Multi-National Division (South-East) (Iraq)


Multi-National Division was a British commanded military division responsible for security in the south east of Iraq from 2003 to 2009. It was responsible for the large city of Basra and its headquarters were located at Basra Airport. The division was initially responsible for the governorates of Al Muthanna, Maysan, Basra, and Dhi Qar. MND-SE was a subordinate division of Multi-National Corps Iraq. Multi-National Corps Iraq was itself part of Multi-National Force-Iraq.

History

In aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which had the British codename 'Operation Telic,' the British 1st Armoured Division and 3rd Mechanised Division were successively responsible for the command and control of the occupation forces in south east Iraq. After 3rd Mechanised Division's tour of duty came to an end it was replaced by a composite headquarters still known as MND.

General Officers Commanding

Major General Andy Salmon handed over command of the area to the U.S. 10th Mountain Division on 31 March 2009 and the division headquarters closed on that day. After a transfer of authority on 20 May 2009, the 34th Infantry Division, an Army National Guard Division from Minnesota commanded by Major General Richard C. Nash assumed control of the sector which would eventually redesignate to become U.S. Division-South in August 2009.

Order of battle

In the months following the end of the invasion, the division expanded to include UK, Dutch, Norwegian, Italian, Japanese, Australian, NZ, Romanian, Danish, Portuguese, Czech and Lithuanian troops. As of February 2007, the Australians, Romanians, Danes, Czechs and Lithuanians remain. The UK itself had about 5,500 personnel serving in Iraq, separated into the following battlegroups, as of 1 June 2007:

Land component