Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Phoenix Base
APO AE 09348

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 071206-01
December 5, 2007
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DSN:  318-852-1356
MCI:   914-822-5502

Besmaya receives BMP shipment

BESMAYA, Iraq — Besmaya Range Complex recently received a shipment of 110 BMP armored personnel carriers through the Foreign Military Sales program.

The BMPs will be issued to new brigades being trained at the complex. The first unit to field the new BMPs will be the Iraqi Army’s 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 11th Division. The brigade will be tasked with securing the streets of Baghdad.

“These BMPs will bring increased capabilities of the Iraqi Army,” said Iraqi Army Col. Abbas, Besmaya base commander. “These vehicles will also increase the morale of the Iraqi soldiers.”

The Foreign Military Sales program allows the Iraqi government to purchase military equipment from other countries, including the United States, with its own money and taking another step toward self-reliance.

Besmaya Range Complex is an Iraqi base located near Besmaya, Iraq, and is home to Iraq’s only bomb disposal school and Unit Set Fielding, which is a process that takes an entire Iraqi Army brigade and gives the soldiers all the equipment and training they will need to fight.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, ABOUT THE MULTI-NATIONAL SECURITY TRANSITION COMMAND – IRAQ VISIT:  WWW.MNSTCI.IRAQ.CENTCOM.MIL. TO DIAL MCI FROM IRAQNA DIAL – 0019143602344.