Colonel Peter R. Mansoor

Colonel Peter R. Mansoor. . , Peter Mansoor graduated first in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1982. Twenty-one years later in July 2003, as a recent graduate of the U.S. Army War College, he took command of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division ("Ready First Combat Team") in Baghdad, Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom., In August 2003, Mansoor's brigade combat team was temporarily tasked with gaining control of and stabilizing an area of roughly seventy-five square miles from the outskirts of Baghdad west to Fallujah. To do so, Colonel Mansoor placed his task forces throughout the zone and relied on a mobile tactical command post (TAC) consisting of three M577s and wheeled vehicles to relay orders and information from his larger command post situated in central Baghdad. The M577s and their tented extensions were mobile staff offices, equipped with communications, equipment, mapboards, tables, and blackout curtains. Introduced in 1962, the M577 continues to be a vehicle platform used by the Army sixty years later., With the operation completed, Colonel Mansoor's brigade returned to its area of operations in central and northeast Baghdad until March 2004, and then served as the Multi-National Corps-Iraq reserve until Iraq's transitions back to national sovereignty on June 28. In 2007, Mansoor redeployed to Iraq and Executive Officer to General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multinational Force-Iraq, and served for fifteen months in that capacity before returning home. Colonel Mansoor retired from the Army in August 2008.,

With three M577 command post vehicles along with the signal trucks, the TAC was spartan but functional for a three-week operation, and with radio, phone, and digital data communications, it gave me a good picture of the battlefield. , From Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq, 2008, by COL Peter Mansoor (RET), M577A3 Light Tracked Command Post Carrier. Armament: None , Engine: 275 Horsepower, 6V53T Turbocharged 2-Cycle Diesel Engine , Maximum Speed: 40 MPH on land / 3.6 MPH in water , Weight: 26,000 pounds , Length: 15 feet 11 inches , Width: 8 feet 9.75 inches , Armor: 1.1 - 1.7 inches of aluminum alloy , Crew: 5 (Driver, and up to four staff) , Manufacturer: Food Machinery Corporation/United Defense Limited Partnership, and BAE Systems