By Pfc. Alisha Nye
14th Public Affairs Detachment
FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARHORSE - A meeting of both Iraqi army and U.S. Army sergeants major and command sergeants major was held in the base theater on Forward Operating Base Warhorse, located in the Diyala province, Iraq.
The sergeants major convened to discuss the training of Iraqi army non-commissioned officers and focused mainly on the improvements the training has undergone as well as the improvements that can be made.
"This meeting is about non-commissioned officer training and refers to raising the level," said Iraqi Command Sgt. Maj. Adel Abdul Jabar Abdul Wahed, the Iraqi army equivalent of the U.S. sergeant major of the Army.
"It is a fantastic conduit to speak and just hear about all the things that are going on in their Army because sometimes it takes a long time to hear it," said Command Sgt. Maj. William E. High Jr., the sergeant major of the Coalition Army Assistance Transition Team.
"Some of the things we wanted to get out of this conference are, number one, listening to the Iraqi sergeant major talking to his division sergeants major and his brigade sergeants major," High said. "But also, we're taking the opportunity to talk to them about how we're in an advisory role. We have the responsibility of advising them on basic combat training from corporal all the way up to platoon sergeant courses. We're taking the opportunity to educate them on what we're working on in the way ahead."
High said Iraqi army officials are the ones taking the lead and coalition forces are merely in an advisory position at this point.
"We advise the Iraqi leadership," High said. "With everything we do, there is an Iraqi making the final decision."
Every training school for the Iraqi army is Iraqi ran and has all Iraqi instructors, High said.
"In an advisory capacity we work with them to make those schools better, to build a better non-commissioned officer for the Iraqi army," High said.
Wahed said he thinks the advice from coalition forces is helpful for improving the development of Iraqi army NCOs.
"We discussed a lot of things that the U.S. has in relation to developing NCOs and the problems they sometimes have in their units," Wahed said. "We gained a lot of information and they helped raise the level of education for our NCOs."
High said Iraqi army NCOs are eager to learn and like what they see in American NCOs as the "backbone" of the Army.
"Iraqi army NCOs want to get better through education and training," High said. "So, their NCOs can be the backbone of their Army."
Iraqi army NCOs feel empowered by the training they are receiving and, as a result, are not only stepping up to lead their soldiers more, but are also more highly encouraged by their command, High said. The meeting was just another step toward cementing this process.
"You get a lot of information which helps to stand those Iraqi forces up – to go out and have the ability to take over the battle space as we move on down the line," High said.
| Date Taken: |
09.27.2008 |
| Date Posted: |
09.27.2008 13:02 |
| Story ID: |
24220 |
| Location: |
BAQUBAH, IQ |
| Web Views: |
194 |
| Downloads: |
159 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
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