FORT BRAGG, N.C. – Secretary of Defense Ash Carter promised the 18th Airborne Corps and its commander Lt. Gen. Steve Townsend a blank check to order resources needed for the hasty defeat of the so-called Islamic State.
“Anything he needs, he will get,” Carter said of Townsend, who will take over the campaign against Islamic State (ISIL) militants in Iraq and Syria for Lt. Gen Sean MacFarland.
Carter said the deploying troops will take with them “the whole suite” of military capabilities in which they are “cross-trained.” When he takes command on the ground in Baghdad, Townsend will control air, cyber, space and ground assets. He also will take over the logistics attached to U.S. efforts to train and equip Iraqi security forces preparing to assault Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.
Townsend will be the second commander to take over Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) since the campaign was consolidated under a single three-star general.
“One of the important things that we did establishing the command that Gen. Townsend will fill is precisely that – put everything under that commander,” Carter said. “Whatever is over there, he is in charge of. In today’s campaign against an enemy like ISIL, it runs the whole spectrum all the way from air power to cyber.”
Several rounds of “accelerant” capabilities have been deployed to the region, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), attack and bomber aircraft, command and control systems and attack helicopters. The initial round of accelerants comprised strike aircraft, a contingent of special operations forces in Syria and an expeditionary targeting force to identify and mark targets for coalition airstrikes.
“While the United States led the way with these accelerants, we also asked all our coalition countries to make additional contributions to the campaign, which they did,” Carter said. “Since February, coalition nations have provided even more support to accelerate the campaign, as our local partners have made advances. In fact, two-thirds of coalition members have pledged or already made additional military contributions since then, while many others have contributed vital economic, political, and humanitarian support.”
Other coalition states have contributed strike aircraft, special operations forces, trainers, engineers, logisticians and lift platforms.
All are in support of the main counter-ISIL ground offensive waged by U.S.-trained and equipped Iraqi forces as the coalition works to “expand our military campaign to every domain, including cyber,” Carter said.
“Our overall strategic approach in Iraq and Syria is to enable victory by capable, motivated local forces and not try to substitute for them because they need to make the victory stick after the victory is won. Only local forces can do that,” Carter said. “Only local forces can ensure the defeat sticks. U.S. and coalition forces can enable them with our vast military power – but it is local forces who must seize and hold territory, and Iraqis and Syrians who must govern the territory after it has been retaken from ISIL and restore a decent life to the people who live there.”
Carter speaks of the campaign to retake ISIL’s self-declared capitals of Mosul and Raqqa in Syria as inevitably victorious. The coalition is now focused on what comes after the battle and is planning on a protracted operation to clear booby traps laid by retreating militants and then rebuild the cities.
Much of the reconstruction effort will be done under civil authority, Carter said. Last week the counter-ISIL coalition collectively pledged a total $2 billion for reconstruction efforts that are necessary after the cities are recaptured.
“That’s not a principally American job,” he said. “We will play a role in it.”