Top U.S. general says training effort in Iraq will last 'three years minimum', will we do it right this time?

CPT Eric Diaz — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 21:28:41 -0500

After all the effort and spending all the time with the draw down, we go back for a three year mission for training. Will we do it right? What I mean is that I remember being in Iraq and seeing commanders inflating numbers and capabilities because no one wanted to look bad. I saw some piss poor performances that when the the reports where sent up, the SITREP got scrubbed except for X amount of Iraqis trained on X, nothing about the lack of quality. Others I have talked have said the same thing, so it seemed widespread to me. There where only a few actually well trained units in Iraq.

http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2014/12/18/top-us-general-says-training-effort-in-iraq-will-last-three-years-minimum/20588619/

Top U.S. general says training effort in Iraq will last 'three years minimum'

The top U.S. commander overseeing the military mission in Iraq said it will be a "minimum of three years" until the Iraqis are capable of taking back

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2014 9:32 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 21:32:13 -0500

CPT Eric Diaz, it's a rough situation. In my experience, some the Iraqs are extremely motivated to do well... but as with any form of leadership... the leaders of Iraq are responsible to ensure that their Army is well trained and maintained. I just wonder how the state of the nation will be in a few years will be. I remember working with an XO of a unit and showed me pictures and movies of his 4 children and actually stated he was fearful of us leaving (just my experience). I was one of the few who left Iraq at the very end on 18 Dec 2011 and leaving made me think of all of the families of the motivated Soldiers that we worked with.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2014 9:30 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 21:30:06 -0500

CPT Eric Diaz We can only hope. And another question would be what does right look like for the Iraqi's? It's nice that they're starting up a National Guard program to include the tribesman.
Once they rid the area of ISIS/ISIL, will there still be conflict between the Shia, Sunni, and Kurd? Should new borders be drawn and how will they affect troops?

Response by SFC Michael Jackson, MBA made Dec 18 at 2014 10:04 PM

SFC Michael Jackson, MBA — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 22:04:29 -0500

There isn't a right way to do this unless we stayed away all together. We spent ten years training up their Army only to watch to them lay their weapons rather than fight.
If they have the will, the guts, or the other word that rhymes N--ts!, we are wasting and resources

Response by LTC Joseph Gross made Dec 19 at 2014 7:01 AM

LTC Joseph Gross — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 07:01:17 -0500

We did it right the first time. We'll do it right this time. How we do it isn't the problem. We can train them until we are blue in the face but they still won't have the will to fight and the leadership necessary to lead the fight.

Response by Cpl Tou Lee Yang made Mar 29 at 2015 7:19 AM

Cpl Tou Lee Yang — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 07:19:16 -0400

Most of these people do not have the will to fight and you cannot instill this in them.