NCO Academy Develops IA Leaders

Multi-National Force - Iraq ^ | Multi-National Division – Baghdad Release

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An Iraqi Army Soldier takes notes during class at the 11th Iraqi Army Division's Non-commissioned Officer's Academy, March 22. Photo by Spc. Phillip Adam Turner, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

BAGHDAD — Since the beginning of the war in Iraq, U.S. Army officials saw a need for training the reconstituted Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in many basic military tasks. Troop leading procedures, map reading, infantry tactics and hand to hand combat are all now standard training initiatives performed by the men and women who make up the nearly 160 Army Military Transition Teams (MiTT) currently operating in Iraq.

“The MiTT mission is vital to the stability of Iraq,” said Makhayel Bey, civilian advisor, 11th Iraqi Army Division MiTT.  ”We are not here to be the occupying force, our job is to teach, train, and mentor the Iraqi force so they can train their own [military] to be a better military, protect their people, and be a more self-sufficient military force once we pull out of here.”

The 11th MiTT and their Iraqi counterparts from the 11th IA Div. have worked and trained together over the past few months.  Utilizing the Iraqi Non-commissioned Officer’s Academy set up by the previous MiTT team, the 11th pushes for a higher standard, while continuing to nurture a growing confidence in their partnership force.

“What we are trying to do is change the imagery from an NCO academy to a TRADOC [Training and Doctrine Command], where we can capture all the material from intelligence, signal, and computer operations. Anything we can implement to help the 11th IA become more proficient,” said Capt. Charlie Silva, the 11th MiTT intelligence advisor.

By American military standards, the idea is not a revolutionary one. However, for the IA, learning to conduct business “more constructively” through collective thought and goal-oriented processes is a key training point the 11th MiTT is implementing.

“There is an exchange in culture; a period of earning our counterpart’s trust,” said Silva. “These are very proud individuals who have plenty of reasons to feel the way that they do. We have to prove they can trust us, before they will sit down and learn from us.”

“So you have to understand that it took the U.S. Army over 200 years to get where we are at,” Bey said.  “These guys are about six or seven years into the process. The change is not going to come over night, so we have to be patient and realize how important this training opportunity is and build that bridge to help get the Iraqi Army where we know they can be.”

Iraqi troops have taken the first and most important steps successfully, with the establishment of a working relationship within the 11th IA Div. and U.S. MiTT members. Based on this success, the MiTT team has started closer coordination with the main IA school house in Camp Taji, organizing what Silva calls a more cooperative and focused approach for military commanders and troop leaders to share knowledge resulting in a more tactically prepared IA.

“Right now we are focusing on sorting out hang-ups and snags along the way,” said Silva. “It is the small things that are hindering us now, like getting paper work for the class participants submitted in a timely manner.”

For Silva and team mates, this innocuous problem is compounded by the fact that a number of his students cannot read or write. They are slowly moving toward rectifying these things by working closer with IA commanders and offering literacy classes to help speed up the learning process.

“There is definitely no lack of want or drive to be successful with these guys. We just have to remain humble, put aside that ego and realize we are in their country to help. Then you can drive on with the training,” Bey said.

“With every day that passes and every block of instruction, you see just how much you are affecting the big picture,” Silva said. “They always show us something new every day that lets us know this program and our partnership is heading in the right direction.”

(Multi-National Division – Baghdad Release)

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