Multi-National Corps – Iraq
Multi-National Corps – Iraq (MNC-I) was a formerly multinational, later U.S. only, army corps created on 15 May 2004, fighting the Iraq War. Its superior body, the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) had replaced Combined Joint Task Force 7 on May 15, 2004. The change was made due to "concerns that had existed for some period of time, that the Combined Joint Task Force 7 headquarters was not sufficient to handle the range of military operations in Iraq, including peace support, civil military operations, and at the same time conduct strategic engagement such as talking to the sheiks and talking to the political authorities."
Multi-National Corps - Iraq | |
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The Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI) of Multi-National Corps – Iraq (MNC-I). | |
Active | May 14, 2004 - December 31, 2009 |
Country | United States United Kingdom Australia |
Size | 100,000 |
Part of | Multi-National Force-Iraq |
Corps Headquarters | Al-Faw Palace, Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq |
Engagements | Iraq War |
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Distinctive Unit Insignia |
Multi-National Force-Iraq was established to handle strategic level issues while Multi-National Corps – Iraq, a subordinate command, directed the tactical battle. A number of US Army corps headquarters rotated into Iraq to provide the MNC-I headquarters. Also created under MNF-I was the Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNSTC-I), which primarily directed the reconstruction of Iraqi security forces. With the drawdown of US forces from Iraq per the Status of Forces Agreement and President George W. Bush's announced timeline, Multi-National Corps – Iraq merged back into its parent command of MNF-I, which was renamed United States Forces – Iraq (USF-I) following the withdrawal of all remaining coalition partners from the country.
Canadian Major Generals Walter Natynczyk, Peter Devlin, and Nicholas Matern served as Deputy Commanding Generals of Multi-National Corps – Iraq. In 2005, the 1st Corps Support Command based at Logistics Support Area Anaconda at Balad, Iraq, was providing theatre logistics support.