Prepared to Take Over

Photo By Master Sgt. Adam Phelps | Iraqi Soldiers, with the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, pull security while the rest of their team searches suspected AIF meeting places.  

TIKRIT, IRAQ

09.23.2005

Courtesy Story

22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment   

Story by Spc. Adam Phelps, 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DANGER, Tikrit, Iraq -- Task Force Liberty Soldiers observe as the Iraqi army conducts missions without their help.

Iraqi soldiers with 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi army Division are now planning and conducting their own missions, the Iraqi battalion commander said.

"The operation that we conducted is according to information and intelligence that our battalion gathered," said Col. Dakhel Hassen Mahoumoud. "The targets we have are wanted for conducting [terrorist activity] against Iraqi police, army and their families. We watched the targets, verified information and found out they meet in certain houses. We conducted this operation to detain these people."

The mission not only achieved its goal on detaining high value targets, but they also worked together, said Capt. David Byrne, intelligence officer, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, and a native of Redhook, N.Y.

"It went really well," said Byrne. "They moved through the objectives quickly and they're reporting well through their chain of command, so their battalion commander is aware of what's going on. They also used their own communication, move quickly and had good situational awareness."

The Iraqi army had no Coalition help in preparing for this mission.

"We're here for quality assurance and quality control purposes," Byrne said. "Basically to watch them and help them when they are doing their after action review and give them some tips for how they can improve and what they really did well."

Coalition Forces have been working with the Iraqi army and have seen vast improvements, he said.

"We've been working with them since we got here on the ground back in January," Byrne said. "We've developed our relationship since then and given them more freedom. The more missions they execute, the less supervision from us they need."

"My whole battalion went through special training from special forces by Coalition Forces," Mahoumoud said. "Every mission done with Coalition Forces we get more experience and training. Every soldier has gained special skills during the training cycles they conducted with Coalition Forces, which makes the battalion stronger and more effective."

The Iraqi soldiers are learning from their training and continue to improve after every mission, he added.

"Its great to see them doing their own mission based off their own planning and [for me to] be able to assist as they become more autonomous," Byrne said. "It's the future of Iraq."

For many Iraqi soldiers, serving in the army is about protecting their friend's and family's freedom Mahoumoud said.

"This is a responsibility that I'm proud to have for my battalion because I'm allowing the families of my soldiers and my family to move around safely without being scared of insurgents," he said. "Our main mission is to protect and serve the people."

• Date Taken: 09.23.2005
• Date Posted: 09.23.2005 11:48
• Story ID: 3097
• Location: TIKRIT, IQ