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DJ Elliott is a retired USN Intelligence Specialist (22 years active duty) who has been analyzing and writing on Iraqi Security Forces developments since 2006. His Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle is an open-source compilation that attempts to map and detail Iraqi units and equipment, as their military branches and internal security forces grow and mature. While “good enough for government use” is not usually uttered as a compliment, US Army TRADOC has maintained permission to use the ISF OOB for their unclassified handouts since 2008.
This compilation is reproduced here with full permission. It offers a set of updates highlighting recent changes in the ISF’s composition and development, followed by the full updated ISF OOBs in PDF form. Reader feedback and tips are encouraged. This month’s developments include:
* Iraqi Army
* Iraqi Air Force
* Ministry of the Interior
* Additional Readings: Full ISF OOB
* Additional Readings: DID Articles
This Iraqi Security Force (ISF) update provides a summary of changes to the ISF during April 2010. The Iraqi Security Force Order of Battle is updated as of 30 April 2010.
This Iraqi Security Force (ISF) update provides a summary of changes to the ISF during April 2010. The Iraqi Security Force Order of Battle is updated as of 30 April 2010. Separate articles concerning Iraqi Air Force development and speculation on the Ukrainian Arms Sale were published during April 2010, and will not be addressed here. Highlights in this update include:
* Jet Trainer purchase competition.
* Planned purchase of 24 new F16s; Probable lend/lease of used F16s.
* Iron Claw Academy closed; 1st Command Course graduations.
* Area swap between 48th and 14th Brigades; 48th Brigade now part of 4th Division.
* IqAF will not be ready until “long after 2011”; probable USAF long term presence.
* 9th ERF Battalion identified in Diyala.
* Sustainment Battalions identified in the 1st FP Division and Zerevani FP Division.
* Iraqi Police riverine forces receive 50 more boats.
Iraqi Army
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The US Army-run “Iron Claw Academy” has closed, indicating that all further route-clearance training for the Iraqi Army will be performed by the Iraqi Engineering and EOD schools.
On 11 April, the first graduations from the Battalion and Brigade Command Courses were held. These new courses are now mandatory for new commanding officers. The next course starts in June 2010.
The 48th Brigade has relocated from northern Salahadin to Tikrit and the 14th Brigade has started taking over US facilities in the 48th Brigade’s former area of northern Salahadin. Initial erroneous reporting indicated elements of 48th Brigade [erroneously called 848th Brigade] were in Tikrit for commando training at 4th Division’s training center on 10 April. On 17 April the 1-14/4 Battalion and the 14th Mortar Battery was reported conducting operations near Sharqat and the 14th Brigade received control of Siniya Base near Baiji from US Forces on 19 April.
Apparently the green 48th Brigade from 12th Division is now assigned to the experienced 4th Division [co-located with division HQ] and the green 12th Division in Kirkuk owns the experienced 15th Brigade from the 4th Division. This also shifts the divisional boundaries, 4th Division now owns all of Salahadin Province, and 12th Division owns Kirkuk Province.
Iraqi Air Force
UK’s Red Arrows
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According to Iraqi Air Force commander, Staff Lt. Gen. Anwer Hamad Amen Ahmed: “Iraq is a sovereign country but let us be frank, we don’t have the combat or jet fighters or intercepting planes or air defense systems.” and “We are still far from an air force’s full potential. We will need the U.S. long after 2011.” Iraqi and American officers are talking about a “long-term partnership” in air operations that would last beyond 2011. It is probable that a decision not to count USAF personnel at “troops” will be made, since it will be at least a decade before the Iraqi Air Force can provide adequate air defense.
British press reported on a competition for the sale of 24 jet trainers to Iraq. The 3 contending aircraft are the UK’s BAE Hawk, South Korea’s T-50, and Italy’s M-346 Master. The Italian aircraft is only a prototype, and is unproven. The ongoing financial dispute between Kuwait and Iraq makes the UK aircraft unlikely, since the courts in the UK could order a freeze or seizure of Iraqi purchase funds. This means that Iraq will probably buy a squadron’s worth of jet trainers from South Korea in the near future. The Iraqi Ministry of Defense has been looking at the Korean T-50 as a possible purchase for over 2 years now.
Iraq has formally requested 24 new F-16s from the US. Factoring in delivery times, these aircraft will probably not be delivered until 2013/2014. At the same time, there appears to be a “special deal with the US over the supply of F16 fighter jets,” according to General Nasier A. Abadi, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Joint Forces. This indicates that the loan, lease, or donation of used F16s proposed by Secretary of Defense Bill Gates in the fall of 2009 is approved. According to General Abadi, “70% of the [IMoD procurement] budget will go to Air Force” in the future.
Iraqi Ministry of Interior Forces
Baghdad
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The 9th Emergency Response Force Battalion has been identified in Diyala. The Ministry of Interior is continuing to retrain and absorb the better half of the provincial police SWAT battalions and is now up to divisional strength. The ERF is expected to grow to 3 division equivalents as it absorbs the high-end provincial police paramilitary forces.
* The 1st report of 1st Federal Police Division’s Sustainment Battalion was made in April. As of 30 November 2009, only the 2nd FP Division had a sustainment battalion.
The Zerevani Police graduated forces in Dohuk that fit the description of a sustainment battalion or the cadre of 2 sustainment battalions for the Zerevani FP Division(s) on 9 April. 30,000 Zerevani Police have transferred to Iraqi Ministry of Interior and are being formed into 2 Federal Police divisions and 1-2 ERF brigades.
The Iraqi Police riverine forces received 50 new boats in Basra and will be distributing those boats throughout the provinces of Iraq. Iraqi Police riverine forces continue to expand throughout Iraq.
Originally published by DJ Elliott at Montrose Toast on May 3/10, and reproduced here with permission, along with an excerpt covering the US in Iraq after 2012. Comments and corrections to these materials are encouraged, please leave them here.
Additional Readings: Full ISF OOB
These documents contain tables with the full OOB as we know it.
* Page 1: Iraqi National Operational Command (NOC)/Joint Forces Command (JFC) [PDF]
* Page 2: Iraqi Army Quick Reaction Forces (QRF) [PDF]
* Page 3: Iraqi Army Northern Forces [PDF]
* Page 4: Iraqi Army Central Forces [PDF]
* Page 5: Iraqi Army Southern Forces [PDF]
* Page 6: Iraqi Air Force (IZAF) [PDF]
* Page 7: Iraqi Navy (IZN) and Marine Corps (IZM) [PDF]
* Page 8: Counter-Terrorism Bureau and Commands [PDF]
* Page 9: Joint Operational Commands [PDF]
* Pages 10-14: Ministry of Interior (MOI)
** MOI Core Units and Emergency Response Force [PDF]
** Iraqi National Police and Provincial [PDF]
** Department of Border Enforcement et. al. [PDF]
** MoI Emergency Police [PDF]
** Oil Police Directorate [PDF]
* Appendix A: Definitions & Acronyms
* Appendix B: ISF Standard Tables of Organization
* Appendix C: ISF Equipment
* Appendix D: Related Articles & Monthly Updates
* Appendix E: 2007 Notes
* Appendix F: 2008 Notes
* Appendix G: 2009 Notes
* Appendix H: 2010 Notes
Additional Readings: DID Articles
Note that the ISF OOB often tracks developments that DID’s articles cannot, until official confirmation exists. On the other hand, DID articles can offer a drill-down into key contracts and their associated developments and background, via an easily-accessible organizing principle. As such, it’s best to treat these sources as separate but complementary. DID thanks DJ Elliott for his frequent assistance, which is credited in many of these articles.
* DID – Iraq Seeks F-16 Fighters
* DID – T/A-50 Golden Eagles for Iraq?
* DID – Iraq Orders C-130Js
* DID – The Penny Drops: Iraq Chooses its COIN Aircraft. And trainers.
* DID – Standing Up the IqAF: King Air 350s. Iraq’s top reconnaissance asset, now adopted by the USA. Iraq’s are reportedly slated to be armed.
* DID – Bird Dogs for the Iraqi Air Force. some of them have teeth, now.
* DID – Medium Mainstay: Mi-17s for Iraq
* DID- Iraq Seeks Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters
* DID – Iraq Orders Eurocopter’s EC635s
* DID – Iraq Looking for More Light/Med. Utility Helicopters
* DID – M1 Abrams Tanks for Iraq
* DID – Iraq: Looking for LAVs in All the Right Places. It appears that the Strykers were ordered, and the LAV-25s were not.
* DID – BAE Delivering a Cougar Variant for Iraq’s ILAV Contract. Iraq’s ILAV/ Badger MRAP. Supplemented by locally-produced Reva vehicles, which are another design.
* DID – Bittersweet Symphony: Lockheed & A-V Deliver Anti-IED Devices. Some of these orders have been Iraqi.
* DID – December 2008: Small Arms for Iraq
* DID – Command Tents and C3 for Iraq
* DID – Iraq Asks for USACE Help With Military Infrastructure
* DID – Iraq to Purchase $1.05B in Medical Items
* DID – Swiftships to Build Up Iraqi Navy’s Coastal Patrol Capabilities
* DID (Dec 9/09) – Ukraine, Iraq in $2.5 Bn Weapons Deal
* DID (Nov 29/09) – AECOM Gets 6-Month Extension to Iraqi Security Forces Maintenance Contract
* DID (June 11/09) – Non-Standard Ammo Orders for Iraq
* DID (Sept 25/08) – Standing Up Iraq’s MoD: A British Snapshot
* DID (Feb 14/08) – VSE, Westar to Help Train Iraqi Pilots
* DID (Oct 7/07) – $2.257B for Iraqi Army Guns, Vehicles & Logistics. Includes their DSCA request for BTR-3E1s.
* DID (Aug 27/07) – Iraq Requests Another 16 Huey-II Helicopters
* DID (Nov 21/05) – Iraq Receives T-72s & BMPs – With Another Armored Brigade Planned