Advisory· Anti-ISIS Campaign (Op INHERENT RESOLVE)
OIR Advisory
This record covers the advise-and-assist mission within Operation Inherent Resolve, the strategic core of the campaign against the Islamic State.
Rather than committing large American ground formations to combat, the campaign was built on training, advising, and enabling the Iraqi security forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces who carried the burden of the ground fighting, supported by American firepower, intelligence, and logistics. Marines serving in advisory and enabling roles worked with Iraqi and partner units as they retook territory from the militants across Iraq and Syria. The approach reflected both the lessons of the previous decade's large deployments and the political constraints of the era, a deliberate effort to defeat the Islamic State through and with local forces. The Marine contribution to the advisory effort was a dispersed and quieter commitment than the great battles of earlier wars, the patient work of building the capacity of the forces that did the fighting.
Record no. 776