Courtesy Photo | Iraqi soldiers execute squad movement techniques during a situational training...... read more read more
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By: 1st Lt. Michael Gallow
JOINT SECURITY STATION WESSAM, Iraq – The Soldiers of Company B, 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Advise and Assist Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, believe that the key to the Iraqi army’s progress is through situational training exercises.
Meant to expand the expertise of Iraqi soldiers, a situational training exercise, or STX lane, focuses on developing squad and platoon-level leadership.
“We are teaching the Iraqis tactics, while at the same time teaching them how to train their own soldiers. We are hoping these soldiers will pass a training mindset on until it spreads to the entire Iraqi army,” said Staff Sgt. Chris Manikowski, Company B squad leader, from Horace, N.D.
Throughout Company B’s deployment, it has worked to foster its relationship with the 14th Iraqi Army Division, with a particular focus on the elite commando battalion.
Leaders from Company B say that the commando battalion platoons are embracing the training opportunities and showing an intense desire to become better soldiers.
“We are not used to this kind of training, so it is very exciting, and we are learning a lot,” said Lt. Baha, a commando bn. platoon leader from Baghdad.
The situational training exercise consists of a series of classes that utilize the crawl, walk, run training philosophy. During the crawl phase, U.S. Soldiers teach squad-level tasks, like reacting to contact, detainee searches, casualty evacuations, and squad movement techniques.
The walk phase consists of Iraqi soldiers executing those tasks with
oversight by U.S. soldiers and non-commissioned officers.
During the run phase, the Iraqis are evaluated on each of the squad tasks, and they receive a pass or fail based on their performance.
Throughout the process, U.S. NCOs mentor the Iraqi squad and platoon-level leadership. By the end of the STX training, Iraqi NCOs and officers leave understanding how to train their soldiers more effectively and improve their own training plans.
“Our desired end state with the commando battalion is to create an elevated interest in training with assets they have readily available,” said Capt. Wesley Moerbe, commander, Company B, from Houston, Texas.
| Date Taken: | 01.18.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.21.2011 03:04 |
| Story ID: | 63911 |
| Location: | JOINT SECURITY STATION WESSAM, IQ |
| Web Views: | 118 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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