Posted on 01/04/2009 11:45:58 AM PST by SandRat
Hammam al Alil, Iraq When complete, ongoing construction at the Hammam al Alil Divisional Training Center will play an important role in the training of the Iraqi Army. The center is part of a network of training areas designed to support the basic skills Iraqi Soldiers must master so Iraq can continue to build a strong and sustainable force. The mission of the DTC is to provide classroom and field skills to build core competencies for the Iraqi Army. These skills will assist them in fighting the terrorist threat. Every Soldier needs to be proficient in small-arms training, combat skills, military operations in urban terrain, and real world counter-terrorism techniques--the primary DTC mission.
This particular DTC is being constructed by Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq outside the village of Hammam Al Alil, near the northern Iraq city of Mosul, an area fraught with a violent history. The formerly peaceful village had become an insurgent stronghold as the Coalition surge flushed out terrorists from larger cities like Baghdad and Mosul. According to Lt. Steve Wangelin, the Coalition Team Chief at the facility, the DTC has brought a sense of purpose and hope to the community. In the first week of December, the Iraqi Army conducted a raid in Hammam Al Alil resulting in the detention of 10 known terrorists. The villagers, some of whom actively support and work at the facility, the Iraqi Police, and the Iraqi Army cooperated to make their village a safer place to live and work.
Each DTC consists of four basic components: a rifle range, an obstacle course, outdoor training areas/classrooms, and a shoot house. The Hammam al Alil DTC rifle range consists of 25 meter, 100 meter and 300 meter ranges to accommodate varying weapons and ammunition sizes. The Soldiers will learn basic shooting and self-defense skills there. The new obstacle course will provide the necessary skills to increase their agility in battle. A live-fire shoot house, with an overhead observation deck, will allow trainers to evaluate and direct urban combat skills training. This facility is similar to ones used by U.S. Soldiers training and preparing for house- to-house battle. Classes are ongoing at the center and some of the outdoor training classrooms are already in use.
The project also involves the refurbishment of barracks meant for Soldiers attending classes, as well as substantial road improvements. During a recent site visit, Brig. Gen. Steven Salazar, commander of MNSTC-Is Coalition Army Advisory Training Team, visited with Col. Salem, the DTC Commander. Salem expressed his sincere gratitude to the U.S. for the support they have provided his country, this effort in particular. He was resolute in his desire to create a facility where his men would be safe, receive adequate food, and have a comfortable place to sleep. Like all leaders, Salem understood that without basic necessities, his Soldiers would never be able to take full advantage of the training facility.
The $8.3M project, begun earlier in the year, is managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The USACE engineers review all design submittals, inspect all construction, and manage the effort to ensure all construction is in accordance with the contract requirements and that quality is acceptable and enduring.
This project is representative of hundreds of such efforts relying on a partnership between the U.S. and Iraq. This affiliation brings two strong forces together: U.S. technological expertise, including combat skills and training background, and Iraqs intense national pride and desire to become independent and a legitimate force in the region. The project, due to be completed in late winter, will continue to rely heavily on this partnership to triumph over the many difficulties construction projects face in this environment. Despite the challenges, this project has already proven that success will prevail. The Hammam al Alil DTC will be integral to Iraqs road to independence.
George Bush’s genius has been in understanding that this will be a decades-long war of attrition. He has had a consistently measured strategy throughout, and has carefully navigated a middle ground between appeasers and hawks.
Instead of using 300K+ troops from the outset in Iraq, he carefully dispatched troops to recognize the long-term nature of the fight, and added more only when Iraqis were truly ready to take back their country.
We only hear and read of the cost that this war is imposing on our own country and its allies. The terror masters, though, have endured losses and expended resources that are orders of magnitude greater than what we have put forward. And we are slowly but systematically winning. There was a time circa 2006 — which in retrospect will look very brief — when we seemed to be losing ground. But any objective analysis shows that at any given time we are gaining ground on 8 of every 10 fronts.
Were it not for the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb, there would be every reason to be pleased with the cumulative impact that we have had in rooting out terror, and in our long-term prospects. And regarding that bomb, I have to believe that our side is not as vulnerable as it appears. Between the US and the Israelies, I imagine that there are several viable contingency plans, and that we will see them when the time is appropriate.
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