April 5, 2006: One of the Iraqi Army's ten divisions is a mechanized infantry unit. The 9th Mechanized Division is based at Taji, a few miles northwest of Baghdad. The division's 1st Brigade, with some 2,100 troops, is equipped with Soviet MTLB infantry personnel carriers and some T-55 tanks, and has been fully operational since last Fall. The brigade is currently in tactical control of part of the region around Taji. The 2nd Brigade is equipped with refurbished T-72 tanks donated by former Warsaw Pact nations that are now part of the Coalition. The 3rd Brigade is still forming, with T-55s and BMP infantry vehicles. One of the three Combat Service Support battalions has been formed.

Eventually the division will be fully outfitted with T-72s and comparable Soviet equipment. Planned to total about 9,000 men, the division reportedly is unusual in that it has a diverse ethnic mix. As the division commander, Maj. Gen. Bashar Mahmood Ayoub, put it, "We have Sunnis, we have Shi'as, we have Christians, we have Yezidis . . . . "

Using the old Russian equipment makes it easier to train the troops, since the old Iraqi army used the same stuff. There's plenty of this stuff around, it's cheap, and sufficient to deal with domestic security issues, and any potential foreign enemies. Moreover, most Iraqi officers and troops have now accepted that what will make them mighty is not fancy new equipment (like M-1 tanks, which Kuwait has), but training. The Iraqi troops get to see American soldiers in action, up close and frequently. They can see that it's the training and discipline that make the Americans so effective, and Iraqi troops are looking more and more like Americans. Not just the uniforms and helmets, but the moves and responsiveness to their leaders and each other in combat.

The division commander, general Ayoub, is a graduate of the Iraqi military academy, he served with some distinction against Iran during the 1980s, in the Kuwait War, and against Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Although a former member of the Baath Party, he was recalled to active duty by the new Iraqi government, and placed in command of the 9th Division last year. The general, a Sunni native of Baghdad, who is married to a Kurd, is considered an aggressive commander who likes to get out into the streets with his troops. Ayoub was one of those rare Iraqi commanders that was competent, yet still trusted by Saddam, and not used to do any of the dirty work. The 1980s Iran-Iraq war produced dozens of competent and proven Iraqi combat commanders. But Saddam fired or executed most of them, for he feared these able war heroes might try to replace him. Those few, like Bashar Mahmood Ayoub, who managed to convince Saddam they were harmless, managed to stay in uniform. Ayoub convinced the new government that he was no fan of Saddam.

As currently planned, the Iraqi Army is to have 113 combat battalions (91 Infantry, 12 special "Intervention Force", five mech infantry, four tank, and one special security). There will also be nine motor transportation regiments, three mechanized combat service support battalions and ten base support units. The 9th division is considered the strategic reserve, and its use to provide security in and around Baghdad is only temporary.