RAMADI - Iraqi Police officers here began a week of counter-improvised explosive device techniques and procedures training Sunday, part of the U.S. Advise and Assist mission to bolster the skills of Iraq's Army, Police and Border Patrol.
Six recent Iraqi Counter Explosives Team Course graduates are attending the class at the Ramadi Training Center. This refresher course is designed to reinforce EOD fundamentals, to include demolition procedures, how to protect buildings from blasts and fragmentation, and how to move objects with ropes.
"We're going over the basics," said Spc. Tyler Wend, 731st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, United States Division - Center, and a Turlock, Calif., native. "This is important because they need to be able to sustain their country on their own and learn how to [counter IEDs] without us being there."
The class, which began with instruction on how to properly tie knots, offered the students a condensed version of the U.S. Army EOD course. Training became more complex and comprehensive on the second day, as the Iraqi team practiced countering simulated IEDs.
"This is a somewhat 'down and dirty' version of [the yearlong U.S. Army EOD course]," Wend said. "We're teaching the same principles."
The sergeant major of the Ramadi EOD said the class was challenging and allowed his team to make mistakes during training so that they do not make mistakes when the scenarios become real.
"We'll learn from our mistakes and continue to train," he said, as he thanked the 731st EOD team for hosting the class. "We need this information. It's very beneficial."
First Lt. Karl Wagner, a platoon leader with the 731st EOD Company and a Hearne, Texas, native, said training was especially important to him on a personal level and that the IP are members of the Army team.
"I feel that they are part of our EOD family," he said. "They should have the same information [about countering IEDs] that we have so that whenever we leave [Iraq], they can still keep doing their job and keep this country safe. This course is designed to help them protect their lives in the future."
Wend agreed, saying he hopes they use the training to protect civilians who can't protect themselves from the threat IEDs.
The 731st EOD team will continue to train more Iraqi EOD students in the coming months.
Editor's Note: The name of the Iraqi Police EOD sergeant major is withheld upon request.
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