| Unit Name: | Multi-National Division (South-East) (Iraq) |
| Country: |  Poland |
| Type: | Command |
| Dates: | 2003 - 2008 |
| Command Structure: | Multi-National Corps – Iraq |
| Garrison: | Camp Echo |
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 Headquartered in Camp Echo, it was under Polish command until October 2008, when the last of Poland's troops were withdrawn.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 of America. 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2008, Armenian, Bosnian, Danish, Latvian, Kazakh, Lithuanian, Mongolian, Spanish and Slovakian forces had been fully withdrawn.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. 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.
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.[1] Other contingents in 2003 numbered:
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.
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 effortThe 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.
| 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 |
| 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 |
See main article: Plus Ultra Brigade.
| Rotation | Dates | Unit | Commander | Strength | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 18 August 2003 – 19 February 2004[2] | 5th Mechanized Brigade | Major General Sergiy Bezlushchenko[3] | 1,656(1,614)[4] | |
| II | 19 February 2004 – 22 September 2004 | 6th Mechanized Brigade | Major General Serhiy Ostrovskyi[5] | 1,795[6] | |
| III | 22 September 2004 – 7 May 2005 | 7th Mechanized Brigade | Major General Serhiy Popko | 1,722[7] | |
| IV | 7 May 2005 – 29 December 2005 | 81st Tactical Group | Major General Serhiy Horoshnykov | 896[8] | |
| 20 December 2005 – 9 December 2008[9] | Colonel Henadii Lachkov[10] | 37 |