The 36th Commando Battalion (36th CDO BN) is a commando battalion unit of the 1st Special Operations Brigade (ISOF-1) and part of the

Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service The Counter Terrorism Service (CTS; ) is an Iraqi security and intelligence agency tasked with counterterrorism. The Service’s operational arm is called the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF; ). They are an elite special operations force com ...

(CTS), and one of several Iraqi special forces units created after the fall of the

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

. Originally part of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces Brigade (ISOF BDE), the unit has a role comparable to that of the United States'

75th Ranger Regiment The 75th Ranger Regiment, also known as the United States Army Rangers, Army Rangers, is the United States Army Special Operations Command's premier light infantry and direct-action raid force. The 75th Ranger Regiment is also part of Joint S ...

(Army Rangers). The unit is now designated as the 1st Commando Battalion, part of the 1st Special Operations Forces Brigade (ISOF-1). The unit was formerly known as the 36th Iraqi Civil Defense Corps Battalion.

History

On 25 November 2003, a decision was made between the

Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...

(CPA), the Commander

United States Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilit ...

(CDRCENTCOM), the Commander

Combined Joint Task Force 7 Combined Joint Task Force 7 was the interim military formation that directed the U.S. effort in Iraq between June 2003 and May 2004. It replaced the Coalition Forces Land Component Command on 14 June 2003. CFLCC was the land forces component of U ...

(CDR CJTF-7), and the

Iraqi Governing Council The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of Iraq from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The IGC consisted of various Iraqi ...

(IGC). These elements agreed to form a

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

-based, 500-man battalion by integrating militiamen from five (5) Political Parties:

Iraqi National Accord The Iraqi National Accord (INA; Arabic: الوفاق الوطني العراقي; ''Al-Wifaq Al-Watani Al-'Iraqi''), colloquially known in Iraq as Wifaq, is an Iraqi political party founded by Ayad Allawi, Tahsin Muallah and Salah Omar al-Ali in ...

(INA),

Iraqi National Congress The Iraqi National Congress (INC; ) is an Iraqi political party that was led by Ahmed Chalabi who died in 2015. It was formed as an umbrella opposition group of majority Feyli Kurds and shia Arabs, with the aid of the United States' governme ...

(INC),

Kurdish Democratic Party The Kurdistan Democratic Party (), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the ruling party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. The party states ...

(KDP),

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK; ) is a political party active in Kurdistan Region and the Disputed territories of Northern Iraq, disputed territories in Iraq. The PUK describes its goals as self-determination, human rights, democracy a ...

(PUK), and

Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI or SIIC; ''Al-Majlis Al-A'ala Al-Islami Al-'Iraqi''; previously known as the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, SCIRI) is a Shia Islamist political party in Iraq. It was established in ...

(SCIRI). The idea was to create a special forces unit that would be composed of Iraqis from various ethnic and religious groups. In late 2003, the CJSOTF-AP (Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Arabian Peninsula) made plans to put the 36th CDO BN under the control of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Force (ICTF). Initial recruits sent to be trained with the 36th CDO BN were given table tennis paddles to publicly hide their activities that they were going for SOF training. Recruits who changed their mind to join the battalion were taken off the roster. The unit changed its name to the 1st Commando Battalion after the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) Brigade was created in July 2005. During the war against the Islamic State in 2017, the battalion was known to be militarily and politically reliable as they fought ISIL fighters instead of abandoning their positions unlike other military units like the Iraqi Army's 2nd Division.

Operations

36th CDO BN forces were involved in Najaf in August 2004, nearly raiding Sadr's hideout if he did not choose to give up. In November 2004, 36th CDO BN forces were deployed to Fallujah alongside US Marines to flush out anti-government insurgents, taking control of a hospital from insurgents. They were also involved in Samarra, engaged in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations in September 2004. The 36th CDO BN was involved in anti-ISIL operations, engaging ISIL fighters in Mosul in 2017.

Organization

The 36th CDO BN was organized based on the structure of the US Army Special Forces. In 2004, the 36th CDO BN had 400 operators, trained by 17 US Special Forces advisors. As of 2023, the unit is under the command of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service.

References

{{commons category Special forces of Iraq 3