Posted: 7/8/2005 2:03:05 PM EDT
|
Noting that our fellow arfcom member, Cincinnatus is on his way over to Iraq to help lead training schools for Iraqi Defense Forces, National Guardsman, and Police, I began to wonder about our progress thus far. Aside from the fact that our Marine officer will be in a dangerous position (Iraqis in training seem to get bombed the most frequently resulting in many casualties), how effective do you believe our military has been in regards to the train up of these volunteers? Are we over the hill as far as training goes? Are we near the top? Or are we going to be needed for an extended period of time? I know there is no shortage of volunteers over there (I've seen numerous photos of long lines of recruits, waiting to enlist for service against the insurgents and foreign terrorists) but I wonder if we have enough trainers to supplement the numbers of volunteers. What's your opinion? A great job so far? Middle of the road? Not up to par? |
| About as well as can be expected. It isn't enough to just put an Iraqi in a uniform and hand him a weapon. There's got to be SOME semblance of quality (and I use that term loosely in regards to Arab armies). You gotta consider that we are basically starting from scratch as the whole former Iraqi Army was disbanded. It won't happen overnight. |
I would never expect it to happen overnight but we have been at it for a couple of years now. My curiosity stems from what our men and women have accomplished up to this point. I know our superior forces have the ability to conduct the best training in the world - I just wonder how far we've gotten. |
A couple years ain’t close to long enough. It is a 5+ year job under the best conditions. 2-5 years to train competent NCOs. 10-15 years to train competent battalion commanders. You are not seeing it in the US press but Iraqi forces are taking more of the load. Expect a major shift to Iraqis by the end of the year but we still will have some presences for years. All things consider and without hindsight we have probably done as well as we could. |
| A good parallel/example for comparison may be the training and professionalization - through US training and advisement - of the Salvadoran military. As previously stated it may take at least 10 years before there's a stout cadre of professional Iraqi officers and NCOs. |
I agree with the above quote, and would further add that it will take 5-10 years to train competent SNCO's as well. They will need leadership by example for the next 10 years at a minimum. This is going to be a very long and tedious process. |
|
|
I agree that the efforts so far have proved diffucult with the extreme brainwashing still in affect and the push pull attitude, (good guys and bad guys). Although the majority of the Country seems to support reform, there will always be setbacks and negative influences. The key in training now is to give the non-believers a taste of Democracy to win them over. I truly believe this is the key. Also the situation will be better handled once the majority can handle the Country and there is no longer a foreign military presence, the constant engagement has killed their pride, and now they know nothing else but conflict. Their newest generation is gonna be hard to turn, because all they have seen has been occupation and control. This is breeding more hate and then an action. Our Troops are and have done a fine job, now, if attrition rate could just roll for everyones benefit... |