Essay Example on 18 000 soldiers arrived in Mosul Iraq a city of nearly two million People

In April 2003 approximately 18 000 soldiers arrived in Mosul Iraq a city of nearly two million people to find it in a state of upheaval Major General MG David H Petraeus 101st Airborne Division Commander began planning he needed foresight and the ability to ensure that his subordinates could understand his vision as well as the course of action After commanders visualize an operation they describe it to their staffs and subordinates to facilitate shared understanding and purpose ADRP 5 0 2012 During the execution of the operation MG Petraeus described how to implement the modifications to his vision as the situation changed To ensure the updated guidance and directives would result in the understanding of his ever changing approach he issued daily orders MG David H Petraeus was successful in describing his intent by addressing the return of normalcy restoration of life necessities and the economic development for the city of Mosul Return to Normalcy MG Petraeus main challenge to restoring normalcy was how to explain his plans for fixing the influx of Iraqi soldiers after the fall of the regime Re integration of the former Baath Party banned by Ambassador Bremer the Coalition Provisional Authority leader was a unique challenge as well MG Petraeus assembled his staff and began discussing different approaches 

During these meetings he would include the cities ethnic and tribal leaders In doing so the different fractions felt equal involvement It was necessary to promote the feeling of a balanced government and to allow the Kurdish parties involvement without isolating the opposing Sunni Arab parties As the discussions between MG Petraeus and the newly formed committees progressed he began directing the discussions towards the need of the cities protection by its people Upon arrival of a larger combat force the need for the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters became unnecessary MG Petraeus began discussing with Colonel COL Anderson 2nd Brigade Commander about the urgency of bringing former police officers back to work COL Anderson began soliciting the local populace to find and locate the former police officers As they returned to duty they were required to complete a training program produced and taught by the division s military police COL Anderson sent his subordinate Commanders to spend time at each precinct With the idea to build and develop a cohesive joint patrolling force in the fourteen police stations located inside the city MG Petraeus developed a number of operating principles The first one was We need to create as many Iraqis as possible who have a stake in the success of the new Iraq Hamilton 2008 As the city became safer the next step was to begin restoration of the necessities of life Restoration of Life Necessities MG Petraeus second focus was to restore the necessities of life This was his second principle You must show progress 

As businesses reopened and employment began to rise Mosul s supply and demand predicament became apparent MG Petraeus soon realized that increased inflation was a problem I literally woke up in the middle of the night and thought if we re going to inject more money without more goods we re just going to create inflation Lundberg 2006 MG Petraeus met with local personnel to discuss how to absorb the rising demand for more goods in the market To fix this newfound problem he would need to reopen the Syrian border In the beginning of the war an embargo between Syria and Iraq closed the borders This task fell to Col Michael Linnington 3rd Brigade Commander MG Petraeus directed him to work out agreements that were like minded and considered fair between the locals and Iraqi customs officials As new goods found their way into the market it soon began to settle When disagreements sprung up between the local tribes due to trade issues they would bring the parties together and discuss the different avenues of approach Conclusion During MG Petraeus time in Mosul he faced the formidable task of providing a changing mission description how to share his intent and vision He frequently met with his commanders and the local host nation leaders to ensure that his concepts and tasking were understood in a way to facilitate a shared understanding and purpose throughout all aspects of command MG David H Petraeus was successful in describing his intent by addressing the return of normalcy restoration of life necessities and the economic development for the city of Mosul