Air assault ops launched
US troops train in Kuwait
Of the 269 students who participated in the Air Assault Course, 213 passed.
KUWAIT CITY, April 20: The Air Assault Course for soldiers deployed in the country was launched on April 3, 2017 at Camp Buehring.
A report published Thursday on www.armytimes.com disclosed the course aims to qualify deployed troops in air assault helicopter operations, including sling-loading and rappelling.
According to the report, this is the second air assault course conducted outside the United States and the other is in Hawaii. B Company commander from the Army National Guard Warrior Training Center Captain Ronald Snyder helped in conducting the 11-day course which, he said, was divided into three phases.
The first phase consisted of classroom instruction about aircraft orientation, medical evacuation, closecombat attack and assault; while the second included hands-on training on equipment to rig and inspect sling loads, where cargo is suspended under a helicopter and flown to another location. The trainees were given two minutes to identify three of the four deficiencies in the rigs. The third and final phase included rappelling down towers, culminating in rappelling from a UH-60 Black Hawk hovering 90 feet in the air.
Out of 269 participants in the initial course, 213 passed and graduated. These participants came from the three Army components – active-duty, National Guard and Army Reserve; in addition to airmen and Marines.
Snyder, who served as a course instructor, explained that, “An air assault student becomes a benefit to the unit commander.”
Spc Mitchell Steichen, an intelligence analyst with the 29th Infantry Division who deployed to Kuwait in December, said the course was beneficial to him as a National Guardsman.
“I would have to take time off my civilian job to go to something like this,” he said. “Just being able to go to a school like this while you’re deployed is knocking two birds out with one stone.”
Graduates of the course will also walk away with sling-load certification.
“They can inspect a sling-load that’s been rigged and ready to fly with an Army helicopter,” Snyder said.
Major Iajaira Fernandez, a military police officer with the 29th Infantry Division, said the course had a mix of enlisted service members and officers.
“It was great to see that collaboration,” she said. “Most of the airmen we had there were really proficient with sling operations, and we were able to pick their brains.”
Al-Jabri made the comments following the fourth meeting of the GCC ministers of awqaf and Islamic affairs.
The meeting focused on how to join forces against the threats of extremism and terrorism through correct religious discourse and sermons at mosques, he pointed out.
Al-Jabri noted that the delegation of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to the ministerial meeting suggested launching a regional mechanism for promotion of tolerance and moderation as a means of combatting extremism.
He highlighted the need to make concerted efforts to guide youth in the Gulf region and immunize them against extremism ideology.
Taking advantage of other countries experiences in fighting money laundering and financing of terrorism is one of the ways to overcome obstacles against development, said Minister of Commerce and Industry and Acting Minister of State for Youth Affairs Khaled Al-Roudan Thursday.
During his speech at the opening of a workshop organized by AntiMoney Laundering and Countering Terrorist Department in cooperation with the US Department of the Treasury, Al-Roudan said the ministry has followed the best international ways to face this phenomenon by setting up specialized courses and awareness programs.
Terrorism is not far from us and the Imam Al-Sadiq mosque incident was the best example, it is possible that terrorism will affect any of us due to the evolution of terrorist groups, he added.
The minister took the chance to thank the US Department of Treasury for its cooperation in organizing the event, affirming that Kuwait was looking forward for more mutual ventures in the future.
Meanwhile, Russia and Kuwait have emphasized the need of speeding up political and diplomatic settlement of the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
This announcement came Wednesday at the conclusion of the fourth round of the Kuwait-Russian political consultations between Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Suleiman Al-Jarallah and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and North Africa Mikhail Bogdanov.
Mohammad Al-Jabri