SGT Rock
2006-04-19, 09:30
Before I start, I just want to let you know I will have to limit some information so that nothing classified gets on the web. Things that seem small and unimportant can be tied into a bigger picture by people fighting us over here, so I don't want to say a whole lot about how we do some things no matter how small that may be.
As you may or may not know, I am currently at Camp Justice in Baghdad Iraq. For those of you who were here before, it used to be Camp Bonsai. The camp is mostly an Iraqi post controlled by the 1st Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Army Division. But our Iraqi Police unit's HQ is also on this camp. Up until recently it was named the Public Order Division of the Ministry of Interior, but it is now called the 2nd National Police Division.
The 2nd NP Division was formed early on as separate brigades known as Public Order Brigades who's mission was to provide interim protection in places where law enforcement didn't have enough people to provide the necessary coverage. They eventually consolidated them all under a single Division HQ. As the Iraqi Police forces have been getting better, the National Police divisions have been moved to more of the counter insurgency operations such as patrolling highways, checkpoints on dangerous roads, hostage rescue, and other missions.
The National Police have not had as much attention on the equipping, manning, and training of forces as the Iraqi Army has. The IA (Iraqi Army) is looking good and doing very well in many of the operations I have seen them in. Now the coalition is focusing on getting the MOI (Ministry of Interior) forces to the same level of proficiency as the IA. Right now we are mostly busy on getting equipment and facilities up to par. Training still needs to happen in order to get the forces to the same level, but it is hard to train a force as they fight a war that was there before they stood up.
My assessment so far is the NP forces want to do a good job but just don't know what they don't know. As we equip them, it may be possible for us to take some of the units and train them up to be more cohesive and operate better together. But to caveat that, they do some things VERY well. They are aggressive on objective and take the fight to the enemy as I have witnessed. They recover quickly when they take casualties and usually want to get whoever started something with them. They also do great on finding out information from people in the communities which has always been a problem for US forces working in Iraq.
As for us, we all seem to stay busy. We work many hours a day to get them people, equipment, and facilities to do what they need to do. It is sometimes a fight with other coalition forces that feel the Iraqi forces inferior and we shouldn't waste or time with them. Apparently they failed to see how the big exit sign for the US from Iraq is lit up. Other us forces seem to be very supportive, and I think if we keep pressing on we can eventually get them with the program and make it happen with their support.
I don't get a lot of free time, and when I do I spend it chatting with my wife and sometimes my kids. I can't wait to get back home to them on mid-tour leave.
Anyway. I have more to say, but not much time to say it in. I will post more on what is going on at a later date.
As you may or may not know, I am currently at Camp Justice in Baghdad Iraq. For those of you who were here before, it used to be Camp Bonsai. The camp is mostly an Iraqi post controlled by the 1st Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Army Division. But our Iraqi Police unit's HQ is also on this camp. Up until recently it was named the Public Order Division of the Ministry of Interior, but it is now called the 2nd National Police Division.
The 2nd NP Division was formed early on as separate brigades known as Public Order Brigades who's mission was to provide interim protection in places where law enforcement didn't have enough people to provide the necessary coverage. They eventually consolidated them all under a single Division HQ. As the Iraqi Police forces have been getting better, the National Police divisions have been moved to more of the counter insurgency operations such as patrolling highways, checkpoints on dangerous roads, hostage rescue, and other missions.
The National Police have not had as much attention on the equipping, manning, and training of forces as the Iraqi Army has. The IA (Iraqi Army) is looking good and doing very well in many of the operations I have seen them in. Now the coalition is focusing on getting the MOI (Ministry of Interior) forces to the same level of proficiency as the IA. Right now we are mostly busy on getting equipment and facilities up to par. Training still needs to happen in order to get the forces to the same level, but it is hard to train a force as they fight a war that was there before they stood up.
My assessment so far is the NP forces want to do a good job but just don't know what they don't know. As we equip them, it may be possible for us to take some of the units and train them up to be more cohesive and operate better together. But to caveat that, they do some things VERY well. They are aggressive on objective and take the fight to the enemy as I have witnessed. They recover quickly when they take casualties and usually want to get whoever started something with them. They also do great on finding out information from people in the communities which has always been a problem for US forces working in Iraq.
As for us, we all seem to stay busy. We work many hours a day to get them people, equipment, and facilities to do what they need to do. It is sometimes a fight with other coalition forces that feel the Iraqi forces inferior and we shouldn't waste or time with them. Apparently they failed to see how the big exit sign for the US from Iraq is lit up. Other us forces seem to be very supportive, and I think if we keep pressing on we can eventually get them with the program and make it happen with their support.
I don't get a lot of free time, and when I do I spend it chatting with my wife and sometimes my kids. I can't wait to get back home to them on mid-tour leave.
Anyway. I have more to say, but not much time to say it in. I will post more on what is going on at a later date.