Georgian Military Instructors Graduate U.S. Training Program

On December 20, 40 Georgian soldiers graduated from an eight-week training program conducted by the U.S. Marine Mobile Training Team at the Krtsanisi training center, outside of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

Four Georgian officers and thirty-six non-commissioned officers, who graduated Basic Combat Training Instructors? (BCTI) Course, will become Georgia?s first boot camp instructors for the Georgian Army?s new recruit training program, which is called the Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program and will start in January 2005.

?Specifically, the US Marines helped the Georgian soldiers to develop the necessary skills sets to professionally instruct and train new basic Georgian recruits on infantry fundamentals,? the press release issued by the U.S. Embassy in Georgia reads.

?This graduation signifies yet another step in Georgia?s effort to modernize its forces and create a Ministry of Defense that will ensure the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Georgia,? the U.S. Embassy states.