Jordanian army gets first-hand look at SSI facilities

By Wallace mcBride, Fort Jackson LeaderApril 5, 2012

SSI visit
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT JACKSON, S.C. -- Jordanian military dignitaries got a look last week at how the Soldier Support Institute plans and implements leadership training.

Jordanian Maj. Gen. Mohammad Farghal and Brig. Gen. Nawal Al- Nsoor spent a day at Fort Jackson's Adjutant General's School learning how the Army trains human resource support.

"If you don't have multi-skilled, multi-cultured, multi-knowledged Soldiers -- NCOs and officers -- then you can have problems," Farghal said. "We are trying to get exposed to others' experiences, the United States being our number one partner in this case."

The Adjutant General School educates administrative specialists. It is one of the oldest branches of the Army, dating back to 1775 and the appointment of Horatio Gates, a former British army officer, as the first adjutant general to George Washington.

"We're going to give them a full demonstration," said Mike Molosso, deputy commandant of the Adjutant General School. "We're going to give them an overview briefing first, explain what the schoolhouse does, what its capabilities are. Then we'll show them some physical demonstrations of how we actually manage (human resources) in our Army and how we train that."

"The trip has been wonderful," Farghal said. "It's typical American hospitality, so that makes it pretty wonderful. And it's been very productive, too."

The Army and Jordanian armed forces have had a long history of working together, said Brig. Gen. David MacEwen, SSI commanding general.

"I am so pleased that we were able to host Maj. Gen. Farghal and his delegation because it gave us a chance to strengthen our relationship and exchange ideas on education and training," MacEwen said. "We were able to use this visit to learn from each other and I could not have been more pleased."

Farghal said the strategic relationship between Jordan and the United States has a far-reaching influence on how soldiers are trained and deployed.

"In the Jordanian armed forces, we have embarked upon what we call, 'Human Capital Initiative,' the purpose of which is to develop our human capital, our human leadership," Farghal said. "We want to go into the future with solid footing."

"I think this is a tremendous opportunity for us to once again share with our allies, a very critical ally to us in the Middle East, what we do and how we manage our most important resource, which is our Soldiers," Molosso said. "I'm sure they're interested in that, as well."

Farghal said the Jordanian army is very interested in how the Adjutant General School at Fort Jackson "does business."

"We're interested in the kinds of courses they teach in the Adjutant General School, so we will probably have some further exchanges with Fort Jackson, in that respect," he said.