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At their Summit meeting in Istanbul on 28 June 2004, NATO Heads of State and Government agreed to assist Iraq with the training of its security forces. A Training Implementation Mission was established on 30 July.
In a letter sent to the NATO Secretary General on 22 June 2004, the interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ilyad Allawi requested NATO support to his government through training and other forms of technical assistance.
Meeting in Istanbul, Alliance Presidents and Prime Ministers responded positively, offering NATO’s assistance to the government of Iraq with the training of its security forces. They also encouraged member countries to contribute to the training of the Iraqi armed forces.
The North Atlantic Council, NATO's senior decision-making body, was tasked to develop, on an urgent basis, the modalities to implement this decision with the Iraqi Interim Government.
These modalities were agreed on 30 July and established a NATO Training Implementation Mission in Iraq. Its goal was to identify the best methods for conducting training both inside and outside the country. In addition, the Mission immediately began training selected Iraqi headquarters personnel in Iraq.
The first elements of the Mission deployed on 7 August, followed by a team of about 50 officers led by Major General Carel Hilderink of the Netherlands.
On 22 September 2004, based on the Mission's recommendations, the North Atlantic Council agreed to expand NATO's assistance, including establishing a NATO-supported Iraqi Training, Education and Doctrine Centre in Iraq.
In November 2004, NATO's military authorities prepared a detailed concept of operations for the expanded assistance, including the rules of engagement for force protection.
On 9 December 2004, NATO Foreign Ministers, meeting Brussels, authorised the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), to start the next stage of the mission.
The activation order for this next stage was given by SACEUR on 16 December 2004, paving the way for an expansion of the mission to up to 300 personnel deployed in Iraq, including trainers and support staff, and a significant increase in the existing training and mentoring given to mid- and senior-level personnel from the Iraqi security forces.
It also changed the mission’s name from NATO Training Implementation Mission to NATO Training Mission-Iraq.
By the time of the NATO Summit meeting of Heads of State and Government at Alliance Headquarters in February 2005, the new mission was fully staffed and funded.
