CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq – For the last two months, Airmen of the 84th Expeditionary Air Support Operation Squadron, Multi-National Division – South, have been training Iraqi airmen of 70th Squadron to be the eye in the sky for Iraqi ground forces. That mission was accomplished Sept. 12 during a training exercise held at Camp Wessam.
“Today, we brought the airmen out to Wessam to work with the Iraqi Army,” said Lt. Col. William Iuliano, commander of the 84th EASOS. “So, the big step forward was that we had Iraqi Air Force talking in Arabic to the Iraqi Army in a scenario with the Americans as the opposing force.”
“We were on the ground, running around Wessam and the aircraft was directing the Iraqi Army to our position,” the Boise, Idaho, resident said. “They were using grid references they made; they did a coordination brief in the air from the aircraft down to the commander and the commander back to the aircraft. Everything was executed flawlessly.”
During the exercise, the Airmen of the 84th EASOS set up different scenarios Iraqi service members may encounter while out on patrol including improvised explosive devices, a mortar position and a runaway vehicle. Iuliano said the exercise exceeded his expectations and he was pleased with the outcome of the training.
“If we got here and were just able to talk on radios, I would have been happy,” he said. “I’m ecstatic with what we accomplished today.”
“The real reward for me was in the debrief when the Iraqi commander said, “it was like the aircraft was my eyes,’” said Iuliano. “That was exactly what I wanted to hear, so it was beautiful.”
The whole goal of this exercise was to get Iraqi military units to work together that haven’t worked together in the past, according to Iuliano. He said he wants them to be able to work together to protect the people of Basra, the province itself and the country of Iraq.
