- Multinational Division Central-South
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Logo of MND C-S
Multinational Division Central-South (MND-CS), created in September 2003, and supported by NATO, was a part of the Multinational Force Iraq. Headquartered in Camp Echo, it was under Polish command until October 2008, when the last of Poland's troops were withdrawn. Polish contingent was its largest. Other participants included Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Romania, El Salvador, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine and the United States of America. As of December 2008, Armenian, Bosnian, Danish, Latvian, Kazakh, Lithuanian, Mongolian, Spanish and Slovakian forces have been fully withdrawn.
The South Central zone (formerly the Upper South zone, also known as the Polish zone covered the area south of Baghdad: Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Karbala Governorate, Babil Governorate and the Wasit Governorate, all of which have been transferred to the Iraqi government. The region has a population of about 5 million spread over 65 632 km². Major cities in the area include Diwaniyah, Kut, Hillah, and Karbala and Najaf.
The Najaf Governorate was passed back to American control in 2004, due to reduction in strength of the forces under Polish command; this reduced the zone to about 3 million of population spread over 28 655 km². On January 5, 2006, Polish troops handed over control of the central Babil province to U.S. troops.
Contents
General information
Zones in Iraq as of 2003. Polish zone (South Central), in practice multinational under Polish command, marked in pink.The strength of the Polish forces has decreased from 2224 (2003) to 900 (2007). The Ukrainian forces numbered 1640 in 2003, by mid 2005 the number decreased to 900, and about 29 officers and 8 Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) deployed, serving in headquarters and in a unit of military assistance, before the final withdrawal in 2008.[1] Other contingents in 2003 numbered: Spain, 1340; Thailand, 886; Bulgaria, 480; Honduras, 364; Philippines, 350; El Salvador, 346; Dominican Republic, 300; Hungary, 300; Romania, 220; Mongolia, 190; Latvia, 145; Nicaragua, 111, Slovak Republic, 111; Lithuania, 45; Kazakhstan, 25; Denmark, 10; Netherlands, 6; Norway, 5; some support and liaison personnel from United Kingdom and USA.
Casualties of the entire division are around 65.
The Division has been switching from stabilization tasks (patrols, etc.) towards training the Iraqi Army (8th Infantry Division and security forces - Iraqi Police and Iraqi Border Police).
The headquarters of the zone were moved in 2004 from Camp Babilon to Camp Echo.
According to mission statement the primary task of the MND CS was to oversee the transfer of the military and security in the areas under its control to the provisional Iraqi authorities.
Description in State of Denial
Zones in Iraq as of 2004. Polish zone (South Central), in practice multinational under Polish command, marked in pink.In Bob Woodward's book State of Denial he recounts the experience of Frank Miller, who as of March 2004 was the senior director for defense on the National Security Council. During the course of a fact finding trip to Iraq in that month he visited the leadership of the Multinational Division. Woodward's description is as follows:
Miller moved on to meet with the Polish commander of the Multinational Division, made up of troops from 23 nations. This was the shakiest part of the coalition--but an important fig leaf to suggest that the war was a broad international effort The Polish division commander told Miller, "I've got 23 separate national units. They have 23 separate rules of engagement. I pick up the phone, I tell the colonel in charge of the Spanish Brigade what to do. He picks up his phone, calls Madrid, and says, 'I've been told to do this. Is it okay?'" Miller understood that this meant the Multinational Division had little or no fighting capability.
Commanders
Rotation Commander From To I Andrzej Tyszkiewicz 17 May 2003 11 January 2004 II Mieczysław Bieniek 11 January 2004 18 July 2004 III Andrzej Ekiert 18 July 2004 7 February 2005 IV Waldemar Skrzypczak 7 February 2005 26 July 2005 V Piotr Czerwiński 26 July 2005 6 February 2006 VI Edward Gruszka 6 February 2006 18 July 2006 VII Bronisław Kwiatkowski 18 July 2006 24 January 2007 VIII Paweł Lamla 24 January 2007 25 July 2007 IX Tadeusz Buk 25 July 2007 30 January 2008 X Andrzej Malinowski 30 January 2008 31 October 2008 Forces
Polish
Rotation Division Strength I 12th Mechanised Division 2500 II 11th Armoured Cavalry Division 2500 III 16th Mechanised Division 2400 IV 11th Lubusz Armoured Cavalry Division 1500 V 1st Warsaw Mechanised Division 1500 VI 12th Szczecin Mechanised Division 900 VII 16th Pomeranian Mechanised Division 900 VIII 11th Lubusz Armoured Cavalry Division 900 IX 1st Warsaw Mechanised Division 900 X 12th Szczecin Mechanised Division 900 Spanish and Latin America
Main article: Plus Ultra BrigadeUkrainian
Rotation Dates Unit Commander Strength I 18 August 2003 - 19 February 2004[2] 5th Mechanized Brigade Major General Sergiy Bezlushchenko[3] 1,656(1,614)[4] II 19 February 2004 - 22 September 2004[2] 6th Mechanized Brigade Major General Serhiy Ostrovskyi[5] 1,795[6] III 22 September 2004 - 7 May 2005[2] 7th Mechanized Brigade Major General Serhiy Popko[5] 1,722[7] IV 7 May 2005 - 29 December 2005[2] 81st Tactical Group Major General Serhiy Horoshnykov 896[8] 20 December 2005 - 9 December 2008[9] Colonel Henadii Lachkov[10] 37 See also
References
- ^ Ukrainian peacekeeping personnel as a part of Multinational forces in Iraq
- ^ a b c d (Ukrainian) Minister of Defense met last group of soldiers from Iraq
- ^ (Ukrainian) Commander of 5th Mechanized Brigade
- ^ (Ukrainian) More than 400 soldiers from 5th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will take part in first joint patrol in the city of Kut with US marines
- ^ a b (Ukrainian) Ukrainian peacekeepers in Iraq, met with the governor of Wasit province
- ^ (Ukrainian) Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk made a check of preparations of the 6th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces to perform peacekeeping tasks in Iraq
- ^ (Ukrainian) Preparation began for the 7th separate mechanized brigade for peacekeeping tasks in Iraq
- ^ (Ukrainian) A telephone conversation too place with Ukrainian President and commander of 81st Task Force of Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent in Iraq, Major General Sergei Horoshnykov
- ^ (Ukrainian) 29 Ukrainian officers and ensign of the Ukrainian peacekeeping personnel in the Republic of Iraq returned home
- ^ Ukrainians complete mission in Iraq
External links
- Multi-National Division - (Central South) at globalsecurity.org
- Lieutenant Colonel Robert Strzelecki, Polish Army, Lessons Learned: Multinational Division Central-South
- Multinational Division Central-South Commemorative Medal
Troops at time of MNF-I deactivation Withdrawn troops (2008 - 2011) Withdrawn troops (2003 - 2007) TOTAL INVASION DEPLOYMENT
- Less than 200,000 troops
DEPLOYMENT DECEMBER 2009 (Approximate numbers)
United States: 150,000 invasion 165,000 peak-30,000 (11/11)
- NATO: A contingent of around 150 advisers under the separate command NATO Training Mission - Iraq
Multinational Force Iraq units- Multi-National Force - West
- Multi-National Division - Baghdad
- Multinational Division Central-South
- Multi-National Division - North
- Multi-National Division (South-East)
- Logistics Support Area Anaconda
United Kingdom: 46,000 invasion (withdrawn 5/11)
Australia: 2,000 invasion (withdrawn 7/09)
Romania: 730 peak (deployed 7/03-withdrawn 7/09)
El Salvador: 380 peak (deployed 8/03-withdrawn 1/09)
Estonia: 40 troops (deployed 6/05-withdrawn 1/09)
Bulgaria: 485 peak (deployed 5/03-withdrawn 12/08)
Moldova: 24 peak (deployed 9/03-withdrawn 12/08)
Albania: 240 troops (deployed 4/03-withdrawn 12/08)
Ukraine: 1,650 peak (deployed 8/03-withdrawn 12/08)
Denmark: 545 peak (deployed 4/03-withdrawn 12/08)
Czech Republic: 300 peak (deployed 12/03-withdrawn 12/08)
South Korea: 3,600 peak (deployed 5/03-withdrawn 12/08)
Japan: 600 troops (deployed 1/04-withdrawn 12/08)
Tonga: 55 troops (deployed 7/04-withdrawn 12/08)
Azerbaijan: 250 peak (deployed 8/03-withdrawn 12/08)
Singapore: 175 offshore (deployed 12/03-withdrawn 12/08)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: 85 peak (deployed 6/05-withdrawn 11/08)
Macedonia: 77 peak (deployed 7/03-withdrawn 11/08)
Latvia: 136 peak (deployed 5/03-withdrawn 11/08)
Poland: 200 invasion—2,500 peak (withdrawn 10/08)
Kazakhstan: 29 troops (deployed 9/03-withdrawn 10/08)
Armenia: 46 troops (deployed 1/05-withdrawn 10/08)
Mongolia: 180 peak (deployed 8/03-withdrawn 09/08)
Georgia: 2,000 peak (deployed 8/03-withdrawn 8/08)
Slovakia: 110 peak (deployed 8/03-withdrawn 12/07)
Lithuania: 120 peak (deployed 6/03-withdrawn 08/07)
Italy: 3,200 peak (deployed 7/03-withdrawn 11/06)
Norway: 150 troops (deployed 7/03-withdrawn 8/06)
Hungary: 300 troops (deployed 8/03-withdrawn 3/05)
Netherlands: 1,345 troops (deployed 7/03-withdrawn 3/05)
Portugal: 128 troops (deployed 11/03-withdrawn 2/05)
New Zealand: 61 troops (deployed 9/03-withdrawn 9/04)
Thailand: 423 troops (deployed 8/03-withdrawn 8/04)
Philippines: 51 troops (deployed 7/03-withdrawn 7/04)
Honduras: 368 troops (deployed 8/03-withdrawn 5/04)
Dominican Republic: 302 troops (deployed 8/03-withdrawn 5/04)
Spain: 1,300 troops (deployed 4/03-withdrawn 4/04)
Nicaragua: 230 troops (deployed 9/03-withdrawn 2/04)
Iceland: 2 troops (deployed 5/03-withdrawal date unknown)
Categories:- Military units and formations established in 2003
- Multinational force involved in the Iraq War
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