{"id":45708,"date":"2016-09-21T03:28:47","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T03:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/09\/21\/2-star-everybody-s-focused-on-mosul\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:42:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:42:24","slug":"2-star-everybody-s-focused-on-mosul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2016\/09\/21\/2-star-everybody-s-focused-on-mosul\/","title":{"rendered":"2-star: ‘Everybody’s focused on Mosul’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Iraqi Security Forces are preparing for a tough fight as they look to take back Mosul from the Islamic State terror group, but the work won\u2019t stop there, a top Army general said. “Everybody\u2019s focused on Mosul,” said Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division and commander of Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command-Iraq. “The enemy is a lot weaker than they have been, they\u2019re not able to do a lot of things offensively, so the Iraqis clearly see there\u2019s an opportunity to put pressure on the enemy.” But as U.S. and coalition troops continue to work alongside the Iraqis to prepare them for this major operation, officials aren\u2019t taking the enemy for granted. “We do know they\u2019ve been in Mosul a few years, so the fight will get harder as they get closer to Mosul,” Volesky said. “This is the crown jewel of Iraq. We know there\u2019s going to be a fight there.” And the fight against the Islamic State, or Daesh, as they\u2019re referred to by troops deployed to Iraq, won\u2019t be over after the Mosul offensive, Volesky said. “Daesh isn\u2019t going to be defeated when Mosul is over,” he said. “They\u2019re still in Tal Afar, the desert, there\u2019s still a lot of terrain in Iraq that needs to be liberated.” At the same time, the enemy also is transitioning to insurgency and terrorism tactics, Volesky said, citing as an example the massive car bomb attack in Baghdad\u2019s Karada district that killed more than 100 people in July. “This is what we saw in 2004, 2006, and on, this insurgency,” he said. “So we\u2019re working the training to make sure the [Iraqi] units are getting the right training.” This includes providing more counter-terrorism training for units in the Euphrates River Valley, while continuing to provide more Decisive Action training to units preparing for the Mosul fight, he said. “Those units we\u2019ve seen who went through training, they just get better and better,” he said.

Pfc. Matthew Williams, left, and Pfc. Eduardo Valencia, right, with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, Task Force Strike, rig an M777 howitzer for sling load training in Erbil, Iraq, Aug. 11, 2016. The Soldiers conducted the training to maintain their proficiency in sling load operations while deployed to Iraq.<\/span><\/figcaption>
Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Daniel Johnson\/US Army<\/span><\/figcaption> Volesky and his soldiers, including a large contingent from the division\u2019s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, said the work they\u2019re doing with the Iraqis is paying off, but the Iraqis continue to struggle with force generation. “The Iraqis are maintaining pressure on Daesh, [but] everybody\u2019s in the fight,” Volesky said. “If you pull somebody who\u2019s in the fight, you have to replace them. We don\u2019t want them to continue to move north then someplace in the Euphrates River Valley falls and Baghdad is threatened.” The Iraqis must be able to hold key areas while disrupting the enemy and pushing toward Mosul “without having to worry about things further south, near Baghdad,” he said. U.S. and coalition advisors and trainers also continue to work with the Iraqis on sustainment and planning for critical capabilities such as medical, aviation and fires, Volesky said. “We work to enable them, to integrate into their plan,” he said. “We want to participate in rehearsals with them so we can better plan and get a better sense of their timing.” American and coalition troops continue to build on the relationships they\u2019ve formed with their Iraqi counterparts, Volesky said. “We were here for 10 years. A lot of these people we\u2019re dealing with we\u2019ve had relationships with before, so they know what we bring to the fight,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

For the 1,700 soldiers from 2nd BCT, 101st Airborne, they are focused on advising and assisting their Iraqi counterparts in 10 locations across Iraq and three in Kuwait, said Col. Brett Sylvia, the brigade commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Everywhere there is an American flag flying, there\u2019s a Strike soldier there,” Sylvia said, using the brigade\u2019s moniker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brigade, which has its headquarters at Camp Swift, about 90 minutes from Irbil, has a three-fold mission, Sylvia said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, they advise their Iraqi counterparts, mostly at the brigade level and higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His soldiers also assist the Iraqis by providing precision fires across Iraq from Kara Soar Base, formerly known as Firebase Bell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their third mission is to protect, Sylvia said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Those are guys that are out there that secure bases as part of the security force, some type of reaction force, in order to be able to support the forces we have that are out there,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many of his soldiers, this deployment marks a shift from previous combat tours, Sylvia said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In previous deployments, we were either firmly in the lead or we were shoulder-to-shoulder with our counterparts executing combat operations,” he said. “We were out there on the ground, we had great situational awareness, we had great control over what\u2019s going on on the battlefield.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time, his soldiers are not on the battlefield, Sylvia said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iraqis “are the tip of the spear and we are behind, providing our best advice and providing over-the-shoulder kinetic fires to support their offensive maneuvers,” he said. “In the past, we may have wanted victory more than our counterparts did, but there\u2019s no way that\u2019s happening now because they\u2019re the ones out there. I think that is a better place for us today in terms of getting their full buy-in and ownership.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
U.S Army Soldiers with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, Task Force Strike, begin the process to load another round in their M777 artillery piece in northern Iraq, Aug. 15, 2016, during an operation to support the Iraqi army. Battery C is supporting the Iraqi security forces with indirect fires as they retake territory from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Artillery units in Iraq serve two roles: to provide force protection for Coalition and Iraqi security forces and to support ISF ground maneuver, enabling them to defeat Da\u2019esh. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Daniel I Johnson\/Released)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Soldiers with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, Task Force Strike, begin the process to load another round in their M777 artillery piece in northern Iraq, Aug. 15, 2016, during an operation to support the Iraqi army.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Daniel Johnson\/US Army<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the four months since his soldiers have been Iraq, they have already seen the Iraqis\u2019 confidence grow, Sylvia said. As an example, early in the tour, the Iraqis would defer to the U.S. when there was an opportunity to use artillery, Sylvia said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Through the work our teams have done and the processes they\u2019ve been able to work on, they\u2019re now starting to have greater confidence in their own equipment and their own capabilities,” he said. “Now, we plan out the synchronization of all our assets, our assets with their assets, to ensure we have a plan in order to make the most of the assets that are available. That is how we\u2019ve seen our advisory efforts bear some fruit here.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soldiers from 2nd BCT are focused on the upcoming battle in Mosul, Sylvia said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We came here with one goal for this BCT, and that was to get the Iraqis to Mosul,” he said. “That\u2019s what we\u2019re focused on, doing everything we can, every single day, to help our Iraqi and Kurdish counterparts liberate Mosul. Their ability to do that takes away the center of gravity for Daesh in Iraq. It\u2019s something we believe is achievable and we want to see during our watch.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sylvia cautioned that the fight won\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Daesh has been in Mosul for two years. We do anticipate the closer we get to Mosul, the harder the fight is going to be,” he said. “But [the Iraqis] have grown in confidence and competence, and that confidence will take them a long way.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Bush, with 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Strike, provides security during a base defense drill at Camp Taji, Iraq, July 23, 2016. This drill is one way Coalition forces maintain readiness and practice security procedures. Camp Taji is one of four Combined Joint Task Force \u2013 Operation Inherent Resolve building partner capacity locations dedicated to training Iraqi security forces. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Daniel Johnson\/Released)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Staff Sgt. Christopher Bush, with 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Strike, provides security during a base defense drill at Camp Taji, Iraq, July 23, 2016. This drill is one way Coalition forces maintain readiness and practice security procedures.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Daniel Johnson\/US Army<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he looks ahead to Mosul and beyond, Daesh is losing, Volesky said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They\u2019re flat-out losing, and they know it,” he said. “If you listen to [Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi], their leader, he came out a month ago on social media and said, \u2018Hey, United States, you think this is a great victory for you because Iraqis have liberated villages, but we\u2019re going to go back out to the desert and wait and bide our time.\u2019 That\u2019s a guy who knows he\u2019s losing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compare that to 2014, Volesky said, when al-Baghdadi stood in the mosque in Mosul and proclaimed it “the great caliphate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He\u2019s not talking that anymore,” he said. “The senior leader of this organization is, frankly, acknowledging they\u2019re being beat, and that doesn\u2019t bode too well for his fighters.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volesky acknowledged that it\u2019s difficult for the American people to truly see an end to the fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“From a military perspective, if you look at how much terrain Daesh seized in 2014, and you look now, 50 percent of what they seized is no longer theirs, and they\u2019re losing terrain every single day,” he said. “They were driving tanks and had huge formations and were seizing terrain. They\u2019re running now. A year ago, they were rolling in huge numbers downs through Iraq. They\u2019re not doing that anymore.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the military alone can\u2019t solve this problem, Volesky said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This isn\u2019t just going to be a military solution,” he said. “We\u2019ve said we can\u2019t want this more than [the Iraqis] do because that won\u2019t bring lasting change. And now, they\u2019re the ones at the tip of the spear. That\u2019s what\u2019s different.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volesky said he\u2019s proud of the work his soldiers are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They all realize we\u2019ve got a chance to help the Iraqis do something epic, and that\u2019s get them to Mosul,” he said. “We\u2019re motivated to try to take the fight to them.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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