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...FSE had personnel from 1-118 FA GAARNG. As the fire supporters, staff and commander developed the CMO strategy, we decided that we were not going to "do good works" simply for "good works' sake." In other words, all CMO activities would create some benefit to the battalion, in particular, and Coalition Forces, in general.
Using that concept as the basis for CMO, we began our tour in Abu Ghraib East, an area of operations (AO) that included the rough neighborhoods around Baghdad International Airport and critical east-west highway. We ended our tour in the vicinity of Fallujah.
The battalion that we relieved had a building in a nearby Iraqi forward operating base (FOB) that it had used as its brigade CMO center (CMOC). 2-130 IN took control of the building, staffed it with fire supporters to work CMO who began to work through the maze of Army policies, tribal relationships and neighborhood jealousies.
While establishing our battle rhythm we initiated our targeting meetings, paying close attention to both lethal and nonlethal effects. As is always the case, tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) from the train-up exercises had to be adapted to the conditions in Abu Ghraib.
CMO Assessments. One product of our targeting meetings was a tightening up of the CMO assessment tool--sewage, water, electricity, academics, trash, medical and security (SWEAT-MS). At the direction of the battalion executive officer (XO), fire supporters designed a four-fold test for evaluating the conditions in the various AOs. When listening to the Iraqis and investigating the towns or neighborhoods, we asked questions about the SWEAT-MS elements listed in the figure to assess the importance of the potential project to the Iraqis and impact on the Coalition Forces.
Armed with these criteria, we judged the SWEAT-MS conditions objectively and began to form plans to address problems. The battalion commander added one critical stipulation to our brainstorming: all solutions had to be sustainable by the Iraqis after we were gone.
CMOC Operations. Through our initial planning sessions and experiences, one CMO fact became clear--namely, that a battalion CMOC was an extremely valuable asset that would contribute to all phases of the targeting cycle. It would serve as a link between the target population and the battalion. Also, to achieve a CMOC's full potential, the fire supporters were going to have to manage key aspects of the CMOC's operations aggressively, such as facilitating the access of local nationals to the CMOC, ensuring our infrastructure was secure and hospitable, establishing staffing responsibilities, motivating Iraqis to engage us and networking between locals and Coalition Forces.
Of all of these considerations, facilitating the Iraqis access to our CMOC was by far the most important--it was what all the others were designed to bring about.
Iraqis Access for Engagements. The CMOC's goal was to talk to everyone who visited, regardless of whether or not that person was a suspected insurgent, a person seeking to make a claim against the Coalition Forces, a contractor, an Iraqi official or a person "off the street." We met with a cross-section of the local community daily as we looked for the few people who could benefit us.
This "open door policy" was quite productive. Once the people in the community learned about it, they flocked to see us, and we reaped the benefits of those engagements.
In one instance, a self-confessed criminal and low-level insurgent walked into the CMOC to see the Americans. Rather than turn him away or hassle him because of his background, we sat him down in the air conditioned office and simply talked with him until he felt comfortable...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
have been removed from this article.
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