Posted on 07/31/2008 11:56:43 AM PDT by DJ Elliott
CAMP STRIKER — U.S. Soldiers are preparing to hand over their area of operations in Southern Baghdad and believe the conditions are set for making a successful change.
“Our plan is to conduct a transfer of authority of Southern Baghdad, not with another Coalition forces element, but with the 17th Iraqi Army Division,” said Col. Dominic Caraccilo, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
“The conditions are set for the 17th IA Div. to take charge of its area of operations – which is virtually all of the Mahmudiyah Qada,” said Maj. David Jones, operations officer for 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT).
At the helm of the forces, which have taken control of the area, is recently promoted Maj. Gen. Ali Jassim Muhammad Hassen Al Frejee, commander of the 17th IA Div. He was the former commander of the 25th IA Brigade.
With the promotion to two-star general, Ali now has three brigades – an additional 4,000 Soldiers and 80 officers – under his command.
“The mere fact that the brigade operating in this area has been directed and has had the ability to transform itself into a division speaks volumes of the capability of the Iraqi Army leaders and the local support of its own security forces,” Caraccilo said. “Major General Ali is, no doubt, a leader with a nationalistic view on how to secure his area of operations. He is willing to take on all that the Coalition forces have and are doing, to include the (counter insurgency) fight.”
Massive cache turn-ins and tips from Iraqi citizens leading to the capture of criminals indicate the people of the Mahmudiyah Qada are also ready for change, and they support Iraqi Security Forces.
“It is readily apparent, statistically speaking, that the number of attacks has reduced significantly in the past year – a drawdown of (more than) 90 percent per week,” Caraccilo said. “What this means to us is that the population, which has always been the prize in the counterinsurgency fight, has chosen peace over violence.”
Caraccilo is convinced the 17th IA Div., under the well-able leadership of Ali, is ready to take the reigns.
“(General Ali) knows he has defeated the enemy, now he has to replace the Coalition as the lead for security,” Caraccilo said. “He will do this by establishing a permanent presence at each of the 18 patrol bases we transition, thicken his lines with added IA (battle positions), and the maintenance of positive control of all of the 800 plus (Sons of Iraq) checkpoints across the qada.
“He can do all this because he has established himself and his unit as a credible force that the enemy fears, sheikhs respect and the Government of Iraq relies upon,” said Caraccilo.
This is also the first mention that the third brigade is organized already.
They are forming it by spliting elements from the oversized 6th Division and probably from the 8th Division as well.
Note: Since they have skipped 15th and 16th Divisions, the two transfered peshmerga divisions probably got those designations...
OH SANDRATTTT
Excellent news! Thanks for the post!
Interesting news from my “old home town” as it were. Hopefully the IA are up to it.
This is one of the better IA formations.
I call them Commando because all nine of the line battalions in these three brigades have been thru the commando course at Kalsu. The 25th Brigade was a recruiting source for ISOF candidates, the 17th Commando Division probably still will be...
The 25th had AAslt training and experience even before the Rakkasans took them under their tutalage.
Also, the probable elements of 8th Div that will become the 17th Div’s fourth brigade are also receiving that training...
Sounds good. I didn’t realize they did all that training down at Kalsu. I was there a few times myself working with 25th ID (once after the Karbala JSS debacle which led us into the Battle of Najaf and again for some follow-on raids a few months later). I definitely saw some IA units that were good to go (mostly Kurdish), and I hope they do a good job. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when they start taking over parts of Baghdad.
Great. The question in my mind is if General Ali is taking over this area from the coalition and supplanting US forces, where are the US forces going?
The way things are looking, in September they will announce the reduction by 3 US combat Brigades to 12.
- 3/101 will not get replaced...
- I suspect the MEF will reduce to MEB by Feb
- And the only reason we still have a Bde in Kirkuk is the politics with the KRG.
Only one US Div HQ is alerted to replace the two redeploying in Dec/Jan.
Thank you for your service, Future Snake Eater!
Our troops are AWESOME!!
If only GWB wasn't so damned tone-deaf when it comes to talking about Iraq success. If it wasn't for talk radio and websites like this one, the Drive-By Media would still be making false claims that Iraq is in the middle of a 'civil war', which was never the case even at the height of the Al Qaeda violence.
Okinawa!
My "old home town" and current one as well. (Central Baghdad.) It's awfully quiet around here these days. :-D
Thank you for your service. You guys have done an excellent job over these past few years.
Awesome. The Green Zone not catching as much indirect as it used to?
See it is Bush’s fault LOL! or contribution
I think President Bush would go down as visonary Sandrat would that tick off Libs and far left if they just name President Bush as George of Arabia
How about naming a street after President Bush or Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld
The Left will be as mendacious as ever no matter what. Time will tell on how Pres. Bush is remembered by history.
Make the Lefts Head Explode.
Not nearly. I remember last year (up through this past April), I worked/lived at a small FOB between the Green Zone and Sadr City. We heard everything and we also occasionally had to go over to the GZ for meetings and whatnot. We called the Green Zone "The Thrash."
Now, I'm working and living right in the Green Zone and it's very peaceful. We get the odd alert here and there, but it's like night and day compared to the first half of '07 and this past spring when Mookie's thugs got all wound up.
I hope and pray it stays this way. And guys like you helped make this happen.
Well, that’s good, I’m glad to hear it. My Company operated in Shaab, Ur, and Sadr City for about three months in mid-2007, and there was quite a bit of pressure to clamp down on the rocket attacks launched from there into the Green Zone. I never felt like we made much of a dent in it, although we did snag a mortar cell that kept attacking the FOB in New Baghdad—can’t remember its name—and would then melt back into Sadr City.
How much longer do you have in Baghdad?
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