EURASIA INSIGHT
A EurasiaNet Photo Essay.
Text by Joshua Kucera; Photos by Sophia Mizante
5/23/07
Part three in a series
In Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the US training of the Georgian military is seen as a serious menace. The Russian-backed secessionist governments in those territories try to score propaganda points by portraying training programs as a precursor to a US-backed Georgian invasion of their respective territories.
But a visit to the Krtsanisi National Education Center, the US training base just outside Tbilisi, makes it clear that the soldiers are not getting ready for Abkhazia or South Ossetia, but for a mission that is far more urgent for the Americans: Iraq.
The Georgian government announced in March that it is planning to more than double its troop commitment to Iraq, from 850 currently to 2,000, becoming the largest per capita contributor of forces in the coalition. These soldiers being trained now at Krtsanisi will be part of Georgia’s own little surge.
At a time when the US military is having trouble wooing new recruits, and other members of the "coalition of the willing" are reconsidering their participation, Georgia’s enthusiasm for the mission is bucking the trend. "We are willing to provide more assistance to our Iraqi and American colleagues. We want to show that Georgians will never run away from anywhere, even in the most difficult situation," said President Mikhail Saakashvili in announcing the increase. Georgia also has a small contingent in Kosovo, and is planning to send a unit to Afghanistan soon, as well. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
By proving that it is a loyal US ally, Georgia has benefited from strong American support in Tbilisi’s long-running feud with Russia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Georgia is also getting help in other ways, especially in the realm of military-to-military assistance. In addition, many officials in Tbilisi believe Georgian participation in international deployments will help the country realize its ambition of gaining admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
I sit in on one of the training classes, where a group of about 20 officers and enlisted personnel from the Georgian military sit in a darkened room, while US Army Warrant Officer Robert Tadlock shows them a series of slides with weapons used by the insurgents in Iraq.
"Now, this is a Browning high-powered," Tadlock says in a country drawl. His accent is Georgian – but from the US state of Georgia, where he serves in the Army National Guard. "This is a good gun. A lot of Saddam’s officers had these gold-plated, and we’ve captured a good number of these," he adds, with a burly Georgian in civilian clothes translating for him.
He clicks to the next slide, which shows a variety of rounds for rocket-propelled grenade launchers, with the captions in Georgian. "There are a lot of RPGs and RPG rounds in the country and the terrorists will use them in a heartbeat," says Tadlock, who served a tour in Iraq.
"They are known to make mortars out of anything, even PVC pipe," he continues at the next slide. "Terrorists are liable to drive up in what looks like a small pickup truck with some PVC pipe in the back, and it’s nothing more than a homemade mortar. They shoot it with some poor degree of accuracy and they’re gone before you can zero in on them."
The Georgians, who listen intently, say they are sobered by Tadlock’s lesson. "It’s more difficult than we thought," says Sgt. Maj. Nodar Khmaladze, a young, intense soldier with a buzzcut. Later this year he and his battalion will likely be deployed to al-Kut, Iraq, near the Iranian border. "The area where we’re going is difficult and critical, not just doing simple things like we used to."
The dangers they will face there are underscored by the array of weaponry in Tadlock’s briefing: roadside bombs, small arms, heavy machine guns, mortars and RPGs. Even the animals they may encounter can be lethal: the briefing includes lessons on dangerous spiders, scorpions and snakes in the area they’ll be stationed.
So far, no Georgians have been killed in Iraq, but they have not been posted anywhere as dangerous as al-Kut. But Khmaladze says his family isn’t afraid for him. "They know we’re soldiers and so they don’t worry," he says.
The Georgians in Tadlock’s class are logistics officers, and they are being trained in modern techniques of supplying an army, such as how to forecast the brigade’s requirements for food, water, fuel and ammunition. But they won’t be supplying any of those things themselves – they’ll all be supplied by the United States. The US will even give the Georgians Humvees to use during their time in Iraq. The Georgians will simply be supplying the manpower.
Much of the training that they are getting in Krtsanisi is about how to use the American system of ordering the supplies, says Maj. Perry Carter, another American trainer. "They still have to go through the process of forecasting it, ordering it. And we’ll have people who will assist them as well, attached to their staff."
Carter has worked with the Georgian military since 2002. The US training program here started with the Georgia Train and Equip Program. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. That program evolved into the Security and Stability Operations Program (SSOP), and the current iteration is SSOP-2. Although this will end in a few weeks, given the recent decision to up Georgia’s troop commitment in Iraq, the training looks likely to continue.
By all accounts, the training has been the catalyst for turning the Georgian army from a ragtag militia with mismatched uniforms and little discipline into a serious fighting force. Even if the training isn’t intended for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, those territories are surely worried by the increased capabilities of the Georgian military.
Carter says there has been marked improvement in the Georgians’ fighting ability since 2002. "It’s evolved much more rapidly than I’ve ever thought they would. The army has really improved, and I think a lot of it has to do with working with us as a coalition country. It’s helped them understand the way we do business."
"I can tell a big difference between 2002 and now," he says. "They’re better-equipped now as far as their uniforms, and the discipline has improved – you see soldiers marching up the street in formation, it didn’t used to be that way."
He says the soldiers now even do "PT," or physical training, in the evening, when most of their countrymen are sitting back with a drink and a cigarette. "They’re developing into a more physically fit, mentally fit force, total discipline all around," Carter says.
Editor’s Note: Joshua Kucera is a Washington, DC,-based freelance writer who specializes in security issues in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East.
