GLT-9 ready to accompany Georgian battalions to Afghanistan

Photo By Cpl. Michael Dye | Maj. Wilson Hopkins, the officer in charge of the Georgian Liaison Team 9 and Ridgefield, Conn. native, stands in front of the 33rd and 42nd Republic of Georgia Army Infantry Battalions during the Georgian deployment ceremony March 22, 2013. The Georgian Army Infantry Battalions will make up about half of the ground combat power for the Regimental Combat Team 7 in Afghanistan.  

TBILISI, GEORGIA

03.28.2013

Story by Lance Cpl. Michael Dye 

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Africa     

VAZIANI AIRFIELD, Republic of Georgia – The 42nd and 33rd Army Infantry Battalions, Republic of Georgia are deploying after five months of military-to-military engagements and training from Marines with Georgian Liaison Team 9. The Georgian soldiers will join Marines and sailors in support of International Security Assistance Force in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

“A lot of people think that what we are here to do is teach them how to do their job, but that’s not what we are here for,” said Capt. Brian Hart, an infantry advisor and Brooklyn, N.Y. native. “What we are here to do is show them how we, as Marines, do it and I think that’s important because they are going to work for a regimental combat team commander, who is a Marine.”

GLT-9 has trained the Georgian battalions through an intensive pre-deployment training plan. The Marines instructed the Georgian soldiers in everything from individual marksmanship and squad tactics, to platoon, company and battalion level training.

“We went through an entire pre-deployment training program with the Georgian army just as if it was for Marines here in Tbilisi,” said Maj. Wilson Hopkins, the officer-in-charge of GLT-9 and Ridgefield, Conn., native. “We then had a mission rehearsal exercise that we conducted in Germany.”

The training focused on skill sets necessary for Georgian forces to operate alongside ISAF partner forces in a counterinsurgency environment in Afghanistan.

"We have done consecutive small-unit leadership and squad-leader training with them,” said Hart. “We like to pull the squad leaders aside and teach them one on one so their soldiers don’t see their leaders make mistakes and it makes the leaders more comfortable.”

The Georgian army will represent about half of the ground combat element for RCT-7. The ground element will consist of two Marine battalions and two Georgian battalions.

“They have been very well prepared and have worked very hard,” said Hopkins. “They are eager to join up with the Marines of RCT-7 in Afghanistan.”

• Date Taken: 03.28.2013
• Date Posted: 03.28.2013 11:05
• Story ID: 104228
• Location: TBILISI, GE
• Hometown: BROOKLYN, NY, US
• Hometown: RIDGEFIELD, CT, US