Posted on 04/12/2009 12:22:18 PM PDT by SandRat
Iraqi Soldiers learn important engineering skills at a school in Taji, April 10. Photo by Maj. Pat Simon, 225th Engineer Brigade.
TAJI — Some of the best and brightest Iraqi Soldiers are undergoing training at the Iraqi Army (IA) Engineer School here.
Call it Iraq's own version of Advanced Individual Training, but just not as advanced. Yet, they're making strides to improve the quality of the training that goes on here.
"It's an incremental progress here," said IA Col. Flahe, IA Engineer School commander. "There's no big bang here – just little victories."
Those little victories were few and far between just six months ago when a good portion of the school was in disrepair.
"You would not want to even enter [at that time]," explained Flahe when talking about a sleeping area that his Soldiers renovated into a classroom.
"This is the finest training that I have seen right here," said Brig. Gen. Owen Monconduit, 225th Engineer Brigade commander.
At this two-month course, Iraqi Soldiers learn everything from plumbing, electrical, woodworking, operating heavy machinery like dozers and graders and bridge building. They also are trained on combat-related duties like clearing routes of improvised explosive devices.
That's especially important to Monconduit, who will soon lose one of his units that is moving on to a new mission in Afghanistan.
The 4th Engineer Battalion is being replaced by a smaller company-sized element. That poses a challenge, and Monconduit is hoping these Iraqi engineers at this school will help fill in where the need is greatest – combat operations.
"The training you are receiving is important and critical to your success and to the success of the Iraqi government," Monconduit told the students at the school. "I am very impressed with your commander. He takes pride in the engineer school and it shows in the training you are receiving today."
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