Photo By Staff Sgt. Shawn Miller | U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Murphy, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Advise and...... read more read more
Subscribe
GHUZLANI WARRIOR TRAINING CENTER, Iraq – U.S. soldiers of 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, welcomed another battalion of Iraqi soldiers to Ghuzlani Warrior Training Center as the two forces partnered for the second training iteration in support of Tadreeb al Shamil, Feb. 2.
Iraqi Army soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 11th Brigade, kicked off the 25-day training cycle with classes on movement techniques as partnered forces continue Tadreeb al Shamil, an Iraqi-led initiative directed at providing individual and collective training for Iraqi army battalions.
Staff Sgt. Kevin Murphy, an instructor at GWTC and cavalry scout assigned to Troop C, 1st Sqdn., 9th Cav. Regt., opened the first day of training with classes covering basic individual movement techniques, and then demonstrated fire team and squad movements.
“It’s important because they’re the basics and fundamentals of everything that we’re teaching them,” said Murphy, an Odessa, Texas, resident. “They’re going to need to know the basics, because it’s all inclusive in all the things we teach [during the 25-day training cycle].”
Murphy and fellow “Long Knife” soldiers offered a brief class, demonstrating the drills, including the low crawl, high crawl, and three-to-five second rush.
Undeterred by mud from recent rain, the students hit the ground to practice their newly learned skills.
Staff Sgt. Clifton Hunter, an instructor and cavalry scout of Troop C, noted the Iraqi soldiers seemed better prepared for this iteration of training, demonstrating proficiency in the basic infantry techniques quicker than anticipated.
“If they’re motivated, they’ll train harder,” Hunter said. “They’re willing to learn more.”
In an effort to move away from the localized counter-insurgency operations of recent years, IA and U.S. Forces partnered to provide modernized military training for Iraqi battalions to build a self-sustaining force capable of defending Iraq.
Many of the Iraqi soldiers undergoing training are not new to the military or inexperienced with infantry battle drills, said Sgt. Nathaniel Chance, also an instructor from Troop C.
Chance explained experienced Iraqi soldiers contribute to the training by offering feedback on their own techniques and experience.
“They take what they know and what we teach them, and usually we’ll find a medium,” he said. “We’re training the conventional warfare aspect, so that way, when we leave [Iraqi soldiers] can defend their country as a whole.”
In the coming weeks, the Iraqi soldiers will progress from individual and small squad-based skills to larger, more complex exercises with their companies, in preparation for a battalion-level exercise at the conclusion of their cycle.
Murphy noted the first training iteration at GWTC, where the first Iraqi battalion successfully graduated the collective training after successfully completing several exercises which culminated with the live-fire exercise.
According to Iraqi Ground Forces Command, 48 Iraqi Army battalions are scheduled to attend Tadreeb al Shamil at GWTC and Kirkush Military Training Base in northern Iraq by the end of 2011.
| Date Taken: | 02.02.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.09.2011 06:13 |
| Story ID: | 65055 |
| Location: | GHUZLANI WARRIOR TRAINING CENTER, IQ |
| Web Views: | 310 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Ghuzlani Warrior Training Center welcomes new Iraqi Army battalion, by SSG Shawn Miller, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
