Minister praises Kiwi efforts in hands-on visit to training camp
Gerry Brownlee got in some weapons training at Camp Taji this week but not from any of the Kiwis.
The tutelage came from Iraqi army officer Lieutenant Hamed Saheeh Yousef Alkinani who told him to place his feet wider apart and straight before firing the M16 assault rifle.
Run jointly with Australia, the training at Camp Taji has moved beyond basic military training of Iraqi security forces to include a junior leaders course, training of police officers and training Iraqis to train themselves.
More than 21,000 have been trained.
Brownlee also met three young members of Iraq’s Ranger Battalion, a skilled infantry unit, who are training to be trainers.
Mohamed Salem and Hussain Ahmed are aged 25 and Ali Jabar is 23.
Through an interpreter they say that they respect the Kiwis and “they are working as a friend”.
They also made it plain to staff from Defence Headquarters in Wellington that what they want after their training is not just a certificate but a patch to attach on to their uniforms. They are particularly taken with one produced by the US which reads: Hunting permit, Unlimited limit for Isis, No kill limit, weapons eligible — all, expiration — never, valid everywhere.”
Brownlee’s day started with a powhiri from the New Zealand contingent of about 100.
The “training audience” as NZ Defence Force describes them is down as well after a large intake, 1912 police, graduated last month to secure eastern Mosul which was regained from Isis in January.
The current rotation of New Zealanders at Taji, 30km from Baghdad, is the fourth, and third time Brownlee has visited.
He and the Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Tim Keating, addressed the Kiwi contingent yesterday, saying how much pride the country had in them and the work they were doing. Of the few questions from the floor, one said there had been a rumour they would not have to pay tax while they were at Taji, which Brownlee threw off as a joke.
Brownlee was presented with a framed photo of himself at the shooting range and was jokingly told by the senior New Zealand officer that he would be counted as among those they had trained, at which point Brownlee said he thought suddenly that the tax rumour was a very good idea.