By Capt. Noah Segal
HABUR GATE, Iraq - The room full of Iraqi Kurdish soldiers remain quiet as they focus their full attention on the American at the front of the room.
The American - Sgt. Adam Dilts, the medical non-commissioned officer in charge of Logistical Task Force -15, 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), at Habur Gate, Iraq, directed the demonstration of a improvised tourniquet to his combat life saver class of 25 Soldiers from the Peshmerga Zerivani, or Iraqi Kurdish regional military police.
"You can use sticks, bandages, assorted objects, and a couple strips from a uniform top to make a tourniquet," said Dilts, a St. Cloud, Minn., native,
Dilts allowed the interpreter time to translate his instructions into Kurdish, and the students nodded their heads in understanding.
In conjunction with the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, or CPATT, Dilts has trained and certified over a hundred Zerivani since December, and he takes pride in his work.
As U.S. forces draw down in Iraq, Dilts is moving away from certifying entire classes of Zerivani trainees.
He explained that the next step is to "train the trainer" by certifying Zerivani medics as CLS instructors so they can train their own troops with minimal oversight from the Americans.
"Training the local nationals is a vital step in the process of drawing down American Forces in Iraq," said Dilts. "The quicker the host nation can function autonomously, the faster we can go home to see our families.
"I hope each student takes something away from this training to improve their unit," said Dilts, "I know I learn as much from each class as they learn from me, and I plan to take that experience and put it to good use in the future."