as we worked to establish mnstki in the fall of 2004, we were augustmented by close to a thousand members to advise and mentor the units of three iraqi combat divisions and a number of other elements. one of the advantages of having the 98th do the work is previously our effort had been staffed by individual personnel from various u.s. services and units with different rotation policies. we didn't have continuity, to put it mildly. building an army from scratch required gaining the trust of the iraqis and then mentoring and coaching them on how to conduct actual operations. the reservists' skill in training others combined with the uninterrupted opportunity to form personal connections made a considerable difference. now, for many of our reservists, it was the first time they had been activated. for most, their first overseas assignme assignment, but they quickly drew on their experience training american soldiers and rose to the challenge of working with soldiers from different cultures, different religious sects and varying degrees of literacy. the members of the 98th adapted quickly to