Officials said U.S. Army, Air Force and Marine Corps have been rapidly
proceeding with a range of courses to train all elements of the Iraqi military and
security forces, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the training was meant to provide Iraq with a
semblance of independent capabilities by mid-2011.
"I think we have an opportunity in Iraq we might never get again," U.S.
military commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno said.
A key focus by the U.S. military has been to train the Iraqis in air
operations. This has included courses to learn how to use Iraq's fleet of
helicopters for air assault operations.
"Everybody knows that time is running out, and when our combat forces
are withdrawn, there will be a completely new situation," an official said.
In April, the U.S. Army's 12th Combat Aviation Brigade conducted a
four-week course for Iraqi commandos and members of the Iraqi Tactical
Support Unit in helicopter insertion techniques. Officers said the course
was meant to train future Iraqi instructors.
"I would like them to be patient with us, because we've asked them to do
a lot of stuff," Capt. Igan O'Reilly, one of the instructors, said. "The
thing is, it's a short training course, only four weeks, so there's a lot of
information we need to give them and it's not easy for them. We appreciate
them."
Officials said the U.S. military was working under the assumption that
training would either be suspended or significantly reduced by the scheduled
withdrawal of all American troops in December 2011. They said the Iraqi
military would be required to conduct most of the air support missions when
all U.S. combat troops leave the country in September 2010.
"With these newly developed techniques, [we're] pushing them toward
self-sufficiency and, in the future, helping them collaborate with other
organizations in Iraq," O'Reilly said. "So that when we do draw down our
forces later on, they will have that level of competence in their training
and the ability to conduct their own missions."
For his part, Odierno said the acceleration of U.S. training programs
has enhanced the Iraqi military and security forces. The general said the
U.S. military would not allow its training mission to slow down plans to
reduce the troop level to 50,000 over the next four months.
"We don't need to do that with 95,000 in Iraq today," Odierno said. "It
is time, and appropriate for [the Iraqis] to take on this responsibility,
and [for] us to start to get more and more in the background. I think it is
that time in the fight for us to do that."
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