IRAQ ARMY "TRAINING"

Growing pains strain Iraq's fledgling army
By Michael Martinez Tribune correspondent
http://news.yahoo.com/s/chitribts/20050510/ts_chicagotrib/growingpainsstrainiraqsfledglingarmy



On the firing range, Staff Sgt. Timothy Tutini bellows at the Iraqi soldiers who can't shoot straight. Even a platoon leader misses the human silhouette target entirely, despite firing several shots from an assault rifle from only about 25 yards away. In all, four of these 10 Iraqi enlistees fail to qualify in marksmanship from a prone position.

"Holding them to the same standard of the U.S. Army is not feasible," said Tutini, 34, of Hinesville, Ga., who is a liaison from the Army's 7th Cavalry's 3rd Squadron to the Iraqi unit.

The new Iraqi soldiers, who receive two weeks of basic training (the U.S. Army's lasts four times as long), are still adapting to the routine of wearing body armor and helmets, Iraqi officers concede. Security lapses occur when soldiers use their cell phones to announce a home leave schedule to relatives (insurgents can intercept the calls) or fail to conceal detailed terrain models used to orchestrate raids on insurgents.

One community leader in Baghdad, Ziad Tariq al-Azawi, 44, declared the Iraqi Army not ready for autonomy. "No, it's still under the standard performance of a professional army," said al-Azawi, chairman of a district council. "There are no qualified officers: A lot of them just got their positions, and they're not from any military academies."