More than 900 roadside bombs are encountered each month in the region of northern Iraq where Schofield Barracks soldiers yesterday assumed authority, a top commander said.

According to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office report, overall security in Iraq has deteriorated since 2003, and those worsening conditions — which now include sectarian strife — threaten political and economic assistance.

Attacks against the U.S.-backed coalition and its Iraqi partners reached an all-time high in July.

Even before yesterday's formal "transfer of authority" of the Pennsylvania-sized Multinational Division North to Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon and Task Force Lightning, the Hawai'i contingent of more than 7,000 soldiers experienced its first fatality.

Last Wednesday, Pfc. Jeremy Shank, 18, died in Balad of injuries received in Hawija, a Sunni stronghold, when he was shot during a security foot patrol, the Pentagon said.

The Jackson, Mo., man was posthumously promoted to corporal.

"We offer our deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the family of Cpl. Jeremy Shank," said Col. Patrick T. Stackpole, the commander of Schofield's 3rd Brigade in Kirkuk. "He was our brother, a trusted member of our Tropic Lightning family, and we deeply mourn his loss."

Ride-alongs with outgoing units have ended, and Task Force Lightning, which is in charge of about 21,000 U.S. forces, is up and running.

It's the start of another round of war duty for Hawai'i troops, and it won't be the last.

Schofield's Stryker brigade is expected to deploy to Iraq next summer, an official said. A base spokesman yesterday said the unit has not received official orders identifying it for deployment.

Another battalion of about 1,000 Hawai'i Marines, meanwhile, is heading to western Iraq. The first group from the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines leaves today.

UP AND RUNNING

In northern Iraq, Brig. Gen. John M. "Mick" Bednarek, deputy commanding general for operations with Task Force Lightning, said Schofield and other U.S. soldiers already are very busy.

"Everyone's working incredibly hard and getting adjusted and getting settled," Bednarek said from Contingency Operating Base Speicher outside Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. The adjustment includes temperatures in the 120s.

Mixon's force includes four maneuver brigades, including the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, a Stryker vehicle unit, in Mosul; the 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division in Tikrit; the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division in Diyala Province east and north of Baghdad; and the 3rd Brigade out of Schofield in and around the oil-producing city of Kirkuk.

The 45th Sustainment Brigade out of Schofield is based at Qayyarah West airfield, or "Q-West," south of Mosul, and the aviation brigade with Kiowa, Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters operates across northern Iraq.

"The primary mission, unquestionably, is to train the Iraqi security forces so they can conduct operations on their own," Bednarek said. "That's kind of Mission Job 1."

The task works to Task Force Lightning's strong suit "because our soldiers are superbly trained," Bednarek said.

But getting the growing forces equipped through the Iraqi Ministry of Defense is just one of the challenges.

"You name it, (they need) uniforms, weapons, vehicles, gas, small arms, rifles, pistols, machine guns," Bednarek said. "They are getting better (at providing equipment). I would say probably at a marginal to medium level. Some are a little better than others as far as their total equipment capabilities, but we're getting better at it every day."

A Marine report painted a bleak picture of the insurgency in Iraq's Anbar province, with the assessment finding prospects dim for securing the western region of the country, the Washington Post reported.

GREATER IRAQI ROLE

A government report in response said different parts of Iraq have different security environments, and that is important to recognize.

Maj. Gen. Thomas B. Turner II, the outgoing commander of Multinational Division-North, said in a recent Pentagon press briefing that when the 101st Airborne Division assumed control of the region a year ago, only one Iraq army battalion had the lead in patrols.

Now, 35 battalions, eight brigades and two of the four Iraqi divisions U.S. forces are partnered with have assumed the lead, Turner said.

PROTECTING OIL

Iraqi "strategic infrastructure battalions" are being trained and stationed to protect oil pipelines in the north. Insurgent attacks on oil workers and infrastructure have made it difficult to maintain prewar production levels of 2.5 million to 3 million barrels a day.

Bednarek said attacks in northern Iraq ebb and flow by an insurgency that is tough and adaptive. The more than 900 roadside bombs either detonated or detected each month are being countered by better armor on Humvees and other technology, he said.

Early this summer, the Pentagon ordered about 8,000 additional U.S. troops into Baghdad to quell increasing violence there. The drive could push insurgents into Mixon's operating areas.

"We see some of the insurgency potentially coming north out of Baghdad into our sector," Bednarek said. "So we watch and monitor that very closely."

TRIBUTE FOR SHANK

A combat memorial with boots, upturned rifle and helmet was held Sunday at Forward Operating Base McHenry for Shank, the first Schofield soldier killed on the yearlong deployment.

No other information was available, but Maj. Derrick Cheng with Schofield's 3rd Brigade said no one else was wounded.

Lt. Col. Drew Meyerowich, the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry commander, spoke about Shank's devotion to duty and said, "To Jeremy, the mission was always first."

Hawija, the Sunni city 30 miles southwest of Kirkuk where Shank was killed, remains contentious, but the Wolfhounds are working closely with the Iraqi army, Cheng said.

"It is dangerous every day," Bednarek said. "The troops that we have do an incredibly tough job every day, not only partnering with the Iraqis, but also continuing to flow the logistics to support our operations."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.