WASHINGTON — In the wake of terror attacks in Brussels and Baghdad, the U.S.-led coalition remains confident in its strategy, providing specialized training, logistics and fire support for Iraqi security forces on the battlefield.
British Army Maj. Gen. Doug Chalmers, one of two deputy commanders of the Combined Joint Task Force, Operation Inherent Resolve, spoke via video-link from operations headquarters in Baghdad about progress in the fight against ISIS.
“Our strategy to defeat Daesh (ISIS) has not changed,” Chalmers said. “We continue attacking the enemy with strikes across the breadth and depth of their so-called caliphate to weaken them whilst we enhance the lethality of our partner forces on the ground in both countries through close coordination of our fires with their movement.”
In a briefing videoed to the Pentagon, Chalmers opened with thoughts and prayers for the victims and families in Brussels and Baghdad affected by the “cowardly terror attacks.”
The attacks have strengthened the coalition’s resolve, he said. To date, Chalmers said the coalition has trained nearly 20,000 Iraqi security forces, many of which are now committed to counter-attack operations in the Euphrates River valley or up north in the Tigris River valley.
The coalition has worked up a “menu of capabilities” to strengthen Iraqi fighters as operations against ISIS have expanded. The idea is to bolster support for the security forces in terms of fire and advice. While U.S. Marines will not move with Iraqi forces as they advance, they will provide “self-defense fires or supporting fires.”
As the Iraqis prepare for an operation to retake Mosul, Chalmers said that strikes by coalition forces have centered on ISIS’s presence in the city. The terror group’s headquarters, finances, and weapons manufacturing sites are among the targets.
The briefing followed an announcement Wednesday that U.S. service members will now have the opportunity to be awarded the new Operation Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal. Defense Secretary Ash Carter unveiled the medal in Tampa, Florida during a U.S. Central Command change-of-command ceremony.
To qualify for the award, service members must have served 30 consecutive, or 60 nonconsecutive, days in Iraq or Syria. Members killed during combat, engaged in combat or medically evacuated from Iraq and Syria immediately qualify.
The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal was the previous award recognizing service in Syria, Iraq, and neighboring countries. The Operation Inherent Resolve Campaign medal is retroactive to June 15, 2014.
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