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Iraqi & Coalition forces Order of Battle as of April 2007. |
By DJ Elliott, CJ Radin and Bill Roggio
The April 2007 updates to the Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle are now available at the ISF OOB Page. The significant changes to the Order of Battle are summarized below.
Significant changes to OOB
• Iraqi Support Command (SUPCOM)
The Iraqi Military has create a Support Command headquarters (SUPCOM) that is based in Baghdad to provide National level command of the National Support Depot at Taji and the Regional Support Units (RSUs) in Al Kasik (Mosul), Habbaniyah, Kirkuk, Nasiriyah, and Numaniyah The RSUs and National Depot support the Iraqi divisions in their sectors. A National Maintenance Depot will form this summer.
• Two new divisions are forming.
The Iraqi security froces are forming two new divisions: the 11th Iraqi Army Division, which will be based out of Kirkuk, and the Rusafa Area Command, which will be based in east Baghdad. The final organization of these Divisions is unclear.
• The 11th Division is currently forming and will consist of at least two infantry Brigades, each with three infantry battalions and Brigade Special Troops Battalion. The 11th Division will also have a Special Troops Battalion, a Motor Transport Regiment, a Base Support Unit (Battalion) and an Engineer Battalion.
• The Rusafa Area Command (RAC) will be a joint Iraqi Army and Iraqi National Police division based out of Samarra. While the makeup is still unclear, it appears the RAC will absorb the 2nd Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Army Division and the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Iraqi National Police Division plus a new Joint MP Brigade that may be the template for all of the brigades of RAC. The division will likely have a Special Troops Battalion, a Motor Transport Regiment, a Base Support Unit (Battalion) and an Engineer Battalion.
19 Comments
Amazing Work! I am impressed.
How will the refusal to pass the war supplemental effect the Iraqi Army DJ Elliott?
Thanks, and that answers a long term question for me. Who will be patrolling the East side of the Tigris River from Baghdad through Diyala and Saladin provinces? It appears the two new divisions will in major part.
Hopefully, many of the new Iraqi troops will be available soon after a push through Diyala.
ECH:
Look on notes page.
FY07sup notes and link to Green book are provided.
The big part is the funding for equipping and training 33000 IA support troops.
Delay in IA expansion and logistical independance…
Specificaly Feb07 entry.
Neo:
Original Plan was to have new formations initial formed by end-Apr.
Part of that equipping is in the FY07sup request (New Divs’ logistics, MPs, etc…)
MG Caldwell was anticipating 11x IA Divs in-lead by end-2007.
Move that projected date to the right for however long the sup is delayed.
PG3
http://www.defendamerica.mil/pdf/200704/20070404CALDWELL.pdf
Illuminating document. Thanks DJ.
It would be nice to see this in a timeline perspective to show the outstanding work the U.S. solider has and is doing. It should then be sent to every member on congress and the MSM. GREAT WORK!
Bruce Campbell
Items like that realy should be done by military PAOs. E.G.:
http://www.defenselink.mil/home/dodupdate/iraq-update/Handovers/index.html
For some reason they have not updated that in almost four months. Last update was released two weeks before we started publishing the OOBs. Just before latest BSP was announced…
US OPSEC is improving a little bit and in some locations…
So how big does this make the Iraqi army? Is it growing fast enough?
Nothing is “fast enough” for some people. Growing too fast from my point of view. Inexperienced NCOs and Officers…
At this point the IA have an authorized end-strength of 175,000 but, that does not include the 33,000 support troops in the delayed FY07sup.
Approx 208,000 IA by end 2007 appears to be the original target.
How long the funding delay will be is unk…
Current is ~145,000 IA.
~7500 individual Replacements basic trained every five weeks,
~5500 being basic trained for new units every five weeks,
1800-2000 Cadets are in one-year training to become officers.
Note: Those numbers do not include future plans to add Artillery Bdes/Bns, air defense, etc. Looking at the holes in the IA organization, I see a probable planned end-strength in the 300-400,000 range. Big fudge factor due to insuficient data on planned total number of Divisions.
Thanks, DJ,
I think those are the number everyone will be looking at over the next year.
The “surge” is supposed to buy time to build up Iraq’s own security. Strangely, I seldom see or hear a report on how well the Iraqis are doing building up that army.
It’ll be interesting to see how the rules of engagement change when the Iraqi army really is in charge, and U.S. forces are in more of a support role. Of course, the first question is, when?
Frank Warner
In the North:
In Mosul the coalition has one Battalion.
Ninawa has been nominated as PIC.
Sulmaniyah, Irbil and Dohuk are PIC in all but name.
One US Bde and One Korean Bde are total coalition presense in the northern four provinces (KRG plus Ninawa).
We are getting ready to pull US forces in MND-North into Kirkuk/Salahdin/Diyala and pull out of the rest going into overwatch.
In the south:
Najaf, Muthanna, DhiQar and (later this month) Maysan are PIC. The ISF does the security and 8th/10th IADs are expanding forces.
In Anbar:
I am seeing signs of 7th IA Div getting ready to go into the lead. Nature of some of the recent ops indicates the infant Division (15 months old) is graduating.
The two new Divisions forming are in North and Baghdad: The problem zone. If they ever get funded, they should be in-lead in 7-10 months. Faster than current batch because they will be able to use experienced cadre from the other 10 Divisions.
With the exception of two schools, the IA trains its own with only MiTTs observing and coaching…
To give a basis of comparison:
– It takes three years for the US Army to build a new Division.
– In Iraq, 10xIA, 2xINP and 5xDBE Divisions have been built in three years.
Too Fast…
It takes 3 years for us to form divisions in peacetime, but that process could be sped up. Iraqi forces are gaining experience under fire. Their troops don’t rotate out after some set period of months, they are there for the duration.
I would venture to guess that once all is said and done, Iraq is going to have the best army in the region.
Crosspatch
True enough.
But there are many soft spots due to inexperienced NCO/Officer Corps.
That makes me very nervious.
I think about the two green WWII US Divisions at the Bulge that disintegrated under fire…
That is why I am glad of the over-representation of former-peshmerga in the IA. And why I hope more chose to join the IA. They have experienced NCO/Officers and the IA needs that badly.
I expect the IA to be in the Top 5 Armies in the ME given 5-8 years. Until then it will be rocky road. They need experience and only time can provide that…
Note: 5-8 years of advisorary. 2 years of heavy US presense to get them to the point of standing with only advisors/air.
Well, almost two years before we get a new president. Let’s hope the fundamental work will be done.