Publication: FA Journal
Publication Date: 01-NOV-06
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Author: Kite, Jared R. ; Matson, Christopher L. ; McConnell, Richard A.
Article Excerpt
We've been on a military transition team (MiTT) with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division (3/4/2 IA) in Mosul for four months, and after reviewing the many lessons we've learned, we wish we could get into a time machine and go back to prepare ourselves better for the MiTT mission. What we've learned so far applies not only to a MiTT, but also to all types of transition teams in Iraq or Afghanistan--border transition teams (BTTs) and special police transition teams (SPTTs), to name a couple.
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For example, in the past several months, we have learned the following important principles.
The unit you work with is not a US unit and never will be. Nonetheless, it is capable of great things--the trick is to encourage improvement in ways the unit leaders can adapt as their own, so improvements endure after your team leaves.
Team members are advisors and, as such, don't "direct" change--just help the unit improve. You must spend many hours getting to know your counterparts over countless meals and Chai, working to build rapport, before your unit members seriously will consider any recommendation you give.
You will be the most successful when you are the "unnoticed" influence in the unit. This is not about you but about the unit. As a team member, you are there to make the unit strong enough to fight and win against the insurgency and protect its fellow citizens.
The team's job is all about relationships. With work, you will make slow, but steady progress toward the unit leadership's accepting you and your other team members as brothers, which helps your team help the unit improve.
Most importantly, we have learned that being on a MiTT is a great job. It can be frustrating but also very rewarding as we watch our unit grow and improve.
So, what would we have done differently based on what we know now? This article provides lessons learned during the last few months as the 3/4/2 IA MiTT at Combat Outpost Resolve in southeastern Mosul. These are the things we would like to have known after our training in the US, Kuwait and at the Phoenix Academy in Taji, Iraq.
When you are assigned to a MiTT, one of the first things you will learn is where you fit into the team. The size of the unit your MiTT works with will dictate your team's size and composition. Our experience is on a battalion MiTT, but our general organization and functions apply to all transition teams as the same staff functions must be performed on each team.
The first challenge is to find out who is doing what on the team and how that applies to staff functions. See the figure for our team's organization.
As you can see in the figure, we designated team staff functions based on the advisor's job. For example, the headquarters and service company (HSC) trainer was the team S1 and the maneuver trainer was the team executive officer (XO).
It is also important to designate a team NCO-in-charge (NCOIC). The NCOIC serves as a model for Iraqi units. The MiTT must work diligently to help the unit develop effective NCOs--a strength...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.
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