Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Zane Craig | Chief Warrant Officer 3 Rodney Bearman, an ammunition technician with the 310th...... read more read more
FORWARD OPERATING BASE HONOR, Iraq - Inside an old, once abandoned structure, the temperature rises to well over 100 degrees on a warm day on Forward Operating Base Honor, Iraq. Props, such as a 155 mm inert round, used to demonstrate proper ammunition inspection, fill the corners of the room, while diagrams posted on the wall explain a variety of ammunition in English and Arabic. It was like any other first day of school, filled with nervousness and excitement.
More than 25 Iraqi soldiers gathered inside this converted trailer for a five-day class on ammunition accountability, storage and distribution taught by three soldiers from the 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command. Aided by a linguist to translate, the class was attended by Iraqi military personnel ranging from private to general.
This was also the first ammunition class for the Iraqi army taught by soldiers of the 310th ESC.
“This class shows the cooperation between the two armies - the U.S. Army and the Iraqi army,” said Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali, commander of the ammunition depot here who worked tirelessly to implement the new class. He has been a commander in the new Iraqi army for three years, although he has more than 25 years’ experience in the Iraqi army.
The class is part of the Iraqi Advisory and Training Mission, which is preparing the Iraqi army to sustain itself as the United States continues to re-posture forces here. To date, the Iraqi army has purchased more than $224 million worth of new ammunition, said Walter Oates, the ammunition advisor to the Iraqi army and a native of Birmingham, Ala.
The Iraqi army is projected to receive annual shipments of ammunition through 2014, and they are expected to spend at least another $140 million by then, Oates said.
The information offered in the class is essential for Iraqi service members who will train their fellow soldiers on how to handle ammunition.
“The translation from English to Arabic was my biggest concern,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Holmes, the no-ncommissioned officer-in-charge of total ammunition management information systems for the 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th ESC, a native of Lexington, Ky., and an instructor for the class.
Like English words, some Arabic words have multiple meanings, and the translator went through the training slides to clarify those words, Holmes said.
Additionally, the interpreter was fluent in ammunition terms, types and capabilities, he said.
“When I first read the [fragmentary order] about teaching this course and what the requirements were for teaching, I knew it was something I wanted to do,” said Holmes, who has taught ammunition courses before, but never to Iraqi soldiers.
“Working in a supply point as a logistician with a sustainment command, there really isn’t an opportunity to work with a host nation or foreign country’s military,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Rodney Bearman, an ammunition technician for the 310th ESC and an Ossian, Ind. native.
The course was an idea of Ali, who realized the need for an ammunition class to train his soldiers effectively.
Before the course, the Iraqi army didn’t have any training materials, manuals or instructions, even in English, for the soldiers who would be handling the newly purchased ammunition.
Managing the logistics of the course included making several trips to the Iraqi compound over a four-week period, said Master Sgt. Harry Spencer, an adviser and trainer for the 77th Sust. Bde. and a native of Huntington, W.Va. Spencer spent many hours talking to Ali to ensure that equipment, such as a projector, was available for use in the classroom.
“They gave me five trailers and a generator for my unit,” said Ali, referring to what the U.S. forces provided. “They supported me with their expertise, with equipment for my depots for the storage and ammunition warehouses. They were very supportive.”
About 12 types of Department of Defense Identification Codes were taught during the course, said Spencer, referring to the alphanumeric value that represents different types of ammunition. Although the Iraqi soldiers taking the course all had some knowledge of ammunition and at least three years of experience in the field, the information the 310th ESC Soldiers taught them was brand new.
“We didn’t have any background knowledge of this ammunition,” Ali said. “This course teaches us basic information about the 120 mm – how to handle it, how to store it, [and] what the criteria for inspection containers or rounds inspection is. Now, since we have the information and we are learning about this ammo, we can teach our soldiers back in the field how to handle this ammo too.”
The Iraqi leadership present in the class had a lot of experience with Soviet-era weaponry, said Bearman, who didn’t expect the level of ammunition proficiency and knowledge demonstrated by students in the class.
“I would look at the students. I would hear the translator speak and I would see the looks on the students’ faces; that they were comprehending what was going on,” Bearman said. “They were capturing the important parts of the instruction. When you see that happening repeatedly, it makes you feel like you are getting something across, that the students are learning.”
Bearman added that the course was fairly intense as it relates to the amount of information that was given in such a short amount of time.
Soldiers had the opportunity to see how U.S. ammunition is safely stored and packaged during a field trip June 8 to the Ammunition Transfer Holding Point at Victory Base Complex, Iraq.
“Safety is the most important piece of dealing with ammunition,” Bearman said. “Dealing with ammunition is inherently dangerous. If they do not have a basic concept of segregating it, storing it and transporting it, the life expectancy of those rounds will decrease considerably.”
Bearman added that the whole point of instructing the Iraqis to deal with the DODICs was to help them handle the ammunition safely.
“I’m an ammunition specialist and handled all the ammo I’m teaching, and still it scares me a little bit because I know its potential,” Holmes said. “I would hate that someone who wasn’t paying attention did something they weren’t supposed to, because the end result would be death.”
The newly formed Iraqi army ammunition command is composed of nearly 10 commands spread throughout the country and is fundamental to the success of the Iraqi army’s transition to control and responsibility here. Successful development of the command can be credited to the Iraqi and U.S. soldiers who are dedicated to making their mission a success.
“When I formatted this unit, I didn’t even have an office to work in for me and my officers,” said Ali, who used his drivers’ carpentry skills to build the wooden chairs for the makeshift classroom.
“When I want something, I do it,” he said.
The partnership between the Iraqi army and the U.S. Army proved beneficial, and would not have been possible without cooperation from both sides.
“There is an Iraqi saying: ‘one hand cannot clap without the other’,” said Ali, who aims to conduct two classes every year and has already organized four, both for officers and enlisted service members, since taking command three years ago.
By the last day of class, the partnership between the Iraqi and U.S. soldiers proved to be a mutual learning experience.
| Date Taken: | 06.15.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.19.2011 01:25 |
| Story ID: | 72355 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 220 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Soldiers partner with Iraqis for ammo proficiency, by SGT Allyson Parla, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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