In Iraq, American troops will soon be moved out of cities, to bases elsewhere, only to perform mission tasks when asked to do so by the Iraqi Army. Army Times has an interesting article online today that read in part, “We will not stage routine joint patrols with the Americans in Hurriyah,” said Maj. Hussein al-Qaissy, the district’s Iraqi army commander. We will ask them to come only in an emergency.”
I'm only a far away observer of all this with absolutely zero experience and little knowledge of the on ground challenges our Soldiers face daily in Iraq, but it seems to me that commanders, especially at the company level, are going to have some tough things to manage as those they command wind down from the OPTEMPO they once experienced. Generally, Soldiers do not like a "base camp" environment for too long. Especially those having been engaged in fighting a tough war for a long time.
