Officer Education Training & Advisory Branch

NTM-I Advisors work within the National Defence University (NDU) and its institutions. Activities are summarised below:

 

The NDC is the lead cross departmental Institute for the delivery of high level education and training focusing on grand strategic and military strategic issues and has been supported by NTM-I since 2006. The NDC aims to develop the strategic understanding and higher level management skills of senior military officers and civil servants destined for senior Iraqi appointments. The course exposes students to a wide variety of strategic issues, from national, regional and international perspectives. The College offers a one year graduate programme in Strategic Planning for National Security. Recent NTM-I sponsored initiatives include; an Ambassadorial lecture series covering a wide range of topics including; Future US/Iraqi Cooperation, European Perspectives on Middle East Developments and Security and the Role of NATO in Collective Security. In July 2010 a team of experts from the Middle East Faculty from the NATO Defence College, Rome deployed to Baghdad to deliver a Crisis Management Exercise designed to practice Iraqi students in strategic level decision making and policy formulation in a crisis environment. In addition this year's course also conducted a one week visit to Italy in order to broaden and develop student understanding of strategic issues beyond the Middle East Region. More generally NTM-I Advisors are working closely with Iraqi partners to develop the NDC-I and to establish closer links with comparable institutions across NATO nations, providing a firm foundation for future development and long-term international engagement.

 

The DLI-I teaches foreign languages, principally English, to personnel in the Iraqi Armed Forces and the Iraqi government administration. The Institute also trains English Language teachers who are then deployed to military bases throughout Iraq to enhance the English language skills of Iraqi military personnel. NTM-I provides a mentor to the DLI to assist in maintaining the delivery of English Language Instruction to the institute's students. The development of English language competence within the Iraqi Armed Forces officer corps represents an important step towards effective future international engagement. NTM-I Advisors are currently assisting the NDU to develop an English Language Training (ELT) Strategy for the Iraqi Security Forces that will set-out the processes for identifying language training requirements and the means to meet them. The current emphasis is on building Iraqi capacity, in particular the ability to train Iraqi ELT instructors to subsequently deliver ELT at a number of key training institutions across the Iraqi Security Forces.

 

Joint Staff and Command College (JSCC)

The JSCC was re-established in 2005 on the site of the former Staff College at Ar Rustamiyah achieving full operational capability in July 2007. The JSCC continues to develop the quality of its Officer Education and Training to meet the requirements of the new Iraqi Armed Forces. The JSCC runs 3 Captains' Preparation Courses per year, a 12 month Joint Staff Course for Majors and Command Courses for Battalion and Brigade Commanders. The JSCC is restructuring in the summer of 2010 to include Maritime, Air and Research Departments with new staff arriving to start the process of course design and development. The Maritime and Air Syndicates will form up for JSC #6 in May 2011. The JSCC Commandant has ambitious plans to refurbish the JSCC site in 2011. Currently, NTM-I has a team of 6 Mentors working closely with the JSCC staff in planning, delivery and development of the educational outputs.

 

NTM-I have supported the 1st Iraqi Military Academy at Ar Rustamiyah (IMAR) since 2006 helping it reach Full Operational Capability in July 2007. Basic Officer training was centralised in January 2010 at the 1st Iraqi Military Academy at Ar Rustamiyah (IMAR) which this year has had in excess of 600 officer cadets (Army and Air Force) under training. The NTM-I team continues to support further development of the Basic Officer Commissioning Course (BOCC) for Young Officers with a 2 year course, which leads to a military degree, and includes training in tactics, leadership, military skills, including marksmanship and English Language. Standards to be achieved are high, broadly equating to those found in many Western Military Academies.

 

Iraqi War College (IWC)

The IWC is the premier college for the training of military officers up to the rank of Colonel. The course is a key constituent in the education of future senior military leadership. The first one year course will start in September 2010 with 40 students, 30 military and 10 civilian. NTM-I advisors are assisting IWC staff in developing course material, staff training, selection processes and the exchange of ideas with international institutions to develop best practise for the future. Finally, in June 2010, the Commandant visited the US War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to begin the process of building an enduring relationship between the two Colleges.

 

Military Doctrine:

Military doctrine provides a foundation for military thinking and a common basis for military training. Accordingly, the application of military doctrine provides necessary guidance to military practitioners in pursuit of military strategic objectives. NTM-I advisors in cooperation with US colleagues are assisting their Iraqi partners to develop tactical and operational Military Doctrine for the new Iraqi Armed Forces. For the remainder of 2010 and throughout 2011, a combined project is underway to revise and develop Iraqi military doctrine which will also support the fielding of new weapons, equipment and capabilities. This project was launched at the tri-lateral (Iraqi Armed Forces, USF-I and NTM-I) Doctrine Conference on 3 August 2010 to agree the framework and priorities for development over the next 18 months. The writing phase of the project will last one year beginning in October 2010. NTM-I will focus on building Iraqi Army capacity to develop their own military doctrine in the future by implementing appropriate processes and providing enabling training for the Iraqi writing teams.