Posted on 04/24/2008 11:05:31 PM PDT by DJ Elliott
SHAIBA AIRBASE, Iraq – The 1st Iraqi Army Quick Reaction Force has come a long way. Literally and figuratively.
As the first Iraqi division formed in 2004, the 1st Iraqi Army Division, renamed the 1st IA (QRF) in February, has developed, with the help of dedicated military transition team advisors, into the one of the premier units in the young Iraqi Army.
Within the last year, the al-Anbar based 1st IA (QRF) has deployed brigades to Baghdad and Diyala to fight terrorist groups like al-Qaeda in Iraq and anti-government militias, while still providing security for the citizens of al-Anbar.
Most recently, the 1st IA (QRF) has been deployed to Basrahh since April 1, 2008, with forward elements in the city even before that, to assist local Iraqi Army and police units in combating militias and other criminal elements in the city.
Within three days of receiving the order to deploy, the 1st IA (QRF) moved a full division headquarters along with the brigade-sized Quick Reaction Force 1 and its three battalions with hundreds of vehicles from their bases around Habbaniyah, Ramadi, and Hawas to Shaibah Airfield on the outskirts of Basrah.
Without missing a beat, QRF 1 and the 1st IA (QRF) began cordoning off militia-controlled sections of the city and actively pushing forward into what had traditionally been areas that Iraqi security forces would not go.
(Excerpt) Read more at mnfwest.usmc.mil ...
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