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BAGHDAD, Iraq (June 12, 2008) - U.S. airmen are teaching
command-and-control techniques to their counterparts at the Iraqi
air operations center at Camp Victory here.
The operations center is the hub that controls all Iraqi air
force missions, where mission planners analyze weather conditions,
intelligence and the status of their aircraft to make decisions
regarding the command and control of air operations within the
rebuilding country.
A team of 10 U.S. Air Force advisors from the Coalition Air
Force Training Team are teaching Western-style command-and-control
structure to the Iraqis, most of whom are more familiar with
Soviet-style command structure.
"In the Soviet style of managing command and control, it was
very rigid," said Air Force Lt. Col. Gary Kubat, the top advisor at
the Iraqi air operations center. "Any decisions that were made had
to be made by the top."
Western command and control encourages more information sharing
throughout command channels so airmen aren't totally reliant on the
highest levels of leadership to get things done. Kubat said he has
spent the past year encouraging Iraqis to empower their mid-level
commanders to make more decisions that are appropriate for their
level.
In its position between the Iraqi air force's top leaders and
the tactical units that perform the missions, the operations center
fulfills a key role in Western-style command and control. For the
Iraqis, the changes in command structure initially were as foreign
as the U.S. airmen who were teaching them.
"When it first started out, there weren't a lot of Iraqis
looking to do command and control," the colonel said. "They didn't
quite understand that they had decisions to make at this level.
When anything would happen, they would push it up the leadership
chain and expect somebody else to make the decision."
Change is starting to take effect at the operations center.
"Now as we have been moving along, they have been aggressively
taking on more and more of that decision making at lower levels,"
Kubat said .
The growing capabilities of the operations center are
illustrated by the increasing number of missions flown by Iraqi
airmen. Last year, the Iraqi air force flew fewer than 100 missions
per week. In past three months, the average weekly number of
flights has jumped to 271, with a record of 383 flown in mid-April.
So far this year, the Iraqi air force has flown more than 5,000
missions in support of the global war on terror, including combat
operations in Basra, Mosul and Sadr City.
The operations center also controls noncombat missions that
contribute to the security of the Iraqi people and their democratic
government. This year, Iraqi surveillance aircraft exposed
smugglers who were damaging the government's oil pipeline.
Additionally, other Iraqi aircraft flew above a religious
pilgrimage, discouraging terrorist groups from attacking them.
"This, in turn, tends to makes the population a little bit
happier with their government, because things are becoming more
stable," Kubat said. "While they may not recognize the direct
impact of the air force, they're seeing their government as an
entity become more secure, more stable and providing for their
needs."
The public's improved confidence in the government should make
things tougher on terrorist insurgents.
"They are less likely to rebel against their government or
provide aid to the people who are causing the problem," Kubat
said.
Though they've experienced plenty of progress at the operations
center throughout the past year, the advisors have had to overcome
many challenges. Cultural differences are the most visible hurdle
to teaching Western methods of airpower to the Iraqis.
Kubat said strong relationships with their Iraqi counterparts
play a substantial role in the advisors' ability to teach
command-and-control structure. An earnest appreciation of Iraqi
social etiquette can go a long way toward improving the
relationships between the airmen, he noted.
"We have a different sense of timeline in the West," Kubat said.
"We tend to be a little more brusque, a little more up-front."
Iraqis typically prefer to get to know a person before they become
comfortable in working or conducting business together, he
said.
Another challenge facing the advisors is the significant
technology gap between the two nations' airmen. While much U.S. Air
Force business is accomplished on computers, the Iraqis more
commonly rely on paper or verbal dialogue. This forces the advisors
to innovate, adjusting their systems and programs that would
normally run on a computer into a manner that is more accessible to
the Iraqi airmen's work culture.
"Very often we'll scratch our heads and say, 'Yeah, that could
work,' and it actually ends up working more effectively than what
we would have put in place," Kubat said.
The operations center, like the Iraqi air force, will expand
rapidly over the course of the next few years. While only 12 Iraqis
work there now, that number will soar to 88 within a year, and
finding the right airmen to staff the opening is a considerable
challenge.
"Right now, what you have is a military where previous air force
officers have come in from the old regime, and they've been vetted
and are trustworthy, and they've been taken into senior leadership
positions," the colonel said.
These senior-level airmen have military experience, but they are
not yet comfortable with the Western style of command and control,
he explained. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are plenty
of new, inexperienced Iraqi airmen who are eager to serve as junior
officers while they learn on the job.
Unfortunately, there is a wide chasm between the senior and
junior officers. There are very few suitable mid-level officers
with experience, because Iraqi airmen were not being developed
during the time between the first Gulf War and the current war.
As the senior officers draw nearer to retirement age, the lack
of mid-level leadership to take their place will be a tough
challenge for the Iraqi air force and U.S. advisors, Kubat
said.
Another challenge is integrating Iraqi air force operations with
coalition operations. Not only must the center learn a completely
new way of doing business, it must learn quickly so it can
integrate Iraqi air force activities into the coalition's air
missions.
Kubat said the challenge of implementing a Western-style air
force can be overcome, but it should not be rushed.
"Change here isn't going to happen anywhere near as fast as what
Americans like. That's not the mentality here in the Middle East,"
he said. "Things take time."
The advisors plan to stick around until the mission is
accomplished.
"The Iraqi airmen, and especially their chief of staff, Maj.
Gen. Kamal Barzanjy, are especially grateful for the expertise and
sacrifice the Coalition Air Force Training Team advisors are
giving," said Maj. Gen. Brooks Bash, CAFTT commander. "They know
they have a long road ahead to develop a robust command-and-control
capacity, but they are confident, because the advisors will be with
them every step of the way."
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