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First Class of Iraqi Military Trainees Graduate

Mar-18-2004 » Filed Under: Iraq News

One more small step...

[Link to Full Article]
Laurie Kassman
Amman, 18 Mar 2004

The first class of Iraqi military trainees graduated Thursday from a two-and-a-half-month course for platoon and company commanders in Jordan.

With diplomas in hand, the 548 graduates burst into applause and patriotic Iraqi chants that rocked the wood-paneled auditorium at a Jordanian military facility on the outskirts of Amman.

Earlier, during the ceremony, one of the graduates recited a patriotic poem he had written for the occasion.

These are the first Iraqi troops to complete a training course run by Australian, Spanish, British and American officers along with Jordanian military trainers.

Jordanian Brigadier General Ahmed Farajat says the aim of the program is to train a new army for a new Iraq.

"We struggled hard from the beginning to achieve the following principle objectives," said General Farajat. "First, develop an advanced training schedule for officers to ensure the necessary leadership to establish the new Iraqi army. Second, form a professional volunteer army nucleus to defend the Iraqi nation and achieve security and stability there."


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