U.S. Army Mechanics Train Iraqi Counterparts

Defend America News ^ | Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Malec

[SandRat]

U.S. soldiers assigned to Company B, 589th Brigade Support Battalion, Fires Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, take a moment to mingle with their Iraqi counterparts from the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, based at Forward Operating Base Constitution. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Malec
U.S. Army Mechanics Train Iraqi Counterparts
U.S. soldiers will show their Iraqi army counterparts how to repair one vehicle, assist them with the next, and then let them finish the job with the remaining vehicles.
By U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Malec Fires Brigade, 4th Infantry Division BAGHDAD, May 26, 2006 — In an effort to help the Iraqi army travel the roads of Iraq, a small group of U.S. soldiers assigned to Company B, 589th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, has been dispatched to Forward Operating Base Constitution to help repair a number of the Iraqi army’s heavy-wheeled vehicles, predominantly the Russian-built 7.5-ton Kraz. "This cooperation will help our country go to the front and, of course, help us to defeat the insurgents and stop everything that’s happening outside the gate." Iraqi Warrant Officer Khadun Jawae A team of four soldiers, plus a chief warrant officer and a noncommissioned officer, are pitching in with greasy, but skillful, hands to teach future maintenance technicians with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, how to change the transmission and clutch assemblies on the Kraz vehicles. “It’s [the transmission] a lot bigger than what we’ve worked with before,” said U.S. Army Spc. Robert Coss, of Hilton, N.Y., a mechanic with Company B, 589th Brigade Support Battalion, who joined the Army in July 2004. “Up until now, I’ve only worked on a humvee-size transmission,” continued Coss, who said he was happy to	have this opportunity to work on a large and complex piece of machinery. Another transmission challenge the mechanics faced was working with manual transmissions, since most wheeled Army vehicles use automatic transmission, added U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer James Gordon, senior maintenance control technician, Company B. The plan is to show their Iraqi army mechanic counterparts how to repair one vehicle, assist them with the next, and then let them finish the job with the remaining vehicles, said U.S. Army Sgt. Jeffery Gill, section sergeant, Company B. “It feels very good to help the Iraqis get their own fleet started, and I think it will actually help make them look better,” said Gill, who is on his first deployment to Iraq. Iraqi Warrant Officer Khadun Jawae, chief maintenance officer, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, said he felt good about seeing the U.S. soldiers working with Iraqi Soldiers on their trucks. “This cooperation will help our country go to the front and, of course, help us to defeat the insurgents and stop everything that’s happening outside the gate,” said Jawae.

[SandRat]

Now that's really building an Army from the Ground Up

[McGavin999]

That's why I have to laugh at all the "aren't you done yet" morons who keep demanding we pull out. They have no idea just how much we have rebuilt. The whole structure was rotten, it had to be taken all the way down and be built up from there.

[Nachoman]

This would probably have gone faster if our guys didn't keep sending the Iraqis out looking for left-handed screwdrivers.

[roninallout79]

GREASE MONKEY'S around the world unite. GO ORDNANCE