Training smart

On the range: 2 Cav Regt ASLAVs overlook a range practice being held outside As Samawah.

Circle of trust: The remote weapon station on an ASLAV reflects soldiers of 2 Bde 10th Iraqi Division in their compound with the AATTI (4) at Al Khadir. Photos by Cpl Robert Nyffenegger

The boss: CO AATTI (4) Lt-Col Stephen Tulley stands in the desert landscape of the Al Muthanna province during a live-firing exercise. Photo by Cpl Cameron Jamieson

In control: Crew commander of a Bushmaster prepares to man his position at Al Khadir.

Next run: Soldiers return to the firing line after inspecting the target line.

Engaging: Sgt Michael Groves of the AATTI (4) works with an Iraqi soldier from C Coy 1 Bn at a canal crossing south of Al Khadir.

The AATTI (4) has adapted its training techniques to best suit the needs of the Iraqi Army, as Cpl Cameron Jamieson reports.

The landscape is flat, barren and hostile beneath the blazing Middle Eastern sun. The heat is incredible, and the air feels like the exhaust from a vacuum cleaner as it flows into my lungs. I look at the Iraqi soldiers on duty, but they show no sign of giving in to the heat. In front of me is a Bailey bridge across a wide canal that transfers water from the Euphrates River to a lake further to the east.

The water looks cool and inviting, and for a moment I dream of jumping in and escaping the oppressive heat. But this it not the time or place for such dreams. It is too dangerous for that.

The canal acts as an obstacle to smugglers, some trafficking in consumer goods, others in items far more deadly to the Iraqi and coalition security forces further north. This is the only crossing for many miles in either direction, so all vehicles must pass through here, and only a few weeks ago this Iraqi vehicle check point was engaged by men with automatics weapons during a night-time incident.

A distant cloud of dust signals the approach of a decrepit utility. The vehicle is stopped, and the driver searches for his identity papers, constantly coughing with a force that sounds like tuberculosis.

Smiling, the driver finally produces his papers for the Iraqi guards. The vehicle is cleared and the driver pauses to speak to the guards before leaving. A translator informs a nearby Australian soldier that the driver is thanking the guards for doing their job here. The driver says it’s a sign that Iraq’s democracy is working.

Sharing the heat with the Iraqis is Sgt Michael Groves, a platoon adviser from AATTI (4). He has been watching the Iraqis at work, and is impressed with their dedication.

“Their basic skills are really good,” he says. “Now it’s just a matter of touching up the finer points of their soldiering.”

Training smart is how you could describe the engine that is driving the training team. Drawing on a lineage from the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, AATTI (4) has the responsibility of advising and training 2 Bde of the Iraqi Army’s 10th Division, based in Al Muthanna. It is the fourth Army training team to be deployed to Iraq.

The first two teams trained new Iraqi soldiers and have since returned to Australia. The third team, which returned to Australia at the end of August, developed logistic doctrine and training logistic supervisor skills at the Iraqi Army Support and Services Institute at Taji, north of Baghdad. Team 4’s job is to enhance the skills of 2 Bde so it can take over responsibility for military operations within the Al Muthanna province.

AATTI (4) deployed into Iraq with the AMTG in May. The team consists of a brigade headquarters training team and a battalion training team,which has so far worked for the brigade’s 1 Bn. When 2 Bde’s 2 Bn is raised later this year AATTI (4) will shift its focus from 1Bn to 2 Bn.

In a tent at the AMTG’s base at Camp Smitty, CO AATTI (4) Lt-Col Stephen Tulley tells me his team has a dynamic role to play.

“The Iraqis had already received a lot of training from other cooalition nations before we arrived,” he says. “They’re now on operations, so we’re in the field with them. Our main effort is mentoring, advising and training the Iraqis in the planning and conduct of their operations, including vehicle and dismounted patrols, vehicle check points and cordon and search tasks.”

Lt-Col Tulley says he decided when they arrived it wouldn’t be smart to train the Iraqis in things they knew.

“So we spent the first two weeks looking, learning and understanding what the Iraqis were doing while we developed our rapport,” he explains.

“We then worked out what levels of proficiency they had in different areas, and then developed training plans that were aligned to the each of their mission-essential tasks. Their immediate aim was to be able to conduct low-level counter-insurgency security and stability operations, so we’ve steered away from high-intensity war fighting because that’s something they can cover in the long term. We’re here to make them self-reliant in their immediate mission in as short a time frame as possible.”

There’s been more to it than mentoring though. The team have also been assisting the Iraqis with their doctrine, personnel, equipment and facility issues.

“It’s been a very challenging three months so far, but it’s been very rewarding too. They’ve been extremely accepting and appreciative of our efforts, and their feedback shows we’re providing them a lot of new information. We’ve lifted their level of capability significantly already, and they can see it,” Lt-Col Tulley says. “There’s a new confidence in the way they conduct their operations, the level of their operations are more complex and they are taking more and more responsibility for the running of their operations. They’re preparing to take full responsibility for securing the province, and that indicates to me that we are fulfilling our mission.”

At the barracks of C Coy in Al Khadir the old Baath Party star can be seen everywhere, like the latent eye of Saddam Hussein watching over the country. Even the water tank beside the railway line bears the mark, beaming across the town as a reminder of how things used to be.

I am talking to CSM WO Mohammed Abaid, who has spent many years in the Iraqi Army and looks every inch a hardened soldier, yet he has no bitterness at being taught soldiering skills by the Australians. Instead, he embraces the concept as he believes the new skills are creating a professional army that will serve the people of Iraq.

“We are 100 per cent different now, and we have learnt so many things from the Australians,” he says. “Through the training in the barracks and out on patrols we are becoming better at our jobs. You can see how we are developing with the help of the training team, and as our skills and equipment improve we know that we are moving closer to our goal of being able to take full responsibility for our military operations here in Al Muthanna province.”

Later, at a monthly range practice where some training team members are qualifying on the Russian-designed AKM assault rifle, Capt Steve Howell, tells me how genuine the friendship is between the two armies. Capt Howell has been mentoring 1 Bn in their personnel and logistics staff work, and enjoys how cooperative and friendly the Iraqis are.

“They like us being here,” he says. “They like our easy-going attitude and how friendly we are. And I have a lot of respect for them, I find it quite amazing that when you look at the Iraqis and all they’ve been through they can still smile and get on with it.”

The armoured vehicles from the AMTG have moved forward to collect the training team members at the canal, and as I walk back to the refuge of an air conditioned Bushmaster I learn from Sgt Groves how the team is creating Iraqi solutions by not imposing Australian tactics and procedures on the Iraqis.

“The way we would do things compared to the Iraqis is different because of their unit structure, so we have to think of ways to better their capability using their manpower,” he says. So we don’t try to enforce our western ideas and approaches onto them.

Instead, we’re offering a different point of view, and they can take from that and anything else they’ve learnt from the other coalition partners and create one SOP that suits them.”

As the convoy of Australian vehicles pulls away I can see the Iraqis smile and wave as they resume their vigil at the bridge. Like the land they defend, they are a tough breed, able to deal with the harsh unforgiving sun. And like us they are a happy lot, who want nothing but the best for their families and country.