30th Infantry Division
This is an alternate history wiki. It mixes fact and fiction, and should not be mistaken for a reliable source.
|
30th Infantry Division | ||||||||||
Details
|
The 30th Infantry Division was a Free Syrian Army unit based in Aleppo. Formed in May 2015, the group was unusual in that it was created directly by the United States military, for the purpose of combating the Islamic State. Potential recruits were told that they could only fight IS, not the Assad government. Most rebels found this caveat a deal breaker, and the program saw few volunteers. Those that did sign up were taken to a US military outpost in YPG-held Kobanî Canton, extensively vetted, and trained. By the time the first batch of fighters were ready to deploy in August, they numbered only 50. The US military flew them to a base in YPG-held northern Aleppo and deployed them into rebel territory. Immediately, the newly trained and equipped fighters came under attack by al-Nusra, incurring several casualties and scattering the survivors. A second batch deployed in September escaped only by surrendering their shiny American equipment to the Levant Front, which then handed it to al-Nusra. Amid an American media fiasco, the US military scrapped the program, focusing on helping the newly-formed Syrian Democratic Forces and the separate train and equip program in southeastern Syria. In 2016, after wider conflict between al-Nusra and mainstream rebels, the Americans would revive the Train & Equip Program in the north, with an important change: units would be allowed to fight the government as long as they focused primarily on fighting Nusra's Islamic Emirate. Meanwhile, the remaining 30th Infantry Division fighters remained active in the region surrounding the town of Mare'. Even with only a few dozen fighters, they remained independent, defending against jihadi insurgent attacks and arranging contact with the SDF. The division was thus one of the dozens of FSA brigades to be incorporated into the Free Syrian Coalition in DATE TBD.