Iraqi Army soldiers with the 7th IA Division practice loading a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter Nov. 11 as part of an air assault operations class taught by IA aviation personnel and Soldiers with 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, United States Division – Center, at Camp Mejid, Iraq. (Photo by: Staff Sgt. Tanya Thomas)
Just under 50,000 American troops in Iraq are serving as advisors as part of Operation New Dawn. They continue their training of Iraqi security forces before their scheduled withdrawal by 2012. It’s a critical part of the strategy that will leave Iraqis to secure their own country.
Direct combat operations ended Sept. 1, but our commitment to Iraq and its people has not ended,” Army Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, the U.S. Forces Iraq deputy commander for operations, told reporters from Baghdad in a video teleconference.
Attacks are down across Iraq, about 20 percent less than last year, thanks to the more than 650,000 Iraqi security forces taking the lead. Many of them continue to be trained by American soldiers.
From a company commander course to Iraqi Police training academy to an air assault exercise, the training is critical for when American troops leave Iraq.
Sgt. Lance Rossi, a combat medic from Boca Raton, Fla., certainly thinks so. He taught Iraqis how to properly splint fractures and broken bones at a checkpoint in Wanah, Iraq. “It’s important that when we leave, they know how to take care of their own casualties,” he said.
Here is what one American trainer has to say about training Iraqis:
Many Iraqis are grateful for the assistance.
“The training was really helpful,” said trainee Muhamud Mandi about some medical training he received.
The hope is that the Iraqis are able to share their knowledge with their fellow soldiers.
“It feels good to coach them and help them develop their skills,” said Pfc. Royce Applegren, a sniper from Chicago, who mentored Iraqis in rifle marksmanship. “Once we’re done training, they’re going to be able to go train their soldiers everything we’ve taught them.”
Indeed, some courses are already being taught by Iraqis. American soldiers selected two Iraqi combat engineers who distinguished themselves to be the primary instructors for a course on check-point operations.
2nd Lt. Issa Amen, a Iraqi Training Squadron No. 3 student pilot, will soon become an instructor teaching fellow Iraqi pilots. “I’m happy I get this chance to be an instructor,” he said of the training. “American pilots are the best pilots in the world, this is the truth. We get a chance to get our training from the best pilots.”
Training can’t work if it’s not accepted.
Master Sgt. David Smith, an Air Advisor to the medical community at New Al Muthana Air Base and who organized a Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development course for 75 Iraqi airmen:
Obviously, we needed buy-in from the Iraqis to make this happen. We didn’t want to create a course where we (Americans) simply get in front of a group of our Iraqi partners and lecture them all night. We wanted them to embrace the concept and make this course their own.
We don’t want to take a cookie-cutter approach and tell our Iraqi partners that this is how we do things in the U.S.; therefore to be successful, they must do everything exactly the same way. What we are doing is advising and mentoring them as they drive their own growth. We see the value of how we do business and they see it, too. They are going to take the lessons from this and adapt it to meet their own needs. The goal is for them to take ownership of this course and continue on with Iraqis teaching other Iraqis.
What it comes down to is setting up Iraq for success.
“The U.S. forces are really helping us and our people,” said 1st Lt. Ahmad Taha, a Kurdish soldier who received training on securing northern Iraq.
Tags: assistance, CENTCOM, courses, Iraq, training, U.S. Central Command
