Bittner, Lawrence, LTC

Transportation

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Service Details

Current Service Status
USA Active

Current/Last Rank
Lieutenant Colonel

Current/Last Service Branch
Transportation Corps

Current/Last Primary MOS
90A-Logistics - TC

Current/Last MOS Group
Transportation

Primary Unit
2010-2012, 90A, 593rd Sustainment Brigade

Previously Held MOS
88A-Transportation Officer
88C-Marine and Terminal Operations Officer
88D-Motor/Rail Transportation
90A-Logistics - QM

Service Years
1985 - Present

Official/Unofficial US Army Certificates

Operation Iraqi Freedom

Operation Enduring Freedom

Official Badges

Unofficial Badges

Military Associations and Other Affiliations

National Defense Transportation Association (NDTA)


	2007, National Defense Transportation Association (NDTA)

OIF/Transition of Iraq (2003-04)
From Month/Year May / 2003	To Month/Year June / 2004
Description Upon assuming the post of chief executive of the CPA in May 2003, L. Paul Bremer also assumed the title of U.S. Presidential Envoy and Administrator in Iraq. He was frequently called Ambassador by numerous media organizations and the White House because it was the highest government rank he had achieved (Ambassador to Netherlands). However, Bremer was not ambassador to Iraq, and there was no U.S. diplomatic mission in Iraq at that time. The CPA was created and funded as a division of the United States Department of Defense, and as Administrator, Bremer reported directly to the Secretary of Defense. Although troops from several of the coalition countries were present in Iraq at this time, the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) was the primary military apparatus charged with providing direct combat support to the CPA to enforce its authority during the occupation of Iraq. While many of Saddam Hussein's ornate palaces were looted in the days immediately following the invasion, most of the physical structures themselves survived, relatively intact. It is in these numerous palaces situated throughout the country that the CPA chose to set up office in order to govern. Several of these palaces were retained by the U.S. Government even after the transition of power back to the Iraqi people. The administration was centred in a district of Baghdad, known as the Green Zone, which eventually became a highly secure walled-off enclave. The CPA was also responsible for administering the Development Fund for Iraq during the year following the invasion. This fund superseded the earlier UN oil-for-food program, and provided funding for Iraq's wheat purchase program, the currency exchange program, the electricity and oil infrastructure programs, equipment for Iraq's security forces, Iraqi civil service salaries, and the operations of the various government ministries. The first act of the CPA under Bremer was to issue order of de-Ba'athification of Iraqi society. On 23 May, CPA Order Number 2 formally disbanded the Iraqi army On 22 July 2003, the CPA formed the Iraqi Governing Council and appointed its members. The Council membership consisted largely of Iraqi expatriates who had previously fled the country during the rule of Saddam Hussein and also with many outspoken dissidents who had been persecuted by the former regime. Though still subordinate to the CPA, the Iraqi Governing Council had several key responsibilities of its own. Its duties included appointing representatives to the United Nations, appointing interim ministers to Iraq's vacant cabinet positions, and drafting a temporary constitution known as the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), which would be used to govern Iraq until a permanent constitution could be written and approved by the general electorate. In the late afternoon of 14 December 2003, the CPA held a press conference at the Iraqi Forum convention center within Baghdad's Green Zone to announce that former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein had been taken into custody the previous night from a foxhole in a town near Saddam's home town of Tikrit, Iraq. Present at the announcement was Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez of the U.S. Army, Administrator Bremer, members of the British and American intelligence agencies, several members of the Iraqi Governing Council, and a large room full of journalists representing news organizations from around the world. In order to defeat possible insurgent planning, the CPA transferred power to the newly appointed Iraqi Interim Government at 10:26 AM local time on 28 June 2004. With the CPA disbanded, Bremer left Iraq that same day. The United States hoped that Iraq could be reconstructed and democratized in much the same way as Japan and Germany were after the Second World War, using them as "examples or even models of successful military occupations." Fall of Saddam Hussein's regime Statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled in Baghdad's Firdos Square on 9 April 2003. On 1 May 2003, President Bush declared the "end of major combat operations" in Iraq, while aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln with a large "Mission Accomplished" banner displayed behind him. The weeks following the removal of the Saddam Hussein regime were portrayed by American media as generally a euphoric time among the Iraqi populace. New York Post correspondent Jonathan Foreman, reporting from Baghdad in May 2003, wrote that looting was less widespread than reported, and that "the intensity of the population's pro-American enthusiasm is astonishing". There were widespread reports of looting, though much of the looting was directed at former government buildings and other remnants of the Saddam Hussein regime. There were reports of looting of Iraq's archaeological treasures, mostly from the National Museum of Iraq; up to an alleged 170,000 items, worth billions of U.S. dollars: these reports were later revealed to be vastly exaggerated. Cities, especially Baghdad, suffered through reductions in electricity, clean water and telephone service from pre-war levels, with shortages that continued through at least the next year. Insurgency begins Canal Hotel Bombing In the summer of 2003, the U.S. military focused on hunting down the remaining leaders of the former regime, culminating in the killing of Saddam's sons Uday Hussein and Qusay Hussein on 22 July. In all, over 200 top leaders of the former regime were killed or captured, as well as numerous lesser functionaries and military personnel. However, even as the Ba'ath party organization disintegrated, elements of the secret police and army began forming guerilla units, since in many cases they had simply gone home rather than openly fight the invading forces. These began to focus their attacks around Mosul, Tikrit and Fallujah. In the fall, these units and other elements who called themselves Jihadists began using ambush tactics, suicide bombings, and improvised explosive devices, targeting coalition forces and checkpoints. They favored attacking the unarmored Humvee vehicles, and in November they successfully attacked U.S. rotary aircraft with SA-7 missiles bought on the global black market. On 19 August, the UN Headquarters in Baghdad was destroyed in the Canal Hotel Bombing, killing at least 22 people, among them Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General. Saddam captured and elections urged Saddam Hussein shortly after capture by American forces, and after being shaved to confirm his identity In December 2003, Saddam himself was captured. The provisional government began training a security force intended to defend critical infrastructure, and the U.S. promised over $20 billion in reconstruction aid in the form of credits against Iraq's future oil revenues. At the same time, elements left out of the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) began to agitate for elections. Most prominent among these was Ali al-Sistani, Grand Ayatollah in the Shia sect of Islam. The United States and the Coalition Provisional Authority, run by Jay Garner and three deputies, including Tim Cross, opposed allowing democratic elections at this time, preferring instead to eventually hand over power to an unelected group of Iraqis. More insurgents stepped up their activities. The two most turbulent centers were the area around Fallujah and the poor Shia sections of cities from Baghdad to Basra in the south. 2004 Spring uprisings In the spring, the United States and the Coalition Provisional Authority decided to confront the rebels with a pair of assaults: one on Fallujah, the center of the "Mohammed's Army of Al-Ansar", and another on Najaf, home of an important mosque, which had become the focal point for the Mahdi Army and its activities. In Fallujah four private security contractors, working for Blackwater USA, were ambushed and killed, and their corpses desecrated. In retaliation a U.S. offensive was begun, but it was soon halted because of the protests by the Iraqi Governing Council and negative media coverage. A truce was negotiated that put a former Ba'athist general in complete charge of the town. The 1st Armored Division along with the 2nd ACR were then shifted south, because Spanish, Salvadoran, Ukrainian, and Polish forces were having increasing difficulties retaining control over Al Kut, and Najaf. The 1st Armored Division and 2nd ACR relieved the Spaniards, Salvadoran, Poles, and put down the overt rebellion. At the same time, British forces in Basra were faced with increasing restiveness, and became more selective in the areas they patrolled. In all, April, May and early June represented the bloodiest months of fighting since the end of hostilities. The Iraqi troops who were left in charge of Fallujah after the truce began to disperse and the city fell back under insurgent control. In the April battle for Fallujah, U.S. troops killed about 200 resistance fighters, while 40 Americans died and hundreds were wounded in a fierce battle. U.S. forces then turned their attention to the al Mahdi Army in Najaf. A large convoy of US Army supply trucks manned by civilian contractors was ambushed and suffered significant damage and casualties.

My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year January / 2004	To Month/Year June / 2004

Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020

Personal Memories
People You Remember CPT Gil Moxley-XO CPT John Miller PLT LDR 1LT Daniel Ashley PLT LDR CW2 Rothenberger Maintenance Warrant 1SG Vernon Hegler SFC Day: Truckmaster
Memories 1st Wounded in Action: long night and spent time on phone with SSG Peters wife making sure she understood he was OK and would be coming home. 1sg back stabbing and undermining me. What a piece of Work.

Units Participated in Operation
1st Armored Division
143d Military Police Company
1st Battalion, 33rd Field Artillery
1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment
630th Military Police Company
709th Military Police Battalion
18th Military Police Brigade
978th Military Police Company
214th Military Police Company, 231st Military Police Battalion
170th Military Police Company
21st Military Police Company
545th Military Police Company
300th Military Police Company
66th Military Police Company
307th Military Police Company, 336th Military Police Battalion
272nd Military Police Company
269th Military Police Company, 117th Military Police Battalion
716th Military Police Battalion
3rd Infantry Division
504th Military Police Battalion
401st Military Police Company
22nd Military Police Battalion (CID)
1st Military Police Company, 1st Infantry Division
3rd Military Police Company, 3rd Infantry Division
59th Military Police Company
812th Military Police Company
615th Military Police Company
64th Military Police Company
759th Military Police Battalion
720th Military Police Battalion
65th Military Police Company
549th Military Police Company
211th Military Police Battalion
135th Military Police Company, 437th Military Police Battalion
94th Military Police Company
988th Military Police Company
4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery
410th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion
984th Military Police Company
115th Military Police Company
447th Military Police Company, 391st Military Police Battalion
HHC, 391st Military Police Battalion
442nd Military Police Company
101st Military Police Company
551st Military Police Company
32nd Military Police Company
649th Military Police Company
501st Forward Support Company
977th Military Police Company
16th Military Police Brigade
89th Military Police Brigade
220th Military Police Brigade
800th Military Police Brigade
339th Military Police Company
571st Military Police Company
44th Military Police Detachment (CID)
75th Military Police Detachment (CID)
3rd Military Police Group (CID)
101st Airborne Division
324th Military Police Battalion
503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne)
118th Military Police Battalion, 43rd Military Police Brigade
267th Military Police Company
HHD, 112th Military Police Battalion
336th Military Police Battalion