Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq

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MNSTC-I patch

Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNSTC-I) is the branch of the Multi-National Force - Iraq that is responsible for developing, organizing, training, equipping, and sustaining the Iraqi Security Ministries (Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Ministry of Interior (MoI)) and their associated Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), i.e. the military of Iraq and the Iraqi Police.

The stated mission is to train the ISF so that they become capable of defeating the insurgency and taking responsibility for maintaining security within Iraq. Implicitly, this should be done so that the Coalition can reduce the number of troops in Iraq. Therefore, the MNSTC-I mission is a central part of the U.S. exit strategy.

MNSTC-I is commanded (since June 2007) by US Army Lieutenant General James M. Dubik and is headquartered in the International Zone in Baghdad. It was previously commanded by LTG Martin E. Dempsey (April 2006). It apparently used to be organized into three training teams,^{[citation needed]} listed below, but the MNSTC-I site, accessed in November 2007, lists around nine different organisations, each assisting with a specific part of the rebuilding Iraqi military and police. The three former organisations were:

Coalition Military Assistance Training Team (CMATT), which organizes, trains, and equips the Iraqi Army, which is under the command of the Iraqi Assistance Group.
JHQ - Joint Headquarters Advisory Support Team, which assists the joint headquarters of the Iraqi Army in developing a command and control system. Also, JHQ assists in operational planning and gives strategic advice to the Iraqi government.
Civilian Police Assistance Training Team (CPATT), which organizes, trains, and equips the Iraqi Police.

Other assistance teams include the Joint Headquarters Transition Team, advising the operational Iraqi land force headquarters.^[1] MNSTC-I has branded year 2005 "Year of the Army" and 2006 "Year of the Police". In order to raise the level of professionalism and limit misconduct within the Iraqi Police, more military transition teams will embed with local police during 2006. MNSTC-I publishes weekly newsletter The Advisor with information on the training of the Iraqi Security Forces.