Embedded: A Marine Corps Adviser Inside the Iraqi Army

286 Pages·2009·2.62 MB·English

by  Wesley Gray

EMBEDDED
BY WESLEY R. GRAY
NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
The latest edition of this work has been brought to publication with the generous assistance of
Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest.
Naval Institute Press
291 Wood Road
Annapolis, MD 21402
© 2009 by United States Naval Institute All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or
by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-61251-406-2 (eBook) The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as
follows: Gray, Wesley R.
Embedded : a Marine Corps advisor inside the Iraqi army / Wesley R. Gray.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Military assistance, American—Iraq. 2. Iraq—Armed Forces—Training of.
3. Internal security—Iraq. 4. Iraq War, 2003—Personal narratives, American.
5. Gray, Wesley R. 6. United States. Marine Corps—Officers—Biography. 7.
United States. Marine Corps—Iraq. I. Title.
DS79.769.G73 2009
956.7044’34—dc22
[B]
2008055201
Print editions meet the requirements of ANSI/NISO z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
14 13 12 11 10 09 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
First printing All photos are from the author’s personal collection.
To the soldiers of the Iraqi army,
who taught me that winning isn’t everything,
but friends, family, and honor are.
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Part 1.Becoming an Embedded Military Adviser
Chapter 1.Guess What? You Are Going to Iraq
Chapter 2.Culture Shock
Chapter 3.Preparing for Combat Adviser Duty
Chapter 4.Meeting the Iraqi Army
Part 2.Learning Iraqi Army Systems and Culture
Chapter 5.The First Fight with the Iraqi Army
Chapter 6.Vacationing with the Iraqi Army
Chapter 7.Jamal in the Swahuts
Chapter 8.Simple Things Made Difficult
Chapter 9.Iraqi Payday Operations
Chapter 10.Insights on Iraqi Culture
Chapter 11.Death Operations
Chapter 12.The Iraqi Officer and Enlisted Relationship
Chapter 13.Iraqis Speak on the Nation, Region, and military
Part 3.Combat Operations with the Iraqi Army
Chapter 14.Operation Nimer
Chapter 15.Mo’ Leave, Mo’ Problem
Chapter 16.Transitioning to Independent Operations
Chapter 17.The Combat Operations Center Is Launched and the
Mission Changes
Chapter 18.Chasing Egyptian Insurgents
Part 4.Between Iraq and a Hard Place
Chapter 19.Contending with Iraqi Culture
Chapter 20.Violence Spikes
Chapter 21.Wayn Jundi? (Where are the Soldiers?)
Chapter 22.Disaster Strikes
Chapter 23.Light at the End of the Tunnel?
Part 5.All Good Things Must Come to an End
Chapter 24.Civil War and Democracy in Iraq
Chapter 25.America Never Looked So Good
Chapter 26.An Assessment
APPENDIX: U.S. Marine Corps Rank Structure
GLOSSARY
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Maj. Tom Ross once mentioned to me that his success as a Marine officer could
be visualized as a turtle sitting on top of a fencepost—it was obvious he didn’t
get there alone. For this project, I felt like a blue whale sitting atop Mount
Everest—without massive amounts of help, I would still be stuck on the bottom
of the ocean.
First, I would like to thank the United States Marine Corps for giving me an
opportunity to serve with an elite group of warrior citizens who are second to
none. Specifically, I want to thank my advising teammates, who taught me about
life, leadership, and how to be a better Marine (in no particular order): Doc,
Nuts, V, Slip, Legger, Cpl. Sal, Mac, Moto McCoy, Wonder Twin #2, the Boss,
D, Superhero, and Mighty Morgan—oohrah! And thanks to Eric Earnhardt for
teaching me how to be a motivated Devil Dog.
The folks at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago
went beyond the call of duty in supporting me during my “sabbatical,” for which
I am extremely grateful. Thank you also to the many friends and family, too
numerous to list here, who supported me during my deployment. My biggest
fans were (and always have been) my parents, Bill and Jill Gray. Thanks for the
unwavering support.
Many friends and family also gave me insightful feedback and razor-sharp
editing on early drafts of this book. Mike Beimer, Mike Bennett, Cliff Gray,
Mike Hollander, Anne and Craig Jorgensen, Ben Katz, Andy Kern, Gabe Klehr,
Sandy Li, Ronica Licciardello, James McGinnis, Maurice Medland, Scott Miller,
and Dave Woodworth were all extremely helpful. Of course, Rick Russell and
Elizabeth Bauman of the Naval Institute Press have been with me through every
step in the publishing process and have really made me feel at home as an author
with their organization. Special thanks to Karin Kaufman for her superb
copyediting services.
Finally, my sincerest thanks go to my wife, Katie, my lead editor and best
friend for life.
Part 1
BECOMING AN EMBEDDED MILITARY
ADVISER
Chapter 1
Guess What? You Are Going to Iraq
February–March 2006
“G
ray, nice fuckin’ brief. You wanna volunteer for some time in Iraq
and train some Iraqis?” Caught off guard after completing an
important intelligence brief to Brig. Gen. Mastin Robeson and a
room full of Marine and Japanese military officers, I replied out of
instinct, “Sir, hell yeah. When would I leave?” The granite-hard Col. Steven
Manning, a legend in the Marine Corps intelligence community, peered into my
eyes. “July time frame,” he said. “We’ll talk about it later this evening. Oohrah!”
We never did get a chance to talk about it that evening. Over the next few
weeks that February, I participated in the bilateral Japanese and U.S. military
Yama Sukura war game in Kumamoto, Japan. At the conclusion of the exercise,
Colonel Manning directed me to participate in a joint military operation with the
Filipino army in the Philippines until mid-March. After spending almost two
months traveling around Asia, Iraq was the last thing on my mind. But this all
changed when I returned to my home base in Okinawa, Japan.
On March 14 I strolled into the intelligence offices at the 3rd Marine
Division Headquarters at Camp Courtney, a small Marine Corps base in the
center of the island of Okinawa. I had had the time of my life in the Philippines
participating in real-world operations, working with the Filipino army, and
meeting new people. Life was good. I hollered to Lt. Nate Krissoff, who came
stumbling into the office. “Krissoff, dude, I can’t believe those chicks you got in
the Philippines. You are da man!” Krissoff, my best bud in the Marines, had
partied too much while in the Philippines and was still feeling the aftereffects.
He smirked and said, “Gray, hey brother, what happened in the Philippines . . .
stays in the Philippines!” I laughed. “Nate, my lips are sealed—until I need
something from you.”