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Fort Lewis looks at possible impact

Dec- 8-2006 » Filed Under: General Military

MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune

A lot has to happen far up the chain of command before the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group reach Fort Lewis.

But the group’s advice to President Bush, released Wednesday, has the potential to alter the course of training and combat operations for thousands of local troops deployed to Iraq or getting ready to go.

The straightest line into Fort Lewis is likely the recommendation that U.S. commanders dramatically increase the number of troops assigned as advisers to Iraqi units.

Fort Lewis soldiers have trained Iraqi recruits since the first year of the war, and some soldiers in the Stryker brigade now in Iraq live and work every day with their Iraqi counterparts.

The study group is calling for a fivefold increase in U.S. advisers embedded in Iraqi brigades, battalions and companies. The group envisions an urgent program that would see Iraqi units improve enough that the U.S. could begin to draw down its combat forces in early 2008.

About 4,400 U.S. troops are currently assigned to 11-man military transition teams across Iraq, including some from a Fort Lewis-based training brigade.

Fort Lewis’ top spokesman said it’s too soon to tell how – or if – this week’s recommendations might affect local soldiers.

Lt. Col. Dan Williams said Thursday that the question would be more appropriate for the Department of Defense or the White House.

But with the Army stretched by deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, it stands to reason combat troops who are already there – some on their second or third tour – could be reassigned to the ranks of advisers.

Fort Lewis has 4,000 soldiers with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division in Mosul and Baghdad, and another 4,000 with the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division preparing to go to Iraq this summer.

A retired general who led the Iraqi training program in 2003-04 and earlier helped begin the Stryker program at Fort Lewis praised the study group’s adviser recommendation.[...]


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