Building a strong, professional army for Libya

Guard of Honour at an Italian military training facility in Cassino. To see a full set of images, visit our Facebook album hereALL PHOTOS: WAC PHOTO / STUART PRICE.

Surrounded by snow-capped mountains south of the Italian capital Rome, the beginnings of a modern professional army for Libya is being forged and shaped. Soldiers of the Libyan National Army (LNA) are taking part in training exercises at a military base on the outskirts of the town of Cassino and are being put through their paces by their Italian military trainers.

The soldiers are concentrating hard as they strip and reassemble weapons, undergo physical training, learn to read maps and determine distance and terrain, and ascend climbing walls before abseiling down at the other end having crossed a high-wire suspended 50ft above the ground.

Their mentors and trainers are men and women serving with the Italian Army and they are imparting their knowledge and experience as part of an internationally-supported programme to rebuild Libya’s armed forces.

ITALY, Cassino: In a photograph taken and released by the Warrior Affairs Commission (WAC) 07 March 2014, soldiers of the Libyan National Army and trainers from the Italian military study maps during a training exercise at a military base in the town of Cassino, approx. 130km south-east of the Italian capital Rome. As part of an internationally-supported programme to rebuild Libya's armed forces, the Italian military are training former opposition forces who fought to overthrow the former regime of Col. Muammar Gadaffi in 2011. The 14-week course, which began in January and is currently training 340 soldiers from the north African country, will train several thousand personnel from the Libya National Army over the coming months in basic military practise incorporating weapons handling, tactical movement, navigation, cordon and search, as well as physical training, IT and functioning as cohesive, coordinated military units. WAC PHOTO / STUART PRICE.

ITALY, Cassino: In a photograph taken and released by the Warrior Affairs Commission (WAC) 07 March 2014, soldiers of the Libyan National Army and trainers from the Italian military study maps during a training exercise at a military base in the town of Cassino, approx. 130km south-east of the Italian capital Rome. As part of an internationally-supported programme to rebuild Libya’s armed forces, the Italian military are training former opposition forces who fought to overthrow the former regime of Col. Muammar Gadaffi in 2011. The 14-week course, which began in January and is currently training 340 soldiers from the north African country, will train several thousand personnel from the Libya National Army over the coming months in basic military practise incorporating weapons handling, tactical movement, navigation, cordon and search, as well as physical training, IT and functioning as cohesive, coordinated military units. WAC PHOTO / STUART PRICE

Brigadier General Cesare Marinelli is from the Italian Army General Staff and is responsible for the overall project. “The recruits spend 14 weeks here in Cassino as part of the training programme, before moving on to a similar facility in Passano to the north of Rome, where they receive more specialist training for a further 10 weeks,” he says as more Libyan soldiers jog around the complex, practice parading and perform a military guard of honour.

The course, which began in January and is currently training 340 soldiers, will eventually pass-out several thousand personnel from the LNA over the coming months, equipping them with knowledge of basic and more specialised military practise, weapons handling, tactical movement, navigation, cordon and search, as well as physical training and fitness and functioning as cohesive, coordinated military units.

Marinelli says the soldiers are trained at the individual, squad and platoon level, and are provided a good understanding all the way up to company level, about 120 men. “They are taught the dynamics and importance of unit creation and cohesion,” continues Marinelli as he glances about observing their performance.

The cohesion of the units is something relatively new to these soldiers and something of a challenge, he says, but by taking things gradually the trainers provide a good understanding of the workings and mechanisms of this integral military concept.

During a recent visit to the facility by the Libyan Minister of Defence, Abdullah Al-Thini, Ghazi Milad, Defence Attache at the Libyan Embassy in Rome emphasised the importance of what the soldiers are learning. “This training is very important for both the soldiers here and the people of Libya. We need to create a high quality, strong, professional army to defend the Libyan people, to defend the country’s borders and provide security across the whole of Libya.”

Many of the soldiers now training in southern Italy were civilians before taking up arms and fighting in the 2011 revolution. It has been a unique journey from the darker days of pre-2011, through fighting the struggle to overthrow the former regime of Muammer Gadaffi, to becoming professional soldiers, and Ghazi believes is it good for the former Thuwar to have the opportunity of learning and training to evolve into a modern, competent army. “The training here is ideal for our soldiers as the environment is better here in Italy and the Italian military is very experienced and very professional.”

ITALY, Cassino: In a photograph taken and released by the Warrior Affairs Commission (WAC) 07 March 2014, a soldier of the Libyan National Army ascends a climbing wall during a training exercise at an Italian military base in the town of Cassino, approx. 130km south-east of the Italian capital Rome. As part of an internationally-supported programme to rebuild Libya's armed forces, the Italian military are training former opposition forces who fought to overthrow the former regime of Col. Muammar Gadaffi in 2011. The 14-week course, which began in January and is currently training 340 soldiers from the north African country, will train several thousand personnel from the Libya National Army over the coming months in basic military practise incorporating weapons handling, tactical movement, navigation, cordon and search, as well as physical training, IT and functioning as cohesive, coordinated military units. WAC PHOTO / STUART PRICE.

Back outside in the training area Brig. Gen. Marinelli and a handful of other senior officers continue to look-over the recruits and observe their progress. “For some of them it is about adjusting to this new military level, many of the the recruits come from differing backgrounds so we are starting from zero and build them up from the beginning, but we are satisfied with the progress so far. The recruits are willing to learn and are competent.”

The issue of language between the recruits and the trainers is approached from a practical perspective and employs the use of interpreters; including several members of the Italian military who have taken intensive language courses in Arabic in order to better communicate. “It is clear from the reaction of the recruits undergoing the training that they like the challenge of the new experience and understanding what they are being taught,” says Brig. Gen. Marinelli.

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