Staff Lieutenant General Issa Ozer, Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs (MoPA), is on a visit to the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Moore, Georgia.
In a post on Facebook on March 5 the MoPA said that this exchange will bolster its endeavors to cooperate with the U.S.-led coalition forces on the peshmerga reform project.
In a post on X on March 5 the U.S. Consulate General Erbil said the goal of the visit was to discuss MoPA reform and efforts to professionalize peshmerga forces through training and leadership development.
“We remain committed to our bilateral relationship with Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region,” the U.S. Consulate General Erbil said.
The @KRG_MOPE Chief of Staff visited the #US military training center in Fort Moore, Georgia - USA and it emphasised that the US
— Ministry of Peshmerga (@KRG_MOPE) March 5, 2024
remains to the committee to their bilateral relationship with #lraq and #Kurdistan Region. pic.twitter.com/U1IKqYo6NS
“At Fort Moore the peshmerga officers met with U.S. Army generals that served in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region,” retired U.S. Army Colonel Myles B. Caggins III, a former spokesperson for the U.S.-led Coalition against ISIS and a senior fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, told Kurdistan Chronicle.
“The peshmerga visit to Fort Moore connected them with the U.S. Army’s infantry and mounted warfare training base,”
“The training that peshmerga officers receive at Fort Moore prepares them to plan and lead combat operations and have a full understanding of military maneuvers. Fort Moore is also home to elite training facilities such as the U.S. Army’s Airborne School and U.S. Army Ranger School.”
“These professional military education exchanges build trust and understanding between U.S and peshmerga officers. We anticipate that these interactions will continue as the United States and Iraq strengthen their bilateral security relationship,” he concluded.
Moreover, Entifadh Qanbar, President and Founder of the Kurdish Protection Action Committee, told Kurdistan Chronicle that the visit reflects that the relationship “between the MoPA and the U.S. military is an ongoing day-to-day working relationship.”
“This type of teamwork between the MoPA and the U.S. military will strengthen cooperation in the war against terrorism, advance the understanding of both parties of the needs of the MoPA for weapons and training, and help build future models of strategic alliance and cooperation.”
The United States, the UK, and Germany and Netherlands are part of the Multi-National Advisory Group, which supports the peshmerga reform project to create a united peshmerga force.
Peshmerga troops are split between political factions, with 70 units under the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and 80 units under the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
In addition, there are 28 unified brigades under the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs (MoPA), also known as Regional Guard Brigades. The ultimate goal of reform efforts is to bring all units under the authority of the MoPA.
MoPA Chief of Staff Issa Ozer visited the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence in Georgia to discuss MoPA reform & efforts to professionalize force through training & leader development. We remain committed to our bilateral relationship w/ #Iraq & the Iraqi #Kurdistan Region. pic.twitter.com/85hWIECMl7
— U.S. Consulate General Erbil (@USCGERBIL) March 5, 2024
Furthermore, on February 29, the U.S. Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Sasha Baker met with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and his senior delegation at the Pentagon.
The KRG said that the discussions covered the unification and reform of the peshmerga forces, as well as the reform process within the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) said the discussion included a review of recent milestones in the continuing reforms of peshmerga forces under the MoPA, as outlined in a 2022 memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the DoD and the MoPA.
Moreover, on January 29, senior officials from the U.S. Government and the KRG convened the inaugural Peshmerga Executive Steering Committee in Erbil.
In a joint statement issued on January 30, the DoD and the Kurdistan Region’s Presidency said that the “MoPA has made significant progress towards financial and force structure reform, and both the DoD and MoPA look forward to the continued advancement of reform efforts outlined in the 2022 DoD – KRG MOU.”
