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U.S., Iraqis open military training center

Dec-16-2005 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By Margaret Friedenauer

HAMMAN AL AIL, Iraq—This area was a hive of terrorist activity a year ago. Now, this community south of Mosul is getting ready to open The Northern Iraq Regional Training Center in an effort to continue strengthening the Iraqi Army for the fight against terrorism.

"Twelve months ago it was the most dangerous area in Iraq and now it's the most safe area in Iraq," Iraqi Army Col. Haje Maher Alzebari said Thursday.

Alzebari showed the nearly completed academy to 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team commander Col. Michael Shields on Thursday. The completion of the center is a combined effort of members of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry from Fort Richardson and the Iraqi Army. Noncommissioned and junior officers will be trained there in month-long courses in marksmanship, combat ethos, first aid and other leadership techniques.

"All these courses will provide the backbone for a highly efficient Iraqi Army," Alzebari said.

The center used to be the site of Mosul University's agriculture college. But buildings had been destroyed and gutted during the war and the insurgency that followed in the area.

About a year ago, Army officials proposed creating the center. There are two other officer training sites run by battalions of the 172nd. But Shields said this center will be more formalized and quickly turned over to the Iraqis. The other two programs are also set to be turned over.


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