Operation Valhall An Operation Of The Iraqi Army Special Forces

Colonel (Col) Michael Steele’s resolute beliefs regarding how to prepare his unit for combat and his bravado demeanor commanded respect from other bemused military officers. While serving as Commanding Officer (CO), 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Col Steele aggressively cultivated a command climate focused on three core principles: personal protection, precision, and lethality. Although these three core principles narrowly aligned with the Army's "Soldier's Creed", Col Steele’s principles did not reinforce the Army’s individual and organizational core values. 3rd Brigade’s disassociated ethical subculture fostered a toxic environment which compromised both subordinate commanders' and individual soldiers' moral standards to various extents. Col Steele’s vague guidance concerning proper ethical behavior during the execution of high stress Counter-Insurgency (COIN) missions resulted in subordinates failing to conduct kinetic operations in accordance with established Army ethical standards. The military establishment shall remember May 09, 2006 as the day the revered "Rakkasans" failed to personify the unit's motto of "Ne Desit Virtus," meaning "Let Valor Not Fail". For on this day, four soldiers assigned to Charlie Company, known to the “Rakkasans” as the "Kill Company", murdered eight unarmed Iraqi citizens during Operation Iron Triangle. These four soldiers failed to understand the nature and consequences of their iniquities as they could no longer distinguish

During arduous combat operations coinciding with a high OPTEMPO unit cohesion may flux toward a detriment of mission success. This report will focus on the 56TH Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) in order to address the critical leadership problem. In addition, focus will center on relevant facts and assumptions that led to the critical leadership problem and rectify the issues. Furthermore, a new ABCT vision will be published in order to restructure the organizational culture toward a unified purpose and an increase in esprit de corps. (Verify with lesson for correct purpose)

we seen a similar clash between the ideologies the justify warfare and the reality for troops on

Operations Desert Shield/Storm took place during the Gulf War, which was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of more than 30 nations mandated by the United Nations, led by the United States commanded by General Norman Schwarzkopf, who conducted one of the greatest military campaigns of all times that resulted with the coalition victory. The name Operation Desert Shield was for the operation leading to the built up of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm for the combat phase to liberate Kuwait. This war included more than 500.000 United States troops, dominated by technological superiority that definitely favored the coalition forces. The use of missiles, guided bombs and invisible plane made easy to destroy Iraqi ground targets, being so the first war in history to use the air power to defeat ground forces. The commander of this operation General Schwarzkopf was a consolidated leader with great experience in war and diplomacy, who had extend knowledge of the Middle East since the childhood. General Schwarzkopf ability to use the principles of mission command led the coalition into the desired end state, which was the defense of Saudi Arabia and liberation of Kuwait. General Norman Schwarzkopf successfully utilized mission command principles within Operation Desert Storm/Shield by creating a shared understanding, building cohesive teams through mutual trust, provide a clear commander’s intent, and accept a prudent risk, which played a

The disbanding of the Iraqi army and “debathification” or dismantling of the government in place only served to increase the casualties of American troops and Iraqi civilians as the radical Sunni insurgency expanded. This point of cause and effect, clash of two distinct political and cultural worlds, defined this war for the generation serving, at home and the future generations. The threat of increasing terrorism after the attack of September 11, 2001 was one of the driving force of invasion of Iraq. However, in one analysis the increase of global terrorism today is told to be well contributed by the conflicts that were fueled by the western presence in Iraq and the surrounding

The Marines had been sent to Lebanon as peace-keepers, trying to bring some peace to a civil war that was ongoing in Lebanon. Military observers subsequent to that horrific event have suggested that this terrorist assault was the beginning of the reign of terror that radical Islamic would continue to perpetrate on Americans through the next twenty years.

Deceased philosopher Bertrand Russell once said, “War does not determine who is right- only who is left”. Those left are the soldiers of the 1-502nd, specifically Bravo Company 1st plt, and the Janabi family and to a greater extent, the ever-changing global world we all live in today. The tragic events that conspired in a small Iraqi village became a microcosm of how leadership failures at every level shaped the actions of a few soldiers who committed atrocious acts. One can also see how a high operational tempo, along with prolonged violence and death, has on a person’s psyche. It is the ugly side of war that the average American citizen may not want to hear or talk about. For a soldier, it is inevitably what they train their

I remember the day that it all happen. The day the battle for Yahya Khel started, the first major offensive operation for 3rd Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment (Black Knights), 172nd Infantry Brigade. I was in my rack on Forward Operating Base Super (FOB), in the early morning, I was awoken by a member the Operation Detachment Alpha (ODA) team that we shared the FOB with. He asked me “You the mortar guy?” I said I was. “Grab your gear. We have to go, we loaded your 120mm mortar and all the rounds into our vehicles. I’ll explain the situation on the way.” He said

How does a war like that end? Journalist Jeremy Scahill, works as a war reporter in Afghanistan, Iraq and other war-torn locales, revealing the truth about what is really going on beneath the surface of secret wars. In 2010, Scahill was investigating a raid conducted by U.S. forces, that lead to many death including two pregnant women. Although the U.S. service denied their involvement in the attack, they later admitted their role and apologized for the death with a sheep as a peace offering. From that moment forward the bearded commandos were known as the "American Taliban". Scahill had a plan to expose the American Taliban for the jobs they are doing as well as the raids that is unknown to U.S. society. Who were these bearded people killing and raiding in the middle of the night with no reason? Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), started in 1980 after a failed hostage rescue mission in Iran. It was designed as the most covert unit in the military with the privilege of being the only one who reports to the White House. And with the full support of the White House and no

The Iraqi Army 1st Brigade, 4th Division and 3rd Brigade Commander (COL Steele, Michael) out of Fort Campbell, executed a highly planned operation similar to the Exercise Swarmer. Over 1500 Soldiers partook in this operation, 800 United States Army Soldiers, and 700 Iraqi Army Soldiers. The operation was to target insurgents/Al Qaeda in the southern province (Salah Ah Din) of Samara. The key mission was not to go after one person, but to prevent a safe haven for insurgents to hide. Even though during the mission there was no resistance or injuries, the coalition forces worked together and claimed multiple caches. These caches’ included, artillery shells, explosives, IED-making materials, and military uniforms, long range cell phones and military identification cards. They continued to search for key Al Qaeda leaders, but turned out they had left earlier before the mission started. By the end, they detained 48 personnel in which 31 remained captive while the rest waited for distribution to the public. They searched for multiple days ensuring there were no insurgents or suspicious personnel within the 50-mile radius of Samara. This was not like the “Shock and Awe” doctrine with air strikes or killings; this operation was an Air-Assault mission, a sneak attack with over 1500 soldiers to include 50 aircraft along with 200 ground

JRTN has approximately 1,500 to 5,000 members throughout Iraq. Due to the leadership’s prior military experience, the group is broken down into subordinate units in the same manner as a modern army. After recruitment, members undergo extensive military training. JRTN operates primarily in Northern and Central Iraq. Despite all this training and experience within JRTN, JRTN typically contracts their attacks to other insurgent groups (SITE). They do so in order to have plausible deniability if innocent Iraqi civilians die. In exchange for these attacks, JRTN provides finance, logistics, and intelligence.

Throughout history, the United States Government and Armed Forces have learned from devastating mistakes and decisive victories making the US Armed Forces superior to most, if not all, other militaries; however, the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia throughout Operation Restore Hope, Operation Provide Relief, and the Joint Special Operations Task Force missed the mark on such “lessons learned”. The inadequate intelligence; the ignorance of tactics, techniques, and procedures; and absence of reinforcements cost needless loss of US troops, and crippling a sophisticated, well-equipped military at the hands of an under-equipped militia using irregular warfare tactics. Even 24 years later, the impact resonating still weighs heavily on minds of key leaders in the government along with all echelons of military commanders.

As the war continued, the United States Army was fighting the Mahdi Army. They pushed the Mahdi Army into Sadr, but the White House didn’t want to risk destroying the mosque so the Army was ordered to cut a deal. The deal was to have their militia not oppose the Americans. The United States

The views of this slowly began to change throughout different American conflicts. For instance, during the gulf war, Operation Desert Storm became the most widely and most swiftly reported war in history due to the “CNN effect”, which refers to the widely available round-the-clock broadcasts of the Cable News Network. (Belknap) General Powell instructed National Defense University students, “Once you’ve got all the forces moving and everything’s being taken care of by the commanders, and turn your attention to television, because you can win the battle but lose the war if you don’t handle the story right” (Belknap). Both the media and the military began to share a dedication to American freedoms, and neither wanted a news story to be the cause of a single American soldier’s death. This marked a turning point in military-media relations and a turning point for Americans’ view of that relationship. Despite this progress, another lawsuit challenged press restrictions during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. In the case titled Nation Magazine v. Dept. of Defense, several news organizations confronted a

At the end of Operation Vigilant Resolve, the Marines withdrew from the city and handed over security responsibilities to the Fallujah Brigade. The Fallujah Brigade was an Iraqi solution to the Fallujah problem, composed of former Iraqi soldiers and locally recruited men. Major General Jassim Mohammed Saleh who was immediately replaced by General Muhammad Latif, a former Iraqi Army Intelligence officer, originally led the brigade. The security responsibilities included provisions for the surrender of heavy weapons by the insurgents and stipulated that the Fallujah Brigade would initiate investigations murderers and mutilators of the Blackwater employees. The insurgents and terrorists expand through the city,