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Does the General not know wha he said upon departure from Iraq? A link and some snippets of his: http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/jun2004/a061404e.html U.S. Army General Dubbed Father of the Iraqi Army By U.S. Army Sgt. Jared Zabaldo / Office of Security Transition BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 14, 2004 — Less than a year ago an unassuming man from Weatherford, Okla., arrived in this country to guide an organization that didn’t even exist – to build an army that wasn’t there. There was no plan, no force, and only slight guidance. And 363 days later – despite a host of staggering setbacks and difficulties with logistics, contractors, funding, cultural differences and a plan that changed in scope, size and overall delivery – Iraq’s armed forces and civil security forces total more than 230,000 people. In only a matter of months, the army will consist of a 27-battalion, nine-brigade, three-division army and air force, navy, coastal defense force, civil defense corps, police service, facilities protection service, border police force, customs police force, immigration police force, national security police force and a diplomatic protection service officers force. “So a lot of what we are doing here is a direct reflection of what I’ve done in my career,” Eaton said. It was with that in mind that Eaton was brought to Iraq only weeks after U.S. officials disbanded the old Iraqi army in May 2003. In a year, Eaton has grown the police and military teams to an all-encompassing unit that has overcome a withering daily storm of shortfalls, disappointments, changes, barriers, timelines and a myriad of other problems that never make the headlines. Amidst the reports, as well, a wave of silent successes has gone largely untold. “It’s gone from five to 863 in the space of a year and a mission which started off just, ‘Build an army’ … to ‘Build an army and air force and navy. Take on the ICDC – the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps; take on the Iraqi Counter Terrorist Force; the Iraqi Police Service; the Border Police; the Facilities Protection Service ….’” “He’s the father of the Iraqi army,” Aylwin-Foster said. “And commanders are responsible for everything that happens or fails to happen in their units. The good and the bad,” Eaton said. “We learned, and we got better from it,” Eaton said. Now Iraq approaches sovereignty with police and military forces in place where none stood before. And the unassuming man will continue to work behind the scenes and do what he has done for decades: build soldiers. Eaton will be the training officer for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command in Fort Monroe, Va. And in a few days, he will leave Iraq with little fanfare, but he will leave behind the house he built.