Army Advisers a Vital Link to Iraq Exit

172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team soldiers patrol during the sentencing court session for former leader Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2006. Iraq's High Tribunal on Sunday found Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to hang, as the visibly shaken former leader shouted "God is great!" (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed ) (Khalid Mohammed - AP)

"As an Army we were not doing this as well as we needed to do it" even a year ago, Ham said. The instruction has been expanded, with more emphasis on cultural awareness and language, less time studying PowerPoint slides and more hands-on work with weapons and communications.

Col. Jeffrey Ingram, commander of the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry, was blunt about early weaknesses.

"The transition teams a year ago were not prepared in any way, shape or form," he said in an interview.

He summarized the old approach as telling advisers, "Here's your body armor, here's the equipment you need, here's an M-16 (rifle), and off you go ... with the assumption that they'll figure it out when they get there."

Before the Iraq war, advisers came from the Army's elite Special Forces, who specialize in the language and culture of a particular region of the world. Because the Special Forces are tied down with counterterrorist missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, the Army got its advisers for Iraq by plucking soldiers from regular units _ even from Pentagon desk jobs.

The advisers are trained to resist the urge to lead the Iraqis in battle.

"This is the art of establishing a rapport with your (Iraqi) counterpart and being able to nudge him in just the right direction so that every day he gets better _ not so much by U.S. standards but by his standards," Ingram said.

The last time the U.S. military used advisers in large numbers was the Vietnam War. The advisers were the first entrants in that war, followed by combat forces.

Ham described advisers' jobs in Iraq as "certainly less sexy, certainly less visible, certainly less understood" than other assignments.

He estimated that one-third of each incoming class of advisers are volunteers. "Others will tell you they tried everything they could to not get this mission because it is so different" from what soldiers see as attractive. Even so, Ham said the adviser program is a key part of the Iraq campaign.

"If we don't get the (adviser) team part of this equation right, the rest of it may not be all that important," he said.

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On the Net:

Background on Iraq Assistance Group: http://www.riley.army.mil/view/document.asp?ID194-2006-10-25-37600-36