Iraq
COMBAT OUTPOST HAMIYAH – Soldiers from the Iraqi Army’s 3rd Brigade, 8th Division, listened intently here recently as they received instruction from U.S. Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team.
When his Iraqi counterpart asked if his Soldiers were doing anything wrong, Strauch quickly reassured him.
“No, you guys aren’t doing anything wrong,” he said. “You’ve just reached the point where we can move on to the next level. Your guys are ready for more advanced training.”
With a satisfied nod from the Iraqi sergeant, the training continued.
Strauch said the situation was a far cry from what he experienced when he was trying to train the Iraqi Army for the first time five years ago at Forward Operating Base Justice, where he said they would show up undisciplined and unprepared for training.
“There was so much chatter,” he said. “Every time we tried to show them anything, there was a conversation. Rounds were going off left and right. It was crazy.”
Since B Company’s arrival at their patrol base three months ago, Strauch and his fellow sergeants have held several of these training events. What he is seeing from the IA these days is unrecognizable from his experiences during his prior deployment, he said.
"Back then, a lot of us had a sense that a lot of Iraqi Soldiers were just there for the paycheck,” he said. “Now you can see that they have a lot more pride in the uniform they are wearing. In everything they do, it is obvious they want to do it well.”
Army Staff Sgt. Mark Lowe, also with B Co., and a Philadelphia, Tenn., native, agreed with Strauch.
“They are very eager to learn better tactics,” he said. “They focus a lot more on safety now. It is encouraging when you see them looking at the cause-and-effect scenarios when they plan scenarios. That wasn’t always there.”
Lowe recounted his first experience with the IA during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
“We had heard so much about Iraq’s million-man army,” he said. “To be honest, it weighed a lot on our minds. At the beginning stages of that war, I think both sides realized, very early on, just how ineffective a lot of their tactics were and how well ours work.”
Lowe said he sees the IA improving at a rapid pace every time they train.
“Their doctrine has come a long way from Desert Storm,” he said. “You can see it in the way they run checkpoints [and] in the way they conduct raids and plan operations. Everything runs smoother and more efficiently.”
Strauch and Lowe agree the IA Soldiers have made great strides, and now look to the Iraqi supply and logistics system to equip the IA effectively.
“Their flow of supplies doesn’t always trickle down …,” Strauch said. “They have good equipment; it is just a matter of them getting it to the people who need it.”
Strauch also said that the training he conducts with his counterparts will need to continue in his unit’s absence.
“The United States Army has been working on and adjusting their tactics for 200 years now,” he said. “The current incarnation of the [Iraqi Army] started in 2004. They definitely have some catching up to do.”
Still, Strauch said, he is heartened by the progress the IA has made.
“To see how far they have come in five short years is encouraging to me,” he said.
January 30, 2010: Written by Sgt. Ben Hutto, 3rd Infantry Division
Distributed by www.SupportOurTroops.org
