Baghdad,
Iraq

5 Apr . 2007

Iraq podcast

with Major Steinar Sveinsson, Public Information Officer for the NATO training mission in Iraq

My name is Steinar Sveinsson and I am the Public Information officer for NATO Training Mission - Iraq. I have been here for now in April one year.

We are located in the International Zone in Baghdad. The living conditions we can say are quite okay, we work in what is called the Cultural Centre Compound, old museum buildings and there NATO has its headquarters. Around us we have the Iraqi institutions, which are part of the Iraqi Training and Doctrine Command, various institutions like the National Defence College, Defence Language Institute, and other institutions which we work very closely with and support. The NATO Training Mission itself is here supporting the Iraqi’s, to develop and build up their education facilities for the Iraqi military and the Iraqi security forces.

We support in Ar Rustamiyah, on the outskirts of Baghdad some 12 km away from the International Zone, we support the Iraqi Military Academy Ar Rustamiyah which was established in 1924 by the Brits and it is the oldest military Academy in Iraq and for a long time the only one. This part of the NATO Training Mission is lead by the UK, they have some 15 UK officers and NCOs supporting and leading the Iraqi team, the leaders of the Iraqi Military Academy Ar Rustamiyah. Also in Ar Rustamiyah we support the Joint Staff College which is where the senior and junior staff courses are run and they have basic staff courses.

Up there in the International Zone we support the Iraqi Training and Doctrine Command and various sub-organisations of the command like the Defence Language Institute, the National Defence College and others. Also we provide computer training for government official, civilian and military, who work in the MoD mostly, but also in the MoI. We also have Training Teams in the Joint Operation Centre in the MoD and in the National Operation Centre we have training teams, to help establish those centres. Also some 10 km away in Victory Base Compound, we have a small training team of 8-9 people working at the Iraqi Ground Force Command. Also basis staff does this computer…, for example courses that they run.

The living conditions in the international zone are quite satisfactory, we work in the cultural compound and we live in the Embassy Compound where the US, next to the US embassy. It is located next to one of Saddam's palaces; there are many of them around here. There we live in trailers; we have television, internet access, a very good gym. The food is actually too good, the ice-cream is very tempting every night and the food is quite good, so one has to watch out not to gain weight. There is a pool where people can jump in and swim, also there are various activities, you can take classes in Arabic, play chess, play cards with people, there is a small cinema, so there is plenty to think about, if you want to kill time. Mostly, though after a hard day at work, people go to the gym, eat and they want to relax. That is my experience at least.

I am a PIO here at the NATO Training Mission - Iraq, I am what we can say part of the Icelandic contribution. I am the only Icelander in theatre, I am a part of what we call the Icelandic Crisis Response Unit, actually I am a civilian, but I get basis military training, we do that in cooperation with Norway, before I go on a project like this. Before I have been in Afghanistan as well, Kabul airport and Iceland has actually in Kabul some 15 people who go through the same process, they are civilians, but get basis training on how to behave in an environment, a working environment like this. They go and do their best and it has worked actually I think I can say quite well until now.

The NATO Training Mission in Iraq is from my perspective a very interesting place and good place to work. Of course it is a war zone, the environment is very challenging, but it is also very rewarding place to work. The Iraqis you work very closely with are very nice people, polite, very nice to be around with. The NATO itself is some 18… 18 NATO countries are presented here, and then Ukraine as part of the Partnership for Peace program. So it is a multinational environment and with all the challenges and the rewarding, also the rewarding experiences one has and….. It is a fantastic work place and moral issues we can say, as problems are something which you almost never hear of, or never experience.

Everyone is very focused, going to the same objectives and…. People are, very determined to do their best. The Mission itself is progressing very quickly, we can say. At the speed of the Iraqi army or the Iraqi security forces, they are progressing very quickly. We are sometimes in the lead and sometimes we have a busy time simply keeping up with them, more people are getting recruited in the Iraqi army… always more and more. English teaching is a challenge, because they are taking over, the Navy and the air force are being established, of course English knowledge when comes to navigation has to be good.

The mission itself was established in 2004 but last year, 2006 we can say it got really well established. It was a milestone in many ways, the mission was established in 2004 and the next two years, or one and a half year I would say was a preparatory phase. Last year we took over the Iraqi Military Academy in Ar Rustamiyah in July last year, the Iraqi Training and Doctrine Command which we support opened in July last year, 2006. In January 2006 the Defence Language Institute started its first course which finished in June 2006, and thereby it got its Initial Operational Capability and Full Operational Capability in December 2006. The Joint Staff College started in… 2005. In autumn 2005 and graduated its first courses in May and June 2006, so it has concluded its first year of operations under NATO support in 2006. It began its second year of operations in autumn of 2007 and.. 2006 excuse me. So the courses are on-going ... So, all the organisations and institutions that the NATO Training Mission in Iraq is supporting are becoming… we can say.. Now becoming established organisations. They have really taken off, and they are flying quickly.

People here are quite happy, I could say, with the way things are going, and our contribution to things. We feel it also very much within the theatre, although NATO Training Mission in Iraq is a small organisation, in the bigger scheme of things, we are working at top level, the highest level helping the Iraqi on how they decide… how they run the training of the Iraqi security forces, of the soldiers, outlining or organising that training. We have advisors, mentors and advisor, in key positions in the MoD and elsewhere. So we have a big influence, we feel it in the theatre, although we are a small mission.