WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- U.S. forces headed for Iraq are still getting the training and preparation they need, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs said Thursday.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the top-ranking U.S. active service officer, admitted to a press conference at the Pentagon that several U.S. Army formations had not received regular pre-deployment training programs at Fort Irwin, Calif., where the National Training Center is based, the Army Times reported Friday. However, Pace insisted that the forces sent to Iraq were all still "properly trained," the report said.
The commanders of combat units had to officially confirm their states of readiness to responsible senior officers before the units could be sent out, the general said according to the report.
The Army Times noted that two of the five brigade combat teams that President George W. Bush sent to Iraq this year as part of his new "surge strategy" policy -- the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, and the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division -- had not been sent to the NTC for training courses first.
However, U.S. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Carl Ely said they would still get home station training by NTC trainers, the report said.
"Every single unit that goes to the war gets an NTC cadre-trained rotation," Ely said, according to the report.
