Lessons Learned: A Company Commander's Thoughts on Iraq

Lessons Learned: A Company Commander's Thoughts on Iraq: "'Train your soldiers - all of them, even the cooks, clerks, and command drivers, on dismounted operations. Teach dismounted patrol, ambush, and counter-ambush techniques. Tankers, scouts, mortarmen, you will need to do this. Teach everyone how to react to ambushes - mounted and dismounted. You cannot take your tanks and personnel carriers everywhere.'

'Teach your soldiers how to clear houses. Set inner and outer cordons, and designate search teams to enter houses. Develop your techniques before you go to Iraq. Beat up your boss so you can train with tactical human intelligence teams and tactical psychological operations teams before you deploy.

'Train your first sergeants how to process detainees. Have military police and military intelligence soldiers teach you how to do the paperwork correctly to include witness statements. If the paperwork is incomplete. really bad people end up getting released.'

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