Iraqi Army Commando Training Graduation

MAHMUDIYAH, IRAQ:  At least one US General was expected to attend the ceremony yesterday in Mahmudiyah, Iraq; as the first ever Iraqi Army Commando class graduated.   The 28 day course was designed and built by soldiers from the 2^nd Brigade Combat Team, 10^th Mt. Div.; whose members also provided the instruction.  Unfortunately, IFR flight conditions grounded the helicopters that were to transport the generals, an NBC news team, and an assortment of local Iraqi news media. 

The ceremony was attended by General Ali, commanding officer of the 4^th Brigade, 6^th Iraqi Army Division whose soldiers made up the commando class; as well as Col. Michael Kershaw, Commanding Officer of the 2^nd BCT, 10^th Mt. Division.  Lower ranking members of the US Army and the Iraqi Army were also well represented.  Certificates were to be presented at the ceremony held in the army mess hall.

 

Graduation celebratory meal with the Brass of both Armies.

SSG Vinson Kelley, one of the instructors in this training program said , “I think the most important result of this course was the opportunity if gave for troopers from both armies to work together. They come from an older tradition, or perhaps from no military tradition, and if they’re going to work with us they have to know how we operate.  From the get-go’ he said, “ it was obvious that we operated very differently.”

The 30 out of the original 100 IA army soldiers who made the grade were seated at attention in the old warehouse that served as a mess hall; waiting for the Colonel and the General to arrive.  Two or three local Iraqi TV teams were interviewing them.  Another US soldier in attendance, who preferred to remain anonymous, had this opinion.

“Thirty graduates out of the hundred who began, are about the going percentage of completion for US Army Ranger and Special Forces training programs,” he said.  “If you held the Iraqi Army trainees to the same standard as the US GIs, however, there would have been zero graduates at this ceremony.”  This soldier did feel though, that in the long run, this program was going to have a positive effect on both the Iraqi and US Armies.

Iraqi Army soldiers posing proudly after graduation.

After graduation certificates were handed out by Col. Kershaw and General Ali, a demonstration of the commando training facility was presented by the graduates.  They were accompanied through the course by a mix of army officers and enlisted personnel from both of the cooperating armies.

This celebration did not end with a banquet meal because it began with one; which included bread, goat, fish, fruits and vegetables along with the ever present coke. No wine or beer was served this being a Moslem Country.   Officers and honored guests, including the Mayor of Mahmudiyah, were the first to be fed.

Regular army personnel showed up at the meals conclusion to clean up.  These troops appeared to be the hungrier.  Their mess hall serves nothing like today’s fare. They ate with both hands, while the first shift used only one; which seems to be the tradition in this land.

The weather had not improved.  A number of the men, including Col Kershaw decided to stay in Mahmudiyah for the night.  The Humvee drivers formed up in their appropriate convoys for the journey home; to Camps Striker, Liberty and Victory; as well as FOBs  (forward operating base) Yusifiyah, Falcon, and Abu Ghraib.  

*A version of this article appeared in the Press Republican and the Watertown Daily Times.