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Second Georgian Battalion Starts U.S.-led Training

After the first US-trained Georgian commandos successfully graduated the Georgia Train-and-Equip Program (GTEP), the US military instructors launch training of the second Georgian battalion within the US-funded program.

Ceremony of the launch of the new phase of the GTEP was held at the Krtsanisi military field, near Tbilisi on February 1. The military instructors from the US Marine Task Force start training of the members of 16th Mountain Battalion of the Georgian National Guard.

The Georgian State Minister, leadership of the Defense Ministry, members of the Parliament, the US Ambassador in Georgia and other officials attended the official opening ceremony.
 
From February 2 trainings will be resumed at the Krtsanisi Base. Joni Pirtskhalaishvili, Chief of Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces said “the soldiers will undergo much more complex and advanced training than ever before”.

“People of Georgia stand alongside with the US in the fight against terrorism. And this program shows that the American people are also with Georgia. We support Georgia’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” Scot Campbell, chief of the GTEP program in Georgia, said in his official speech at the ceremony.

Preparations for the second phase have started in December 2002. During one month soldiers in Sachkhere, western Georgia, were undergoing physical and medical tests. The best five hundred of them have formed a battalion for the second phase of the program.

In the second half of January the soldiers were moved to Krtsanisi booting camp. They will receive training from American military instructors from February 2 to May 10. There will be a total of 558 persons involved in the second phase, including the technical staff.

According to the plan, 2000 military servicemen will be trained under the GTEP before it completes in 2004. As of today only the soldiers and officers of the 11th Brigade have completed the training. Experts say that the 11th Brigade has succeeded in training very much.

“The 11th Brigade exceeded all estimations. They have passed through tough trainings exceptionally well. Now level of their readiness will be examined by the Americans. Now we are fully occupied with the second phase. Successful implementation of the program might allow us to expand such cooperation further in the future” – Defense Minister David Tevzadze told Civil Georgia.

Colonel Otar Shalikashvili, Chief Advisor for the Georgian Military Issues to the US Secretary of Defense, is particularly happy with performance of the Georgian trainees. “They did very well indeed and impressed American instructors. I hope that the next phases will be as successful as the first one,” Shalikashvili said.

The US Government is spending 64 million dollars for the GTEP, aimed at creation of antiterrorist capabilities in Georgia. The Georgian side undertook to pay wages of the trained militaries. Currently salaries for these officers and soldiers vary between 400-800 Georgian Lari per-month (approximately $180-360), depending on a rank. The next phases will include training for the airborne and marine troops.

“The GTEP has captured high-level attention from Georgian and American governments, and even the governments of your neighboring countries. It has already received great acclaim and accolades, and even in the early stages was called a success story that may serve as a model for future endeavors,” Richard Miles, US ambassador in Georgia stated at the ceremony on February 1.

The trained soldiers will be contracted for three-and-a-half years and receive highest salaries in the Georgian army. Prolongation of the contracts will depend on extension of the program and the MoD budget.

By Goga Chanadiri

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