The Defense Education Forum (DEF) of the Reserve Officers Association
invites you to attend the following event:

Learning from the Iraq War:
Standing in the Early Crossfires of Planning and Its Results

A decade has passed since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  What have we learned from the pre-war planning and decisive first year of that conflict that we can apply today, as we enter a new era of peace and security engagements?

The Reserve Officers Association, in conjunction with the Alliance for Peacebuilding, has assembled a unique panel of three former military officers who were key participants at various crossroads of planning and preparation in the days prior to the beginning of the war and in the days after the seizure of Baghdad.  They will discuss the preparation for war and the critical initial decisions made in the effort to transition to stability and peace.  The lessons learned are timeless and apply across a spectrum of our government and non-governmental organizations. 

Speakers

Colonel (ret.) John Agoglia, Vice President for Government Services for IDS International, was part of the initial U.S. Central Command planning group that initiated the campaign plan for Iraq. He served as CENTCOM liaison officer to the U.S. Civil Ambassador in Iraq and worked on priority matters including: the planning efforts between the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and the military; the transfer of police training from the CPA to the Coalition Joint Task Force 7; and the initial engagement strategy for senior military commanders with the newly appointed interim Iraqi government leaders.

Colonel (ret.) Paul Hughes, Senior Advisor for International Security & Peacebuilding, United States Institute of Peace, served from January through August 2003 as a senior staff officer for the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance and later with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. During that time he developed several policy initiatives, such as the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of the Iraqi military.

Colonel (ret.) Christopher Holshek, Senior Fellow for the Alliance for Peacebuilding, commanded the first U.S. Army Civil Affairs battalion to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, through pre-deployment, mobilization, deployment, and redeployment.  He engaged in humanitarian assistance, stability operations, and civil administration operations with U.S. Marine, U.K., and U.S. Army formations in combat and post-hostility environments in southern Iraq.  Col. (ret.) Holshek’s exploits are highlighted in Tom Rick’s bestseller, Fiasco.  He also appears in the French Arte television documentary “Thunder Run to Baghdad."

Moderator: Robert Feidler, Director, Defense Education Forum