By Sgt. 1st
Class Kerensa Hardy
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division
7/30/2008
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq - Rakkasan soldiers are preparing to hand
over their area of operations, but not to coalition forces.
"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.
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."
When the Rakkasans arrived in Iraq in late October, the
operational environment required a heavy focus on security.
Now, drastic security gains are evident. Attacks are down -
not only in the Mahmudiyah Qada - but by 80 to 90 percent
throughout all of Iraq. While security will remain a concern,
it is no longer the primary focus.
"We've had, really, an evolution occur in this battle space
over the last 10 months that I find pretty remarkable," Jones
said.
"Through constant operations and relentless pursuit of the
enemy, we were able to defeat a lot of the insurgent factions,
or at least neutralize them to the point where they were
incapable of conducting follow-on attacks," Jones explained.
"The situation became stabilized in January, three or four
months into our deployment."
Once the security situation was under control, it became
possible to focus efforts elsewhere: governance, economics and
revitalization projects, and the local government has shown a
commitment to providing essential services to its citizens.
Rebuilding efforts began in mid-April with Operation Marne
Piledriver. The operation was the first capacity building
mission throughout the Mahmudiyah Qada.
"We also had to focus on tactical overwatch operations in
which we would take the IA and teach, coach and mentor them,
letting them watch coalition forces conduct operations," Jones
said of the relationship with the IA in past operations.
"We were leading, and they'd watch. That lasted until March or
April, when the Iraqis turned a corner," he added.
Now, Caraccilo is convinced the 17th IA Div., under the
well-able leadership of Ali, is ready to take the reigns from
the Rakkasans.
"[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. |
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