For immediate release: May 27, 2010
This is from http://troopscoop.posterous.com/
BAGHDAD – The first of 15 patrol boats for the Iraqi Navy were delivered in Morgan City, La., May 20. The 35-meter P-301, built by Swiftships in Morgan City, will join a naval squadron of 55 vessels. Currently, the Iraqi Navy has 2 marine bns and 4 large patrol ships that guard Iraq’s territorial waters, protecting critical oil infrastructure and commercial traffic areas.
The first patrol boat crews are training in Morgan City, using a mixture of classroom, practical simulator training, and hands-on exercises to learn how to operate their equipment. The additional boats are planned to begin arriving in Iraq, with the first 50 students scheduled to graduate in July.
In addition to the patrol boat training, the class and 5 more like it are scheduled to take place over the next year. Students will learn to work on 1 of 2 large offshore support vessels, known as OSVs that are projected to arrive Sept. 2011. The OSVs allow the Iraqi Navy to provide its ships with assistance such as rescue services, offshore towing, maintenance/repair support, and safety and environmental services.
“We have an ambitious but achievable plan to facilitate modern training technology, and advanced training simulators”, said Royal Navy Lt. Cdr. Paul Morris, the Training Officer at Iraq’s southern port city of Umm Qasr. “The Iraqi Navy is keen to embrace modern training technology, from the new patrol boat simulators to school house equipment, such as smart boards and language labs,” Morris said.
This initiative is one part of the overarching work being done to train and equip the 660,000 members of the ISF dedicated to the stability and sovereignty of Iraq.
