Iraqis train fellow Soldiers in expanded basic training

Photo By Sgt. Matthew Wester | An Iraqi instructor shows a recruit the proper way to hold his AK-47 rifle at the Iraqi Army Basic Training Academy at Taji, Iraq on Nov. 2. Iraqi recruits learned crucial, basic combat skills as part of an expanded program at the academy. This is the second group of Soldiers to go through a new, extended cycle of basic training. Iraqi sergeants do the bulk of the teaching. "We're at a phase now where we mainly just advise the Iraqi instructors," said Sgt. 1st Class Naymon Mack, from Roanoke, Va., an advisor at the academy, who serves in the 80th Division, U.S. Army Reserves.  

TAJI, IRAQ

11.13.2005

Courtesy Story

DVIDS Hub       

Sgt. Matthew Wester
3/1 AD PAO

CAMP TAJI, Iraq " The Soldiers here don't spend their time shining boots, singing cadences or doing countless push-ups, but they are in basic training.

They carry AK-47 rifles on their shoulders as they march smartly from one instruction area to another. When a sergeant calls them to attention, they shout in unison, "Long live Iraq!"

Iraqi recruits learned crucial, basic combat skills as part of an expanded program at the Iraqi Army Basic Training Academy in early November. This is the second group of Soldiers to go through a new, extended cycle.

"It started off as a two-week program. Right now, we're conducting a 24-day cycle," said Staff Sgt. Michael J. Munoz, operations noncommissioned officer at the academy, who serves with 80th Division, U.S. Army Reserves.

During the 24 days of training, Munoz said the recruits learn drill and ceremony, weapons marksmanship, squad-level movement techniques, room-clearing procedures and how to operate traffic-control points.

Instructors are able to go into greater detail when teaching the individual skills because they have more time with the new Soldiers than they did during the 14-day cycles, Munoz added.

At the academy, recruits listened intently Nov. 2 as an instructor taught them hand-and-arm signals. All the instruction was in Arabic"no translator needed. Iraqi noncommissioned officers were teaching the course.

"We're at a phase now where we mainly just advise the Iraqi instructors," said Sgt. 1st Class Naymon Mack, an advisor at the academy who also serves in the 80th Div. "Two years ago, we started off with Americans giving all the training. American drill instructors did all the training through interpreters."

"Now, we pretty much just oversee (Iraqi instructors) and make sure the training is conducted properly," Mack said. "We've moved to another level."

Munoz said the recruits" skills have moved to another level as well. They leave the academy better prepared for the challenges of combat.

In the Iraqi Army system, Soldiers are assigned to a unit, attend basic training and then go back to their unit after the training is completed.

"The units can see a difference between the Soldiers who have attended basic training and those who have not," Munoz said. "There is a difference in discipline as well as skills."

That discipline is crucial for the troops in training, who are sure to see action while defending their country.

"In the U.S. Army, when we graduate basic training, we don't know for sure if we're going to be in combat or not," Munoz said. "When these guys graduate, they know they're going to be in combat."

"Once they finish their training, within a couple of weeks, they are outside the wire conducting patrols," Mack said. "It is very important that they work as hard as they can to learn everything they need to know."

During a block of rifle-marksmanship training, the Iraqi cadre members moved the recruits' arms into proper firing positions and gave them tips for acquiring targets while standing and on the move. The young Soldiers asked questions, making sure they were positioned exactly as they were instructed.

The instructors' techniques are hands-on, and they are determined to teach the Soldiers to a high standard.

"They've been doing a good job training the Soldiers since we've handed over things to the Iraqis," Munoz said. "They've got it down as far as training Iraqi troops."

In a couple of weeks, the troops of this second expanded cycle will graduate, go back to their units and conduct missions to combat the insurgency.

The Americans working at the academy see the basic training program as an important part of transitioning Iraq's defense to Iraqi forces.

"(The Iraqi instructors) are very motivated," Mack said. "They want to get things done." USAR

• Date Taken: 11.13.2005
• Date Posted: 11.21.2005 16:34
• Story ID: 3830
• Location: TAJI, IQ