Paper edited

Running head: COMBAT STUDIES 1

COMBAT STUDIES 5

Combat Studies

SGM Kevin L Duke

United States Army Sergeants Major Academy

SMC-DL Class 46

SGM Keyshun L Kittlesjoyner

19 July 2020

The General Frank's statement, "Phase IV would be relatively short," means that he was confident that much of the work had been accomplished in the previous phase. The notorious criminal, Saddam Hussein, and his counterparts had either been captured or killed in the United States' invasion force into Iraq. Saddam had brought a lot of chaos in many parts of the Middle East, but in March 2003, the United States decided that it was time to oust him and his reign. The war continued and in the process, Saddam's two sons were captured and killed. He was operating in hiding at this time, and would only speak to his followers via an occasional audio tape. His sons were going to take after him. Their death was a huge blow to their cause, which faced imminent failure. He was captured in December 2003 in a hole outside his hometown. He did not resist the arrest during the capture although he sustained minor injuries ("Saddam Hussein captured," n.d.; Kopp, 2003). The operations from March up to the time when Saddam was captured had already weakened the terrorists operation in Iraq. What was to follow after the war was the effort to stabilize the country, and General Frank felt that that was easily achievable considering the fact that much of the work had been done.

With such mentality, the planning of Stability Operations would be planned from a viewpoint which considered the operation easy. This caused difficulties during the planning of the postwar efforts to eliminate the remaining terrorists, and bring stability to the country. The United States had to make changes in the command structure operating in Iraq. General Frank gave an informal directive to outgoing Lieutenant General Wallace and the newly promoted Lieutenant General Sanchez, both of V Corps, that CFLCC were pulling out of Iraq to focus their operations on other areas. General Frank ordered that V Corps was to become the central point of operation both tactically and operationally. V Corps was a group which specialized in tactical warfare. This was difficulty for Lieutenant General Sanchez because he had to find ways of bringing in a new staff to help with the joint operations. It was hard to keep of some of the staff, who were looking forward to going home. These difficulties were caused by General Frank's assumption that Phase IV would not be difficult to manage (Kirkpatrick, 2004).

The unexpected transition was quite hard to handle. V Corps became the nucleus of the operation after General Frank's orders. V Corps was a unit which had specialized in ground operations at tactical level. The new transition meant that they had to do both operational and tactical duties. The outgoing Lieutenant General Wallace stated that it did not make sense to turn a tactical unit (V Corps) into an operational unit (CJTF-7) in a very short time. He goes ahead to state that such a decision would confuse the staff in a manner which they would focus on one operation and forget about the other. Lieutenant General Sanchez had to act accordingly to effect this sudden change. He designed a new staff comprising of members from the Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and other Coalition forces. In addition to this, he had to include a few Army officers to have a successful post invasion operation. Lieutenant General Sanchez also had the tactical commanders spread out throughout the country with new practical commands to help deal with the task at hand. The commanders were to implement the set guidelines with respect to their area of operation. The staff which was once specialized in tactical matters was forced to perform operational duties on top of their original area of expertise.

A tactical officer is one that understands the common tactical definitions and concepts used by the military in offensive and defensive operations ("Common tactical concepts and graphic control measures," n.d.). The commander is a military officer who has a lot of experience in his field, and most of the times, those he commands only do what they are told. Still, the officers can assist their commander in various ways. One way I would assist the Commander is by following the commands he gives out. This would help promote discipline especially during the transition process ("What does a military tactical operations leader do?" n.d . With this knowledge, I would be able to respectfully give opinions to my commander during the transition stage. I would also help to keep the staff working together and staying focused on the mission at hand. Therefore, performing both tactical and operational duties is not an easy task, but with the right coordination, it is possible.

References

Career Explorer. (n.d.). What does a military tactical operations leader do? Retrieved June 25, 2020 from, https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/military-tactical-operations-leader/

Global Security. (n.d.). Common tactical concepts and graphic control measures. Retrieved June 25, 2020 from, https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-90/ch2.htm

History. (n.d.). Saddam Hussein captured. Retrieved June 25, 2020 from, https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/saddam-hussein-captured

Kirkpatrick, C.E. (2004). Joint fires as they were meant to be: V Corps and the 4th Air Operations Group during the Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Land Warfare Papers.

Kopp, C. (March 23, 2003). Tracking Saddam Hussein. CBS News. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tracking-saddam-hussein/