30 Nov. 2005

NATO trainees lead new Iraqi centre News 16/11/2005 - JFC NAPLES NATO opens an Iraqi Lessons Learned Centre in Baghdad Background NATOs assistance to Iraq Graduates from NATO’s training courses in Iraq are now running a Lessons Learned Centre, which aims to increase the efficiency of the Iraqi Armed Forces. At the beginning of November, eleven selected Iraqi officers completed a six-week NATO-run Lessons Learned course. Their graduation marked the establishment of an operational lessons learned centre for Iraq’s armed forces. Improving efficiency “The work of this command is sure to make strong and lasting impacts, increasing the efficiency of the Iraqi armed forces, saving money and time, and most importantly saving the lives of Iraqi soldiers”, said Major General Pier Giorgio Segala, Deputy Commander of the NATO Training Mission in Iraq. During their course, the officers were trained in a wide range of skills, including lessons learned concepts, data collection techniques, analysis of data and report writing. The course also included field training and hands-on work with a lessons-learned database system. As part of its assistance to Iraq, NATO is training and mentoring mid-and-senior level Iraqi officers, in order to help the Iraqi security forces develop an officer corps trained in modern military leadership skills, as well as to implant values appropriate to democratically-controlled armed forces. The Alliance also plays a role in co-ordinating offers of equipment and training from individual NATO and partner countries.