By 1st Lt. Edwin Pope

1/82 AAB, USD-C

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Signal troops with a U.S. Army advise-and-assist brigade and the Iraqi army rehearsed setting up mobile operations centers Feb. 10 as part of sustained training.

Company C, 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist), partnered with 1st Iraqi Army Division Signal Company to review a mobile tactical operations center rehearsal, also known as a “jump TOC” at the 1st IA Division headquarters.

The Iraqi troops beat their 90-minute standard by 50 minutes, impressing the Americans, said Capt. Jason  Gardel, Company C commander.

“Your men used great safety precautions and teamwork,” Lt. Col. Douglas Stitt, commander of 1 BSTB, told Lt. Col. Fallah, commander of the Iraqi company. “The soldiers utilized the PACE communications plan in an effective manner to provide secure communications to your division.”

PACE stands for primary, alternate, contingency and emergency.

The Iraqi signal company conducted the rehearsal at full speed with a realistic convoy rolling up to the rehearsal site with every piece of equipment normally needed in jump operations.

            For the rehearsal, two jump sites were set up, each with a tent and two radios.  In addition to establishing command posts in the tents, the Iraqis brought two modified armored trucks that contained full-operations cells.

            Men jumped from their vehicles as they skidded to a halt and began moving equipment at a break-neck pace. Forty minutes later, they were done.

Gardel concluded the Iraqi signal soldiers are fully capable of establishing remote command posts without any support from U.S. forces. He said the partnership between the Iraqis and U.S. forces will now shift to post-setup training and rehearsals for potential operations.