Pentagon officials are readying a plan that would deploy U.S. military advisers to the volatile Iraqi province of Anbar to advise and assist Iraqi security forces in a region currently dominated by ISIS militants . `` To be clear , this is not a change in mission nor is it a combat role , as they will be operating in the same advisory role as the other locations , '' Col. Edward Thomas , spokesman for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , told CNN . U.S. advisers currently operate in areas around Baghdad and Irbil in the north of the country . The new proposal would put U.S. troops in the middle of some of the most violent situations in Iraq . Thomas said the plan is still `` under development . '' `` From the beginning of the campaign , we have said that we would expand this type of support to the Iraqi government should they act in a manner that was representative of the security interests of all Iraqis , '' Thomas said . U.S. officials maintain that Iraqi support for Sunni tribes going on the offensive against ISIS will be a necessary part in the effort to defeat the militants , who are also called ISIL and refer to themselves as the Islamic State . In a news conference with reporters Thursday , Gen. Martin Dempsey , the Joint Chiefs chairman , signaled the possibility of the new role when he said the Iraqi government had not yet requested U.S. military support in efforts to defend a Sunni tribe that has suffered mass executions at the hands of ISIS militants . `` That 's why we need to expand the train-advise-and-assist mission into the Al- Anbar Province , '' Dempsey said . `` But the precondition for that is that the government of Iraq is willing to arm the tribes . '' Dempsey said the United States had `` positive indications '' the Iraqi government was prepared to do that , but had not yet acted . Thomas said such a mission would hopefully open the door to the establishment of an Iraqi National Guard while also helping to push back ISIS control of the province . There is no indication from Pentagon officials on when such a mission could begin . Anbar was the scene of a bloody insurgency during the U.S.-led war in Iraq until an uprising by Sunni tribes in 2006 took hold to push out forces from al Qaeda 's franchise in Iraq -- the precursor organization to ISIS . Some 400 members of the Sunni Abu Nimer tribe in Anbar have been killed in recent days after rising up against ISIS rule in the province .
Joint Chiefs spokesman says plan ` ` is not a change in mission nor is it a new role '' U.S. currently has advisers assisting Iraqis in Irbil and . Joint Chiefs said : Sunni tribes fighting ISIS need Iraqi military support . ISIS has killed some 400 members of one Sunni tribe in Iraq in recent days .