FORT RILEY, Kan. — On a rolling grassland under a blistering summer sun, soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, spent thousands of rounds qualifying on their rifles, machine guns and pistols in the days before deploying to Iraq.It’s the kind of activity infantrymen live for, but the fight in Iraq is a waning one for U.S. combat troops, who are more likely to be killing time than killing insurgents as their mission shifts to the backseat while the Iraqis take over their own security.American combat forces pulled out of Iraq’s cities June 30 after more than six years of an intense and bloody fight patrolling the embattled country’s streets, palm groves and villages. Though they still conduct some missions outside the wire, it is only when called upon by Iraqi security forces.A wave of coordinated attacks Aug. 19 that killed at least 95 people and wounded hundreds in Baghdad was the worst in a series that began after the June 30 pullout, but U.S. forces can only stand by and wait for a request for help under the terms of a security agreement signed with the Iraqi government in January.Based on the security agreement’s timeline, U.S. commanders expect to draw down to 50,000 troops in Iraq by the end of September 2010 and be out of the country by the end of 2011.About 132,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq; about 101,600 of them are soldiers, and some of those soldiers may be sent to help quash a tenacious al-Qaida presence in three of Iraq’s disputed provinces under a possible plan between Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and the government of Iraq.Despite the ominous return of violence, the job for most U.S. soldiers now is to help, not lead, and a commander’s job is to get that message down to the youngest soldier.“We try to shift people’s focus so they don’t go over there with the mind-set that it’s high-intensity conflict,” said Capt. Al Walsh, commander of 2-16 Infantry’s A Company, whose soldiers deployed in mid-August to central Iraq for 12 months with the rest of the 1st Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team.For this deployment, the brigade’s train-up included a heavy dose of cultural immersion and practice partnering with Iraqi soldiers and police, building relationships, teaching, and coaching and mentoring by establishing trust and sharing information.U.S. soldiers began training Iraqis shortly after the start of operations there in 2003 in ad hoc and organized settings with varying results. The tricky part now, Army leaders said, is taking that step back and letting the Iraqis develop their own security procedures while continuing to guide them with a gentler hand.“Human nature is human nature,” brigade commander Col. Henry Arnold said. “When you say, ‘I’m here to advise and assist you,’ and that guy thinks he’s OK the way he is, you’ve got to be very diplomatic in the way you do it.”Preventing ‘rust up’Brigades deploying to Iraq for the advise-and-assist mission are receiving an extra complement of officers who can partner directly with Iraqi authorities and governing bodies.The 4th BCT is one of the last brigades deploying to Iraq that has not been outfitted with its own complement of security and stability teams, but in May and June during its 14-day rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., the brigade was partnered with Iraqi role-players the same way the new advise-and-assist brigades are, NTC commander Brig. Gen. Abe Abrams said.“We’re still operating in a counterinsurgency environment. What’s different is that the emphasis of the BCT is on enabling the Iraqi security forces,” Abrams said. “Instead of platoons and patrols to conduct unilateral missions at the discretion of the land-owning brigade commander, now it’s always going to be partnered. And depending on the type of operation, it will be ISF in the lead.”The first six days of the brigade’s NTC rotation were spent on a series of live-fire training lanes focusing on mounted and dismounted combat patrols, personnel recovery, urban and rural live fire, combat outpost defense and combat logistics patrols.Those lanes are focused on maintaining basic warrior skills and tasks for readiness, he said, “regardless of what environment we go into, because even though events are way down in Iraq, we want to be ready for that once- or twice-a-week event and have that muscle memory to react accordingly, use escalation of force within the rules of engagement, be precise and know how to call for medevac.“The big change we did this time for the 4th BCT was put Iraqi security forces in the lead,” he said, which changes the entire dynamic. The U.S. platoon leader conducted combined planning with his Iraqi counterpart and then did the lane together with the Iraqis in the lead. Tempo and orders were directed by the Iraqi role-players, who are soldiers with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.Following the combat piece, the 4th BCT went through eight days of full-spectrum operations. The units are located in camps with the Iraqi units, just as they would be in Iraq.Leaders practiced engaging with local business and community leaders, sheiks, military and police commanders, and other Iraqi figures to listen and learn what’s important to them, Arnold said, and brigade leaders also learned how to work with linguists and interpreters.“There’s some skill involved there. How you’re speaking, how long you speak to give them time to translate, what to say, how to use them,” Arnold said.Still, he said, training on core soldier skills was first on the brigade’s list in pre-deployment preparations.With that in mind, Walsh said he is planning to keep his soldiers busy during the 12-month deployment with regular and repeated trips to the range, not only to maintain sharp war-fighting skills but also to keep them from getting bored.“The biggest fear is that we go, it’s quiet and they rust up. We definitely don’t want that to happen,” Walsh said. “That’s the tricky part.”Adjusting mind-setsAbout half the brigade’s soldiers have deployed at least once to Iraq or Afghanistan. Some said they’re not so sure what to expect of the new mission. One of those is Spc. Joshua Aholt, who was with a 2nd Infantry Division unit in Baghdad for 15 months during the surge of troops that helped put down a violent insurgency.“It’s kind of weird going from being outside the wire all day to sitting on the FOB all day and going out when they call you,” Aholt said.Sgt. Nicholas White, who was in the 2-16 Infantry in Baghdad during the surge, said “there’s a big difference” with this deployment.“There’s definitely an emphasis on handing it over to the Iraqis,” said White, a team leader.At the NTC, he said, there were more rehearsals for interacting with Iraqis, but the unit’s battle drills were just as important.Other soldiers said they know exactly what to expect — and aren’t too happy about it.“Nothing’s going on now. It’s going to be like being in prison for 12 months,” said Spc. Sam Cochran of 2-16 Infantry, whose 15-month deployment during the surge in 2007 was marked by a high level of activity outside the main forward operating base.“We actually got to go out and do missions,” he said, explaining that the infantrymen in his unit typically spent nine days in a combat outpost in the southeastern part of Baghdad, then went back to the FOB to reset for three days.“I don’t think it’s going to be that way this time. I didn’t sign up to sit on a FOB all day, I’d rather be out in sector. It’s a carpenter’s job to build houses. It’s the infantry’s job to go out and kill the enemy,” Cochran said.Arnold responded to the soldier’s concern by suggesting that forging a good relationship with his Iraqi counterparts could mean they would ask him to come out on missions with them more often.“But,” he said, “the nature of it is, the Iraqis are taking the lead and this is a good thing. … What I tell the younger guys — I mean, God love them for feeling that way, because you need infantrymen — is that this is a good thing, we’re winning this war.”