A Look At The Current Force in Iraq

First off, the number of troops in Iraq is finally below 50,000, +/- a few hundred on any given day (that's an MNC-I G1 joke from mid-decade...)

The U.S. military said on Tuesday the number of its troops in Iraq had dropped below its Aug. 31 target of 50,000, when the 7-1/2 year U.S. combat mission comes to an official close.

Iraq is locked in political deadlock as Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish factions are still in talks to form a coalition government, almost six months after an inconclusive March vote that Iraqis hoped would bring stability back to the country.

"U.S. military force levels in Iraq are below 50,000. U.S. military forces will transition to Operation New Dawn, effective Sept. 1, 2010," the U.S. military said in a statement.

"U.S. Forces-Iraq will continue to advise, train and assist the Iraqi Security Forces ... until the end of our mission in December 2011."

So, what do these "Advise and Assist" brigades look like? The Army Times has some info.

There are seven Advise and Assist Brigades in Iraq, as well as two additional National Guard infantry brigades “for security,” said Army spokesman Lt. Col. Craig Ratcliff.

Last year, the Army decided that rather than devote permanent force structure to the growing security force assistance mission, it would modify and augment existing brigades.

The Army has three different standard brigade combat teams: infantry, Stryker and heavy. To build an Advise and Assist Brigade, the Army selects one of these three and puts it through special training before deploying.

The Army selected brigade combat teams as the unit upon which to build advisory brigades partly because they would be able to retain their inherent capability to conduct offensive and defensive operations, according to the Army’s security force assistance field manual, which came out in May 2009. This way, the brigade can shift the bulk of its operational focus from security force assistance to combat operations if necessary.

To prepare for their mission in Iraq, heavy, infantry and Stryker brigades receive specialized training that can include city management courses, civil affairs training and border patrol classes.

As far as equipment goes, the brigades either brought their gear with them or used equipment left behind that is typical to their type of brigade, said Ratcliff.

By: Brant