CAMP PENDLETON - The insurgency in Iraq's Anbar province is "withering on the vine," the new commanding general of Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force said Wednesday.

In his first interview since assuming command of the 50,000-troop force, Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland gave an optimistic view of the war based on a visit to Anbar this month in advance of 11,000 local troops scheduled to deploy in the coming weeks.

Helland said he found a sense of normalcy on the streets throughout his visit.

"In Anbar we are being very, very successful," the Minnesota native said during a luncheon with reporters at a base officer's club. "We are defeating the enemy, forcing them out of the region, and they are withering on the vine."

Five weeks from now, Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Base troops will deploy from Regimental Combat Teams 1 and 5, and a headquarters group will go to Anbar province to replace the North Carolina-based II Marine Expeditionary Force.

What those troops will find in former insurgent-laden cities such as Ramadi, Fallujah and Haditha will be a much more peaceful environment, Helland said.

"People are on the streets, telephones are working and buses are starting to run again," he said. "People want to get back to normal. Instead of us finding (weapons) caches, they are turning them in.

"They are cooperating with the Iraqi police and the military is now able to move out of the cities."

Underscoring Helland's remarks was a published report Tuesday from Marine Col. Stacy Clardy, head of a combat force now in Iraq, that said the number of "enemy incidents" in Anbar has fallen by 75 percent since the first of the year.

How much longer the Marine Corps will remain in the Anbar region, where they have been responsible for security since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, is unclear heading into 2008.

Helland said he should have a better idea of what lies ahead for his forces between March and July of next year.

"We will stay the course until that time," he said. "The Marine mission (in Anbar) is still stability and to make sure we still have an aggressive and persistent security."

The Marine Corps has an estimated 25,000 troops in Iraq. How many Marines will be there one year from now is uncertain but it is expected that there will be fewer than are there today, according to military sources.

Helland assumed command of the 50,000-strong I Marine Expeditionary Force this month, taking over for Gen. James Mattis, who is now working for the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va.

Helland's new duties include serving as the "convening authority" over alleged war crime cases involving Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those cases include Camp Pendleton troops accused of wrongdoing in the deaths of 24 civilians in the city of Haditha in 2005 and a North Carolina-based Special Operations unit being investigated for civilian deaths in Afghanistan this year.

"They are very important for us as an institution, and it is important for me to continue to be fair, firm, equitable and consistent," said Helland, who has sweeping powers in deciding how to resolve the cases against individual Marines.

In his new job, Helland also is head of Marine Corps Forces, Central Command, which gives him overall responsibility for all Marine Corps troops throughout the Middle East.

During the weeks earlier this month that he was in that region, Helland said, he spent most of his time in Anbar, including a visit to the city of Hit, where he found the markets and schools open and people unafraid to walk the streets.

Qualified as a helicopter pilot, Helland said he flew aboard the controversial Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft four times during his visit.

The combination helicopter-airplane that the Marine Corps spent more than $20 billion developing was put into service for the first time in October. Helland, who piloted an Osprey for a couple of hours before the aircraft was deployed to Iraq, called it "phenomenal."

"It is doing fine," Helland said. "It is flying as much as any other support and assault aircraft and its missions are in keeping with its capabilities and it is going almost everywhere in theater."

When his troops arrive in Iraq next year, the general said, they will find more than 500 new mine-resistant vehicles designed to prevent deaths and injuries from roadside bombs.

Helland also said that the Marine Corps is doing all it can to counsel its troops about post-traumatic stress disorder before, during and after deployments, and working to increase programs for Marine families subject to stress from frequent deployments.

A former commander of Miramar's 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing from 2005 until earlier this year, Helland began his military career in the Army when he enlisted as a college junior in 1968.

Raised on a farm along with his twin brother, Helland served three years with the Army's Special Forces in Vietnam and was wounded in combat.

He went on to join the Marine Corps in 1973 and has served in a variety of jobs, including assistant deputy commandant for aviation commander of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.