U.S. Soldiers from the 1404th Transportation Company, 180th Transportation Battalion, 52nd Sustainment Brigade, begin to convoy south to Kuwait, at Camp Taji, in central Iraq, Aug. 22, 2009. The convoy is part of the beginning of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team's re-deployment , as well as the U.S. Military's drawdown of forces in Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Specialist David M. Sharp/Released)
OMAHA, Neb. (Aug. 25, 2009) Sailors from Strategic Command and Navy Operational Support Center, Omaha prepare the surface of the T-1 class submarine USS Marlin (SST-2) for painting at the U.S. Naval Museum in Freedom Park. The community service project was part of Omaha Navy Week. Navy Weeks are designed to show Americans the investment they have made in their Navy and increase awareness in cities that do not have a significant Navy presence. (U.S. Navy photo by Lieutenant Amy Carmickle/Released)
U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Graham Auten and Army Brig. Gen. Guy L. Sands-Pingot, left, assistant inspector general for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, visited the construction site of a damaged road in Mahmood Raqi, Afghanistan, Aug. 12, 2009. Auten is a civil engineer assigned to the Kapisa-Parwan Provincial Reconstruction Team, which is evaluating the progress of construction sites across Kapisa province. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy Wade
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Giving a brief to Iraqi Soldiers, Maj. Jim Tenpenny (center and pointing), the operations officer in charge for 3rd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Multi-National Division-Baghdad, points out which direction the weapons should be facing while on the aircraft, Aug. 18, Baghdad, Iraq. The training was an effort to get the IA Soldiers familiar with aircraft so they can conduct air assault missions. Photo by Sgt. Travis Zielinski.
U.S. Soldiers from the 344th Combat Support Hospital out of Fort Dix, N.J., load a simulated patient into a vehicle during Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) 09-09 on Fort Polk, La., Aug. 23, 2009. JRTC provides realistic training using scenarios that allow integration between joint military organizations, host nations and civilian role-players. Units from the U.S. Air Force, Army and Marine Corps and units from the Canadian and Belgian air forces are training together during the exercise to provide quality care to sick and injured personnel in real-world environments. (DoD photo by Senior Airman Jimmy L. Dang, U.S. Air Force/Released)
Brig. Gen. Heidi Brown, the commander of the responsible drawdown of forces in Iraq, discusses Multi-National Corps - Iraq's drawdown plans at an MNC-I sustainment conference in Camp Victory’s Al Faw Palace, Aug. 15. Photo by Spc. Brandy Oxford, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
BAGHDAD — Multi-National Corps – Iraq recently began phase two of its safe and responsible withdrawal, and now looks to the challenge of shipping 80,000 troops and their equipment out of country.
Although MNC-I just finished phase one – setting the conditions – it moved into phase two without pause, said Lt. Col. Tammie Pettit, MNC-I logistics plans chief, at an MNC-I conference in Camp Victory’s Al Faw Palace, Aug. 15.
“It’s been a lot of hard work for a lot of people,” Pettit said. “We’ve done pretty well.”
Brig. Gen. Heidi Brown is commanding the responsible drawdown of troops in Iraq from roughly 130,000 today to 50,000 by August 2010. Additionally, the number of civilian contractors in country is slated to be reduced to roughly 75,000, Brown said.
Based on Brown’s directives, Pettit said MNC-I plans to reduce the number of bases from nearly 200 to six Multi-Class Supply Support Activity Hubs—with roughly 20 smaller bases, called spokes—by September 2010, with complete withdrawal by December 2011.
“None of this is negotiable,” said Pettit. “This is a mission we cannot fail.”
MNC-I teams inventory, repair and update items the U.S. military will transport to other overseas Areas of Operation or back to the United States. The teams also arrange for items to be transferred to Iraqi control to boost the Iraqi Security Forces as the U.S. withdraws, Pettit said.
“We’re really starting to prime the pump to get stuff moving out of here,” she said. “We’ll continue to support [Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan] where we can.”
She said phase two of the drawdown will build on the steps taken during phase one, when non-essential equipment was identified, and in phase two, it will be retrograded, transferred or redirected to support other U.S. military priorities.
Phase three will focus on safety operations, Pettit said. The retrograde of equipment not required to support the upcoming elections in Iraq will allow units to focus on enhancing route security, moving forward with the drawdown and supporting redeploying units, she said.
“Protection of the force will still be paramount during this drawdown,” Pettit said.
Throughout Iraq, the many shipping containers filled with equipment and parts present a particularly large challenge in the drawdown, said Pettit. Units should look within themselves for the personnel necessary to expedite this process safely, she said.
“It’s going to take everybody,” she said. “There is a lot of work to do. The folks following all of us are going to have a really difficult job.”
(By Spc. Brandy Oxford, 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)
NORFOLK (Aug. 28, 2009)
Fire Controlman 1st Class Scott Roane, assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS Laboon (DDG 58), greets his girlfriend at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
Laboon is returning from a seven-month deployment to the U.S. 6th and 5th Fleet areas of responsibility supporting Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG 2).
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Julie R. Matyascik/Released)
U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Daniel Mora advances through an obstacle course at the Jungle Warfare Training Center on Camp Gonsalves, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 21, 2009. Mora is assigned to the Provost Marshal's Office. Jungle training shows troops how to become effective war fighters in a jungle environment by teaching them land navigation, small unit leadership, patrolling and obstacle maneuvering. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Leon M. Branchaud
Saier Bibi, a farmer in the Qaytul village of Kirkuk province, works his new beehives during a visit to his farm by a representative from the United States Agency for International Development and the senior agricultural advisor from the Kirkuk Provincial Reconstruction Team, Aug. 20. Photo by Pfc. Justin Naylor, 1st Cavalry Division.
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U.S. Marines from 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment disembark a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter at Patrol Base Jaker, Afghanistan, Aug. 24, 2009. (DoD photo by Lance Cpl. James Purschwitz, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)
GROTON, Conn. (Aug. 27, 2009) The Italian Todaro-class submarine Scire (S 527) arrives at Naval Submarine Base New London for a port visit. Scire is on deployment and is preparing to participate in a Joint Task Force Exercise with the Harry S. Truman Strike Group. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Steven Myers/Released)
PACIFIC OCEAN (Aug. 28, 2009) Sailors take a few last chance photos of Japan from the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) as it departs from Yokosuka, Japan. Nimitz and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11 are on a deployment to the western Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Robert Winn/Released)
WHITING FIELD, Fla. (Aug. 27, 2009) Fire trucks spray a bridge of water over two T-6B training aircraft to celebrate their arrival. The aircraft will be used to replace the venerable T-34C Turbo Mentor plane in flight training for student pilots. (U.S. Navy photo by Jay Cope/Released)
