ON POINT II: Transition to the New Campaign

The United States Army in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM May 2003-January 2005

Dr. Donald P. Wright
Colonel Timothy R. Reese
with the
Contemporary Operations Study Team

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Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Prologue

Part I. Setting the Stage

Chapter 1. Overview of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM: May 2003 to January 2005

A Decisive Month—May 2003
Military Transitions in Spring 2003
An Uncertain Summer: June–September 2003
Peaks and Valleys: October 2003–March 2004
The Caldron Boils Over: April–June 2004
Transitions of Command and Sovereignty: June–July 2004
The Sunni Arab Challenge: August–November 2004
Toward the New Iraq: December 2004–January 2005
Notes

Chapter 2. The US Army’s Historical Legacy of Military Operations Other Than War and the Planning for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM

Historical Antecedents
Recent Military Operations Other Than War, 1989–2000
Doctrine, Training, and Education
Soldiering in Stability and Support Operations: The Legacy of 1991–2002
Planning for Stability and Support Operations in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
The Planning for Phase IV—Operations after Toppling the Saddam Regime
Assessing Phase IV Plans for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
Conclusion
Notes

Chapter 3. The Rise of the Iraqi Insurgency and the US Army’s Response

Prewar Assumptions about Postconflict Threats
Origins of Iraqi Discontent
De-Baathification and the Disbanding of the Iraqi Army
The Emergence of the Iraqi Insurgency
Major Insurgent Groups

Sunni
Arabs
Secular Ideologues: Baathists and Arab Nationalists
Sunni Tribes
Religious Groups
Ultraradical Salafis and Wahhabis
Shia Groups
Al-Qaeda and Other Foreign Groups
Insurgent Tactics
The Coalition Response to the Iraqi Threat
American Perceptions of the Threat
Full Spectrum Operations and Counterinsurgency: The US Army’s Evolving Response to the Iraqi Insurgency
Reorganizing for the New Campaign
Conclusion
Notes

Part II. Transition to a New Campaign

Chapter 4. Leading the New Campaign: Transitions in Command and Control in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM

Phase III to Phase IV of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
President George W. Bush, General Franks, and “Mission Accomplished”
From CENTCOM and CFLCC to V Corps and CJTF-7
Political-Military Relations I: The Short Reign of ORHA
Political-Military Relations II: From ORHA to the CPA and the Iraqi Governing Council
The United States: An Occupying Power
V Corps Becomes CJTF-7
CJTF-7 and the Planning of the New Campaign
CJTF-7 in Retrospect
Boots on the Ground in Iraq: The Coalition Military Command and the Issue of Troop Strength
From CJTF-7 to MNF-I: Change under Adversity
III Corps Replaces V Corps
The Creation of MNSTC-I
The Creation of MNF-I
Conclusion: The Struggle for Unity of Command and Effort
Notes

Chapter 5. Intelligence and High-Value Target Operations

Intelligence and the Transition to Full Spectrum Operations
The HUMINT Gap
Tactical Intelligence: The Paradigm Shifts
The Muhalla 636 Operation
The New Paradigm’s Growing Pains
Interrogation Operations
Interrogation Operations in the Abu Ghraib Prison
Language and Culture
The Contributions of SIGINT and IMINT
High-Value Target Operations
Conclusion
Notes

Chapter 6. Detainee Operations

US Army Detainee Operations in Iraq: Planning, Invasion, and the Transition to the New Campaign
The Growing Detainee Challenge
Detainee Operations at the Tactical Level
The Issue of Abuse in US Army Detainee Operations in Iraq
The Consolidation of Detainee Operations
Conclusion
Notes

Chapter 7. Fighting the Battle of Ideas in Iraq

Information Operations: Definitions and Doctrine
Information Operations before Operation IRAQI FREEDOM: The Balkans
Information Operations in Support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM: The Overall Effort
The Practice of Information Operations at the Tactical Level
Insurgent Information Operations
Public Affairs and Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
Embedded Reporting
Preparing Embedded Reporters and the Army for Each Other
US Army Perspectives on the Embed Program
Criticisms of Embedding and the “Embed Effect”
The Challenges of Embedded Reporting in the New Campaign
Telling the Story “Back Home”
PA/IO Tension in the New Campaign
Working with Arab Media
Developing a Free Press in Iraq
Conclusion
Notes

Chapter 8. Combined Arms Operations in Iraq

Counter-IED and Countermortar Operations
Major Combined Arms Operations
Operation PENINSULA STRIKE: Cordon and Search in the Sunni Triangle, June 2003
The 1st Armored Division’s Extension Campaign: April–May 2004

TF Striker in Al Kut: 4–11 April 2004
Containing al-Sadr: TF Duke in An Najaf, 13–22 April
Operation IRON SABRE
An Najaf, August 2004: The Elimination of the First Safe Haven
Operation BATON ROUGE: The Full Spectrum Engagement of Samarra
AL FAJR: The Liberation of Fallujah
Conclusion
Notes

Part III. Toward the Objective: Building a New Iraq

Chapter 9. The US Army and the Reconstruction of Iraq

The Context for Reconstruction Operations: Coalition Goals and US Army Capabilities
“Everyone Must Do Nation-Building”: Broadening Reconstruction Operations
All Reconstruction is Local: The US Army Rebuilds Iraq
A Success in Al Anbar: Rebuilding the State Company for Phosphate Plant
Obstacles on the Path to a New Iraq
Refocusing the Reconstruction Effort: July 2004–January 2005
Conclusion
Notes

Chapter 10. A Country United, Stable, and Free: US Army Governance Operations in Iraq

A New Direction for Iraq
Good Governance: Another New Mission
Growing Iraqi Grassroots: The US Army and Governance at the Local Level
The US Army in Kirkuk: Governance on the Fault Lines of Iraqi Society
The Interim Iraqi Government and 30 January 2005 Elections
Conclusion
Notes

Chapter 11. Training the Iraqi Security Forces

Saddam Hussein’s Military Legacy
The Challenges of Post-Saddam Iraq
Rebuilding Iraqi Ministries of Government
The New Iraqi Army is Born
CJTF-7 Creates the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC)
The Phase II Plan for the Iraqi Armed Forces
A New Iraqi Police Service
Iraqi Border Security
The ISF at the Crossroads, January 2004
Iraqi Forces Join the Fight
The Coalition Creates the Multi-National Security Transition Command–Iraq (MNSTC-I)
NATO Training Implementation Mission–Iraq (NTIM-I)
The Unit Advisory Effort Begins in Earnest
Creating the Institutions of the Iraqi Armed Forces (IAF)
The ICDC Becomes the Iraqi National Guard
CPATT Evolves to Meet the Enemy
Securing the Borders
Equipment and Facilities
January 2005 Elections
Conclusion
Notes

Part IV. Sustaining the Campaign

Chapter 12. Logistics and Combat Service Support Operations

Iron Mountains
Distribution-Based Logistics
The CSS Structure for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
Operation IRAQI FREEDOM: The War of Movement Transitions to Full Spectrum Operations
Command, Control, and Communications for CSS Operations
Transportation: Delivering the Goods in Iraq
April 2004: A Transportation Turning Point
Survivability of Logistics Vehicles
Personal Body Armor
Field Services
Maintenance
Munitions Support
Financial Management
Band Support
Troop Rotations in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM

A Case Study in Logistical Agility: CSS Soldiers Turn 1st Armored Division Around
Conclusion
Notes

Chapter 13. Taking Care of Soldiers

US Army Battlefield Medicine before Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
Moving Emergency Treatment Closer to the Front Lines in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
Following the Wounded Soldier in Iraq
Personal Protection, Body Armor, and Casualty Rates
Final Honors for the Fallen: Mortuary Affairs in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
US Army Wounded Warrior Program
Mental Health and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Soldier Well-Being: Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) in Iraq
United Service Organizations
Leave and Redeployment Policy
Conclusion
Notes

Part V. Conclusion

Chapter 14. Implications

Unity of Effort and Unity of Command
Phase III and Phase IV Operations
Mission Requirements and Force Rotations
Doctrine and Training
Intelligence Operations
Detainee Operations
Training Indigenous Forces
The “M” in DOTMLPF—Materiel
Command and Control
The Battle of Ideas
Combat Service and Soldier Support
Army Education
Soldiers: The Army’s Greatest Asset
Conclusion
Notes

Epilogue

Appendix A. Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 1, De-Baathification of Iraqi Society

Appendix B. Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2, Dissolution of Entities

Appendix C. Unit Areas of Responsibility, 2003–2004

Appendix D. Theater Structure, 2003–2005

Appendix E. Unit Areas of Responsibility, 2004–2005

Appendix F. US Army in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM Order of Battle: May 2003–January 2005

Appendix G. Chronology, Operation IRAQI FREEDOM Major Events, September 2001 to January 2005

Glossary

Bibliography