A Little Confused...So How Long Does It Take To Train US Troops As Opposed to Training Iraq Troops?

Question

....and how long to train US policemen as opposed to training Iraqi policemen?

Seems to be taking a long long time..although we have been told thatt there is a shortage of needed weapons for the Iraqis

But of course we have to realize also that more than 4,000 Iraqi policemen have been killed since the training began a few years ago. Just seems to be taking a long long long time.....

Answer 1

Well you answered your own question. We can train all the people we want but when they are killed as soon as we train them then we have to train more.

I honestly think that Iraq will end up like Korea as in we will always have our troops over there no matter what.

Answer 2

American Military Training is about 3-5 months long, based upon the branch of service. First, soldiers go through basic training which runs anywhere from six weeks (Air Force Basic) to thirteen weeks (Marine Corps Recruit Training), and then the servicepersons go on to job training which lasts anywhere from a month to four months, based on the job (Military Occupational Specialty-MOS), and as far as I know the basic training for the Iraqi Army is 9 1/2 weeks long (Same as Army Basic and Navy Boot Camp).

Answer 3

Sure we could just crank out Basic Trainees for the Iraqi Army but that is like getting 10,000 pizza delivery guys and sending them in to a nationwide trucking company and telling them to run it.

They all know the basics but they don't know how to lead or operate as a unit.

You can't just make experience. Our basic trainees go in to units that in some cases have existed for hundreds of years with leaders who have between 4 (for the Junior leaders)- 30 (for Sr Enlisted leaders) years of experience.

The problem is less of how many but the quality.

Let’s say your whole life you were told not to make a decision that the government would tell you what to do and you maybe have 8 years of school and then the government falls you volunteer to join the new army and some American is trying to get you to make the decisions and lead others into battle.

Answer 4

The police force there is undergoing real world training with the support of the international community. You can't just crank out a bunch of rookie cops and expect them to be able to handle everything. The "old hands" are staying to teach them many of the finer points that basic training can't begin to cover.