We had quite a few in Nam. It is the untold story of the war. They would work well in Iraq.
This is the right way to set up the new Army in Iraq. Takes longer, but the end result is better.
washingtonpost.com
Iraq's New Military Taking Shape
Under U.S. Eye, Recruits Train for Defensive Mission in Smaller Army
By Theola Labbé
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 16, 2003; Page A14
KIRKUSH, Iraq, Sept. 15 -- Ali Tawfak Abbas says he was once ashamed to wear the Iraqi army uniform. But today Abbas beamed with excitement about the new national army, as he and hundreds of other recruits went through training by U.S.-led occupation forces at a desert camp here, 30 miles west of the Iranian border.
In the army of former president Saddam Hussein, Abbas said, he had two meals a day and could not drink water, even when outdoor drills in the searing sun left him dehydrated. And as war with the United States approached this spring, he said, he and eight fellow soldiers planned their escape.
"I used to have to keep my head down because I was ashamed of the politics of the old regime," said Abbas, 19, from Najaf, who was wearing a U.S. Army-issued green-and-beige camouflage uniform. "Now I am proud to be a part of the first line of defense to the new, democratic Iraq."
Abbas spoke during a visit to the training facility by journalists, who arrived in CH-47 Chinook military helicopters and toured the camp under escort. The 735 recruits at the camp are part of a force intended to defend the country's borders and guard key sites by next year.
The trainees had just come back from a one-week leave, during which 16 of them decided not to return. Today, the returning recruits fired weapons, simulated an attack and listened to lessons about health and hygiene.
Standing in five-foot holes, they fired at targets 300 yards away with AK-47 assault rifles as an instructor from Vinnell Corp., a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, looked on.
After the exercise, Khalid Taher Khalid, 29, an Iraqi Kurd, said that ethnic tensions were nonexistent and that he joined the new army out of a sense of obligation to the country.
"I have loyalty to all of Iraq," he said.
During his decades of rule in Iraq, Hussein built up a 400,000-man army, which he controlled through fear and intimidation.
The new Iraqi army, a mix of Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Kurds and people from other groups, will consist of 40,000 soldiers and officers who have undergone a nine-week course. Four battalions will be ready for duty by January and the remaining 37,000 soldiers will be in place by next September, U.S. military officials said.
A source of pride even during Hussein's rule, the national army was a way for thousands of men to earn a living. L. Paul Bremer, the civilian administrator in Iraq, disbanded the army when he arrived in May, fearing that it contained too many officers from Hussein's Baath Party. Bremer also announced that no former soldiers above the rank of lieutenant colonel would be allowed to serve.
Bremer's decision led to protests by some of those soldiers, and eventually he agreed to pay stipends. U.S. military personnel and civilians have also set up job programs for former army officers. Of the additional $87 billion in funding for Iraq and Afghanistan that President Bush recently requested from Congress, $2.1 million is earmarked for training the new Iraqi army and other defense forces.
The U.S. military began recruiting soldiers in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul in July. Among the recruits, Shiites make up about 60 percent, Sunnis 25 percent and Kurds 10 percent. At the end of six weeks of training, U.S. officials will select officers from among the recruits, based on their efforts during training.
After completing training, recruits graduate to the rank of private first class and receive salaries of $70 a month. Officer candidates will receive $100 a month during training.
When a full division has completed training, the unit's soldiers will come under the command of the 4th Infantry Division, which is based in Tikrit, Hussein's ancestral home.
Brig. Jonathan Riley, the British deputy commander of the training group, said the new Iraqi army would be focused on protection instead of the aggression that characterized Hussein's army. "They can defend Iraq's borders but not be seen as a threat to its neighbors," he said. "What we will create is an army that they will build upon for the future."
About 60 percent of the current recruits have some sort of military background, U.S. military officials said. Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, the commanding general at the base, acknowledged that nine weeks was a short training period, but said that because most recruits have some military experience, "nine weeks is sufficient to create a credible infantry unit."
While several soldiers talked freely about why they joined the army, others feared retribution from anti-occupation forces that have attacked U.S. soldiers.
"We're still in a hostile environment," said Army Staff Sgt. Johnny Monds, who helps train the recruits.
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