23 Nov. 2005

NATO trains Iraqi officers in strategic planning Background NATO in Iraq On 23 November, fourteen Iraqi officers graduated from a strategic planning course organized by the NATO Training Mission in Iraq. The course combines both theory and practice to give Iraqi officers the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary for modern strategic planning at headquarters level. This is the second such course organized by the NATO Training Mission in Iraq, with the first course members graduating on 9 November. NATO’s training mission is one of the main components of NATO’s assistance to the country, aimed at helping Iraq provide for its own security by training Iraqi personnel and supporting the development of the country’s security institutions. By end 2005, the NATO Training Mission will have trained around 700 officers in country as well as several hundred officers in Europe. That figure will rise next year to some 900 officers trained in country.