TAJI — The Iraqi Army Armor School here hosted an M1A1 tank orientation for the first group of 28 Iraqi Army M1A1 tank crewmen, Dec. 21.

The crewmen, selected from the cadre of current Iraqi Army Armor School instructors and Iraqi Army 9th Mechanized Infantry Division, will continue their orientation through Jan. 2. 

Final selectees will then participate in a three month train-the-trainer course with U.S. Army instructors at the CombatTraining Center.

Once their training is complete, the graduates will serve as instructors for the remaining Iraqi Army crews, building basic M1A1 skills prior to the arrival of their own M1A1 tanks.

This approach will allow the Iraqi Army to significantly accelerate the fielding of its new armor regiments.  The Government of Iraq purchased 140 advanced M1A1 Abrams Integrated Management Situational Awareness tanks scheduled to arrive in the fall of 2010.

“The M1A1 tank is the future of Iraq; the Soviet equipment is our past….the M1A1s will lead us into the future,” said Iraqi Army Col. Ghazi, Iraqi Army Armor School Commandant.