Four teams of 50 US advisors have reached Baghdad to help the Iraqi military counter Sunni insurgents who have made rapid advances in the country.
US forces in Baghdad have started the first of two planned joint operations centres to assess the security situation, Xinhua quoted Pentagon spokesman Steve Warren as saying.
"It will serve as a centre where information that's coming in from the various teams of advisors can be consolidated and analysed," Warren said.
The 50 are part of 300 US military advisors President Barack Obama has ordered into Iraq to assess the offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS).
The group has overrun towns and cities across the country's north and west and is moving closer to Baghdad, Warren said.
The US teams are mainly from the army's special forces. Overall, there are some 500 American military personnel in Iraq.
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