Well, it ain’t West Point, but it’s still seems pretty ambitious.
The Iraqi military academy that NATO plans to set up outside Baghdad should be able to train about 1,000 officers a year, the alliance’s top commander in Europe said Thursday.
U.S. Gen. James L. Jones said the training mission would likely be smaller than the 3,000 instructors, guards and support troops that his planners have set as a ceiling for the mission in Iraq.
“Three thousand will be the maximum and it is going to be less than that, I think,” he told reporters at NATO’s military headquarters in southern Belgium. The number of actual instructors is expected to be around 350.
Jones declined to speculate when the academy would be up and running. Allied military experts presented a detailed operational plan for expanding the training to the 26 allied nations this week but officials said it would likely take at least a couple of weeks before it is approved.
The United States is pushing for the training center to be operational by the end of this year.
Jones said at least 16 of the 26 allies had “indicated willingness to contribute troops inside Iraq” for the training mission.
While the number of instructors may come in well under budget, savings better be allocated towards security, as this would seem a prime target for terrorists. However, an officer academy cannot be delayed from fear, as it is essential for the Iraqi people to continue their progress towards a professional, competent military supporting their pending democracy.
In a somewhat unrelated aside, how long into the resurrection of the Iraqi government and military expertise do we begin working on the martial aspect needed for eventual success, aviation and air power abilities?