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The primary mission of these Iraqi soldiers has been to man checkpoints along area roads, and have had limited experience with other operations. While preventing insurgents from planting roadside bombs is a vital mission in the fight against terrorism, the Iraqi soldiers must become proficient in other aspects of combat operations, such as conducting raids, cordons and searches, before they can successfully secure the area without U.S. aid. “It’s kind of a reversal of roles,” said Smith. “We’ve been doing missions which have been primarily American missions with Iraqi army support, and now we’re trying to shift to where the Iraqi army is conducting the missions with American support.”
The next phase will be crucial as the U.S. soldiers work with the Iraqi army leadership to set up joint missions that will give them the opportunity to assess what skills the Iraqi soldiers are competent in and in what areas they may need further training. “They’re actually taking the lead on these missions, and we’re planning on…just being there for oversight and to make sure that we’re there to give any advice,” said Smith. “We’re trying to bring our level of professionalism to the table to offer them lessons learned and maybe different ways that they can be effective in combating the insurgents.” This is just one more step in the process of enabling the Iraqi army to be able to stand up on their own so American forces can hand the responsibility of security and stabilization over to the Iraqi people. “Our goal is, when it’s all said and done, that they (the Iraqis) will have a functioning army capable of securing the area themselves,” said Hooper. |
