U.S. military teams training NCOs in effort to 'professionalize Iraq Army'
BAGHDAD Ñ The U.S. military is developing a non-commissioned
officer cadre in the Iraq Army.
Officials said the U.S. military has sent teams to train and mentor an
NCO corps in the Iraq Army, Middle East Newsline reported. They said NCOs marked the key to enhancing the
army in the area of training, logistics, intelligence and other fields.
"Our main job is to professionalize the Iraq Army," Lt. Col. Thomas
Seagrist, commander of the 9th Iraqi Army Division Military Transition Team,
said.
Officials said the U.S. effort has involved a change in attitude
throughout the Iraq Army, with more than 200,000 personnel. They said that
under the Saddam Hussein regime, NCOs were relegated to serving coffee and
tea rather than improving the army.
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"Many officers serving in today's Iraqi army also served under [Saddam]
regime, which is a totally different mindset," Seagrist said. "They grew up
and prospered under a dictator who called all the shots."
As a result, U.S. mentors have sought to persuade Iraqi commanders to
provide NCOs with authority. Officials said the U.S. military also
wants to establish a military academy for NCOs.
Officials said U.S. training teams have contained officers and
non-commissioned officers with a range of military specialities. They
included a logistics officer, an intelligence officer, an aviator, explosive
ordnance disposal and intelligence analysts.
"One of the big things that myself and other members of my team are
doing is not only trying to get an NCO academy going, but legitimizing the
NCO corps," U.S. Army Master Sgt. Ian Hutchinson, a military adviser, said.
"In the Iraqi army, a lot of the soldiers don't wear their rank. They don't
feel like it means anything, because they're not afforded the authority that
an American NCO has."