From October 2005 through March 2006, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Reed served as the deputy senior advisor for a military transition team (MiTT) assigned to form the 3rd Brigade of the 7th Iraqi Army Division, starting at cadre training and taking them through basic, advanced individual and collective training, and then deploying them into their own operational area and beginning operations. As Reed noted at the outset, his MiTT was more like a "MuTT," meaning that it was an "out of hide team that was formed from assets already in country." Reed himself, though, came as a volunteer from the Battle Command Training Program at Fort Leavenworth. Based at An Numaniyah Military Training Base - an installation housing some 8,000 Iraqis and only 150 Americans - Reed was actually the only active duty Army person on his MiTT, the rest being a "hodgepodge" of active duty Marines, Marine Corps reservists, and Army National Guard and Reserve soldiers. In this wide-ranging interview, he begins by discussing the cultural relations piece, how there was a deliberate attempt to create in 3rd Brigade a mix of ethnic and religious groups from throughout Iraq, as well as the difficulties created by Iraqi soldiers and leaders from one tribe in particular, the Abu Mahal. Reed explains the three different categories that Iraqi officers fell into in terms of their proficiencies and what they brought to the brigade. He also talks about their biggest weakness, namely logistics, and offers one of many pieces of advice to future MiTT members: "My warning to anyone going into that environment," he said, "is you have to maintain close supervision, close oversight and be careful not to be too quick to wash your hands of things and let them handle it, because I would say nine times out of 10 they didn't have it yet." In addition, Reed discusses the brigade's movement to Al Qaim, its relief in place with another Iraqi Army brigade, and subsequent partnering with a Marine battalion. He also speaks about the level of trust he shared with his Iraqi brigade, how advisory work was formerly seen as a truly "career-enhancing assignment" and should be again, how it was often more frustrating dealing with fellow Americans than with Iraqis, and that failing to adequately address the full range of life support issues - in addition to tactical ones - will very quickly "grind you to a halt" as an advisor. After recommending that three-quarters of the training US advisors are currently getting prior to deploying can be "scrapped," Reed offers the following tips for what one should do to prepare himself: "Undergo intensive Arabic language training and go watch every episode of The Sopranos. That's what it is, at least in this part of Iraq. It's all tribal, family dynamics. It really is."

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