Sgt. Michael J Carden
MNC-I PAO
March 16, 2005
IRAQIS
AN NASIRIYAH, Iraq -- When the soldiers of the Italian Army's Garibaldi Brigade
arrived in Nasiriyah in December 2004, they were tasked to train a battalion of Iraqi
Army soldiers.
When they got there, they found inadequate training facilities, a language barrier,
minimal supplies and inexperienced, but motivated candidates. They knew they had
much to accomplish.
The Italians have since transformed almost 1,000 civilians from the Nasiriyah area into some of Iraq's best soldiers. These men make up the Iraqi Army's 604th Battalion.
The 604th Bn. have become the example for their peers in other Iraqi battalions
across the country to follow, said Col. Ron Gallimore, chief liaison officer, Multi-
National Corps - Iraq.
"The leadership on both sides is great," Gallimore said. "The Italians have been
very successful in meeting their training goals with the Iraqis, and in preparing them to assume missions."
In their small base camp outside of Nasiriyah, the Iraqis practice battle drills and squad patrolling methods. They learn how to set up traffic control points, as well as vehicle and personnel search techniques. These are all tactics that were instilled in them by the Italians utilizing the 'train-the-trainer" method of teaching, Gallimore said.
The train-the-trainer concept is one the Italians have much experience with. The idea behind this approach is to train the officers and noncommissioned officers away
from their unit.
Once they become familiar with the tactics, techniques and procedures, the officers and NCOs can go back to their units with the confidence and knowledge to teach their own soldiers.
The Italians have used this method to successfully train soldiers in Bosnia, Kosovo, Africa and Asia, Gallimore explained.
"Whether it's learning how to run a traffic control point, patrolling or reacting to
contact, the Italians use this concept," Gallimore said. "This is important because it reinforces that the Iraqis are in charge of the Iraqis and the Italians are just there to observe."
"We've learned very much from our Italian counterparts," said. Col. Amer Hamed
Hadad, commander, 604th Bn. "They have taught us much about check points and
fighting in an open area. We have become very confident because of them."
Another factor that has helped the 604th Bn. to be so successful is that they converse well with the people of the local and surrounding areas. The local communities
have shown a great deal of trust in their Iraqi soldiers, said Capt. Rita Alessandro, liaison officer, 8th Bersaglieri Bn., Garibaldi Bde.
"They gather intelligence about terrorists very well," Alessandro said. "Lots of
people don't want violence near their homes, so they give us lots of information and are
very cooperative."
Hadad recalled an operation the 604th Bn. conducted on January 29, one day before the Iraqi elections took place. "We received intelligence that (insurgents) were going to transport weapons from Yusafiyah to Al Fager," Hadad explained. "The weapons were to be used for an attack on election day."
The 604th immediately went to Al Fager. The operation resulted with the confiscation of a large cache of weapons as well as the detainment of several insurgents.
"(Iraqis) work very hard," Alessandro said. "I see that they want peace and
security and a safer environment for their people." "The Iraqi army in (Nasiriyah) has very good contacts in the local community,"
Gallimore said. "They are able to find things out about insurgents, weapons smuggling and kidnappings that (Coalition forces) could never find out."
The Iraqis and Italians have also had much success in their convoy security efforts. One of their joint missions is to provide security for supply convoys traveling on
A 200-kilometer stretch of Main Support Route Tampa, the main supply road to and from Kuwait, that goes through the Dih Qar province.
The Iraqis and Italians receive and hand off convoy security responsibilities to the
British and Iraqi soldiers to the South and the Polish and Iraqi soldiers to the North.
This is a critical mission, not only because convoys on MSR Tampa are targets of many insurgent attacks, but because of "blue-on-blue contact," or Coalition soldiers
firing on other Coalition soldiers, Gallimore explained.
"The biggest problems (Coalition forces) have on MSR Tampa through out Iraq
is blue-on-blue contact and insurgent attacks," Gallimore said. "The Italians and Iraqis have not had any of these problems on their section of the road. We know that this is an area where (Coalition forces) convoys can be safe."
As the MNC-I Liaison chief, Gallimore often visits Coalition commands throughout Iraq. He has observed many Coalition-trained Iraqi battalions.
"I think that the Italian-Iraqi relationship is the best (Coalition-Iraqi relationship)
that I've seen," Gallimore said. I think that if every senior leader in our (Multi-National Corps) would go and observe the relationship between the Garibaldi Bde. and the 604th Bn., (Iraqi Army training) would be easy."
| Date Taken: | 03.23.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 03.23.2005 15:54 |
| Story ID: | 1405 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 65 |
| Downloads: | 9 |
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