LTC Jim Crider commanded 1-4 Cavalry in Dora from February 2007 through March 2008; his soldiers conducted classic population control counterinsurgency and completely turned the security situation around in one of Baghdad’s most important neighborhoods. Time Magazine summed up the results of his efforts:

The unit has come to know the neighborhood in a way that would have been unthinkable just after the war, or even into 2004 and 2005. In fact, the US military has never secured Iraq or controlled it so completely as it has today, and never before has their wealth of intelligence and ability to analyze it been better.

--Daniel Pepper
Rebuilding a Baghdad Neighborhood
Time Magazine
January 13, 2008

When Colonel James R. Crider's 1-4 cavalry squadron got to Baghdad last May, their first 30 days were pockmarked with roadside bombs, shootings and grenade attacks. But the war stories out of Crider's outfit nowadays don't have much to do with war anymore. For the past three months there hasn't been a significant incident.

--Daniel Pepper
When the War Stories Have Nothing to Do With War
Time Magazine
January 15, 2008

Jim is now a Senior Military Fellow at the Center for a New American Security and has put together a world-class briefing on how to conduct population security counterinsurgency operations, which he has presented to rave reviews at the COIN Academy in Taji and in Washington. Highlights of his slide package are posted here. Those interested in inviting Jim to lecture so that they can learn counterinsurgency from someone who’s been there and done it are invited to contact Jim through the CNAS at 202.457.9400