Stryker Brigade News

Instructors from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment dropped their drill-sergeant demeanor just long enough to join in the dance, wrapping their arms around the Iraqis and riding on their shoulders.

For the last four weeks, a cadre of Fort Lewis sergeants has taken a ragtag group of mostly illiterate shepherds, menial workers and jobless young men and taught them how to shoot an AK-47 rifle – the Iraqi army’s standard weapon – and to patrol a street, take down a suspect, administer first aid and a host of other basic combat skills. A few didn’t graduate because of disciplinary problems.

“It seems like just yesterday that these soldiers arrived here in civilian clothing in need of a fresh haircut,” said Master Sgt. Christopher House in some prepared remarks. “Now they are here before you in uniform, trained and ready to protect the Iraqi people.”

The troops of 2-8 Artillery – also known as “Automatic” – usually operate the big guns that back up the front-line Stryker infantry units. But on a nontraditional battlefield where there’s no front line, some of them have a new job: molding the future of the Iraqi Army. In addition to the 100 new recruits they’ve trained, they’re about to kick off a second class for non-commissioned officers. [...]

The training that Khashem and his classmates just completed is a condensed version of the 13-week boot camp required of American soldiers before they pursue an area of specialization.

“It’s basically the same things we went through,” said Sgt. Jeff Newton, who hails from Ohio and lives on post at Fort Lewis. “They have to do pushups and sit-ups like we had to do. They have to pull guard duty.”

Basic training in Quyarrah also comes with its share of rebukes from sharp-tongued sergeants, although the Iraqi translator is careful to turn the mother-related insults into something less culturally offensive – comparing a soldier to a donkey, for example.