Photo By Staff Sgt. Shawn Miller | U.S. Army Sgt. James Meegan, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Advise and Assist...... read more read more
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GHUZLANI WARRIOR TRAINING CENTER, Iraq – As the U.S. military’s advise and assist role in Operation New Dawn continues across Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi forces stepped up collaborative efforts in January, conducting collective unit-level training for Iraqi battalions at the Ghuzlani Warrior Training Center near Mosul in northern Iraq.
Soldiers of 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based out of Fort Hood, Texas, began operations at the GWTC in December 2010 to train 3rd Iraqi Army Division units as part of the Iraqi training initiative named Tadreeb al Shamil, Arabic for All-Inclusive Training.
“The Ghuzlani Warrior Training Center is designed to train the 3rd Iraqi Army Division on light infantry skills,” said Lt. Col. John Cushing, commander, 1st Sqdn., 9th Cav. Regt.
The Iraqi soldiers learn tactics on a four-week schedule, Cushing explained, with the first week focusing on individual and squad-level tactics, and then moving into platoon, company and battalion-level exercises in the succeeding weeks.
Since the dissolution of Iraq’s Army and security forces in May 2003 under Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 2, Iraq began the process of rebuilding its forces under U.S. supervision and mentorship.
During Tadreeb al Shamil, IA leaders focused on tactical military operations in support of national defense, leaving crime fighting efforts within the cities to the Iraqi Police and other Iraqi security forces agencies.
Iraqi soldiers of 1st Battalion, 11th Brigade, 3rd IA Division, are currently working their way through the initial training cycle at Ghuzlani, the first center of its kind, training battalion-size elements in U.S. Division-North.
Maj. Hashim Hadar, commander of 2nd Company, 1st Bn., 11th Bde., said his soldiers’ capabilities are improving as the partnership with American troops continues.
“The soldiers are getting very good training, and they are learning new skills here,” said Hashim, a seven-year veteran of the new Iraqi Army. “We never trained with the Americans before, but this training is much better than any received before.”
The GWTC is built on the site of a former infantry training area pre-dating the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Cushing explained, and many of the senior Iraqi officers attended the old training site as young lieutenants.
U.S. trainers at Ghuzlani now focus on getting those former lieutenants, many now unit commanders, ready to take charge of their companies and battalions as they build unit cohesion, he explained.
“This is the first time that they’ve actually been together at the same place at the same time as a battalion,” said Cushing, a native of Rochester, Mich. “This gives them an opportunity to train on some collective tasks and to get them prepared for their mission to defend against external threats.”
U.S. officers and trainers employed a hands-off approach to the instruction, issuing the missions and orders while letting Iraqi leadership conduct the planning and execution.
“The battalion commander gets an opportunity to train his officers through this process, and then he gets an opportunity to evaluate all his companies as they go through the different training lanes,” said Cushing.
U.S. soldiers on the ground paid close attention as their assigned Iraqi squads ran through each event, offering feedback and knowledge gained from their own experiences in combat.
“The training was very good and we are welcoming the friendly forces,” said Hashim, noting the progress made by his soldiers during an urban training mission.
“At the beginning, we were unsure of their capabilities, but we were pleasantly surprised when they actually got on the ground,” said Cushing. “They know a lot more than we had anticipated for never having been together as a unit.”
Beyond supervisory mission guidance and support, U.S. forces offered little logistical support to the Iraqi troops living at Ghuzlani, instead requiring the Iraqi battalions to run a self-sustaining program in order to facilitate autonomy.
Iraqi cooks baked fresh bread every morning and prepared their own meals for the infantrymen of the battalion, returning from exercises. Support soldiers kept the rows of tents maintained in the living area as the soldiers of the battalions made Ghuzlani home for four weeks.
Both Cushing and Hashim noted the relationships that soldiers on both sides have developed as they work together daily in the effort to fulfill the mission.
“It’s great to be able to advise and assist the Iraqi Army and finish off all the hard work that people in the past 10 years have put into this country,” said Pfc. Michael Agunzo of Levittown, N.Y., a cavalryman assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Sqdn., 9th Cav. Regt.
Agunzo added that guiding the Iraqi forces on daily routines is also developing him to become a better soldier.
The training he administers here will aid him in the future as a non-commissioned officer, he noted.
“We’re actually learning a lot from them, probably as much as they’re learning from us,” said Cushing.
Valuing input from the U.S. instructors, the Iraqi units are also very interested in critiquing themselves through after action reviews, said Cushing.
“They can take not only our techniques but then combine them with theirs,” Cushing said. “Then I think that they’ll be much better prepared than when they came here.”
A number of Iraqi soldiers from each battalion are selected as trainers during the cycle, and then tasked with continuing and expanding their knowledge to new soldiers once the battalion leaves Ghuzlani, Cushing explained.
Cushing and his command staff hold daily meetings with Iraqi officers to discuss ideas and exchange feedback about training goals.
“The Iraqi Army asked for very disciplined, demanding training,” Cushing said. “We have a great opportunity here to train the battalions as they come in.”
Throughout 2011, each of the battalions from the 3rd IA Div. are slated to complete 25-day rotations at Ghuzlani each month as the IA transitions to autonomous military operations.
Following the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime, under Operation Iraqi Freedom and the subsequent reconstruction of Iraq’s Army and security forces, U.S. soldiers aim to bring their counterparts to full national capability with Tadreeb al Shamil and the GWTC.
All of the training at Ghuzlani is dedicated to the more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for Iraq, Cushing stated.
“This will be yet another chapter in this whole conflict, and I think one of the most critical, because it’s the long-lasting impression that we’re going to leave here with the Iraqi Army in terms of training,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 01.24.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.29.2011 09:46 |
| Story ID: | 64446 |
| Location: | MOSUL, IQ |
| Web Views: | 403 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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