Officials said the Iraq Army and security forces would continue to
expand over the next two years. They said the U.S.-led coalition would help
in training and equipping at least 35,000 troops annually.
Iraqi security forces have been organized into 12 divisions, 42
brigades, 146 battalions, and four commando battalions. Multinational
Security Transition Command has been responsible for helping Baghdad
develop, organize, train, equip and sustain the Iraqi forces.
Officials said Iraq has received more than $1 billion worth of military
equipment in 2008. They said military deliveries in 2007 reached $20
million.
More than 100,000 joined the military and security forces in the last
half of 2007. In 2007, officials said, the Iraq Army grew by more than
60,000, with more than 42,000 in the second half of the year. The national
police grew by 8,000 in 2007, all of it in the last half of 2007.
"They are on a growth path where they can sustain this size of force,
both with money and with equipment," Dubik told a briefing on March 4.
The Iraq Air Force has also grown significantly. Over the last year, the
air force doubled the number of pilots while conducting more than 300
missions per week, a 10-fold increase from 2006.
Dubik said the air force plans to again double its pilots in 2008. Iraqi
pilots fly U.S.-origin Huey-2 and Russian-origin Mi-17 helicopters as well
as fixed-wing surveillance and reconnaissance platforms.
Still, Iraq's military and police remain plagued by inadequate
leadership and logistics. Officials said Iraq has built eight of a planned
13 logistics bases.
"Logistics, actually, is making some good progress," Dubik said. "It
will be until the end of this year to learn a different logistics position,
but you can already see here some of the changes."
