The capability of Iraqi Security Forces is paramount to keeping Iraq safe, and U.S. Soldiers are training Iraqi troops to provide that stability and security for their country.
This is the situation at Contingency Operating Location Shocker, where a group of Iraqi Commandos received training in May, 2010, from the Cavalry Scouts of A "Assassin" Troop, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
The Iraqi Commandos will return to their units and assist in training fellow soldiers on the tactics they learned from the Assassin Troop Soldiers. This will increase the overall capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces and lend stability to the government and safety to the population, according to 2nd Lt. Bryan Holder, a platoon leader in A Troop from Houston, Texas.
"It is very important that we help our partners build proficiency levels to the point where they are self-sustainable and trainers become organic to the organization," he said.
The training covered a wide area of subjects, said Sgt. Edward Ford, from Phoenix, Ariz., one of the trainers from A Troop working alongside the Iraqi Commandos,. Vehicle and personnel search techniques, escalation and ethics of force, and checkpoint manning guidelines were just some of the subjects covered.
"We were reinforcing the training that they already received, and improving their overall efficiency," said Ford.
Lt. Abdulkhaleq Abdalqader, 3rd Region's 1st Commando Battalion, one of the Commandos who participated in the reinforcement training, appreciated the relevance of the training.
"Everything about this training was good," he said. "I thought that the search training was very good. The things we learned here have many outside applications. We were able to learn things that will help us to gather more evidence and capture more bad guys."
According to Ford, not in too many other professions can a person be happy in the knowledge that he is teaching himself out of a job.
"It really motivates me to know that they were able to benefit from this course," he said.
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