{"id":19671,"date":"2018-02-15T14:20:25","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T14:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/15\/nato-to-create-formal-training-mission-in-iraq\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:52:13","slug":"nato-to-create-formal-training-mission-in-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/02\/15\/nato-to-create-formal-training-mission-in-iraq\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO to create formal training mission in Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BRUSSELS \u2014 NATO has agreed to organize a formal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/training-sim\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">military training<\/a> mission in Iraq to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/federal-budget\/2018\/02\/12\/trump-budget-shaves-1-billion-from-foreign-military-financing\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">project stability<\/a>\u201d in the Middle East, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have just agreed to start planning for a NATO training mission in Iraq,\u201d Stoltenberg told media Wednesday, noting that the request came from the government of Iraq. \u201cEstablishing a mission will make the current training efforts more sustainable. It will benefit from better resourcing and a well-established process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, he stressed that the alliance is \u201cplanning to scale up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/munich-security-forum\/2018\/02\/14\/natos-tanker-awacs-programs-see-membership-increase\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" style=\"\" target=\"_blank\">NATO\u2019s presence<\/a>, but we are not planning for a combat mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the past, NATO has had a hand in training Iraqi forces, but in a less permanent manner. The alliance sends \u201cmobile training teams\u201d \u2014 groups who visit for a limited period of time for specific training <span class=\"js-paste-start-FT3452SQWBH5FJQ777SM5SOXCM\">\u2014<span class=\"js-paste-end-FT3452SQWBH5FJQ777SM5SOXCM\"> and some countries also invite Iraqi officers to their nations for training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Stoltenberg pledged to go to a \u201ca more substantive concept, which is based on trainers in Iraq, where we are going to train the trainers and help them to build defense education, to build some defense schools and defense academies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The alliance trainers will likely focus in areas such as counter-IED, military medicine and logistics, although the exact details of that \u2014 along with the size of the training force \u2014 will be decided in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2018\/02\/02\/us-omani-troops-share-military-tactics-in-inferno-creek-exercise\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Inferno-Creek.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US, Omani troops share military tactics in Inferno Creek exercise<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Inferno Creek 18 culminated in a joint assault on an enemy compound and a quick defense against an enemy counter-assault.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stoltenberg also said he would welcome any non-NATO partner nations who wish to help out with the NATO training, potentially opening the door to participation from countries such as Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe can make a big impact with our trainers and advisers in full coordination with the Iraqi government, the global coalition and other actors, such as the U.N. and [European Union].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking after Stoltenberg, U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said he welcomed the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe believe it is in NATO\u2019s best interests that we project stability\u201d in the region, Mattis said, adding that this training will help give the government of Iraq the \u201ccapabilities they believe they need\u201d to prevent another Islamic State group from rising in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NATO has accepted Iraq&#8217;s invite to organize a formal military training mission in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":43813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,12,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3323],"class_list":["post-19671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"MA6RLNT6DZAXHMMF3XRBVN7TWE","arc_canonical_url":"\/smr\/munich-security-forum\/2018\/02\/15\/nato-to-create-formal-training-mission-in-iraq\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NATO to create formal training mission in Iraq - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NATO has accepted Iraq&#039;s invite to organize a formal military training mission in the country.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/munich-security-forum\/2018\/02\/15\/nato-to-create-formal-training-mission-in-iraq\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NATO to create formal training mission in Iraq\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NATO has accepted Iraq&#039;s invite to organize a formal military training 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