98th Division (United States) - Post 9/11

Post 9/11

On 3 September 2004, the 98th Division received mobilization orders for Operation Iraqi Freedom. This mobilization was to be the first overseas deployment for the unit since World War II. The mission, known as the Foreign Army Training Assistance Command (FA-TRAC), consisted primarily of training the new Iraqi Army and Iraqi security forces. An expeditionary force of more than 700 Iroquois warriors were trained and equipped at four sites: Camp Atterbury, Fort Bliss, Fort Hood and Fort Benning.

The demands of Operation Iraqi Freedom required an accelerated training schedule which crammed as many warfighting skills as possible into a forty-one day period. This was the 98th's first substantial exposure to the asymmetric battlefield, requiring training in counterinsurgency techniques and preparing to face an opponent who did not fight along traditional fronts. The 98th made full use of the 33,000 acres at Camp Atterbury and marched everywhere. It was at Camp Atterbury that the Advisory Support Teams (later renamed Military Training Teams), the heart of the FA-TRAC mission, transformed to cohesive units in days that began in the dark morning hours and ended well after sunset.

In fall 2004, the 98th Division arrived in Baghdad and filled the ranks of the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I), the unit charged with assisting the Iraqi government in developing, training and equipping the new Iraqi security forces. Unlike those who served in World War II, this generation of warriors tapped into its vast pool of drill sergeant and instructor expertise and went about the business of training Iraqi soldiers and officers to prescribed standards under the constant threat of insurgent attack and under the most Spartan of conditions.

In short order, instruction and support teams spread out across all points in Iraq from Al Kasik in the north to as far south as Umm Qasr. They wasted no time in establishing contact with Iraqi security units and connected with these soldiers with the help of interpreters. These dedicated warriors helped build the six divisions of the new Iraqi Army. They also established officer and noncommissioned officer education schools at the Kirkush Military Training Base. They trained Iraqi police, the Highway Patrol, the special Police Commandos and the Iraqi Border Police. As with their forebears of World War II, they built bridges of trust and friendship along the way.

The service of the 98th did not stop with FA-TRAC. The division fielded soldiers to such other diverse locations as Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Horn of Africa, Kuwait, Jordan and Afghanistan. Even in these remote locations, Iroquois warriors worked and contributed to the success of the mission.

Five soldiers from the division were killed during the conflict.