Iraqi Civil Defense Corps


The Iraqi Civil Defense Corps was an Iraqi armed formation created by the Coalition Provisional Authority which existed in 2003–2004. The ICDC was controlled by Combined Joint Task Force 7.. The idea originated from the 101st Airborne Division as a means of using unemployed former Iraqi military personnel and tribal militias to supplement the scarce U.S. military footprint.
CPA Order Number 28 of September 3, 2003 established this temporary security and emergency service agency for Iraq to complement operations conducted by Coalition military forces in Iraq.
The ICDC was tasked with the following missions: joint patrolling with Coalition Forces; fixed site security; route security; natural disaster aid, and general assistance.
The ICDC was composed of 15,000 men divided into 18 battalions of 846 men. Members of the ICDC had solid brown uniforms and baseball-type caps in red, blue, and black with ICDC in block letters. They were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and were equipped with jeeps and trucks. They were hired under a one-year renewable contract and trained by individual area-holding divisions in different ways. As of mid-October 2003 more than 6,000 members of ICDC were employed. 4,700 trained soldiers were employed by 29 October 2003.
Under CPA Order Number 73 of 22 April 2004 all personnel, facilities and equipment of the ICDC were transferred to the Iraqi Ministry of Defence as a component of the Iraqi Armed Forces.