Commanders said this marked the most difficult combined arms exercise since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003. The exercise was meant to block an attack by heavily-armed insurgents on Al Mousahab island.

"The IA [Iraq Army] simultaneously stormed the objective by air, land and sea," the U.S. military said on Oct. 31. "More than a dozen IA boats full of soldiers flanked the threat from both sides of the Tigris River.

Artillerymen continued to fire on the target as the boats moved in. Two Iraqi helicopters hovered near the objective, dropping infantrymen within firing distance of the enemy. Reinforcements arrived within minutes of the initial drop."

"I believe Basra is the key to securing all of Iraq," Iraq Army Brig. Gen. Aziz, commander of the 14th Division who was not fully named, said.

Meanwhile, NATO has focused on an effort to enhance energy security in Iraq.

Officials said NATO has been working with the Interior Ministry in a program to train police assigned to protect energy facilities. They said the program envisioned the training of more than 1,100 officers, who would help guard crude oil sites in Basra and Kirkuk.

"This is an important program for both Iraq and NATO," U.S. Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, deputy chief of the Iraqi training program, said.

Under the NATO program, Iraqi cadets would undergo six weeks of basic training. Officials said the course, given by Italy's paramilitary Carabinieri, would turn the top 25 cadets into Iraqi trainers.

"For Iraq, this training program will greatly increase the skills and capabilities of the oil police who secure Iraq's critical oil infrastructure," Barbero said.

Officials said each class would consist of 125 cadets, both from the police and military. They said NATO plans to hold nine courses until December 2011 and graduate 225 Iraqi instructors.

"The instructor training builds enduring, self-sustaining Iraqi capabilities to train oil police," the U.S. military said on Oct. 26.

In August, NATO completed the training of 9,000 Iraqi officers as part of an effort to form a paramilitary force. The alliance said the training, focused on counter-insurgency and other skills, would continue through 2011.

"The last batch, consisting of 530 servicemen, has concluded the basic training course that would allow them to move on to other areas of expertise," NATO deputy commander Gen. Claudio Angelini said.

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