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Colonel Scott Thein, Head, Office of Defense Cooperation,
AmEmbassy Tbilisi
Lt. Col. MJ Jadick, SOCEUR PAO
Georgian MOD officials: Colonel Giorgi Giorgobiani, Deputy Chief of General
Staff, and Colonel Levan Nikoleishvili, Head, Operational Department
MJ Jadick: Good Morning. Does everybody have what they need here now?
Very good. Thank you very much for coming here today and many thanks to
my colleagues at the MOD Public Affairs Office for setting this up. We
are very excited to be here and anxious to get the training underway.
As you well know, because you greet us every morning at our hotel, the
site Survey Team hit the ground running on Tuesday morning.
Today's press conference is about the Georgia Train and Equip program,
and I would like you to keep your questions toward that program. The format
will be: we will have opening statements by Colonel Giorgi Giorgobiani
and Colonel Scott Thein, followed by questions for about twenty minutes.
Mr. Kiknadze from Ministry of Defense Public Affairs will take your questions,
and I would ask that you tell us whom you would like to direct your questions
to.
Again, we will take questions for twenty minutes. We will call last question
at which time our folks here will give a closing statement and then they
will leave. I would ask that you stick around please afterwards as I would
like to discuss with you some media opportunities tomorrow and Tuesday
with people from the Georgia Train and Equip Program, plus I would like
to discuss with you the future media operations when the trainers arrive.
With that I will turn it over.
Mirian Kiknadze (MOD spokesperson): Ladies and Gentlemen, let me once
again present Colonel Scott Thein and Colonel Giorgi Giorgobiani, Deputy
Chief of General Staff, and Colonel Levan Nikoleishvili, Head of the Operational
Department.
Col. Giorgobiani: Good morning. As you all know, the Train and Equip
Program has practically started as a result of big work and consequent
efforts made in the field of US- Georgian bilateral initiatives. The goal
of this program is to enhance the security capabilities of the Georgian
Armed Forces; to improve interagency coordination between respective units;
and to train military personnel. This is a very important program for
us. The program will be executed in four phases. The first phase is to
study logistics and local infrastructure. The second phase will include
training of staff units. The third phase will be a training of tactical
units, and the fourth one will summarize the results of the program. The
leadership of Georgian Armed Forces believes that the process should be
as open as possible in order to avoid inaccurate information and rumors.
This is our first meeting [with press], but it is just a start. We will
have plenty of meetings and will take your questions with pleasure.
Colonel Thein: Thank you very much. It's good to see everybody here today.
My name is Colonel Scott Thein. I am with the United States Office of
Defense Cooperation. The Georgia Train and Equip Program is a logical
extension of the long-term security relationship between Georgia and the
United States.
During the past four years, Georgian security forces have been working
actively to develop operational capabilities that will address Georgia's
security requirements. The security assistance relationship between Georgia
and the United States is a strong one and has contributed to much progress
thus far. The United States is not alone in this effort. Georgia is fortunate
to have many friends who are also supportive. Maybe the most visible of
these cooperative efforts is the UH-1H (helicopter) program that Turkey
and the United States are participating in.
We are here today to talk about the Georgia Train and Equip Program,
which marks a significant shift in the assistance to Georgia. I believe
all of you in here have access to the 29 April Department of Defense release,
which articulates very well the kinds of activities that will take place
now and in the remainder of the program. I would encourage you all to
refer to it because it is a good reference document. Two days ago, as
you all know, Special Operations Command Europe sent a Site Survey Team
to Georgia composed of approximate twenty personnel. For the past two
days, they have been conducting assessments of facilities, and coordinating
for services that will be required to conduct the training. The cooperation
that they received from all the security ministries has been nothing less
than outstanding, and I would like to state publicly that we are off to
a great start. The team is executing its plan on schedule, and everything
thus far has gone very well.
These are exciting times in Georgia. The Georgia Train and Equip Program
represents a great opportunity for Georgia and the United States to work
together to assist Georgia in developing an operational security capability
and means to address its security requirements. Our government is very
appreciative of Georgia for its support in the global war on terrorism
and is committed to assisting Georgia as we move forward against terrorism
together. I will now answer your questions.
Q (ItarTass Agency): Question to Colonel Thein. At a press conference
about a month ago, the President of Georgia stated that a group of American
instructors is studying Georgian to be able to adapt easily and some local
linguists were sent to the United States from here to help Americans with
language studies. Do any members of your group speak Georgian?
A: (Col.Thein) I don't know about the linguists that went there to do
a training, however, part of every mission like this is learning about
the culture and customs of a nation. Part of that, indeed, is to learn
some common phrases and some words to interact more readily with Georgians.
As someone who has been here ten months, I can tell you just how difficult
it is to learn the language, but I know that this group was taking a special
interest in being prepared to come to Georgia -- to appreciate its customs
-- and part of that certainly is to appreciate and learn some common Georgian
phrases.
Q: (Akhali Versia newspaper) Two questions. According to the Georgian
Ministry of Defense, American instructors were supposed to arrive by March
20. What was the reason for delay? And second question: there is no decree
[by the Georgian MOD] issued to support the T&E program -- a document,
which should serve as a legal basis to select contingents for training,
to sign contracts and make all technical arrangements. Questions to both
sides: Do you think the program might stretch in time, last longer than
expected?
A: (Col. Thein) I will address the first part of your question first.
The Train and Equip Program is something that everyone was committed to
from the moment that President Shevardnadze met with President Bush in
October. As the assessments were made, including the assessment of how
much money it would take to finance this, the United States had to find
those resource for this kind of a project. The money that is required
for this, I think many of you have already heard, is in the area of USD
60 million plus. So as we looked at execution and funding sources and
streams, which had to be determined prior to execution. As with many discussions
about money - which go on in Governments -- that took a little longer
than we expected, and I think all of us in this room including me are
glad to see that we have started.
Q: (Radio Liberty) Does the program envision assisting with small arms?
A: (Col.Thein) The Train and Equip Program's vision includes providing
Georgia with all the necessary equipment including small arms -- all necessary
equipment for those units to carry out missions that they would be assigned.
A: (Col. Giorgobiani): I would like to add that there is a plan to create
battalions equipped with small arms, and equipment is slated for Georgia.
We are talking about new types of units that have not existed in Georgia
before.
Q: (State TV): Could you be more specific about these new types of units?
A: (Col. Giorgobiani) We are talking about light infantry battalions
compatible with the Georgian reality with adequate equipment and tactics.
These are ordinary military units.
Q: (State Radio): When is all the equipment supposed to arrive? What
is the duration of each phase of the Program?
A: (Col. Giorgobiani) Each phase of the program will depend on the level
of success of the previous phase. Successful completion of the first phase
will serve as a good ground for the second phase and also for bringing
in arms and equipment.
A: (Col. Thein) As we go forward in training and train units sequentially,
the equipment will be flowing in. Those conditions have to be met before
we start training in the next unit.
Q: Could you give us a specific date when the operation starts in Georgia
and is it connected with anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan and
Iraq? Are there Al-Qaida members and those with links to Mujahidin located
in Pankisi gorge?
A: (Col. Thein) The Train and Equip program has started now. The logistics
assessment is part of that program and will last approximately one month.
If we stay on plan and if the conditions are set, we will see staff training
beginning at the end of this month or early June. That staff training
goes on approximately seventy days. Assessments will be made about whether
the conditions are set to include equipment availability to begin the
first tactical units training -- if those conditions are set, we will
see the first tactical units starting training at the end of July-early
August of this year. That training will last approximately one hundred
days and will be followed successively by different battalion sized units
over time. As to the second part of your question about Afghanistan and
Iraq, the activity in Georgia is all part of the campaign against global
terrorism and as such it is associated. Personally, I have no information
about Al-Qaida being in Pankisi.
Q: We know that a similar training program has been conducted by the
US Government in the Philippines. Why was Georgia the second country to
have this similar program and are there any differences? Are there any
other countries where the US Government is planning to conduct or has
already conducted similar training?
A: (Col.Thein) I cannot address this question. I don't know why and if
I tried to address that would be pure speculation from my point.
Q: (Georgian Internal Affairs Ministry representative) Are Georgian Internal
Forces (Ministry of Internal Affairs) involved in this program? If yes,
what is their role?
A: (Col. Thein) I think it is a very good question. It is something that
needs to be highlighted here. The Train and Equip Program is not just
a Ministry of Defense program, though most of the units that are going
to be trained and much of the equipment that will be provided, will go
to these forces. The intent of the program is to provide Georgia with
the interagency capability that has the operational capability to address
the security needs in Georgia. That being said, security forces from all
the security ministries will be involved in staff training. There are
plans being considered right now to integrate even further Interior Minister
forces into tactical training. They will be involved in that training
but the determination is to be made about what size army will be involved.
Q: (RTR TV) When the training is over will the trained units have the
capability to participate on their own in anti-terrorist operations, for
example in Abkhazia?
A: (Col.Thein) The Abkhazia issue is a politically sensitive one. I heard
President Shevardnadze speak very clearly that the solution in Abkhazia
must be political and the United States is very supportive to this position.
A: (Col.Giorgobiani): I would like to add that there are no talks in the
Ministry of Defense on using this force in Abkhazia or elsewhere. We are
talking about enhancing defense capability and, if you will, about building
up the Armed Forces. This is our primary task.
Q: Is it possible that US military units will participate in operations
against Arab nationals in Pankisi or any uncontrolled area?
A: (Col.Thein) The Special Operation Forces soldiers that are deployed
here to do the Train and Equip are here exactly to do that and that's
the train and equip. It is not the intention of my government nor do I
know of any plans for US Forces to be involved at all in the internal
security issues of Georgia.
Q: When is the main body of actual instructors arriving and how many
of them? Is there a possibility that the US military presence here will
transfigure into a US military base on Georgian soil?
A: (Col. Thein) The trainers will arrive at the appropriate time necessary
to commence the training that they will be responsible for. There will
be some trainers who are specifically sent here to do staff training.
There will be some trainers who will come here later to do tactical battalion
training. The total number of US soldiers on the ground associated with
this program will not exceed 150 and will probably be significantly less
than that for much of the Train and Equip Program. The intention is to
come and execute this program and leave Georgia's security ministries
with the capability that Georgia needs to address its security needs.
Then, it is our intention to redeploy and not to leave any permanent US
presence or installation on the ground in Georgia. This program is an
open program. Everyone is invited to see what we do. It is what it says
it is--to train and equip Georgia's security forces. To help open this
process, your role is essential to make sure that stories are told accurately
and shared with the Georgian people. So thank you for being here.
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