A delegation of 13 Iraqi army officers visits Marine base to share information about war.

Date published: 5/6/2006

By PAMELA GOULD

During their first few days in the United States, 13 officers from the Iraqi army visited the traditional tourist spots of the nation's capital.

They walked to the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument and the White House, and spent time in the Smithsonian Institution.

At the Capitol, they were impressed by schoolchildren who had traveled there from Virginia Beach for a firsthand look at the nation's legislative process.

But when it came time to pick up a few souvenirs for family, they were disappointed. They couldn't find anything made in the USA.

Seeing tourist sites wasn't the chief purpose for the soldiers' 25-day trip to America, but it played an important role, according to NATO Political and Cultural Advisor Haider Abbud and Marine Lt. Col. Donald Hawkins.

Gaining an understanding of each others' cultures has been critical as coalition forces have been helping Iraq's new national army with the nation's transition to a democracy.

Last year, American officers spent four months in Iraq training these soldiers on the collection, analysis and dissemination of information to create the Iraqi Lessons Learned Center in Baghdad.

This is the officers' first trip abroad and their first opportunity to begin sharing what they've learned since establishing the center in November.

This week, the officers came to Quantico to the Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned. Before heading home, they'll travel to Suffolk for a meeting at the joint services center for lessons learned and to the Army's lessons-learned facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

The Marines established their center a little over two years ago to quickly make adjustments in operations in Afghanistan and then in Iraq.

The center employs a mix of Marines and civilians and looks at all aspects of the deployments--from doctrine to organization, training, leadership, facilities, materiel and people.

It currently has a four-member team researching traumatic brain injury in Iraq and Afghanistan. Other teams have studied things such as detention procedures.

Pre-deployment practices are constantly being evaluated and revised, said Hawkins, the Marine Corps center's branch head for integration and technology.

"It is critical that the Iraqi armed forces are able to do this kind of analysis of their own military and make adjustments," Hawkins said. That was the purpose in trying to sell them on creating their own center.

Date published: 5/6/2006