# Commander cites ‘Positive Impact’ from Iraq mission

/ Published Nov. 23, 2011

By Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON,  (November 17, 2011)— Most of about 24,000 U.S. service members remaining in  Iraq will be home “well before Christmas,” the last U.S. division  commander there said today.

Army Maj. Gen. Bernard S. Champoux, commander of U.S.  Division-Center and the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division, briefed  Pentagon reporters via video from Iraq on withdrawal operations there.

Champoux deployed with his division headquarters last December in  support of Operation New Dawn. He said soldiers, sailors, airmen and  Marines are conducting the last phase of Iraq operations with  professionalism.

Since September, Champoux’s forces have been  responsible not only for center division’s assigned areas of Anbar and  Baghdad provinces, but also nine southern provinces.

“These are  historic times ... the mission of coming last in this, as in any activity,  is distinctively challenging,” the general said.

U.S. troops are  dismantling bases and operational structures maintained over many  years, while still performing combat missions and transferring tasks to  the State Department, which will head U.S. activities in Iraq after  American military forces withdraw by Dec. 31, Champoux said.

The  complex operation to relocate remaining troops and 374,000 pieces of  military equipment – from vehicles to computers – is on a “good glide  path” to completion, he said.

Meanwhile, U.S. troops are working  with Iraqi army, police and local security forces to counter attacks by  extremist groups and Iranian-backed militia, Champoux said.

The  “overwhelming majority” of those attacks, he said, have been traced to  Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, which receives funding and training from Iran. Two  other Iranian-backed groups still active in Iraq are Kata’ib Hezbollah  and the Promised Day Brigade, he added.

The general said trends in violence across the country remain headed in a positive direction under Iraqi security forces.

“I feel very comfortable with where the Iraqi security forces are,” he  said, noting his division’s primary task has been to strengthen those  forces.

“I think they’re very capable to handle the current  threat,” he added, “and I think they’ve demonstrated that in the 11  months that I’ve observed them.”

Iraq’s external defense remains an area where the nation’s forces need to build capability, Champoux said.

“I think that’s a potential role for us in the future, to build that  capability,” the general said. “But where we are, at the end of this  phase of our commitment here [under] the 2008 security agreement, I feel  very comfortable with the effort we’ve put into it and where the Iraqi  security forces are.”

Along with deployments to Afghanistan,  eight years of military involvement in Iraq have had a dramatic effect  on U.S. service members, Champoux noted.

“We’ve either been deployed, or we’ve been back to improve our equipment or to retrain, and again redeploy,” he said.

The military force transitions over time and not all Iraqi troops are  still in uniform, the general said, but “a huge majority have continued  to serve over those eight-plus years.”

In general, Champoux said,  experience in Iraq has honed troops’ ability to function in difficult  circumstances, think creatively, and work with all stakeholders.

“It’s made us an incredibly stronger, more resilient, more battle-proven  force,” he said. “It’s also had a tremendously positive impact not just  on our training and our formations, but also on our equipment.”

As the Iraq mission draws to a close, the general said, his division  headquarters will return to Hawaii where they will reset people and  equipment, and train and prepare for the next mission.

Champoux  noted the military also has learned how to help service members adjust  to reintegrating with families and friends when a deployment ends.

“We take the time to make sure that those lessons we’ve learned ... are  shared with the entire force,” he said. “If someone has been challenged  by their experiences here, we make sure there are dedicated behavioral  health professionals available to them, there are chaplains available to  them, and there are experienced warriors available to them to help them  through that.”

He continued, “This is who we are, this is what  we do, this is what we are called to do. We do it all in simple  obedience to duty.”