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    Army’s Best Marksmen Mentor ANA Instructors

    Army's Top Marksmen Mentor Afghan National Army Rifle Range Instructors

    Courtesy Photo | Afghan National Army soldiers and members of the United States Army Marksmanship Unit...... read more read more

    KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

    11.06.2010

    Story by Sgt. Michael Reinsch 

    ISAF Joint Command

    KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan National Army basic marksman instructors were given a course on proper procedures for zeroing rifles at Kabul Military Training Center by soldiers from the United States Army Marksmanship Unit Nov. 6.

    The course is part of a ten-day program designed by the USAMU to further educate the ANA instructors on the fundamentals of shooting. The senior enlisted ANA soldiers will train future ANA soldiers using the knowledge gained from the USAMU mentoring.

    “It builds continuity in the points of instruction, the curriculum and the way they do things here on the range,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class John Haidu, USAMU. “We are doing this train-the-trainer course to help improve the Afghan National Army’s training capacity for basic rifle marksmanship.”

    Most of the ANA are already instructors for BRM and have taught ANA recruits in the past. This course is offered as a means of sharpening the skills they might already have. The USAMU has sent detachments of soldiers to Afghanistan since December 2009 as part of the training program.

    The first two days of the course are in-class orientation lessons, and the final days are actual hands-on rifle training. The entire time the course is in session the ANA soldiers are not only learning the basics but also learning how to mentor other soldiers.

    “The forces that are stationed in our country are helping us learn about the M-16 rifle,” said ANA Sgt. Maj. Ghalom Mustafa, BRM mentor. “We are very happy to work with the USAMU shoulder to shoulder. Once we are taught by the American mentors over here, then we can teach our soldiers and new recruits.”

    Soldiers from USAMU are elite shooters who train and participate in shooting competitions across the globe, like the Olympics. When not competing or training for competitions, the soldiers travel to U.S. military posts to train service members on helpful techniques they use.

    “The main thing that we hope to bring or instill on the instructors here are the proper ways to fire a rifle,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brandon Green, USAMU. “They definitely pick it up. The first couple of days, between the language barrier and the stuff we’re trying to put out, it’s a little bit of chaos. After the first couple of days and getting into it on the range, it really comes together; everybody gets on the same sheet of music and we start to progress really quickly.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 11.06.2010
    Date Posted: 11.07.2010 09:48
    Story ID: 59610
    Location: KABUL, AF

    Web Views: 395
    Downloads: 250

    PUBLIC DOMAIN