WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 5, 2015) -- When Col. Curtis A. Buzzard deployed to Iraq again in January 2015, he admitted that he was initially concerned about building trust and confidence in the Iraqi army, "but it happened almost immediately."
Buzzard, commander of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, spent the next nine months with his brigade advising and assisting the Iraqi army. He spoke of his experiences at a Pentagon press briefing, Nov. 5.
"The Iraqis treated us as their own family and were tremendously grateful and appreciative of us being there," he said. "I have great admiration for the leaders we were partnered with and for their dedication to the country."
One of the colonel's operations officers, Maj. Michael Hamilton, from 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, who was also at the press brief, then provided an example of how their advise and assist mission was successfully carried out.
Of the five Iraqi brigades and two divisions the 82nd was tasked with training, Hamilton's was the 16th Division. "We stood them up from scratch," he said, meaning new staff, new Soldiers and training from basic marksmanship and first aid, on up to battalion-level complex tactical exercises.
The ultimate test of their training, Hamilton said, was when they were called in to support the Ramadi offensive, to liberate it from the Islamic State, which the Soldiers referred to as Daesh.
"They were probably the most successful unit participating in the Ramadi counterattack," he said. "We were very proud of that. It was very rewarding."
Buzzard had his own "good news story" about how well the training went.
He said Hamilton's 2nd Battalion conducted a battalion-level, combined-arms breach lane exercise with an Iraqi battalion. It's a live-fire exercise that's "very complex."
When the training was completed, he said the "Iraqi division commander said, 'I got this, I need your support in helping to set conditions for training, but we have it, we're going to take charge of this,' and they developed and issued an operations order and subordinate leaders did a back-brief. They built a terrain model to show what to do. They coordinated with army aviation, tanks and mortars to be there and they executed it all themselves."
Because of many occasions like this, Buzzard said he felt reassured "they can do this and make it happen."
When he was there in 2006 and 2007, U.S. troops were in the lead in conducting combat operations, Buzzard said. This time Iraqis are in the lead. "We don't accompany them on the battlefield. They recognize they've got to do this on their own. They're taking responsibility for this. It's their fight to win. They recognize that. They want it to be their fight. They're proud of their accomplishments and how they can fight on their own."
In all, the brigade, consisting of about 1,300 paratroopers from six battalions, termed Task Force Panther, trained some 12,400 Iraqi soldiers at numerous Build Partner Capacity sites across the country. The U.S. effort to support Iraq is termed Operation Inherent Resolve.
Buzzard said another initial concern he had was that Iraqi soldiers would be reluctant to take part in the training. But that concern quickly vanished as the calendar was filled. Iraqi's saw the value of the training and it gave them increasing confidence as well.
The Soldiers who trained the Iraqis demonstrated great "initiative, agility and innovation," he added, saying he was equally proud of them. "Our young Soldiers developed tremendous rapport with Iraqi soldiers during training."
BRIGADE'S ROLE
Hamilton said the advise and assist role took raw recruits and trained them in the basics, stuff like marksmanship, first aid, tactics, and then progressed to battalion-level training with complex and realistic maneuvers. Training in explosives and counter-improvised explosive devices, or IEDS, were conducted as well. Soldiers were there to coach, observe and mentor.
Some units had shorter training times than others, he noted, due to ongoing or upcoming operations. So the levels of training varied quite a bit.
Buzzard said once the units were trained, his headquarters partnered with the Iraqi headquarters in planning operations. The United States provided intelligence that not only pinpointed enemy positions, but prevented friendly strikes on their own.
WEAPONS EMPLOYED
Hamilton said some Iraqi army units were equipped with NATO-style equipment, which the United States fielded to them, including M-16 rifles, M-249 Squad Automatic Weapons, M-240B medium machine guns and AT-4 shoulder-fired, anti-tank weapons.
Besides that, he said they had a mix of AK-47 rifles, PKM and PKC machine guns, some RPK, anti-tank weapons included SGP-9, shoulder-launched.
Their communication gear, he said, included handheld Motorola radios, Harris high-frequency radios for longer distances and Iridium phones for out-of-line-of-sight communications.
"They have the equipment they need for the fight," Buzzard said. "They're certainly better equipped than Daesh."
As to Daesh, Buzzard said they employed vehicle-borne IEDs on numerous occasions. He said it was disheartening to know brainwashed young kids were often on these suicide missions.
Hamilton noted that compared to his previous tours in Iraq, he saw fewer sophisticated IEDs. However, Daesh employed a lot of them and they were often an impediment to maneuver.
NOT PICTURE PERFECT
Buzzard noted that there's still room for improvement in the Iraqi army and in Iraq in general. For example, corruption is still a problem. More Sunnis are also needed in the army and in the political process.
It's is a work in progress, he said, but at least there's progress.
"Frankly, I'm more concerned not with taking Ramadi, but what comes after it's secured," he said. If the populace doesn't feel they're part of Iraq, "seeds of discord will continue to exist."
Also, Iraqi army leadership is just as important as training, he said, especially since the command structure is centralized. If a leader cuts and runs, soldiers will follow.
"If you have good leaders, you'll have good brigades," Buzzard said, adding he was fortunate to encounter the good leaders.
On a positive note, Buzzard said coordination between the Peshmerga and Iraqi army has been going well. A joint coalition coordination center was established just outside Erbil to the north where most of the Kurds live.
When the brigade left Iraq in September, they were replaced by the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.
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