European soldiers follow U.S. lead through close quarters training

[unhappycamper]

Spc. Casey Kuehnlenz, 23, of Silver City, N.M. fires his M-9 pistol under the gaze of instructor Sgt. 1st Class Alex Garcia, 37,of Allentown, Pa., at the Close Quarters Battle Course at Hohenfels' Joint Multinational Readiness Center on Wednesday.


European soldiers follow U.S. lead through close quarters training
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, February 5, 2008

HOHENFELS, Germany — A U.S. course that teaches soldiers the latest urban combat techniques — such as the best way to smash your way into a house full of terrorists or how to avoid killing innocent civilians caught in a firefight — is rapidly gaining popularity among European allies.

About two dozen soldiers from Slovenia, France, Latvia and the Czech Republic are at Hohenfels’ Joint Multinational Readiness Center this month to participate in the Close Quarters Battle Course.

Sgt. 1st Class Karl Goehlich, the noncommissioned officer in charge, said the 2-year-old course trains fire teams, squads or platoons on how to fight in buildings.

Slovenian army Sgt. Maj. Robert Bozic, 41, one of the participants, said the U.S. training is widely regarded in Europe as state of the art.

“That is why I came here. Everybody knows about this course,” said Bozic, who expects many of his countrymen to follow him to Hohenfels. “Right now in Slovenia everybody would like to go to this course.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52211

[Warren Stupidity]

1. 1,000,000 and counting...

That "how to avoid killing innocent civilians caught in a firefight" bit is still a work in progress.