Diversions

By Greyhawk

Back in September, 2008, the Seattle-Tacoma News Tribune reported that the newest Stryker Brigade was (almost) ready for action in Iraq...

Fort Lewis 5th Brigade almost ready for battle

The Army's seventh and final Stryker brigade is in the home stretch of its buildup to enter the U.S. fighting forces.

When that's done, it will be the fourth Stryker unit built at Fort Lewis.

And it will further cement the reputation of the medium-weight, highly mobile combat brigades. They faced skepticism from no less than then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld - doubts that were quickly overcome after the original brigade left Fort Lewis five years ago for the proving grounds of Iraq.
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For the just-completed exercise, the brigade picked up on training that previous brigades have used to prepare for typical missions in Iraq.

But - reflecting the shift in operational focus that had occurred over the previous year (from kinetic/combat ops to "winning hearts and minds", rebuilding infrastructure and training and support of Iraqi units) that Stateside training had a heavy focus on non-combat aspects of the mission:

Like previous Stryker brigades, the 5th Brigade has put dozens of its troops through intensive, 10-month Arabic language training. They were tested in exercises last month where they had to help their commanders negotiate with native-speaker role players at Fort Lewis' urban training center, Leschi Town.

Tunnell has added his own adaptations as well. He sent senior sergeants to intelligence school at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., so that each of his infantry companies could do more analysis work that would typically be done at the battalion level, further up the chain of command.

And to give his companies more know-how when it comes to bargaining with the mukhtars and sheiks they'll encounter in Iraq, he sent senior sergeants for training in the art of negotiation.

"This is the only way our brigade logistics can really be tested," 5th Brigade commander, Col. Harry Tunnell told the News Tribune. "These are things we have to do in Iraq, but that are really hard to do in the United States."

That focus was born out of his own experiences on his last deployment to Iraq, when he commanded the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment and jumped into northern Iraq in March 2003.

"The Army hasn't made an official announcement", the Tribune reported, "but the 5th Brigade is expected to be in the mix for duty in the Middle East in the latter half of next year."

In fact, two days later the DoD announced:

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 825
September 30, 2008

DoD Announces Iraq Deployments

The Department of Defense announced today additional major units scheduled to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The announcement involves one corps headquarters, one division headquarters, one Marine expeditionary force headquarters and seven brigade combat teams consisting of approximately 26,000 people. The deployment window for these units will begin in the winter and continue into Summer 2009.

Specific units receiving deployment orders include:
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Brigade combat teams:

4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Ft. Bliss, Texas

4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, N.C.

5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Ft. Lewis, Wash.

1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, N.C.

3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Ft. Lewis, Wash.

4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Ft. Riley, Kan.

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In the weeks that followed, and as a result of gains achieved over the previous year, more Provinces were turned over to Iraqi control, small "Task Forces" were assuming control over areas previously watched by multiple Brigades, and Brigades were departing Iraq without replacements moving in (see links embedded above). The Status Of Forces Agreement and Strategic Framework Agreement were signed (originally available on the White House web page, both documents have been removed from public view there by the Obama Administration), the drawdown was planned, American units were departing Iraq weeks ahead of their original schedule and others scheduled to replace them tapped for Afghanistan instead. But all these events of the final months of the Bush Administration occurred with little to no attention from the American media.

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Fast forward to February 17, 2009, when headlines announced President Obama's Afghanistan Surge - Barack Obama diverts 17,000 soldiers from Iraq to Afghanistan:

Mr Obama indicated that the units being sent to Afghanistan had been earmarked for Iraq, saying the drawdown of US forces there "allows us the flexibility to increase our presence in Afghanistan".

"The Afghanistan Surge" would actually be just two units and support personnel. The official DoD announcement revealed that one of them would be the 5th Stryker Brigade:

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 102-09
February 17, 2009

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DoD Announces Afghanistan Force Deployment

Pursuant to President Obama's decision today, Secretary Gates ordered the deployment of two additional combat units, totaling more than 12,000 troops, to Afghanistan. The 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB), from Camp Lejeune, N.C., with approximately 8,000 Marines will deploy to Afghanistan in late Spring 2009.

The 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Ft. Lewis, Wash., will deploy approximately 4,000 soldiers to Afghanistan in mid-summer 2009. This Stryker Brigade and the MEB will deploy to increase the capabilities of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Approximately 5,000 additional troops to support these combat forces will receive deployment orders at a later date.

Of course, "intensive, 10-month Arabic language training" and "exercises... where they had to help their commanders negotiate with native-speaker role players" were now useless - but if they were no longer needed in Iraq, so be it.

Besides, CNN reported, Americans were wildly enthusiastic about the new President's plan:

A new national poll indicates that a majority of Americans support President Barack Obama's plan to send 17,000 more U.S. troops to the war in Afghanistan.
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Sixty-three percent of those questioned in the poll say they support Obama's plan to beef up U.S. troops in Afghanistan, with 36 percent opposing the move.
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"Obama's plan for more troops wins twice as much support as the surge in troop levels in Iraq won when George W. Bush first unveiled that plan in 2007," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "The Afghanistan plan is more popular than the Iraq surge because the war in Afghanistan is more popular."

"The survey's Thursday release comes one day before Obama is expected to travel to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina to announce he'll withdraw most combat troops from Iraq within 19 months."

Indeed. "Let me say this as plainly as I can," the President dramatically announced, "By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end." That provides an enterprising young reporter a great opportunity to ask exactly how many troops in Iraq have seen combat over the past year - but don't expect one to do so any time soon.

Certainly some have seen combat - and certainly there's still a need for Stryker Brigade Combat Teams there. Otherwise the Obama Administration - with massive media coverage of his "ending combat" announcement - wouldn't quietly be substituting identical Brigades for the ones who have been "switched to Afghanistan" as part of his wildly popular surge:

Gen. Odierno will receive a Stryker Brigade to replace the incoming replacement brigade diverted to Afghanistan just a week ago. That means that he will continue to maintain the current level of two Stryker brigades in Iraq. The light armored vehicles are favored by military commanders for their mobility as a quick reaction force while providing greater protection for the troops.

Hopefully there's still time to get them to that 10-month Arabic Language school. That little tidbit of information (which if accurate, exposes everything you've heard about troop deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan over the past two weeks as an absolute hoax on the American public) can be found buried deep in this blog entry from ABC.

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Instant update: the original claim from ABC has been 'disappeared' without explanation from their web page. Here's what it says now:

ABC News has also learned that Gen. Odierno will continue to maintain a Stryker Brigade presence in Iraq through the upcoming elections as he had requested. There are currently two Stryker Brigades in Iraq. When their tours end later this year, only one of those departing brigades will be replaced by an incoming Stryker Brigade.

And here's the Google cache (while it lasts) of the original version.

Update two: The Google cache link now goes to the modified version, so here's a screen grab of the original (click image for larger version):

Update three: the ABC story is back to its original version - which was correct all along. Details here.

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More Diversions here.

Posted by Greyhawk / February 28, 2009 8:36 AM | Permalink