What Does an Adviser Do? Mosul Operation Highlights Elasticity of Military Support Operations. By Missy Ryan, Washington Post
As the operation to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul gets underway, American troops are poised to expand their hands-on support to local forces battling the Islamic State. In a sign of the importance of the long-awaited offensive, military leaders are authorized to place U.S. forces advisers with Iraqi army battalions for the first time as they push toward militant lines, exposing U.S. forces to greater risks.
Military officials say the troops will remain back from the thick of combat, and will limit their support to coordinating air and artillery fire, providing intelligence and helping plan troop movements. The U.S. role will not, they insist, look like the years following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when U.S. troops who operated nominally in support of local forces often did the bulk of the fighting themselves. This time, U.S. advisers are “not meant to be the front-line troops,” Capt. Jeff Davis, a military spokesman, told reporters Tuesday.
Several days into the operation, Pentagon officials have provided only general information about where U.S. troops will be located and how exactly they will take part in the hoped-for advance. While American troops have been widely seen alongside local forces in forward positions east of Mosul, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook on Monday said only that some forces were positioned “on the outskirts of the city.” He said it was not yet clear whether U.S. forces would be permitted to enter the city proper.
Officials’ reluctance to provide greater detail reflects a desire to protect U.S. advisers, attached to local units in small groups of about a dozen. It is also part of an effort to keep the U.S. role in the background…
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