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gilliam
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General Petraeus has recently returned from Iraq, having served as the Commander, Multi-National Security Transition Command and NATO Training Mission. Before that, he was Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division during its year in Iraq.
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS spoke at Princeton on the Iraq situation and TigerHawk has a report.
In the talk, the general talked about the different levels of troop readiness:
Level 1 is fully independent, “capable of planning and executing operations, and sustaining itself, without coalition support.” This is a very high standard, and because it requires no coalition support in combat, whether logistical or in the form of indirect fire support. As reported this week, only one battalion operates at this level now, but the press accounts did not make clear what a difficult standard this is. Indeed, two other battalions had reached this level but were downgraded because of personnel changes (my sense was that a key officer was transferred).
A significant and growing number of Iraqi units are at Level 2, which is substantially, but not totally, independant. Level 2 units are “in the lead,”, “capable of planning, executing and sustaining counterinsurgency operations with some coalition support.” These units are substantially independent, but still need some assistance with logistics and indirect fire support. However, they operate independently for most intents and purposes. Level 2 battalions now “own Haifa Street” in a way that only local units can, and another unit – the armored battalion – is policing the airport road. Level 2 units also run Karbala and Najaf security.
Level 3, “fighting alongside”: “capable of conducting counterinsurgency operations in conjunction with coalition units.” The goal is to get most of these Level 3 units up to Level 2 in the next few months. So, over 115 Army and special police battalions are in the fight, the majority of which are “fighting alongside.”
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS spoke at Princeton on the Iraq situation and TigerHawk has a report.
In the talk, the general talked about the different levels of troop readiness:
Level 1 is fully independent, “capable of planning and executing operations, and sustaining itself, without coalition support.” This is a very high standard, and because it requires no coalition support in combat, whether logistical or in the form of indirect fire support. As reported this week, only one battalion operates at this level now, but the press accounts did not make clear what a difficult standard this is. Indeed, two other battalions had reached this level but were downgraded because of personnel changes (my sense was that a key officer was transferred).
A significant and growing number of Iraqi units are at Level 2, which is substantially, but not totally, independant. Level 2 units are “in the lead,”, “capable of planning, executing and sustaining counterinsurgency operations with some coalition support.” These units are substantially independent, but still need some assistance with logistics and indirect fire support. However, they operate independently for most intents and purposes. Level 2 battalions now “own Haifa Street” in a way that only local units can, and another unit – the armored battalion – is policing the airport road. Level 2 units also run Karbala and Najaf security.
Level 3, “fighting alongside”: “capable of conducting counterinsurgency operations in conjunction with coalition units.” The goal is to get most of these Level 3 units up to Level 2 in the next few months. So, over 115 Army and special police battalions are in the fight, the majority of which are “fighting alongside.”