Security Assistance; and Logistics - Federation of American Scientists

mission—anytime, anywhere. The MHS is a unique partnership of medical educators,medical researchers, and health care providers and their support personnel worldwide.U.S. Mentoring Planning and Support for the Iraqi ArmyAdequate planning and specific, prioritized medical objectives had not been developedfor providing mentoring support to the Iraqi Army and to assist the Iraqi Army inachieving an operationally proficient, sustainable health care delivery capability. Inaddition, it was not evident that mentoring priorities had been synchronized with theappropriate levels of the Iraqi Army medical leadership and Coalition partners andactionable information had been developed on the difficulties with medical logistics,manpower, training, and readiness.Developing and Implementing PlanningDeveloping a sustainable Iraqi Army health care system requires a comprehensive,phased mentoring plan that synchronizes and coordinates ministerial level medicaltraining and mentoring with medical training and mentoring at the Iraqi Ground ForcesCommand, division, brigade, and battalion levels. An early focus of this plan should beon developing junior officers and non-commissioned officers. The plan should includeconditions under which responsibilities will be gradually handed over as the Iraqi staffand system demonstrate the capability to take on key sustainment tasks in militarymedicine.Implementation of this plan will require medical Military Advisory Teams to advise,mentor, and assist the Iraqi Army in developing critical capability and proficiency inmedical logistics, medical plans and operations, combat casualty care, casualtyevacuation, in-garrison care, patient administration, resource management, andpartnership agreements for life support and other base support functions.Mentors should be assigned to Iraqi Army medical personnel at the division, brigade, andbattalion levels to develop military medical combat service support capability, and atfixed clinics, recruiting and training sites, and medical logistics depots. A notionalmedical mentor requirement at the brigade level requires approximately 10 mentors perbrigade. A notional division and below unit medical mentor laydown is described inAppendix H.Mentoring and advising a 14-division, 50-brigade Iraqi Army would requireapproximately 528 U.S. or Coalition military medical personnel or contractor personnelas mentors and advisors, with an additional 25 mentors for the fixed clinics, recruitingand training sites, and medical logistics depots.Coalition Medical ActivitiesMentoring partnerships with Coalition forces were largely ad-hoc at the ministerial,division, brigade, and unit levels, as dedicated mentors were assigned to only the IraqiArmy Surgeon General and the Iraqi Ground Forces Command Surgeon. Severalmedical logistics mentors worked within one brigade but were not addressing strategicmedical logistics issues.138