TBILISI, Georgia, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- When U.S. Army Capt. Robert Carson first heard he was being sent to Georgia, he packed his bags for Atlanta. Instead, he found himself heading across the world, to the western shores of the Black Sea and a military base outside Tbilisi, the capital of former Soviet Georgia.
"I love it here. Tbilisi is a very nice city, lots of historical sites. Lots of nice shops," Carson said. It's not like he actually has time to shop. Along with some 150 other American military instructors at the Krtsanisi base, he spends most of his days trying to transform Georgia's battered army into a professional western-style military capable of fighting terrorism and protecting U.S. interests in this highly combustible region.
Last April, as part of its counter-terrorism effort around the globe, the United States decided to send the instructors along with millions in cash to Georgia to help this small post-Soviet state to safeguard its sovereignty and fight terrorism.
At the heart of the move was the U.S. conviction that al Qaida terrorists were hiding in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge, a breathtaking but rugged region whose craggy peaks and near-inaccessible valleys provided a haven and training ground for Chechen fighters from across the Russian border.
The news of the American troops moving in under Kremlin's nose sent angry ripples among some parliamentarians in Moscow. But Russian President Vladimir Putin, setting the tone for the country's official reaction, dryly told fuming members of the Duma: "It's not a tragedy."
Indeed, the Americans say they don't plan to enter the Pankisi Gorge and so far do not appear to have done so. The training of two battalions of Georgian soldiers is currently taking place outside Tbilisi, while the Ministries of Security and Interior are conducting their own anti-terrorist operations in the Pankisi Gorge.
Nor will there be any need to send the U.S.-trained Georgian forces to Pankisi, according to State Security Minister Valeri Khaburdzania. But that does not mean these troops will be left without work, he added.
"Unfortunately, considering the complexities of the region and how many conflicts there are, it will be probably safe to say that there will be other Gorges in Georgia," he said.
Khaburdzania told United Press International Georgia plans to use U.S.-trained troops for protection of the strategically as well as economically important Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. A U.S.-backed project, the BTC is due by 2005 to start carrying Caspian oil from oil-rich Azeri fields and out to the west in Turkey
The chairman of Georgia's National Security Council said of the plan: "It's important to be able to use these U.S.- trained units to guard and provide security for the pipeline. The pipelines are always easy targets of different groups of terrorists, and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan probably will not be different. So the units could be used to guarantee security and stability to the segment on the Georgian territory," said Tedo Japaridze.
Six months after their arrival, Georgia is still enthusiastic about the U.S. troops and the resources and expertise they bring with them -- in fact, according to Japaridze, Tbilisi hopes such endeavors will continue.
If so, that would make the cooperation a threesome: Turkey, a key U.S. ally in the region, has been generous at providing Georgian army with funds, equipment and training during much of the last decade.
"This is turning into a trilateral cooperation, and this is extremely important for us because Georgia is working in this case with two NATO countries," said Japaridze.
Georgia has long looked to the West as a safeguard from the influence of its northern neighbor, Russia, and administration of President Edward Shevardnadze hopes that American presence will bring the country closer to realization of its most important long-term foreign policy goal -- membership in the military alliance NATO.
"There are different options that we are currently discussing (to continue military cooperation with the United States)," said Japaridze. "Our strategic goal is for Georgia to join North Atlantic security structures, and this is the first step on our way there."
The Americans are quick to point out that Georgia, politically unstable and economically impoverished, has a long way to go before NATO membership becomes a reality. But Washington says it is committed to helping Georgia on the way.
"We will continue to work together to transition Georgian forces into a small, professional, western style military, a military that will be compatible with NATO and integrated into Euro-Atlantic security structures," said Mira Ricardel at the press conference held last week in Tbilisi.
Giving a new face to the Georgian army is not an easy task. Georgia is among the most corrupt and ravaged states of the post-Soviet block, and in the past years, its army has struggled to provide food for their soldiers, let alone training or ammunition.
Eleven years after the Soviet Union collapsed, giving birth to the Russian Federation and 14 independent states, Georgia's army is still very much a Soviet-style establishment. Many young Georgian males say they prefer prison sentences to army drafts, and the main source of income for many in the upper echelons of Georgia's military personnel comes from the bribes of thousands of young draftees willing to pay any money to get out of the service.
Thus, the U.S. Train and Equip program had to start with giving Georgian soldiers the very basics of military art. The training is designed to instruct Georgian battalions in light infantry tactics, rifle marksmanship and radio operation procedures. Only then come more complicated operations as platoon tactics or offensive and defensive operations.
Shooting guns that actually fire and using brand-new walkie-talkies is a shocking new experience for many of the Georgian troops and they say participation in the Train and Equip Program is a real treat.
"The difference is amazing. Everything is different, relationships, style, organization. We finally feel like we are human beings, and that being in the army can actually be good fun," said soldier Levan Mgebrishvili.
Mgebrishvili, part of the two battalions training at the Krtsanisi base, is full of praise for the Americans. He likes it all, he says -- the newly built barracks that stand in contrast to half-destroyed cement structures of the Soviet era, the food and, most important, the skills he is learning.
He does have one complaint though: the Americans won't let him smoke!
In turn, American soldiers told UPI they too enjoy working with their Georgian colleagues. Said Capt. Corson, "They are very smart and dedicated. And really willing to learn. It's great to work with them."
The only problem: too much smoking.
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