GEORGIA: TRAINING OF GEORGIAN BATTALION FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 002239 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS MARR NATO AF GG SUBJECT: GEORGIA: TRAINING OF GEORGIAN BATTALION FOR AFGHANISTAN PROCEEDING WELL REF: A. TBILISI 1505 ¶B. TBILISI 2064 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary and comment: Both the U.S. and Georgia assess the ongoing training by U.S. Marines of the Georgian 31st battalion in preparation for deployment in Afghanistan as going well. The training is intended to increase Georgian forces' ability to operate in a counter-insurgency environment and prepare them to share battlespace with U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan. The Georgians are expected to undertake a final exercise in Germany beginning January 11, and tentatively expected to arrive in Afghanistan in mid-March 2010, making the next weeks and months of training particularly critical. The training is also proving useful in improving aspects of the Georgian Armed forces that have been cited as shortcomings: increasing the capabilities of Georgian non-commissioned officers, helping to modernize the Georgian military from the centralized Soviet model, and improving the Georgian military's ability to conduct "lessons learned" assessments. The Georgians' enthusiastic participation in the training exemplifies their willingness to contribute to vital U.S. and NATO missions such as ISAF in Afghanistan, and the specific lessons they are learning are helping to ensure that those contributions are significant. End summary and comment. ¶2. (C) The training program, called the Georgian Deployment Program-ISAF (GDP-ISAF) and conducted at the Krtsanisi National Military Training Center, has been in progress since September 1 (ref A). Training includes broad hands-on training, from shooting practice to identifying and safely disposing of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). This hands-on training is supplemented by classroom seminars, ranging from cultural familiarization to medical officer training. Marine trainers have emphasized to us how impressed they are in general with the enthusiasm and abilities of the Georgian trainees. ¶3. (C) The ultimate goal of the GDP-ISAF program is to increase Georgian forces' capability to conduct operations in a counter-insurgency (COIN) environment, and to share "battlespace" with U.S. Marines. Sharing battlespace indicates that the Georgians will fight alongside and be assigned a piece of the larger U.S. operation in Afghanistan (ref B). They will be expected to conduct effectively the full spectrum of combat operations. The Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Afghanistan),or MEB-A, will determine the battalion's readiness for performing a full spectrum of operations based on the outcome of the Joint Mission Readiness Exercise (MRE),which is scheduled to take place at the Joint Multinational Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany from January 11 to February 1, 2010. Deployment to Afghanistan is expected to take place in mid-March 2010 so it is a race against time to get all the training equipment needed deployed to Georgia in the next few weeks. The training incorporates "train-the-trainers" elements, so that by the time the fourth battalion is trained, more Georgians will be doing the training than Americans. At that point American trainers will still be there to assist, but the training capacity will have been institutionalized. This should enable the Georgians to contribute to future U.S. and NATO-led operations. ¶4. (C) Among the achievements often cited by the U.S. Marine trainers is the improvement in the independence and initiative of Georgian non-commissioned officers (NCOs). Such Qinitiative of Georgian non-commissioned officers (NCOs). Such progress is of significant benefit to the upcoming mission in Afghanistan because the old Soviet-era officer-centered military culture does not work in the operational environment in which ISAF operates. As with U.S. NCOs, Georgian NCOs need the authority and the capability to make and carry out quick decisions on the ground to further the mission at hand, rather than waiting for an officer to instruct them to carry out a given task. According to military trainers, in the past Georgian NCOs would not take any action whatsoever without a direct, written order from an officer; during their mission in Iraq, this mindset significantly reduced their capabilities and usefulness to U.S. forces. U.S. trainers familiar with the past mission to Iraq are particularly delighted to see the increase in initiative. ¶5. (C) Another often-discussed topic is the need for the Georgian military to increase its capacity to learn lessons. In the GDP-ISAF program Georgian troops are learning basic, hands-on techniques in how to articulate and incorporate "lessons learned" after every exercise. Georgian troops, trainers, and USMC trainers gather and discuss the previous exercise, what went well and what could have gone better, and how to improve upon it next time. Marine trainers report TBILISI 00002239 002 OF 002 excellent progress in these outbriefs, and report that NCOs who initially would defer to officers to respond for them now also participate enthusiastically. In the trainers' estimation, the troops are building a capacity to learn from mistakes and think on their feet during operations that will be essential to them as they operate alongside our Marines in Afghanistan. BASS