Pentagon to deploy trainers to Iraq

WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- Four training brigades are set for deployment to Iraq as part of a shift in the U.S. mission to a stability and reconstruction operation, the Pentagon said.

U.S. combat forces pulled out of Iraqi cities and villages June 30 under the terms of a bilateral security agreement with Baghdad. The new deployments are part of a unit called the Advisory and Assistance Brigades to Iraq.

The Pentagon has stressed its mission in Iraq has shifted gradually from a combat operation to one aimed at reconstruction and the training of national security forces. This is the first time, however, the U.S. Defense Department has designated units specifically for that purpose, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

"This is a totally different mission than a full-spectrum combat mission," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

The brigades number about 3,500 soldiers each. Their deployment is scheduled to begin later in 2009, with at least two more brigades set aside for future tours.

The members of the brigades will draw on military police and civilian specialists to facilitate the development of a viable legal, economic and security structure in Iraq.

U.S. combat forces begin to leave Iraq in August 2010.