Header
Updated: 02-Nov-2004 NATO Press Releases

Press
Release
(2004)146

1 Nov. 2004

First NATO Course for Iraq Underway in Norway

Issues
NATO in Iraq
News
08/10/2003
NATO Nations agree next step in implementing training in Iraq
23/10/2004
Training and experimentation centre established in Norway
Joint Warfare Center (JWC) in Stavanger, Norway
 

STAVANGER, Norway - Nineteen Iraqi security personnel are here at NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre participating in the first training conducted outside of Iraq in support of the training mission announced by the Alliance at the Istanbul Summit in June.

The eight-day course, which started Monday, supports the training requested by the interim Iraqi government and has been tailored to meet the needs of mid- to high-ranking Iraqi security personnel.

“Our NATO facility is well placed to offer our Iraqi guests training that will be extremely relevant to the challenges and opportunities they face in rebuilding their country’s security institutions,” said the centre’s director, British Army Major-General James Short. The centre specializes in joint headquarters-level training.

The Iraqi participants range from senior military officers to civilian staff with Iraq’s Ministry of Defense and Ministry of the Interior. They were specially selected by Iraqi authorities as “key leaders” from within Iraq’s security forces.

The course focuses on the function of an operational-level headquarters and includes instruction on crisis management, command and control of forces, the operational planning process, and integration of all aspects of civil-military cooperation, including liaison with the UN, Red Cross, and other international organisations.

“Our host nation, Norway, is providing excellent support to this training,” said Major-General Short.

The training will serve as a pilot project for possible follow-on training at the Joint Warfare Centre and back in Iraq. The ultimate aim is to help Iraq develop its own training capability.

Through the NATO Training and Equipment Co-ordination Group, led by NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, the Alliance is co-ordinating Iraqi requests for further training by NATO or other organizations.

 
Tel:
Fax:
+32 (0)2 707 50 41
+32 (0)2 707 50 57
B-1110 Brussels/Bruxelles
http://www.nato.int
press@hq.nato.int

Go to Homepage Go to Index
Back to NATO homepage