Multi-National Force West


Multi-National Forces West or United States Forces West was one of the coalition headquarters under Multi-National Force-Iraq. It was headquartered by either I or II U.S. Marine Expeditionary Force that rotated on a 12-month basis. Their area of operations was primarily the Al Anbar province which includes the cities of Ar Ramadi, Fallujah, Al-Qa'im, and Haditha. The force was the most important U.S. unit to take part in the Iraq War in Al Anbar Governorate.
Among the smaller multinational units operating within MNF-W was a platoon from the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

Commanders

During the Iraq War, the Marine Corps regularly rotated command of MNF-W between the 1st and 2nd Marine Expeditionary Forces.
MEFCommanderFromTo
I MEFJames T. ConwayMarch 2004September 2004
I MEFJohn F. SattlerSeptember 2004February 2005
II MEFStephen T. JohnsonFebruary 2005February 2006
I MEFRichard C. ZilmerFebruary 2006February 2007
II MEFWalter GaskinFebruary 2007February 2008
I MEFJohn F. KellyFebruary 2008February 2009
II MEFRichard TryonFebruary 2009January 23, 2010

For convenience, these changes of command are listed below and the Marine command in MNF-W is simply referred to as "MEF":
I Marine Expeditionary Force
March 2004 – February 2005
March 2006 – February 2007
February 2008 – February 2009
II Marine Expeditionary Force
March 2005 – February 2006
February 2007 – February 2008
March 2009 – January 2010
As the Marine Corps withdrew from Al Anbar Governorate, by September 2009 they were replaced by a single brigade, the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division. The brigade was bolstered with an additional 16 advisers, though this did not reach the 48 assigned advisors that were supposed to be part of an 'Advise and Assist' brigade.