Members of a U.S. unit who were training some of the 7,000 new Iraqi Security Forces said the Iraqi officers there were relieved to have U.S. help, but did not say whether additional forces would be needed to raise an Iraqi Army capable to defeating the Islamic State.
Many of the Iraqi generals Col. John Reynolds saw when he returned to Taji, Iraq late last year to carry out the new training mission were just majors or captains when he started worked with them through the last 10 years. The Iraqis were “excited we were back,” said Reynolds, the brigade commander of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. “You could see relief from the tactical and operational commanders. You could see the relief. It was almost like, now somebody is here to help us.”
While much of the Iraqi Army – including a lot of battle weary equipment needed a refresh — Reynolds said he was impressed by meeting so many soldiers who were “still fighting — you could see it in their faces.”
Reynolds said the U.S. military ran new recruits for the 15th and 16th Iraqi Army divisions through six weeks of basic training, which included the assignment of U.S. and coalition provided equipment, which sometimes meant the assignment of AK-47s, and other times M-16s.
“Toward the end of the training cycle the weapons showed up, the body armor showed up — all resourced through the Iraqi government,” Reynolds said. Some soldiers “were getting M-16s, some were getting AK-47s,” based on what was purchased through foreign military sales. What was distributed by the Iraqis to their recruits at Taji reflected “whatever the equipping strategy of the Iraqi government was, that was what stuff was coming in,” Reynolds said.
Ammunition was the same way, Reynolds said, with rounds of 5.56 mm or 7.62 mm ammo distributed to the troops.
In recent weeks Sunni leadership has said despite promises from Iraq’s central government, Sunni tribal leaders who have gathered additional fighting forces to defeat the Islamic State have not shred the U.S.-provided weapons with their troops.
Most of the new troops that were run through the training came from the southern Iraqi cities, “so the majority of those young soldiers are Shia,” Reynolds said. Recently new recruits from more northern cities include more Sunnis and are more diverse, he said.
