Multinational Division Central-South (MND-CS), created in September 2003, and supported by NATO, was a part of the Multinational Force Iraq. Headquartered in Camp Echo, it was under Polish command until October 2008, when the last of Poland's troops were withdrawn. The Polish contingent was its largest. Other participants included Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Romania, El Salvador, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine and the United States. As of December 2008, Armenian, Bosnian, Danish, Latvian, Kazakh, Lithuanian, Mongolian, Spanish and Slovakian forces had been fully withdrawn.
The South Central zone (formerly the Upper South zone, also known as the Polish zone covered the area south of Baghdad: Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Karbala Governorate, Babil Governorate and the Wasit Governorate, all of which have been transferred to the Iraqi government. Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate was transferred to Iraqi control in July 2008. The region has a population of about 5 million spread over 65 632 km². Major cities in the area include Diwaniyah, Kut, Hillah, and Karbala and Najaf.
The Najaf Governorate was passed back to American control in 2004, due to reduction in strength of the forces under Polish command; this reduced the zone to about 3 million of population spread over 28 655 km². On January 5, 2006, Polish troops handed over control of the central Babil province to U.S. troops.
General information
The strength of the Polish forces has decreased from 2224 (2003) to 900 (2007). The Ukrainian forces numbered 1640 in 2003, by mid-2005 the number decreased to 900, and about 29 officers and 8 Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) deployed, serving in headquarters and in a unit of military assistance, before the final withdrawal in 2008.Ukrainian peacekeeping personnel as a part of Multinational forces in Iraq Other contingents in 2003 numbered:
Spain, 1340; Thailand, 886; Bulgaria, 480; Honduras, 364; Philippines, 350; El Salvador, 346; Dominican Republic, 300; Hungary, 300; Romania, 220; Mongolia, 190; Latvia, 145; Nicaragua, 111, Slovak Republic, 111; Lithuania, 45; Kazakhstan, 25; Denmark, 10; Netherlands, 6; Norway, 5; some support and liaison personnel from United Kingdom and the United States Army.
The Division has been switching from stabilization tasks (patrols, etc.) towards training the Iraqi Army (8th Infantry Division and security forces – Iraqi Police and Iraqi Border Police).
The divisional headquarters was moved in 2004 from Camp Babilon to Camp Echo.
According to mission statement the primary task of the MND CS was to oversee the transfer of the military and security in the areas under its control to the provisional Iraqi authorities.
Description in State of Denial
In Bob Woodward's book State of Denial he recounts the experience of Frank Miller, who as of March 2004 was the senior director for defense on the National Security Council. During the course of a fact finding trip to Iraq in that month he visited the leadership of the Multinational Division. Woodward's description is as follows:
Miller moved on to meet with the Polish commander of the Multinational Division, made up of troops from 23 nations. This was the shakiest part of the coalition—but an important fig leaf to suggest that the war was a broad international effort
The Polish division commander told Miller, "I've got 23 separate national units. They have 23 separate rules of engagement. I pick up the phone, I tell the colonel in charge of the Spanish Brigade what to do. He picks up his phone, calls Madrid, and says, 'I've been told to do this. Is it okay?'"
Miller understood that this meant the Multinational Division had little or no fighting capability.
Commanders Rotation Commander From To I Andrzej Tyszkiewicz 17 May 2003 11 January 2004 II Mieczysław Bieniek 11 January 2004 18 July 2004 III Andrzej Ekiert 18 July 2004 7 February 2005 IV Waldemar Skrzypczak 7 February 2005 26 July 2005 V Piotr Czerwiński 26 July 2005 6 February 2006 VI Edward Gruszka 6 February 2006 18 July 2006 VII Bronisław Kwiatkowski 18 July 2006 24 January 2007 VIII Paweł Lamla 24 January 2007 25 July 2007 IX Tadeusz Buk 25 July 2007 30 January 2008 X 30 January 2008 31 October 2008
Forces Polish Rotation Division Strength I 12th Mechanised Division 2500 II 11th Armoured Cavalry Division 2500 III 16th Mechanised Division 2400 IV 11th Lubusz Armoured Cavalry Division 1500 V 1st Warsaw Mechanised Division 1500 VI 12th Szczecin Mechanised Division 900 VII 16th Pomeranian Mechanised Division 900 VIII 11th Lubusz Armoured Cavalry Division 900 IX 1st Warsaw Mechanised Division 900 X 12th Szczecin Mechanised Division 900
Spanish and Latin America
Ukrainian Rotation Dates Unit Commander Strength I 18 August 2003 – 19 February 2004 Minister of Defense met last group of soldiers from Iraq 5th Mechanized Brigade Major General Sergiy Bezlushchenko Commander of 5th Mechanized Brigade 1,656(1,614) More than 400 soldiers from 5th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will take part in first joint patrol in the city of Kut with US marines II 19 February 2004 – 22 September 2004 6th Mechanized Brigade Major General Serhiy Ostrovskyi Ukrainian peacekeepers in Iraq, met with the governor of Wasit province 1,795 Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk made a check of preparations of the 6th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces to perform peacekeeping tasks in Iraq III 22 September 2004 – 7 May 2005 7th Mechanized Brigade Major General Serhiy Popko 1,722 Preparation began for the 7th separate mechanized brigade for peacekeeping tasks in Iraq IV 7 May 2005 – 29 December 2005 81st Tactical Group Major General Serhiy Horoshnykov 896 A telephone conversation took place with Ukrainian President and commander of 81st Task Force of Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent in Iraq, Major General Sergei Horoshnykov 20 December 2005 – 9 December 2008 29 Ukrainian officers and ensign of the Ukrainian peacekeeping personnel in the Republic of Iraq returned home Colonel Henadii LachkovUkrainians complete mission in Iraq 37
See also Polish involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq Multi-National Force – Iraq United States Forces – Iraq
References
Multinational Division Central-South Official Page
External links Multi-National Division – (Central South) at globalsecurity.org Lieutenant Colonel Robert Strzelecki, Polish Army , Lessons Learned: Multinational Division Central-South Multinational Division Central-South Commemorative Medal