seruriermarshal
05-25-2004, 08:55 AM
Iraqi Army Soldiers Graduate from Coalition School
By U.S. Army Sgt. Jared Zabaldo / Office of Security Cooperation Public Affairs
KURKUSH MILITARY TRAINING BASE, Iraq , May 24, 2004 — The Office of Security Cooperation's Coalition Military Assistance Training Team graduated nearly 1,000 Iraqi army soldiers from the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy here, May 20, 2004, in a formal ceremony on the base's parade grounds.
The graduates, students of the school's Squad Leaders Course and Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Course, negotiated the special leadership training in anticipation of future assignments as Iraqi army recruit trainers to take place in the coming months throughout Iraq.
The crop of graduates marks just the second group to negotiate the squad leader's course and the third of the senior NCO course - both graduating 616 and 315 soldiers respectively. Instruction included training designed to hone NCO leadership skills and initial training in counterinsurgency and urban warfare skills.
Conducted by American, Australian, British and Jordanian forces tasked with training an independent Iraqi army, the school is part of the larger effort to professionally train and organize an Iraqi force able to protect itself from internal as well as external threats. Comprised of just four trained regular Iraqi army battalions, the Iraq's army is scheduled to grow to 27 battalions and three divisions by Sept ember 2004.
"We're now at a very simple level, a basic level," said guest of honor Iraqi Armed Forces Joint Headquarters Chief of Staff, Gen. Amer Ahmed Bakr al-Hashimi, addressing his troops.
"We need a lot of training," al-Hashimi said. "We advanced our right leg to go ahead but until now our foot didn't touch the ground," al-Hashimi said. "The goal is to have an army, an air force and a coastal defense," he added.
Several honors graduates were honored in front of the assembled crowd that included Office of Security Cooperation Commanding General Maj. Gen Paul Eaton and Coalition Military Assistance Training Team Deputy Commanding General British Army Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster. The Coalition Military Assistance Training Team is a division of the Office of Security Cooperation tasked with the training and equipping of the Iraqi armed forces.
K urkush Military Training Base , approximately 70 miles east of Baghdad, near the Iranian border, was formerly an abandoned military base originally established under Saddam Hussein's regime prior to the first Persian Gulf War. In addition to the NCO Academy, the training base conducts battalion basic training for the Iraqi army. Other training locations will include bases in Tadji, An Numaniyah, Mosul, Karkuk and Talil.
"We as trainers have really seen our graduates step up as leaders in their new units and in follow-on training," said Squad Leader Course Chief Instructor Master Sgt. Leonard Padilla.
"They have taken what we've taught them to heart," Padilla said. "Most importantly, they've learned to lead by example."
By U.S. Army Sgt. Jared Zabaldo / Office of Security Cooperation Public Affairs
KURKUSH MILITARY TRAINING BASE, Iraq , May 24, 2004 — The Office of Security Cooperation's Coalition Military Assistance Training Team graduated nearly 1,000 Iraqi army soldiers from the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy here, May 20, 2004, in a formal ceremony on the base's parade grounds.
The graduates, students of the school's Squad Leaders Course and Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Course, negotiated the special leadership training in anticipation of future assignments as Iraqi army recruit trainers to take place in the coming months throughout Iraq.
The crop of graduates marks just the second group to negotiate the squad leader's course and the third of the senior NCO course - both graduating 616 and 315 soldiers respectively. Instruction included training designed to hone NCO leadership skills and initial training in counterinsurgency and urban warfare skills.
Conducted by American, Australian, British and Jordanian forces tasked with training an independent Iraqi army, the school is part of the larger effort to professionally train and organize an Iraqi force able to protect itself from internal as well as external threats. Comprised of just four trained regular Iraqi army battalions, the Iraq's army is scheduled to grow to 27 battalions and three divisions by Sept ember 2004.
"We're now at a very simple level, a basic level," said guest of honor Iraqi Armed Forces Joint Headquarters Chief of Staff, Gen. Amer Ahmed Bakr al-Hashimi, addressing his troops.
"We need a lot of training," al-Hashimi said. "We advanced our right leg to go ahead but until now our foot didn't touch the ground," al-Hashimi said. "The goal is to have an army, an air force and a coastal defense," he added.
Several honors graduates were honored in front of the assembled crowd that included Office of Security Cooperation Commanding General Maj. Gen Paul Eaton and Coalition Military Assistance Training Team Deputy Commanding General British Army Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster. The Coalition Military Assistance Training Team is a division of the Office of Security Cooperation tasked with the training and equipping of the Iraqi armed forces.
K urkush Military Training Base , approximately 70 miles east of Baghdad, near the Iranian border, was formerly an abandoned military base originally established under Saddam Hussein's regime prior to the first Persian Gulf War. In addition to the NCO Academy, the training base conducts battalion basic training for the Iraqi army. Other training locations will include bases in Tadji, An Numaniyah, Mosul, Karkuk and Talil.
"We as trainers have really seen our graduates step up as leaders in their new units and in follow-on training," said Squad Leader Course Chief Instructor Master Sgt. Leonard Padilla.
"They have taken what we've taught them to heart," Padilla said. "Most importantly, they've learned to lead by example."