiers with the Tennessee-based National Guard unit said the change represents a significant step in the slow transition of power from the military might of the U.S.-led coalition to Iraq's own fledgling security forces.

"This will be a new army," Lt. David Andrews said. "The Iraqi army has been around, but we are rebuilding it to a different standard."

These military assistance training teams are being created throughout Iraq this month by the U.S. Army, and American forces tapped to come here in the next troop rotation are preparing their own teams, according to 278th commander Col. Dennis Adams.

He said each 278th squadron has come up with its own organization and strategy for achieving the goal of boosting the confidence of the Iraqi army and its officers.

Lt. Col. Jeff Holmes, the regiment's 3rd Squadron commander, said the hardest tasks would be helping the Iraqis develop logistical and intelligence-gathering operations.

"We have been working on building the arms and the legs of the Iraqi army," he said. "Now we are working on the brain and the head."

To help transform the Iraqi army into a force capable of fighting the insurgency on its own, elements of the regiment will embed with the Iraqi army to act as coaches and mentors to Iraqi soldiers, according to Maj. Tim Cleveland, operations officer for 1st Squadron.

Daily interaction with the 278th will allow the Iraqis to learn how the military operates, Maj. Cleveland said. And shadowing their Middle East counterparts will enable 278th soldiers to learn what areas in Iraq's military need improving, he said.

"We're saying to the Iraqi army, 'We've been kicking doors down for four months now, and it's your turn,'" Maj. Cleveland said. "Our job is to teach them how to develop, plan and execute operations against the enemy."

Lt. Andrews said the project could have a more lasting impact than the combat operations the regiment has focused on since arriving in Iraq in December.

"They must build up their defense to withstand these anti-Iraqi forces, these terrorists and possibly other countries that border them," Lt. Andrews said.

He said January's elections and the constitutional government being hammered out in Baghdad will be meaningless if those opposed to a democratic Iraq continue to harass and kill Iraqis. A failed Iraqi army can open the door to another dictatorship or civil war among the country's diverse religious and ethnic populations, he said.

BEGINNING OF THE END

Maj. Cleveland said starting an army is not a normal mission for the 278th, trained as armored scouts assigned to go out and find an enemy.

"But it is an exciting time to be here to watch the Iraqi army being created before our eyes," he said.

Regimental officers said this change represents the beginning of the end for the U.S. Army here. The 278th's aggressive operations have corralled much of the area's insurgency and laid the groundwork for the Iraqi soldiers.

"This is the next phase putting us closer to going home," said Sgt. 1st Class Richard Stooksbury, 48.

Lt. Matthew Carr, 25, of Knoxville, said having the Iraqi army as primary enforcers while the 278th members fade into the shadows will be a milestone for security in the country and boost the morale of Iraqis.

"People want to see Iraqis protecting Iraqis," he said.

While the transition begins this month, soldiers said it will take some time to complete. They hope the Iraqi army will be ready to go it alone by July.

"The key word is patience," said Lt. Andrews, 35, of McMinn County.

DIVIDING TASKS

Not all the 278th soldiers will work directly with the Iraqi army. The soldiers will perform specific tasks, including teaching teams to clear supply routes and escort convoys. Other teams will provide base security and maintain the joint coordination centers that house the U.S. Army and elements of the Iraqi security forces in the area's major cities.

Maj. Cleveland said 1st Squadron combined resources and personnel in creating teams based on the experiences of individual soldiers and without regard to current units. For example, former instructors with the Army or Marine Corps were put in units that will be working with the Iraqi army.

Iraqi soldiers will conduct patrols and searches to arrest suspected insurgents.

"We are no longer the fist, but we can still be the muscle behind the punch," said Capt. Alan Mingledorff, the regiment's public affairs officer.

Teams of about seven soldiers will coach an Iraqi army company of about 200 soldiers. Training will occur in places such as Camp Caldwell, the headquarters of each Iraqi army company and in the field during patrols.

Lt. Carr, whose team will be working with soldiers from the locally based 206th Iraqi army Battalion, said the guidance provided will be similar to that the 278th received at the National Training Center in California last fall. Observers there watched the regiment tackle practice missions in mock Iraqi villages.

"Except they have to do it for real here, where everybody's life is at stake," Lt. Carr said.

Instruction will include how to spot roadside bombs, how to respond to complex ambushes and how to search systematically for suspected insurgents.

Maj. Cleveland said the Iraqi army soldiers' understanding of the languages and cultures in Iraq are natural advantages the 278th soldiers do not possess.

Some soldiers used to going out on patrols have been disappointed to find themselves assigned to new tasks.

"But this is what needs to happen," Spc. Steve Norwood, of Delano, Tenn., said. "We need to hand the ball off to them."

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

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