Battle Tested, Ukraine Troops Now Get U.S. Basic Training

[Little Tich]

Source: The New York Times

YAVORIV, Ukraine — The exercise, one of the most fundamental in the military handbook, came off without a hitch. A soldier carrying a length of rope and a grappling hook ran to within 20 feet or so of a coil of concertina wire and stopped.

For a moment, he twirled the rope in his hands like a lasso, then threw the hook over the wire, and tugged hard, testing for explosives.

When nothing happened he signaled two comrades, who ran up and started snipping the wire with cutters.

Although this was a typical training exercise for raw recruits in an elemental soldierly skill, there was nothing typical about the scene. Far from enlistees, these soldiers were regulars in the Ukrainian National Guard, presumably battle-hardened after months on the front lines in eastern Ukraine. And the trainer was an American military instructor, drilling troops for battle with the United States’ former Cold War foe, Russia, and Russian-backed separatists.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/world/europe/ukraine-troops-receive-us-basic-training-after-battle.html?_r=0

[Purveyor]

1. Do they get one of these to proudly wear upon completion of their indoctrination?

[Little Tich]

2. I really hope not, for the Azov Battalion is part of the problem, not the solution. n/t

[newfie11]

3. I'm really sick of my country's involvement in the Ukraine

We have no business training troops in Ukraine.
I guess the multiple Middle East wars aren't enough for the MIC.
This will not end well.

[JayhawkSD]

4. It always kind of cracks me up.

We fought North Korea and China only to a stalemate.
Things went downhill from there.
We lost to Vietnam and the Russians.
We lost to a handful of Somali bandits.
We lost to Iraqis, who had no allies.
We are losing to Afghans, who also have no allies.

And so we feel the need to "train" armies for Ukraine, Syria, etc. What are we going to teach them, how not to win ground wars?