Squads Face Off To Master Skills
Camp Ramadi Iraqi Army (IA) Troops are spending time moving forward, including learning how to compete to sharpen their skills by competing against themselves. They participated in a competition recently November 28th at Camp Ramadi.
This competition is held four times a year, and has five teams. Troops are faced off against other teams in common skills and tasks faced by soldiers. Members of this years competition included the First Brigade, Seventh Iraqi Army Division competed in this “Best of the Squads Competition”.
Members of the 1/7 IA BDE, U.S. Forces Military Transition Team (MiTT) participated in observing and advising their Iraqi Army counterparts. These IA soldiers used to be taught and instructed by MiTT soldiers, but now the Iraqi soldiers are working to train themselves.
When they arrived here ten months ago, there was a great deal to do in training Iraqi troops. Now MiTT soldiers are pleased to report that there are trained and seasoned IA Iraqi Army soldiers that are actually conducting the training itself.
The competition involved IA troops directly competing against their fellow soldiers in a variety of tasks.
Marksmanship, first aid, Map reading, physical fitness and weapons assembly were among the tasks performed. Troops on a range fired ten shots, performed various physical tasks including sit-ups and pushups, conducted first aid, and plotted various points on a map.
“We were able to gain a great deal of experience, and it will help us complete our missions around Ramadi and Iraq” said Jundi A. Mosa, of the Iraqi Army. “Everyone greatly enjoyed the challenge and experience and we gained a lot of camaraderie” said Mosa.