3rd Infantry Division Operations - Fort Stewart - U.S. Army
3rd Infantry Division Operations - Fort Stewart - U.S. Army
3rd Infantry Division Operations - Fort Stewart - U.S. Army
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14 <strong>3rd</strong> <strong>Infantry</strong> <strong>Division</strong> <strong>Operations</strong><br />
Washington. On January 10, 2007 President George W. Bush<br />
announced a new strategy for Iraq. The Government of Iraq had<br />
launched its own bold plan to save Baghdad and Iraq from civil<br />
war and anarchy. It was said that "as goes Baghdad, so goes<br />
Iraq" and Baghdad was near collapse. For its part, the President<br />
said that America would immediately offer more forces.<br />
“This is a strong commitment. But for it to succeed, our commanders<br />
say the Iraqis will need our help. So America will<br />
change our strategy to help the Iraqis carry out their campaign<br />
to put down sectarian violence and bring security to the people<br />
of Baghdad. This will require increasing American force levels.<br />
So I've committed more than 20,000 additional American troops<br />
to Iraq. The vast majority of them -- five brigades -- will be deployed<br />
to Baghdad. These troops will work alongside Iraqi units<br />
and be embedded in their formations. Our troops will have a<br />
well-defined mission: to help Iraqis clear and secure neighborhoods,<br />
to help them protect the local population, and to help<br />
ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind are capable of providing<br />
the security that Baghdad needs." - President George W. Bush<br />
The new strategy was quickly labeled the "Surge" and the men<br />
and women of the Marne <strong>Division</strong>, Families, and friends knew<br />
what it meant. Suddenly the six month road to war had detoured<br />
and now the headquarters set to work on a plan that would deliver<br />
"boots on the ground" by mid March, within six weeks.<br />
The <strong>Division</strong>'s command and staff were at the Battle Command<br />
Staff seminar at <strong>Fort</strong> Leavenworth, Kansas as part of the road to<br />
war training program already scheduled. Then, the official word<br />
came to deploy early. The operations staff converted a backroom<br />
in the Combined Arms Center School building into a war room.<br />
The academics seemed to come to a sudden stop as sleeves were<br />
literally and figuratively rolled up. All training would have to be<br />
"shifted left, moved up." All the planning and reconnaissance ef-
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