verticalfocus DEFENSE
the team needed to learn an Iraqi
system so it could identify areas for
support. Training could then be precisely targeted to specific tasks, such
as hand and arm signals for safety or
appropriate tie-downs on vehicles to
prevent rollovers.
Often, her role included gaining the
confidence of Iraqi officers. “I could
tell how a situation was going to go
because every time I was introduced to
an Iraqi officer, I extended my hand,”
she said. “There were times when they
didn’t take it, and that is fine. I just
knew how it was going to go. It didn’t
change how I dealt with them as an
American officer, so I would continue
with what I had to say, what my business was, what command I represented, and what kind of support we
would be able to provide. At the end of
the conversation, I would always
extend my hand again and never in the
time I was there did the conversation
end without a handshake.”
Putting U.S. mentors out of a job
Each meeting can be seen as a small
step toward the larger goal of ensuring that the GTR is prepared to handle critical army logistics on its own
when the U.S. forces inevitably
depart.
Capt. Donna Johnson, who has
served as the Logistics Training
Assessment Team officer in charge
for the GTR, laid out the objectives
in a prepared statement released by
the Army last fall. “The purpose of
GTR will be to push critical supplies
from the ports of embarkation, such
as the seaport, airport, and neighboring countries, to the Taji National
Depot on Camp Taji,” she said.
“From there, they transport equipment to the 12 location commands
all over Iraq, which means the GTR
has a huge role in getting the supplies distributed throughout the
Iraqi theater of operations.”
In that same press release, a com-
THE GRT CONDUCTS A TRANSPORT MISSION
USING ITS HEAVY-EQUIPMENT TRANSPORT VEHI-
CLES. THE MISSION WAS THE FIRST THE GTR EXE-
CUTED ON ITS OWN, WITH THE AMERICANS SERV-
ING SOLELY IN AN ADVISORY CAPACIT Y.
(PHOTO COURTESY OF CAPT. AUDREY IRIBERRI, USA)
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mander of the GTR, a colonel who goes
by the single name Muhammad, added,
“We will transport supplies, vehicle parts
from the border of Jordan, Syria, and
Kuwait or any border to the depot here on
Taji for distribution to Iraqi Army location commands. The mission is to
improve the movement of supplies, parts,
and troops needed to help sustain the soldiers of the Iraqi Army.”
Asked about the progress to date,
Iriberri sounded like a proud parent,
describing the GTR as “genuinely self-reliant in executing certain tasks. They
receive their missions from the Ministry
of Defense. They go outside the wire with
their own convoy security elements. They
execute and return without incident. So,
in terms of the missions they have
received so far, they are doing well without coalition support outside the wire.
“So many times you hear that the Iraqi
Army is not ready to execute things on its
own. But there is success. The GTR is the
first and only unit of its kind—
completely Iraqi run. We are not physically with
them when they go outside the wire, but
they have so far accomplished all of their
missions. So it is a very good news story.”
Reflecting on her time in Iraq, Iriberri
said, “I just want to let you know and let
people know that the Iraqi security forces
are trying to better themselves and make
it so that the Americans are working
themselves out of a job. We would like it
so that we could train the Iraqi Army and
make it so that their system works for
them their way. That is it.”
