Facts About the Advise and Assist Brigade Combat Team

American troops fighting the War on Terror have often found themselves in civil affairs roles that they and their units are far less accustomed to performing. The United States Army recognizes that there may be a better way to operate in a multi-role environment and is testing one concept in Iraq at this time. The "advise and assist" brigade, formed around the 4^th Brigade Combat Team of the 1^st Armored Division, is nearly finished deploying to three of Iraq's southern provinces, Dhi Qar, Maysan, and Al-Muthanna.

Until now, the civil affairs operations performed by military units have been distinct from those performed by the Provincial Reconstruction Teams as well as the military and police training and transition teams. The activities have rarely been at cross-purposes but have often not been coordinated. Assets and expertise have not been shared in the most efficient and desirable manner.

The 4^th BCT has undergone a significant amount of training to change that picture. Along with the usual combat training, officers and senior enlisted have participated in a wide variety of hands-on learning experiences in the United States. Civilians from agencies operating with the PRT's have been embedded with the BCT, in return.

Colonel Peter Newell commands the 4^th BCT. In a recent interview, he described some of the special training his men and women had undergone in preparation for this deployment.

60 troops were sent to Fort Bragg for civil affairs training. After that, they were sent to work in downtown El Paso, performing many of the duties that they would perform on arrival in Iraq. They worked with local industries, performing assessments and other tasks that would assist the PRTs when in Iraq.

A score of troops were sent to a city manager's course in Austin, Texas. They also worked with the city manager's office in El Paso. Essential city services were the main focus of this training.

The U.S. Border Patrol conducted a class for 60 of the 4^th BCT's troops. This training helped prepare them to work with the Iraqi Border Patrol once in country. Iraq shares many of the same border issues as does the United States in the El Paso area, smuggling and illegal immigration, for example.

The unit has received over $60 million in new equipment, making it the most state of the art military unit in Iraq when deployed. This deployment takes over from the British, who have ended their work in southern Iraq. One of the changes for the advise and assist brigade will be the assignment of the MiTT and Police Training Teams to the BCT. This will allow these training units to more readily draw upon the assets and personnel of the BCT in order to perform their missions.

Col. Newell was awarded the Army's third highest medal for valor in combat, the Silver Star, on his last deployment. The unit he led was critical to the fight to free Fallujah from terrorists. Col. Newell recognizes the changes from that time, but is very confident that the 4^th BCT could easily move from advise and assist to combat rapidly and effectively should that be necessary.

Newell states that there are hundreds of agencies working in Iraq, a far different picture than his last tour. The advise and assist concept is designed to allow the Iraqi government and the many agencies to take the lead. The BCT is "finding new ways to use that significant capacity we have" to provide intelligence, analysis as well as assets and people for their projects. The BCT will be working to build partnerships and to bring its strengths to civil affairs operations run by others.