Multi-National Division (South-East) (MND(SE)) was a British commanded division responsible for security in the south east of Iraq from 2003 to 2009. It was responsible for the large city of Basra (or Basrah) and its headquarters were located at Basra Airport. The division was initially responsible for the governorates (roughly provinces) of Al Muthanna, Maysan, Basra, and Dhi Qar.[1] MND-SE was a subordinate division of Multi-National Corps Iraq. Multi-National Corps Iraq was itself part of Multi-National Force-Iraq.
In aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which had the British codename 'Operation Telic,' the British 1st Armoured Division and 3rd Mechanised Division were successively responsible for the command and control of the occupation forces in south east Iraq. After 3rd Mechanised Division's tour of duty came to an end it was replaced by the composite headquarters of MND(SE). Since then the division has been made up primarily of British units with other nations in support. Most of the combat firepower of the division has been centred around the British brigade group deployed at the time and the division also contained an Italian brigade for a period.
The area around Basra has been much quieter than the American occupation zone further north but there have been a significant number of incidents in which forces of the division have been killed. It is the current aim of the division to hand over all responsibility for security to Iraqi forces, although it is unclear how long this process will take.
When the Polish-led Multinational Division Central-South withdrew from Iraq MND (SE) may have taken over responsibility for additional Iraqi governorates; precisely whether this occurred is unclear.
Major General Andy Salmon (COMUKAMPHIBFOR) handed over command of the area to United States Forces on 31 March 2009 and the division headquarters closed on that day. The British forces making up the division are scheduled to be withdrawn from Iraq by 31 May 2009. Multi-National Division (South-East) now bears the name and designation, Multi-National Division (South) and was commanded by Major General Richard C. Nash, of the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division, an Army National Guard Division from Minnesota.
In August 2009 Multi-National Division(South) became United States Division-South and in January 2010 the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division transferred authority of USD-S to the 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, KS under the command of then Major General Vincent K. Brooks.
In December 2010, United States Division-South commanded by the 1st Infantry Division transferred authority to the 36th Infantry Division(Texas National Guard). In September 2011, United States Division-South cased it's colors and was combined with United States Division-Center until United States Forces-Iraq cased it's colors on December 16, 2011 marking the end of Operation New Dawn and the war in Iraq.
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In the months following the end of the invasion, the division expanded to include UK, Italian, Japanese, Australian, Romanian, Danish, Portuguese,Japanese, Czech and Lithuanian troops. As of February 2007, the Australians, Romanians, Danes, Czechs and Lithuanians remain (see Multinational Force in Iraq for further information). The UK itself has about 5,500 personnel currently serving in Iraq, separated into the following battlegroups, as of 1 June 2007: