Army seeks contractors to train Iraqi units

[maddezmom]

Source: WaPo

WASHINGTON — U. S. commanders in Iraq are for the first time seeking private contractors to form part of the small military teams that train and live with Iraqi military units across the country, according to a notice for prospective bidders.

The solicitation, issued by the Joint Contracting Command in Baghdad, Iraq, and published last week, says the individuals that a contractor recruits — who would include former members of the U. S. Special Forces and ex-Iraqi army officers — will be trained in the United States with military transition teams (MiTTs) and shipped as a single team to Iraq. The recruits will live on Iraqi military bases “under Iraqi living conditions and participate with MiTT special operations and convoy duties,” the solicitation says.

Thus far, the MiTTs have consisted of specially trained teams of about 10 to 12 U. S. soldiers led by a field-grade officer that were embedded with Iraqi army units from the division level down to the battalion level. The MiTTs have included officers and noncommissioned officers from different service branches tasked with teaching and mentoring their Iraqi counterparts to make them self-sufficient.

Anthony Cordesman, a former Pentagon official and now a scholar with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described the new effort as an understandable step, given the current stresses facing the U. S. military.



Read more: http://www.buffalonews.com/180/story/339191.html

[MikeNearMcChord]

1. Hey I'll do it for a couple of Billion

then I'll disappear, hell everyone is doing it over there.:evilfrown:

[BrotherBuzz]

2. I'll do it for a cool million...

and I won't even appear.

[Javaman]

3. didn't the military already try this and fail? nt

[Auggie]

4. Great -- opening the doors for new war profiteers.

[onager]

5. Hey, I'm a natural!

I did a hitch as a Marine drill instructor long ago, and I've actually lived in the Middle East for 5 years. In fact, I'm posting this from Alexandria, Egypt, where I've spent nearly 3 years. The other 2 years I was in the Magic Kingdom--Saudi Arabia.

I even know the difference between 2 products I often see for sale over here--falafel and loofah!

I'll sign up right now!

:rofl:

Yeah, right. "Train and live with Iraqi military units across the country." Not for long, I bet.

Time to recycle the old joke from the Vietnam era: "Iraqi Army rifles for sale. Never fired and only dropped once."

Translation of the Mil-Speak in the article: "field-grade officers" are Majors, Lieutenant-Colonels, and Colonels. IOW, the middle rankers of the military officer hierarchy. Below them are "company-grade officers" comprising Second/First Lieutentants and Captains. Above field-grade, as you probably guessed, are the 4 grades of General, called "flag rank" in the Marine Corps and Navy.