Marines In Fallujah Turn To Diplomacy

[thedrifter]

Marines In Fallujah Turn To Diplomacy
Associated Press
November 23, 2004

FALLUJAH, Iraq - "Imagine it's your mother!" an Iraqi man shouts, demanding the Marine open a bridge north of Fallujah so an ailing woman can get medical treatment.

Capt. Alex Henegar winces but handles the complaint, using the type of on the fly diplomacy Marine officers believe can assuage angry Iraqis and draw them in to support the rebuilding of the city, devastated by the recent U.S. assault.

With rebels largely routed, Marines hope insurgent intimidation campaigns will be curtailed and that U.S. forces will be able to forge new relationships with Iraqis and pour development funds into the city to cement military gains.

"This leaves us ahead. It's hard to imagine, I know, because of the destruction. But things had been backsliding for months," says Henegar, a civil affairs officer attached to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.

"This has allowed us to start over. We no longer have a haven of dark chaos in the heart of Iraq. In some cases, we need to break things down in order to start over," said the 30-year old from Lookout Mountain, Georgia, - a recent graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. "Security is a necessary condition for everything else."




At the scene at the bridge, Henegar promised the crowd that if it allowed the first post-assault humanitarian shipment to pass unimpeded, he would ask his superiors for permission to open the bridge permanently.

The Iraqi crowd nodded until an Army soldier angered by mortar fire coming from the ailing woman's village shouted at the interpreter: "Tell them as long as they're shooting at us, the bridge stays closed!"

"Whether they articulate it or not, everyone has a theory about what works" said Henegar, who was able to get the woman to medical care.

Marines say the restive Sunni Triangle, including Fallujah, is a particularly nettlesome environment for the development projects meant to win over Iraq's people.

Following an aborted Marine attack in April, rebels took over the city, which the U.S. military says became a locus for the bombings, ambushes and kidnappings plaguing the country.

Now, with dead bodies scattered over a devastated city nearly devoid of its 250,000 civilians, U.S. forces are turning to reconstruction efforts ahead of elections scheduled January 30.

Any success in calming the insurgency around Fallujah could be used as a model elsewhere in the country, they hope.

"If this (Fallujah) is a success story, then the message will be to get rid of the terrorists militarily and you're back on track," says civil affairs Lt. Col. Leonard De Francisci.

The U.S. forces plan to refurbish Fallujah's electrical grid and water-treatment facility, clear its roads of rubble and inspect buildings for structural soundness - and at least one military estimate says civilians won't return until February.

Together, the Iraqi government and U.S. military have set aside US$178 million (euro136.58 million) for immediate repairs.

Further out, there is US$1.2 billion (euro920 million) in long-stalled funds earmarked for Anbar province, part of the US$18.4 billion (euro14.1 billion) in U.S. taxpayer funds that Congress approved for rebuilding Iraq.

Officers say rebels intimidated many Fallujah residents, taking over homes and executing those who resist - stymieing U.S. efforts to spend money on people in and around the city.

"No amount of money I could have paid them would have allayed their fears," said Henegar. "The insurgents would simply say 'we'll cut off your head.' What's more compelling?"

In an initial, post-attack trust-building exercise, Henegar arranged with a local imam to have men from a nearby village help in removing the bodies of the estimated 1,200 insurgents killed in Fallujah since the Marine-led assault began Nov. 8.

The Marines hope the grisly task can establish relationships with local Iraqis needed as partners in reconstruction - and turn up leaders to help in the effort.

"The very first, most basic thing is engagement, building relationships. But the challenge is picking the right people with whom to engage. We really can't just reach down and pick leaders," says Henegar.

In the area near Fallujah, the entrenched leaders are often local sheiks, whose thicket of tribal and political affiliations aren't greatly understood by Marines.

One sheik helping in the body-collection effort, who gave his name to reporters as Abdul Hamid, smiles and joked with the Marines. But when they're not listening, he calls them the "Jew Americans."

The sheik denies to reporters that rebels ever had any presence in Fallujah, saying the Marines massacred only civilians.

"You can leave the city in the control of the sheiks and Iraqis," he tells the Marines, "because they are able men that people listen to and follow."

Marine civil affairs leaders say they're hoping to skirt politics in the short term, turning instead to people with established skills in running a metropolitan area.

"I'm going to look for a technocratic leadership, to administer the city and keep it running. I want to take the politics out of it," says De Francisci.

De Francisci, 39, from Melbourne, Florida, says Fallujah may not immediately have a thriving American-style democracy.

"What you're going to see is not Jeffersonian democracy, but probably some religious-style democracy," he said. "Not like you'd see in America, more like early Roman democracy. It won't be one person, one vote - more caucuses."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Funeral Set For Marine Whose Parents Fought Over Burial
Both Divorcees Wanted Grave Nearby

POSTED: 6:42 am PST November 22, 2004
UPDATED: 6:53 am PST November 22, 2004

LOS ANGELES -- A funeral will be held in Ventura, Calif., Monday for a 19-year-old Marine whose divorced parents fought over where he should be buried.

Marine Lance Corporal Nicholas Anderson will be buried with full military honors. He was killed on Nov. 12 in Iraq when his Humvee rolled over during a nighttime combat patrol.

Anderson's father lives in Ventura, and his mother lives in Las Vegas. They both wanted his grave nearby, so the Marine Corps stepped into the argument. It relied on an old military regulation and granted custody of his body to his eldest parent -- which is his father.

Officials at the Marine Corps casualty assistance branch say they had never before dealt with the type of dispute brought by Anderson's family. But, they say, the military is increasingly dealing with issues surrounding children of divorced parents.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

November Death Toll In Iraq Tops 100
Associated Press
November 23, 2004

WASHINGTON - Three Marines who were wounded in action during the Fallujah offensive later died at American hospitals in Germany and the United States, the Pentagon said Monday, raising the U.S. military death toll in Iraq for November to at least 101.

Since the initial U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the only other month in which U.S. deaths exceeded 100 was last April, when insurgent violence flared and Marines fought fierce battles in Fallujah and Ramadi.

The Pentagon said two Marines died Saturday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Cpl. Joseph J. Heredia, 22, of Santa Maria, Calif., was wounded in action Nov. 10 in Fallujah, and Lance Cpl. Joseph T. Welke, 20, of Rapid City, S.D., was wounded there Nov. 19, officials said.

Landstuhl is a hub for seriously wounded U.S. soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, and officials last week said the flow of injured to the hospital jumped to about twice the normal rate after the battle for Fallujah began.


Lance Cpl. Michael A. Downey, 21, of Phoenix, Ariz., died Friday at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He had been wounded Nov. 11 in Fallujah.

The official U.S. death toll for the Fallujah offensive, which began Nov. 7, has not been updated since Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said Nov. 18 that it stood at 51. But Monday's announced deaths mean the toll has risen to at least 54.

The Marines have suffered most of the Fallujah battle casualties. An exact number is not available because the Marines usually do not specify the city in which a casualty happened. Since Nov. 1, the Marines have had at least 69 deaths throughout Iraq - mostly in Fallujah. That is by far the deadliest month of the war for the Marines; their previous high was 52 last April.

Of the approximately 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 35,000 are Marines.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Meigs Marine wounded in Iraq
By: JOHNNY HUTSELL-ROYSTER Staff Writer
Source: The Daily Post-Athenian
11-22-2004

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DECATUR – Marine Lance Cpl. Brian Passolt of Meigs County was wounded on Nov. 10 during the battle to remove insurgents from Fallujah, Iraq, according to a family friend, Meigs South Elementary School teacher Charles Denton.

Passolt reportedly suffered a bullet wound just below the protective Kevlar vest soldiers wear. The sniper’s bullet struck him in the back and passed on into his stomach and damaged areas of his small intestines.

Passolt was taken to Germany for surgery to these organs. He was later transported to the military hospital in Bethesda, Md., arriving around 2 a.m. Thursday.

Passolt is the son of Kim DeCamp and the stepson of Guy DeCamp of Meigs County. Passolt is 19 years old and graduated from Meigs County High School in 2003.

Family members left Meigs County Thursday morning to go to Bethesda to be with Passolt and obtain more information about his condition.

According to Denton, Passolt went into the U.S. Marine Corps with Denton’s own stepson, Joshua Lee. The two Marines graduated from boot camp together and continued training at Camp LeJuene. When Lee received knee injuries during training, he received a medical discharge and came home, but Passolt was deployed to Iraq.

“Joshua is upset because he wasn’t with his friend in Fallujah,” Denton said. “He told me, ‘I should have been there.’”

•

Email jhroyster@xtn.net

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines Take Aim at a New Hot Spot

U.S. and Iraqi forces launch a new offensive aimed at regaining control of northern Babil province just south of Baghdad.

By Bruce Wallace
Times Staff Writer

November 23, 2004

JABELLA, Iraq -- U.S. Marines accompanied by Iraqi security forces launched a new offensive early today aimed at regaining control of northern Babil province, a region just south of Baghdad beset by kidnappings, shootings and carjackings for more than a year.

Backed by helicopters and airplanes, the combined forces raided more than a dozen homes in this small market town and arrested 32 men who they believe have been involved in the long-running series of attacks on Iraqi national guardsmen, U.S. troops and civilians.

Over the next few days, officials said, more than 5,000 American and British troops, along with 1,200 Iraqis, were expected to take part in the offensive, dubbed Operation Plymouth Rock.

Terming it their first major post-Fallouja campaign to regain control of an insurgent-riddled area outside Baghdad, officials said they would continue a series of preplanned raids in towns and farming areas largely within a so-called "death triangle" of cities bordered by Latifiya, Mahmoudiya and Yousifiya. U.S. troops have also engaged in a series of counterattacks to quell resistance in Mosul, Baghdad and other towns in the wake of their offensive to regain control of the rebel stronghold of Fallouja.

"We are going to push the fight back out to the enemy while he's reeling," said Capt. Tad Douglas, 28, who led an elite reconnaissance platoon of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in the raids. "We've seen fighters from Fallouja filtering down here, and we're going to take the offensive while they're still licking their wounds."

The operation began in the predawn darkness less than a day after Iraqi security forces recovered 12 bodies in Latifiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, where kidnappings of highway travelers have been commonplace for months. Five of the bodies had been beheaded, and one was identified as that of an Iraqi national guardsman kidnapped from a nearby town several weeks ago.

Earlier this month, U.S. Marines found the bodies of about 20 Iraqi national guard recruits, some in civilian clothes, who had been killed execution-style in a mosque and elsewhere west of Latifiya.

The largely Sunni Muslim towns and small cities in this rural region just a short drive south of Baghdad are home to an estimated 1 million people and were a stronghold of deposed President Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.

The region is also home to many of Hussein's Fedayeen fighters and elite Republican Guards, who were among the greatest losers in last year's U.S.-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq as Hussein's armed forces were defeated and then disbanded.

American officers believe Sunni rebels are also responsible for blowing up bridges and planting the roadside bombs that make north Babil a terrifying gantlet for anyone traveling between Baghdad and the Shiite Muslim cities to the south.

With operations in nearby Fallouja winding down, the Marines say they are now turning their attention to the problems south of Baghdad, where thousands of U.S. troops are being assisted by about 850 British soldiers who were recently dispatched from bases in southern Iraq to relieve U.S. forces preparing for Fallouja.

To succeed, the Marines, assisted by the British and Iraqi troops, will have to root out the insurgents among residents of the farming towns and villages that run along the Euphrates. Fed by the river and a network of canals, the land is a lush plain of farms and market towns, a landscape of high grass and deep ditches that provide cover for rebels setting up fake checkpoints or firing on convoys along the highway.

The area was also a center of Hussein's military industries and munitions plants and remains awash in explosives and skilled workers who know how to use them. Among the facilities in the region is the Al Qaqaa ammunition site, where about 380 tons of high-grade explosives were believed to have been looted after the fall of Baghdad in April 2003.

Marines have uncovered several weapons caches in northern Babil province buried in dirt fields. The arms include mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and 500-pound bombs. At this point, though, they believe they have made only a dent in the supply.

In undertaking the operation, Marine Col. Ron Johnson said the aim was to squeeze the insurgents by taking territory and freedom of movement from them. Johnson's 2,200 Marines at Forward Operating Base Kalsu have already increased their presence in the province through more aggressive patrolling of towns and back roads.

The heightened tempo is aimed at the insurgents or criminals who had grown accustomed to moving through the province with near-impunity. Marines have detained more than 600 Iraqis in raids or at roadblocks since early August.

"There are multiple factions competing for power with a multitude of interests — some of them are no more than thugs — and they want to take advantage of the chaos," said Johnson, who declared that "there will be no place my men won't go" in north Babil.

The insurgents have fired back on patrols and on low-flying helicopters backing up the ground forces. They have also planted more homemade bombs along the province's roads. The number of such explosive devices that have gone off or been defused has more than doubled since early fall.

It is not known how many of the fighters who fled Fallouja have retreated to north Babil. The Americans say they have received sketchy reports of sightings of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born militant who has taken credit for the beheadings of hostages and numerous attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces.

As much of a prize as Zarqawi would be to the Marines, the American and British troops here say the fight in north Babil goes deeper, touching the heartland of the well-armed and desperate former fighters for Hussein's regime.

"You can't have a functioning country where Shiites cannot drive from their cities to the capital," said a senior military officer at Kalsu. "The insurgents know it. And everyone in Baghdad knows it."

*


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wallace is traveling with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Times staff writer Ashraf Khalil in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Three wounded Marines are dead

Trio had been injured in Fallujah battle.

By Robert Burns
AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON — Three Marines who were wounded in action during the Fallujah offensive later died at American hospitals in Germany and the United States, the Pentagon said Monday, raising the U.S. military death toll in Iraq for November to at least 101.
Since the initial U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the only other month in which U.S. deaths exceeded 100 was last April, when insurgent violence flared and Marines fought fierce battles in Fallujah and Ramadi.

The Pentagon said two Marines died Saturday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Cpl. Joseph J. Heredia, 22, of Santa Maria, Calif., was wounded in action Nov. 10 in Fallujah, and Lance Cpl. Joseph T. Welke, 20, of Rapid City, S.D., was wounded there Nov. 19, officials said.

Landstuhl is a hub for seriously wounded U.S. soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, and officials last week said the flow of injured to the hospital jumped to about twice the normal rate after the battle for Fallujah began.

Lance Cpl. Michael A. Downey, 21, of Phoenix, Ariz., died Friday at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He had been wounded Nov. 11 in Fallujah.

The official U.S. death toll for the Fallujah offensive, which began Nov. 7, has not been updated since Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said Nov. 18 that it stood at 51. But Monday's announced deaths mean the toll has risen to at least 54.

The Marines have suffered most of the Fallujah battle casualties. An exact number is not available because the Marines usually do not specify the city in which a casualty happened. Since Nov. 1, the Marines have had at least 69 deaths throughout Iraq mostly in Fallujah. That is by far the deadliest month of the war for the Marines; their previous high was 52 last April.

Of the approximately 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 35,000 are Marines.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces recovered 12 bodies, including five decapitated ones, from an area south of Baghdad, police said Monday. One was identified as a member of the Iraqi National Guard.

The bodies were found during a raid Sunday in Latifiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, said Lt. Adnan Abdullah. The bodies were taken to the hospital in nearby Mahmoudiya, about 25 miles south of Baghdad.

Five of the men were decapitated and the rest had been shot in the head, Abdullah said, adding the bodies were found in different areas in Latifiyah. Two were recovered from a canal and the others from orchards in the area, he said.

The bodies were dressed in civilian clothes.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Soldier Who Refused To Leave Killed
Associated Press
November 23, 2004

WEST SENECA, N.Y. - When a call to active duty interrupted National Guard Spc. David Roustum's final semester in college, his Syrian-born father suggested he could avoid combat by going to Syria.

"I would send you," the father offered.

"Dad, I would never do that. This is my country and I will do whatever it takes," was Roustum's reply, his now-grieving father recalled Monday after learning Roustum had been killed in Baghdad. "That tells you the kind of person he was."

Military officials told Russ Roustum and his wife, Jennifer, that their youngest son died in an ambush Saturday. At least three other soldiers from Roustum's 108th Infantry Regiment were wounded, the family said.

Three of the injured soldiers' mothers came to the Roustums' suburban Buffalo home Sunday to say they believe David Roustum, 22, saved their sons' lives.

"Two of them are severely injured but the other one was able to talk to his mother," Russ Roustum said.




The Roustums, who live in West Seneca, had no other details on the ambush, nor did a spokesman for the Army National Guard in Albany. The Department of Defense had not yet confirmed the death Monday.

Russ Roustum said the message from the soldiers' mothers did not surprise him. His son, Roustum said, was a leader who played quarterback for his Orchard Park High School football team and captained the club hockey team the year it went from last place to first.

Roustum, who followed his older brother into the military, had been months away from finishing an accounting degree at the University at Buffalo when he was sent to Iraq in March.

At the high school Roustum attended, flags flew at half-staff Monday and students and staff observed a moment of silence after being told of Roustum's death over the public-address system.

"David was an outstanding student, athlete, soldier and human being," said the principal, Robert Farwell.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Military Academy Admissions Down
Associated Press
November 23, 2004

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Applications are down at the nation's military academies, though administrators say the drop has been caused by factors other than any chilling effect from the war in Iraq.

West Point applications were off 11 percent as of Oct. 21 compared to a year earlier. The U.S. Naval Academy posted a 20 percent drop by the same week and the U.S. Air Force Academy reported a 9 percent drop compared to early October of last year.

The numbers are not final because application deadlines for the classes entering service academies in fall 2005 are still months away. And officials at all three academies noted that current application rates are within normal ranges, despite the one-year drop.

At West Point, U.S. Military Academy administrators say the lower numbers likely reflect the tail end of an application spike that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The Naval Academy experienced a similar spike in the last two years, but officials there said it was difficult to speculate on reasons for yearly fluctuations.

The Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy all met or exceeded recruiting targets for the last year. The active-duty Army and the Army Reserve exceeded recruiting goals, while the Army National Guard fell short.


With death tolls mounting in Iraq, some military officials have said they worry lengthy deployments and hard combat could hurt recruiting.

But it's unclear whether a drawn out conflict will have an affect on military academies. While war can stir up patriotism and boost interest in military careers, the long, unpopular war in Vietnam was thought to have depressed application rates to West Point.

"I really have seen it dwindle in the last year, and that to me is curious," Brenda Melton, a counselor at the Navarro Academy in San Antonio, said. "I think part of it is that the war is a major topic and they see people getting killed over there and not everyone is in agreement with it."

U.S. Air Force Academy officials said applications got off to a fast start last year, and the rate is back to normal, with 6,952 by Oct. 4.

"That's usually where we're at this time of year," Capt. Kim Melchor said.

West Point's admissions officer, Maj. Dale Smith, said he's sure Iraq has convinced some young people that the academy is not for them. But, he said, it has not dissuaded enough people to affect application numbers, which were slightly above historical averages.

"We don't sugarcoat it at all," Smith said. "We tell them ... Every solider you see on TV in Iraq is led by a lieutenant, and those lieutenants come from West Point, and they come from ROTC."

West Point is the only service academy dealing with an above-average attrition rate for its Class of 2006 as of the start of this academic year. Of the 1,197 cadets who entered West Point in the summer of 2002, 904 remained by the end of August. The loss rate of 25 percent is greater than the previous five classes, which averaged a 20 percent loss rate.

Of two recent West Point dropouts who spoke on the condition of anonymity, one cited disenchantment with Army life and the other said Iraq was a major factor in his decision.

"I didn't want to be deployed in a war I didn't believe in," he said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Weapons stockpile found in Mosul
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press


BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. forces uncovered on Monday a massive weapons stockpile that included anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles and a building filled with explosive materials outside the northern city of Mosul, the military said.
Troops from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, unearthed the weapons cache about 45 kilometers south of Mosul in the village Shafaat, a statement said.

Among the weapons and munitions found were one anti-aircraft gun, 15,000 anti-aircraft rounds, 4,600 hand grenades, 144 grenade launchers, 25 surface-to-air missiles, 21 mortar rounds, 10 rockets and artillery rounds.

Soldiers also discovered a building full of explosive-making materials, the statement said. No other details were available.

The three-acre site has been secured and more weapons and munitions are expected to be uncovered, the military said.

Mosul is located 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

November 22, 2004

Return date uncertain for Fallujah refugees

By Gordon Trowbridge
Times staff writer


CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq — Fallujah has been freed from “a sick, depraved culture of violence,” but it is unclear when the thousands of residents who fled the city in recent weeks can return to their homes, Marine officials said Sunday.
The Iraqi interim government sent a small team to the city Sunday to begin setting up a civil administration for the former insurgent stronghold.

But Marine officers who briefed reporters Sunday evening said they could not estimate how long it would take to clear the last pockets of resistance, establish a municipal administration and provide basic services in a city shattered by nearly two weeks of combat — all of which are conditions for letting civilians back into Fallujah.

The uncertainty highlights an overarching challenge for the U.S.-led military occupation and U.S.-backed interim government. While conquering Fallujah was seen as a must in combating the insurgency and setting the stage for national elections planned for January, immense destruction and delays in returning the city to something close to normalcy threaten to further inflame Sunni Muslims already at the heart of the insurgency.

Still, Marine officials responsible for subduing the city said they will not unduly rush the reconstruction effort, and repeatedly said the Iraqi interim government, not the U.S. military, would decide when residents could return.

“I don’t think there’s pressure” to rush civilians back into the city, said Lt. Col. Michael Paulk, a civil affairs officer with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

Paulk outlined efforts to begin restoring electricity, water and sewer service to the city, including a plan to place water bladders at positions throughout the city so citizens could come draw water.

He also said military officials do not yet have a count of damaged or destroyed homes in the city, though he admitted damage was extensive. Journalists embedded with U.S. troops inside the city witnessed destruction on a massive scale, with entire city blocks of homes badly damaged or reduced to rubble.

Paulk indicated the $2,500 cap on compensation payments to Iraqi families that has been in place for months might not apply to Fallujah.

“Money is not the issue,” Paulk said. “The issue is properly compensating people for their loss of property or life.”

The first obstacle to the return of residents is safety. Lt. Col. Daniel Wilson, the expeditionary force’s deputy director of current operations, said there were as many as 50,000 buildings in the city, all of which must be checked room-by-room for insurgents and weapons.

Wilson said it’s not clear what percentage of the city remains to be cleared.

Despite the uncertainties ahead, Marine officers seem certain that they had dealt the Iraqi insurgency a serious blow.

“They no longer have a safe haven. They no longer have a place they can take hostages, torture and kill them,” said intelligence officer Maj. Jim West.

West said Marine and Army units had identified about 15 locations throughout the city they believed were used as torture or murder sites by insurgents. Some were believed to be sites were hostages whose capture had dominated Western media coverage of the insurgency had been held and killed.

“There was a sick, depraved culture of violence in that city,” said Wilson, the operations officer.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

November 22, 2004

Force to be reckoned with
Corps kicks up martial arts program, crafting new, tweaked techniques

By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer


When you just gotta hurt someone, try the new “guillotine choke” and drop your opponent to his knees within seconds. Or the “cross elbow,” which delivers a nasty blow to the head out of nowhere. Wanna give the bad guy a surprise hit in the ribs? Maybe the “round knee” will do the trick.
If you’re looking for effective ways to subdue the enemy, control him or even kill him, MACE is the place. And now they’ve got a few new tricks you’ll definitely want to learn.

The Martial Arts Center of Excellence, or MACE, at Quantico, Va., has a laundry list of new-and-improved martial arts techniques it’s rolling out — right now. Officials there conducted a major “scrub” of the Corps’ popular martial arts program, its first review since the program was born four years ago.

The changes, which went into effect Oct. 1, give Marines an array of new techniques at all levels of training, from tan to black belts.

Under the improved program, Marines should be able to train safer, but they’ll also become more effective warriors.

“We’re just trying to give Marines out there more tools,” he said. “Not every technique works in every situation.”

In need of updating

When then-Marine Commandant Gen. James Jones asked his subordinates to create a martial arts program in 2000, officials developed a multifaceted discipline that would reinforce Marines’ warrior spirit. The program was to emphasize physical as well as mental discipline while building character. A program was established quickly in order to get something in place before Jones left office.

It was an immediate hit, and Marines began doing “Semper Fu” on the decks of ships, in the desert and on bases and air stations across the fleet.

But the program was still in its conceptual stages, and it’s been a work in progress in need of an update ever since. So, earlier this year, the Martial Arts Center of Excellence assembled more than 30 black belt instructor-trainers and other experts to do a top-to-bottom review.

They received reams of input from the operating forces. Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan also demanded the program get a fresh look.

The “course content review board” didn’t revamp the martial arts program so much as it tweaked it. Each of the program’s 172 techniques got another look. About 10 moves were eliminated, 12 were added and about eight more were modified, said Lt. Col. Joseph C. Shusko, director of the program.

Shusko said the changes will go a long way to standardize martial arts training.

“We’re trying not to make changes after changes after changes,” Shusko said. “That was the problem in the early years.”

The review board not only put 20 new or tweaked moves into place. It also formalized training for the black belt, creating specific certification for each of the belt’s six proficiency levels.

The program is scheduled to get another hard look in 2006, Shusko said.

New, deadlier moves

The thrust of the changes have more to do with making Marines more effective martial artists, giving them more options, officials said.

Take the new guillotine choke, which can get the job done either in a standing or ground position. It allows a Marine to take control of a hostile encounter after an opponent has tackled him to the ground or has him in a headlock.

“It can render your opponent unconscious and do serious damage to the neck in five to 13 seconds,” said Gunnery Sgt. Steven Collett, the 37-year-old chief trainer of instructor-trainers at the Corps’ Martial Arts Center of Excellence.

Or take the “arm bar from the mount,” a modified technique taught at the gray belt level in which the Marine sits astride an opponent lying on his back. If the opponent tries to push the Marine off him or even choke him, the move allows the Marine to use his weight on the opponent’s upper body, pivot on the opponent’s shoulder and put him in an arm lock more efficiently than the old method.

“The new way is easier and quicker,” Collett said.

With the new “round knee” move, a leatherneck can shake himself loose from an opponent who has him in a clench by using the force of his knee and inner thigh to strike a blow at the opponent’s rib cage.

“It was a good product to begin with. We’re just making it that much better for Marines,” said Sgt. Stephen Redmond, 24, a grunt and close combat instructor-trainer with MACE who helped demonstrate the new moves Nov. 1 in a courtyard at Quantico.

New requirements

There’s also a new advanced black belt syllabus as part of the changes, meaning Marines who have reached black belt status must now become certified at their particular skill level. Until now, leathernecks could attain varying degrees of proficiency, but weren’t tested on them.

“The degrees will not just be handed out,” a MACE newsletter said in August.

There are six degrees of black belt, and Marines wear the small band on their belts to signify which degree they’ve achieved. In some cases, Marines completed a certain level of black belt training so they could fill a particular billet, but hadn’t been certified in those degrees.

But now there will be specific goals to achieve before those bands can be worn. Marines who already have the colored bands will have to “test out” to continue wearing them. To achieve the second degree, for example, a Marine will have to demonstrate 18 months time in grade as a first-degree; complete 156 hours of martial arts sustainment training; complete 26 hours of the combat engagement pattern; complete a book report from the commandant’s reading list; write a paper on a civilian “discipline” and do 40 hours of volunteer work in the local community.

The changes to the program have another benefit — fewer broken bones. Corps leaders have always worried aloud that if they’re not careful, the program could turn leathernecks into a bunch of quasi-disciplined ninjas who could hurt each other unnecessarily. Barroom brawls could become lethal. Jones himself said the “art form” of the program is influencing action, not using force.

But the program has still prompted some injuries. One Marine ruptured his spleen after a strike to the stomach during training in April 2002.

The changes help prevent some injuries, Shusko said.

“We noticed we were breaking people, so now we do it just a little bit smarter,” he said.

But the technical changes only give a new-and-improved look and feel to the physical aspect of the martial arts program, training officials say. The mind-set that is achieved from the mental rigor and development of character is what is inherent to any success Marines will have in the program.

“Techniques are great, but you don’t need techniques to fight, you need the mind-set,” Collett said.

Changes to the program

• Counter to the Front Headlock

Gray belt

Begin in the front headlock position. Clear your airway and tuck your chin, then reach through with your rear hand and grab your opponent’s triceps. Turn your head out and rotate your body to stand side-to-side to assume the escort position and take your opponent down.


• Arm Bar from the Mount

Gray belt

Mounted on your opponent, place your hands on your opponent’s chest. With your strong-side hand, cross over your opponent’s left arm. With your weak-side hand, come up underneath his right arm and trap his left arm close to your leg and jump to the squatting position. Using your strong-side leg, cross over his head to trap his arm between your legs and bend his arm in the opposite direction that it goes naturally.


• Knife techniques: strong side/forward and reverse thrust

Black belt

Flips the old method with a new one, putting your knife in your strong-side hand instead of your weak hand. Begin in the modified basic warrior stance. Strong-side hand will be forward, though forward and reverse thrust remains the same as gray belt.


• Upper body strikes/ridge hand

Green belt

Starting from the warrior stance, use the thumb side of the hand to strike at the right side of your opponent’s neck or temple. Extend your hand, strike, rotate your hips and shoulders, and rapidly retract to warrior stance. The so-called clothesline can be used here, when appropriate, using your forearm to strike at the neck or temple.

• Armed manipulations/overhand grab

Tan belt

Begin in port-arms position. As your opponent attempts an overhand grab of your weapon, pull the muzzle to the left, down and back to the right to release opponent’s grip in a “Trace the ‘C’” motion.


• Guillotine Choke/standing

Black belt

Starting from the basic warrior stance, when your opponent comes in for a takedown, wrap your right arm around your opponent’s neck, followed by the left arm to form a palm-on-palm clasp. Wrap your right leg around his lead leg. Use your hips and arching back, and pull up on his neck.


• Firearms retention: Same side grab from rear/front

Brown belt

Facing your opponent, as he reaches for your pistol with his left hand, grab his hand with your right hand. At the same time, step back with your right leg to strike your opponent’s trachea. Then, draw your pistol and aim at opponent.

From the rear, with your opponent behind you attempting to gain control of your pistol with his right hand, grab your opponent’s hand with your right hand, pivot toward him and do a reverse wrist lock, placing downward pressure on wrist. Double your distance, draw your pistol and aim.


• Round knee

Green belt

Starting in the basic warrior stance, grasp your opponent in a clench; raise your knee and rotate toward opponent, striking vigorously with the inside of the knee in the ribs area of your opponent.


• Cross Elbows

Brown belt

Bring your elbow down diagonally toward your opponent and use body momentum to strike through the target area of your opponent, then retract to basic warrior stance.


• Push kick from lead leg/back leg

Green belt

Starting from the basic warrior stance, raise your knee from lead or back leg to your waist, extend your toe, striking the ball of your foot into the opponent’s abdominal area.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Wounded Iraqi Troops Fill AF Hospital
By Ron Jensen
Stars and Stripes
European Edition
November 23, 2004

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq — Iraqi troops wounded as they fought alongside Americans in the recent Fallujah offensive are filling nearly half of the beds at the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad, worrying doctors about the availability of bed space should another tidal wave of patients arrive.

"We are very nervous," said Dr. (Col.) Greg Wickern, commander of the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group.

Unlike the wounded Americans, Iraqi casualties are not evacuated to the Army Regional Medical Center at Landstuhl, Germany. They remain in Iraq, requiring a bed and the attention of the medical staff.

And because of both a weak health care system in Iraq and the danger faced by Iraqis who help Americans, many patients cannot be released from the hospital at Balad Air Base, known as Logistics Support Area Anaconda.

If another military action or a particularly effective mortar blast create a large number of casualties for Wickern’s hospital, he said, "We would have to swell our bed space."




An Air Force Theater Hospital is defined as an 84-bed hospital with the capacity to expand. Specific numbers of patients are not discussed.

During the recent fighting in Fallujah, the hospital received hundreds of wounded, including American troops, Iraqi allies, enemy combatants and civilians.

Fifty-one American servicemembers and about eight Iraqi soldiers were killed during offensive to take back Fallujah, said Marine Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, in a news conference from Fallujah on Friday. About 425 American and 43 Iraqi servicemembers were injured during the fighting.

Wickern said about 20 percent of the patients treated at the hospital during the weeklong offensive in Fallujah were Iraqis fighting alongside Americans, but those casualties now tie up between 40 and 50 percent of the beds.

The Iraqi patients require ongoing care from the hospital staff, unlike wounded Americans who are evacuated for additional care as soon as possible, sometimes within hours. American patients rarely stay longer than a day or two.

"We have to provide a much more definitive level of care for our host nationals," said Dr. (Lt. Col.) Jim Quinn, hospital chief of staff. "The volume of total care we give them has been a surprise."

Because of the nature of the injuries, many patients are unable to receive the care they need in the local hospitals, Wickern said.

"The Iraqi health care system is trying to build itself back up," he said. The Ministry of Health has made that a priority.

But it still lags behind and can not offer the treatment many of these patients need.

Also, the patients could face the wrath of insurgents who want to discourage with graphic measures cooperation with America.

"You can’t take these people and put them in a facility that is not considered infiltration-proof," Wickern said.

Some patients have been released to family members.

An Iraqi physician visits the hospital once a week to assess patients and take those he thinks can be treated safely outside the wire of the American base, Wickern said.

"Normally, he takes about two people back each trip," he said.

Wickern would like the visits increased to two or three times weekly to possibly empty more of the beds before they are needed for new patients.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Residents give escort to Marine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Neil Vigdor
Staff Writer, The Greenwich Time
November 23, 2004

As sacrifices go, Bobby Easton said he paid a small price yesterday by taking the day off from work and driving halfway across the state to provide a military escort for someone who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The solemn procession was for U.S. Marine Cpl. Kevin John Dempsey, who on Nov. 13 became the first soldier with Greenwich ties to die in the war in Iraq.

The body of the fallen corporal was transported from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware back to the town of his childhood by a gray hearse, his flag-draped casket accompanied from the state border to Leo P. Gallagher & Son Funeral Home by a motorcade of police and civilians such as Easton, director of operations for Waterbury-based Connecticut Rolling Flags.

The nonprofit organization provides escorts for soldiers killed in combat and those returning from deployment.

"This kid gave up his life for our country," said the Waterbury man, who designs engine parts for a living. "He deserves the best welcome home you can get."

Easton, 57, who started the organization after the first Gulf War to show his appreciation for the military, waited at the Interstate 95 weigh station in Greenwich for about two hours in his custom van until the hearse's arrival.

Images of an American flag and bald eagle graced the van's rear window, while a side window memorialized Dempsey with a sign that read, "He gave his all for God and Country."

A one-time Greenwich Catholic School student, Dempsey, 23, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps just a few months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"You get kind of teary-eyed," said Rocky Hill resident Kimberly Leonard, 19, who was one of the younger members of Connecticut Rolling Flags to escort Dempsey's hearse to the funeral home.

Also waiting for the hearse's arrival was John Scanlon, 53, a Vietnam War veteran from Newington, who, like Dempsey, served in the U.S. Marines.

Scanlon sat behind the wheel of his flag-adorned pickup truck in full military fatigues, reprising a role that he's come too well to know, having driven in the motorcades of 16 of Connecticut's 17 soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan as part of Connecticut Rolling Flags.

"(It's) very important for his family and people to know he is supported," said Scanlon, a union carpenter. "I'd like them to know their son didn't die in vain."

The hearse arrived at the weigh station around 3:30 p.m., where a U.S. Marines Corps staff sergeant emerged from its passenger seat, his formal uniform still crisp despite the long drive.

After briefly stopping to give Dempsey's family time to arrive at the funeral home, the hearse fell fourth into line behind a police cruiser, Easton's van and Scanlon's pickup truck. Two vehicles followed and a police motorcycle rode beside the hearse.

Helping to escort the hearse were Greenwich police Sgt. Timothy Berry and Motor Officer Ron Carosella, who stopped traffic at several intersections to ensure an unimpeded route.

The motorcade rumbled up Arch Street to the funeral home, drawing stares from passers-by and salutes from police officers and military brass gathered outside.

For U.S. Marines Corps veteran and Greenwich resident Jim McMurray, the scene conjured up memories. He served from 1976 to 1979.

"It makes me proud and sad at the same time," said McMurray, 46, a lifelong town resident and landscaper who was walking by the funeral home.

From one generation of U.S. Marine to another waiting at the funeral home to greet the motorcade, Dempsey's sacrifice was viewed as a testament to his selfless nature, something worthy of the Purple Heart presented moments later to his grieving family.

"The thing I wish everybody knew, take all the politics out of it, for the most part, those kids over there are good," said Gunnery Staff Sgt. Michael Raybon, Dempsey's platoon leader from Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Raybon met with Dempsey's family at the mortuary, where they watched the fallen Marine's casket being unloaded from the hearse. The setting was surprisingly unfamiliar to Raybon, who was attending his first military funeral.

"Hopefully this is my last one," Raybon said.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

A Marine's gotta do what a Marine's gotta do
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Kevin Myers
Filed: 21/11/2004

Not being a subscriber to al-Jazeera television, I can only imagine what it has recently been playing on its news service - but I'd go bail it was clips of the US Marine shooting dead a wounded Iraqi in a mosque in Fallujah. Indeed, it is probably on a continuous loop. Needless to say - for reasons of "sensitivity" - al-Jazeera is not showing the murder of Margaret Hassan.

The outcry over the killing by the Marine passes all belief. Moreover, we actually know the context for the shooting. The Marines thought the room in the mosque contained only dead bodies, not wounded. When the Marine saw a "dead" man move, he cried out first, and then shot him.

Lance Corporal Ian Malone and Piper Christian Muzvuru, 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, RIP, took no such precautions in Basra in April last year. They simply ignored the body of the dead fedayeen fighter as they dismounted from their Warrior armoured fighting vehicle - and it, being on a suicide mission, promptly rose up and shot them both, before itself being blown apart. Thenceforth, the "Micks" probably made it their business to re-kill every corpse they saw.

I agree it's not nice. War is not nice - and the US Marine that the entire world has now seen kill a defenceless, wounded man, had probably spent the previous two days in street-fighting and house-clearing. This kind of warfare causes unspeakable stress, for soldiers are in danger every second, for hour after hour after hour. It is simply fatuous to sit in high moral judgment on the split-second decision-making of some 20-year-old in the middle of such combat.

In other words, I'm saying the Marine who killed the Iraqi did the right thing - he put the lives of himself and his colleagues first. Ask Mrs Malone in Dublin or Mrs Muzvuru in Harare what they now fervently wish their sons had done.

No, the real issue here is the presence of the cameraman in the frontline and the decision to broadcast the footage he took. Supposedly, all material filmed by "embedded" cameramen - ones formally attached to a unit - is vetted by military commanders before transmission. I don't know whether this footage was vetted; if it was, then the commander who authorised it is an utter fool, and if it wasn't, then the cameraman responsible should congratulate himself on handing such a propaganda coup to the enemy.

What about the freedom of the media? Well, that is a question that only one side of this war will even begin to understand. To Islamic fundamentalists, such freedom is taking a liberty with common sense, self-interest and the very reason why they're fighting. Indeed, their war is against all such effeminate, self-indulgent weaknesses that so characterise Western society.

Even for democrats, the media cannot be free in war: the zaniest of media-libertarians understand that they may not disclose military secrets. If that principle is accepted, is it then so very wrong for the defenders of freedom to ensure that that freedom is not used as a weapon against them? For the media cannot have true freedom in a battlefront where their existence and their survival are only made possible by the presence of allied armed forces.

So what was an independent camera crew doing with frontline troops in the course of urban fighting - the filthiest kind of war there is? An "atrocity" of some kind is sooner or later bound to happen, the revelation of which can serve to assist only one side in this war. Why therefore allow cameras to be free to record what can only be of value to your enemy? Freedom's freedom is freedom's foe.

To allow such unfettered media access to the fighting is to forget the stakes being played for in Iraq. All the enemy has to do is to maintain the status quo: that is his victory. On the other hand, it is not necessary for the allies to force a surrender of the enemy, as in 1945, before they withdraw - as withdraw they must. But they do have to make the equivalent of the Rhine crossing, and allow the Iraqi security forces to get on with the job, meanwhile ignoring the largely narcissistic needs of the Western media.

Moreover, an unprecedented struggle awaits us when Iraq is done. We in the media must learn what our role in that struggle will be. Vicarious indignation at so-called atrocities is a moral frivolity: it proves that we are unaware of the scale of the crisis we face, now and into the foreseeable future. Our common enemy has vision, dedication, courage and intelligence. He is profoundly grateful for whatever tit-bits come his way: our media have a moral obligation to ensure that we are scattering absolutely none in his direction.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. Looks to Minimize Chaos of Troop Rotation in Iraq
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Tribune
11/23/2004

Nov. 23--WASHINGTON--As they launch their second large-scale rotation of troops for the war in Iraq, U.S. commanders are trying to minimize the tumult that the first changeover caused a year ago--a tumult critics say puts more troops at risk while contributing to the loss of U.S. control over several important Iraqi cities.

The rotation of more than 250,000 troops to and from Iraq over the next four months will occur as Iraq struggles to stage its first national elections on Jan. 30, an event in which U.S. forces will play a vital security role.

For the coming year, commanders intend to keep the U.S. force in Iraq at the same level as for 2004--about 140,000 troops. That number, though, is likely to increase temporarily by at least 5,000 soldiers during the election period, military commanders say, and could grow even further if they deem it necessary to tap into the Army's strategic reserve, units that are prepared to deploy quickly.

In addition, some U.S. commanders in Iraq are saying they may need a larger American force there to quell the insurgency, according to one report Monday, though the U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for Iraq, has yet to make that request.

Pentagon planners are now preparing to maintain the U.S. presence in Iraq until at least until 2010, a far longer commitment than initially expected and one that will dramatically affect the structure of U.S. ground forces worldwide, according to military sources. That makes the handling of the periodic troop rotations all the more crucial.

To keep the transition as smooth as possible, the Pentagon over the past year has expanded the training that troops receive before being deployed to Iraq, exposing them to the tactics and weapons used by the anti-American insurgency and conducting cultural and religious briefings for operations in a Muslim country.

This time, as well, some seasoned forces will return, including the 3rd Infantry Division, which led the initial charge to Baghdad in 2003, and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which previously served in western Iraq.

But as it did a year ago, the Pentagon's approach of a single, massive troop rotation, conducted each year to honor soldiers' one-year deployments, has come under criticism from inside and outside military ranks. Some argue that this sort of full-scale changeover--rather than a more phased rotation--can cause unnecessary loss of U.S. lives because inexperienced troops so quickly replace battle-wise soldiers.

Others say the changeover last January contributed to the loss of important Iraqi cities that were once relatively calm and even showed promise of supporting the American effort and the interim Iraqi government. That's because the incoming troops did not have the time to absorb from their departing counterparts what tactics worked best, critics say.

The city of Mosul, for instance, was quickly stabilized by the Army's 101st Airborne Division shortly after the spring 2003 U.S. Iraq invasion. Officers there helped stage early local elections and launched ambitious reconstruction projects.

As the 101st neared its departure date in late 2003, however, violence began to escalate, and it grew worse as the 1st Infantry Division took command of the area. Just last week, 2,500 U.S. troops had to storm back into the city's center to regain control of a police station that had been attacked and held by insurgents.

Much the same happened in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province. It was tense but generally under control a year ago. But with the departure of the 82nd Airborne Division and the arrival of Marines last spring, the city experienced escalating violence and parts of it are now no-go zones for U.S. troops.

The 82nd Airborne Division "had a very cautious way of working," said a senior U.S. official. "They tended to be off the streets unless they needed to be there, and that was about the threshold that the Iraqis would tolerate."

But then, the official said, "The Marines came in with a whole different template--a guy on every street corner, patrolling every block. And the Iraqis said, 'It's a year on, and we're being re-occupied.'"

Following the recent assault on the city of Fallujah, U.S. troops will continue their city-to-city bid to regain control of the Sunni triangle, the volatile, central Iraq region that is at the center of the anti-American insurgency.

With Iraqi elections scheduled for early next year, the test will come over the next two months, when U.S. and Iraqi forces try to sustain control over the capital, Baghdad, as well as Fallujah, Samarra, Tikrit and Mosul. Efforts to regain parts of Ramadi and other parts of the western Anbar province will follow.

"We can win a [military] victory," said Army Col. Paul Hughes, former director of strategic planning for the Coalition Provisional Authority. "But it if it's not followed up to produce tangible results for the civilians, the civilians are going to go right back on the fence and wait to see who wins."

The longer that effort takes, the tougher it is on the U.S. forces worldwide. The Iraq war has strained an exhausted ground force. The Army and Marines are struggling to meet retention and recruiting goals, although commanders say most goals have so far been met. Weapons, vehicles, aircraft and other equipment are operating at grueling rates in harsh conditions. Military spending in Iraq is now $11.5 billion a month.

Gen. Michael Hagee, the Marine Corps commandant, told a congressional committee last week that one of his officers reported that 150 vehicles under his command had accumulated 825,000 miles on 700 convoys over a seven-month period. Normally, Hagee said, it would take 13 years for the unit to acquire that mileage.

"We should also not make the mistake of thinking this war will end in a year or two, or that eventual success in Iraq and Afghanistan will be the last battles in our campaign against terror," Hagee said.

Each new rotation of troops has prompted significant changes in how Marines and soldiers are being prepared for Iraq. Information on insurgent tactics--from roadside explosive devices to ambushes to sniping--is now quickly transferred to Army and Marines training centers, where the tactics are simulated on troops preparing for deployment.

Both services also now instruct troops on the cultural and religious issues they likely will face, whether they search through Iraqi homes or conduct operations near mosques. The Marines give troops selected from some units a six-month course in Arabic, which they hope will help with rudimentary communication.

On a tactical level, the Marine Corps has tailored its Basic Urban Skill Training course for conditions in Iraq. Marines headed for Iraq are put through the course at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif.

"It includes a three-day, three-night continuous scenario with pieces in which they're exposed to all the elements of a typical Iraqi town--a mosque, a school, private houses," said Maj. John Simeoni of the Marine Warfighting Laboratory in Quantico, Va. "It includes people who are role players in that village, just so they [Marines] can consider the criteria of what to do to search a house, or if they want to search a mosque, what they should consider, who they should talk to."

The Army has a larger-scale training effort in its two national training centers in California and Louisiana. Iraqis and Arabs have been enlisted to simulate riots and insurgent attacks in the "villages" and cityscapes that have been erected. Liaison officers with Army units in Iraq relate information on new insurgent tactics to the training centers and also post that information on secure web sites for officers and troops to read.

Recognizing that intelligence on the insurgency remains in short supply, the number of military intelligence teams for each Army brigade has been increased to three from two, according to the Pentagon, and intelligence officers working at the command level rotate on a different schedule in an effort to provide more consistency.

The number of Army units operating the 450 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) now flying in Iraq also has been increased. Each Army brigade (up to 5,000 troops) will have four teams of 22 soldiers operating and maintaining UAVs, according to an Army spokesman.

Still, the military's method of actually transferring command between units remains largely the same: equipment departs for Iraq a month or two before the troops, and the units overlap for about two weeks. Advance teams go to Iraq a month ahead of the main force for briefings, and then relay the information to colleagues back home. Data swaps on intelligence and other operational information also begin a month before a unit deploys.

The big difference this time around, officers say, may be the need to extend the service of troops already in Iraq until the January election. The Washington Post Monday quoted unnamed commanders in Iraq who said a larger force may be needed to put down the insurgency.

During a Pentagon briefing Friday, Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command, said that a "brigade's worth" of (about 5,000) troops will probably be kept in Iraq over the election period and that more could be quickly deployed. But the size of the force, Smith said, wasn't the only factor to consider.

"The issue, by the way, is not just numbers," Smith said. "The issue is really about experienced troops during this period of time of expected increased violence.


Ellie