BAGHDAD, May 10, 2011 -- As part of the advise, train, and assist mission under Operation New Dawn, Soldiers with B Troop, 6th "Saber" Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Division - Center, provided traffic control point operations training to their Iraqi partners, the 1st Mechanized Brigade, 4th Iraqi Federal Police Division, May 2, 2011, at Camp Liberty, Iraq.
This intent of the training was for the 1st Mech. Bde. to maintain the skills they need, as well as learn new ones, in order to ensure the people of Iraq can continue to safely travel on the major roads in Baghdad.
"Given that they [work in] traffic control points a lot already, this training gave us a chance to share our ideas and show them different techniques to do their jobs more effectively," said Staff Sgt. Jason Beaudre, a platoon sergeant with B Troop.
The training program began in the morning, with B Troop and 1st Mech. Bde. going over basic traffic control point operations in a classroom environment, followed by an afternoon instruction outdoors where practical exercises, such as conducting personnel and vehicle inspections under different scenarios, was facilitated.
"The training program went extremely well," said Staff Sgt. Cedric Wilson, a section leader with B Troop. "They caught on very quickly, were eager to learn what we were teaching them, and stayed actively engaged the entire time."
It was evident that the Iraqi Soldiers had never seen some of the techniques and tasks they were being taught throughout the training by their B Troop partners. However, by the end of the practical exercise, all were able to more effectively conduct personnel and vehicle inspections, and understood the reasoning behind all the different ways it can be done.
"I believe they are much better equipped to run a successful traffic control point now, because of how well they performed these security operations during the training," said Wilson.
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