View Full Version : Iraq+Reserves Huh?
NousDefionsDoc
09-26-2004, 20:29
Article (http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/1029996.html)
Army Sends Weaponless Reserve Unit To Iraq
About 800 members of the 98th Army Reserve Division from Rochester, New York will begin a year-long mission in Iraq next month.
The unit, which normally trains reserve and active-duty soldiers in the U.S., will find itself training Iraq’s new army.
The 98th is a non-combat unit that doesn't even have its own weapons or vehicles.
"This is a hard war and we, frankly, inside the Army Reserve have been not properly prepared for it,” said Lt. Gen. James Helmly, chief of the U.S. Army Reserve.
Sounds like BS to me. 800 members of the 98th ???? Div?
Excuse while I go Google this.
Sounds like BS to me. 800 members of the 98th ???? Div?
Excuse while I go Google this.
Well it looks like fact but "slanted". The way I read it from the 98th Div Home Page, they are the Army's instructors, teaching at every level from JROTC to the USMA.
The mission of the 98th Division (Institutional Training) is to provide training opportunities through the Total Army School System (TASS); to provide expansion capability to the Army Training Center; to provide training and support to JROTC, ROTC and USMA; to provide units and individuals in support of contingency operations; to provide a superior quality of life to its internal and external customers.
NousDefionsDoc
09-26-2004, 22:06
Army is mobilizing a reserve training unit to help train Iraqi troops
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Army Reserve is sending to Iraq about 800 soldiers from a unit that normally trains reserve and active-duty soldiers in the United States and has never deployed overseas in the 45 years that it has been part of the Reserve.
Members of the Rochester, N.Y.-based 98th Division will begin heading to Iraq next month to help train the fledgling Iraqi army, and they will be there for 12 months, Army Reserve officials said Thursday.
Lt. Gen. James Helmly, chief of the Army Reserve, pointed to the highly unusual mobilization as an illustration of how part-time soldiers must get used to the idea that they can be called to active duty, even if they are members of a non-combat unit like the 98th.
Since word went out that the 98th was going to Iraq, "I've gotten cards, letters, e-mails (asking), 'How can you do that?"' Helmly said, referring to reaction within the Reserve to mobilizing and sending to a combat zone a unit that does not have its own vehicles and weapons.
The 800 soldiers will form what Helmly called a provisional command, the Foreign Army Training and Assistance Command, operating under the direction of Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who is responsible for building up Iraqi security forces so that U.S. forces can eventually go home.
Speaking more broadly of the changing nature of service as a part-time soldier, Helmly said the Army Reserve has yet to fully adapt to the demands of a global war on terrorism, even though half of its 205,000 members have been called to active duty since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"We're at war, this is a hard war and we, frankly, inside the Army Reserve have been not properly prepared for it," he said, adding that he has seen some encouraging signs of progress.
Many members of the Army Reserve, like their fellow part-time soldiers in the National Guard, are not used to being mobilized for the kind of long and dangerous duty they face in Iraq.
"Every time I visit a unit I take about 45 minutes to an hour and try to talk to all of them and explain to them every initiative we have under way to properly prepare ourselves and bring the institution to a wartime footing, but it's hard," Helmly said Thursday in an interview with reporters.
The Army Reserve has about 38,500 on active duty now, and those in Iraq are serving 12-month tours, which is twice as long as mobilized Reserve members spend on peacekeeping duty in Bosnia and Kosovo.
"You must prepare yourself physically, mentally, spiritually," Helmly said he advises Reserve soldiers, "such that you are prepared for a call to active duty just as if you knew the hour and the day that it would come. That's a long-term change" from attitudes developed over decades.
For years the conventional wisdom among Army Reserve members was that they were unlikely to get mobilized, and if they did it would be for non-combat duty in a secure rear area, far from the fighting.
The war in Iraq, where no soldier is immune from attack, has shattered that belief.
Too often, Helmly said, he hears that members of a newly mobilized Reserve unit respond to the news of their activation by saying, "I didn't think it was going to happen to us," and they are not prepared.
"I frankly have started to put a boot up some people's fannies about getting everyone ready," he said.
Generally the Army Reserve's role is to provide support services like medical specialists, military police and truck drivers. The active-duty Army gets its backup combat troops mainly from the National Guard. In Iraq, however, danger haunts every soldier, regardless of role.
Helmly said driving trucks is one of the most hazardous occupations in Iraq. "Truck drivers and the MPs are front-line troops these days," he said.
As an illustration of that, the fatalities announced by the Pentagon on Thursday included Spc. Lauro G. DeLeon Jr., 20, of Floresville, Texas, of the Army Reserve's 644th Transportation Co. based in Beaumont, Texas. DeLeon was killed by a roadside bomb that exploded near his vehicle convoy on Sept. 8 near Balad, a major U.S. logistics base north of Baghdad.
NousDefionsDoc
09-26-2004, 22:06
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1645092p-7869528c.html
THe 98th Division is an Institutional Training (IT) division. THey teach MOS producing courses - for all intents and purposes, they are trainers. That's why they are getting this mission to train the Iraqi police force.
They are not a TO&E unit.
They're lucky if they have M35's and CUCV's.
THey will need to fall in on something resembling a combat load once they get to Kuwait to get ready for onward movement to Iraq.
It sounds like the quote is taken from a longer interview and is out of context. What else is new...
No units are going to Iraq without weapons. No individuals are going to Iraq without weapons either. When we have people go to Iraq from Qatar they draw a weapon, ammunition and body armor.
Nearly all units going to Iraq go through Kuwait first. Any deficiencies in personal equipment are made up there.
The Stay Behind Equipment (SBE) is a hot topic in the military right now. There is also Prepositioned Equipment (Prepo) available from the Army Prepositioned Stocks (APS). At this point most of that equipment has been drawn and used and some of it returned and is being reconstituted. Most vehicles, especially armored HMMWVs, are left behind for the new unit to fall in on. When a new unit arrives, they work with the departing unit for a week or more depending on the mission to learn the ropes.
Airbornelawyer
09-27-2004, 10:10
The open question, though, is even if they are provided with weapons and equipment before deploying, will they be sufficiently familiar with them, given that they are going into a combat zone and given that the nascent Iraqi forces they are to train are a prime target?
Even TDA units are required to qualify and have CTT validation, aren't they? Outside of actually being a student, my only TDA time was as a company XO in the Infantry Training Brigade; I had a lot of time for infantry training, including EIB testing (too much time, actually, given how useless a lieutenant is in an OSUT company). I would hope that the 98th has some requirement to keep up its skills, too. In BCT, I had drill sergeants from the Jersey-based 78th Division (the "Squashed Tomato"), most of whom seemed to know their stuff.
I know alot of people in the 98th that are part of this deployment. Their main gripe about going over isn't the lack of weapons, they will be issued the equipment they need, their concern is that they aren't receiving the 6 month trainup NG and other units normally receive before heading over to OIF/OEF. They received a WARNO about the mission in the middle of July, but the final decision wasn't made until the last week of August, they aren't moving to Ft. Drum or any post for mission briefing/training/Iraq familiarzation before deploying to Kuwait, they are simply hopping on a plane and going.
The big concern they have is that as trainers of the Iraqi Protective forces, they are going to have to lead them on real-life patrol missions, these 98th guys don't know anything about insurgent tactics and half of them have never served active duty or in any type of combat/peacekeeping mission. One SSG I know says that half his men can't even pass an APFT and they haven't qualified on ANY weapons systems since Basic training.
NousDefionsDoc
09-27-2004, 10:48
I know alot of people in the 98th that are part of this deployment. Their main gripe about going over isn't the lack of weapons, they will be issued the equipment they need, their concern is that they aren't receiving the 6 month trainup NG and other units normally receive before heading over to OIF/OEF. They received a WARNO about the mission in the middle of July, but the final decision wasn't made until the last week of August, they aren't moving to Ft. Drum or any post for mission briefing/training/Iraq familiarzation before deploying to Kuwait, they are simply hopping on a plane and going.
The big concern they have is that as trainers of the Iraqi Protective forces, they are going to have to lead them on real-life patrol missions, these 98th guys don't know anything about insurgent tactics and half of them have never served active duty or in any type of combat/peacekeeping mission. One SSG I know says that half his men can't even pass an APFT and they haven't qualified on ANY weapons systems since Basic training.
Well, just IMO and I know there would be issues. But if they received a WARNO in mid-July, shouldn't they be 90 days into their training cycle already?
By WARNO, I mean the staff officers were notified that the 98th Division commander is looking to get the division sent over there, but they weren't given any orders to stop what they were currently doing to get ready for Iraq.
The actual Drill Sgt. companies and other units heard through the grapevine that they might get sent over, but their commanders didn't change their current training plans. Many of the 98th Division guys that are going on this deployment were at Warrior Forge, the ROTC Advanced Camp, supporting training for us Cadets well into the month of August. They returned home in late August and heard that the decision to go was made down at a decision brief in Atlanta and they now have one month to get their personal affairs in order. The first contingent, mainly staff, is going over in 3 weeks.
NousDefionsDoc
09-27-2004, 11:13
I know what a warning order is Sirrrr.
"Sir, first of all, let me say I appreciate this opportunity for excellence for our unit and rest assured we will do everything possible to ensure a successful mission that reflects great credit upon the unit, the Reserves, and the country. As the unit will be undertaking a mission beyond our normal scope of operations, I will submit to you, by COB, our list of requirements, foremost being that we be relieved of current obligations in order to conduct the intensive pre-deployment training required by this challenging environment. A comprehensive list of further requirements to follow. Airborne! All the Way and Then Some!"
CommoGeek
09-27-2004, 17:25
On a somewhat related topic I kno of AF guys that were issues their weapons the day they left for the Stan. The weapons weren't zeroed, their TA50 is...."lacking", etc.
As for the Reservists above:
1) The article is crap, we know that.
2) I'm not saying it is right, but the unit not changing their training plan isn't surprising. No officer (not many) wants to stick their neck out and change the training plan on anything that isn't set in stone. You'd think that units by now would know that a war is on, but I guess that everyone didn't get that memo....
I'm far from perfect, but like I told my BC: If I train my men for their combat duties, then the peacetime stuff is easy (or easier). Training to support ROTC camps or State Active Duty is plain wrong. If we train for war then the rest will take care of itself.
AngelsSix
10-02-2004, 17:08
If anyone had weapons issued that weren't "zeroed" or not properly outfitted, that sounds like a serious problem. We had all of ours done the few days we had before we left. And we got three days notice. And we are a reserve unit. So what's everyone else's excuse???