Coalition Command consolidation reflects new phase

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) - On Monday, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Iraqi Resolve (CJTF-OIR), the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria, announced that the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command (CJFLCC) Headquarters was being deactivated.

The change follows from the end of major combat operations in Iraq, as a CJTF-OIR press statement explained. With the end of such operations, much of CJFLCC’s activities have shifted to training.

“There should not be much of a change to the support and interaction with the Coalition,” particularly as “the majority of Coalition trainers are from non-US countries,” Col. Ryan Dillon, Spokesman for CJTF-OIR told Kurdistan 24.

Paul Davis, retired from US Army intelligence, emphasized that this represents a “consolidation of commands,” while it “continues the role of US forces.” To the extent that this consolidation reflects change, Davis said, the change has already occurred on the ground.

CJFLCC’s “command authorities” were formally transferred to CJTF-OIR on Monday in a Baghdad ceremony featuring “a traditional ‘Casing of the Colors,’” which honors and commemorates a unit as the command ends, the CJTF-OIR press statement said.

“CJFLCC’s train, advise, assist and equip missions in support of the ISF have now been consolidated under a single headquarters,” it further explained.

Dillon noted that the Coalition used to have a “strike cell” in Erbil “to support major combat operations,” but it has been “dissolved” and “spread across other efforts” or its member have “returned home.”

“As the campaign has evolved and we have achieved success against (IS), we have adjusted accordingly,” Dillon said.

The Coalition will continue to maintain an active presence in Erbil.