Maintenance window scheduled to begin at February 14th 2200 est. until 0400 est. February 15th

(e.g. yourname@email.com)

Forgot Password?

    Defense Visual Information Distribution Service Logo

    Danish Anti-ISIL coalition members train Iraqi Security Forces in critical

    Danish anti-ISIL coalition members train Iraqi Security Forces in critical combat skills

    Photo By Sgt. William Perkins | Iraqi Air Force personnel evaluate their completed defensive positions during...... read more read more

    IRAQ - Danish soldiers with Task Force Al Asad trained Iraqi Air Force personnel in defensive combat skills aboard Al Asad Air Base Feb. 25-26, 2015.

    Iraqi Air Force personnel learned how to build defensive positions and work as an effective squad while moving from one defensive position to another.

    The training is part of an overarching mission on the part of the Danes and U.S. Marines at the base with the intention of preparing Iraqi Security Forces to expel the extremist group, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, from their country.

    Training began with the instructors teaching the basics of constructing battle positions such as earthworks and barricades. To ensure that the Iraqi trainees understood, the Danish trainers watched as they built simulated defensive positions.

    Afterwards, the instructors taught them how to use cover and concealment to move from one battle position to another.

    “We’re training them how to make better battle positions, how to fight from their checkpoints and engage Da’esh,” Danish Lt. Col. Bo, the officer in charge for Danish troops with Task Force Al Asad, said, using another name for ISIL. Bo and other Danes requested to be identified by their first name only, in accordance with national policy.

    Not only are the soldiers training to be more professional warriors, but instructors as well. The intention of the training is for these students to go back and train the soldiers in their battalions on what they have learned themselves, Bo said.

    Most Iraqis were new to the techniques; only a handful had experience with elements of the training, like digging fighting positions and arranging barbed wire.

    “I asked them before training began who had worked with building defenses and only three or four raised their hands,” Danish 1st Lt. Mads, a coalition trainer, said.

    Despite this, once the Danish soldiers demonstrated the correct way to employ the wire, the Iraqi soldiers grasped the concepts rapidly, Mads said.

    “They didn’t understand the concepts until we showed them ourselves,” he said. “But once they saw the effects of what we were showing them, they quickly learned.”

    The overall program of training will continue in the coming weeks, with the Iraqi soldiers practicing marksmanship proficiency and further instruction on how to improve their defensive capabilities.

    “This is only a little part of the overall training,” Mads said.

    LEAVE A COMMENT

    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 02.26.2015
    Date Posted: 03.19.2015 09:04
    Story ID: 157467
    Location: IQ

    Web Views: 105
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN