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V Corps continues success in Iraq

By Spc. James P. Hunter
May 8, 2006

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq (Army News Service, May 8, 2006) – Since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom more than three years ago, coalition forces have thwarted the regime of Saddam Hussein, battled a widespread insurgency and led a massive rebuilding effort in Iraq.

V Corps, headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany, led the initial combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 that deposed Saddam, fighting from Kuwait through Iraqi deserts and towns to capture Baghdad. After overseeing the initial reconstruction after the fall of Baghdad, the corps headquarters returned to Germany in early to mid-2004.

“Victory Corps” is again leading day-to-day operations of coalition forces as the command element of Mutli-National Corps – Iraq.

With more than 100 days of its second yearlong deployment to Iraq gone, V Corps is leading coalition forces’ steady push toward rebuilding and reforming the Iraqi government, police, military forces and a myriad of other sectors of the nation's infrastructure.

“What we’ve learned in the first hundred days is that this whole operation is evolving every day,” said V Corps and MNCI Command Sgt. Maj. Ralph R. Beam.

“It’s changed dramatically: how the Iraqi government is standing up; the development of the Iraqi security forces, and how we are dealing with and helping push (the Iraqi people) forward,” Beam said.

Soldiers of the organic V Corps units also deployed, and include the 3rd Corps Support Command, the 22nd Signal Brigade, the 30th Medical Brigade and V Corps Artillery.

Beam said he wants Soldiers’ families to take pride in what their Soldiers have achieved.

“We’ve opened up more schools (and) more health clinics,” he said. “If you talk to the average Iraqi … they’re glad we’re here and (appreciate) what we’ve done for them.

“We’ve given them things that most of them haven’t experienced in their lifetime, and older folks that used to have some semblance of freedom have gotten it back and now they’re coming to terms; they’re coming to grips with it, and we’re helping them do that.”

The coalition hands greater responsibility for Iraq back to its people every day, Beam said. The Iraqis are expected to be in control of nearly 75 percent of their sectors by summer.

As he goes about his duties as MNCI's senior enlisted Soldier, Beam spends a lot of time observing and talking with Iraqi troops. Some units seem to lack experience, he said, but others seem to have the knowledge and capabilities to move forward and succeed.

With U.S. military and police transition team trainers embedded within Iraqi units, inexperienced units will grow in experience and knowledge, the sergeant major added.

(Editor’s note: Spc. James P. Hunter writes for the Multi-National Corps - Iraq Public Affairs Office.)