Cpl. Anthony Millsap, a team leader with Bravo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 'Gunners' 3rd Field Artillery, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss, Texas, shows Peshmerga forces various movement techniques using rocks, at a headquarters in Laylan, near Kirkuk, Iraq, June 14. This is the first official day of basic infantry training for Peshmerga soldiers from U.S. forces in Kirkuk. Photo by Pfc. Jessica Luhrs

Peshmerga forces have been fighting side-by-side with U.S. forces since 2003, and select members of the 1st Kurdish Regional Guard Brigade started basic infantry training, run by U.S. troops at a headquarters in Laylan, near Kirkuk, Iraq, June 14.

The training is being facilitated by their brothers-in-arms: Bravo Battery, 2nd Battalion, ‘Gunners’ 3rd Field Artillery, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss, Texas.

More than 50 KRGB non-commissioned officers and officers are participating in the training and are set to graduate mid-August, according to Cpl. Anthony Millsap, a Bravo Battery Soldier who is responsible for training the Peshmerga.

During training they will learn infantry skills, proper care and use of their weapon and other battlefield techniques, Millsap said.

“They are already picking up on the training very quickly,” Millsap added.

The first sergeant of Bravo Battery explained that the Peshmerga are picking up quickly because this group was handpicked by their leadership.

“Our concept for this training is to train the trainer,” said 1st Sgt. Bobby Bennett, with Bravo Battery and the senior enlisted trainer. “In order for this concept to work, we brought out a select group of Pesh.”

Picking the right individuals to receive the training was key, because they will go back to their units to train their own forces.

Leadership of the KRGB said they are very appreciative of the training.

Sgt. Maj. Harked Alimase Halmasala said he is thankful because he has lost many men on the battlefield due to their lack of training.

“We fight as we train; now we are training well, so we’ll fight well,” he said.

Millsap said he believes this training will do more than give the Peshmerga skills needed for the battlefield.

“This training gives the Pesh a sense of courage and confidence; it also prepares them to take over the security in the area,” he said.

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Story by Pfc. Jessica Luhrs

A Soldier and Airman take pictures at the first Northern Iraq Women’s Conference held in Kirkuk, Iraq, on April 20. First of its kind in the region, the conference brought close to 100 female Iraqis throughout the Kirkuk Province and U.S. professionals to include female Peshmerga soldiers from Sulayminiyah, and U.S. Army and Air Force personnel stationed at Forward Operating Base Warrior together.

“We are not that different,” Maj. Naheda Ahmed, 42, commander of a women’s Peshmerga Infantry Regiment in Sulayminiyah said, at the inaugural Northern Iraq Women’s Conference, April 20 at Forward Operating Base Warrior, Kirkuk, Iraq. “It is important to start a dialogue about women’s issues effecting women in Iraq with our American counterparts…we are their voices.”

The dialogue remained light with more interest in getting to know one another as Soldiers and Airmen brought photo albums, sharing pictures of family and friends with attendees, who in turn, shared theirs at the inaugural Northern Iraq Women’s Conference held April 20, at Forward Operating Base Warrior, Kirkuk, Iraq.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Margaret Nelson, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Here’s the story: U.S. and Iraqi Women Find Common Ground in Kirkuk, Iraq