For the past three years, the USASATMO has been in a highly successful program to train elements of the Albanian Army personnel in a series of combative skills and tasks.
Trainers employed by General Dynamics Information Technology formed several Mobile Training Teams to train the 2nd Albanian Commando Battalion in light infantry tasks.
The teams' mission was to train the 2nd Commando Battalion in NATO/U.S. compatible mission planning, combat tactics, techniques and procedures, and leave the battalion with skilled trainers to sustain unit training after the MTT departure.
The rigorous training program, named Commando Elite by the Albanians, was designed to be conducted in four iterations from 2007-2009 with the ultimate goal of creating an Albanian Special Operations unit that could be fully integrated with coalition forces in NATO/U.S. Global War on Terrorism operations.
The program has been so successful that the Albanian Government requested, and is now executing, a fifth training iteration.
The training presented through the MTTs represented a monumental step toward the goal of creating an Albanian Special Operations unit that could be fully integrated with coalition forces in NATO/U.S. GWOT operations. Albanian Special Operations have subsequently deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, Chad and Bosnia.
The fifth SOF MTT is currently conducting intensive training in Special Forces core competency, NATO-specific special operations, and Special Forces skills training to prepare an Albanian contingent of three Special Forces Operational Detachments to Afghanistan.
Approximately 50 graduates of the Albanian Special Forces Selection Course will soon begin Small Unit Training and Military Operations on Urban Terrain training in preparation for integration into Special Forces units scheduled for two follow-on deployments to Afghanistan later this year.
The current MTT training includes several Field Training Exercises and will culminate in a 10-day final evaluation, Eagle Sage II in early December 2010.
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