KRTSANISI, Georgia -- Ambassador Richard Miles, U.S. Ambassador for the Republic of Georgia, dropped by the Georgia Train and Equip base camp to thank the GTEP staff for their efforts to train the last group of Georgian soldiers, signifying the end of the GTEP program. The official ceremony marking the graduation of the newly trained Georgian soldiers takes place April 24 in Republic Square in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi.
U.S. Marines have spent the last four months in Georgia providing instruction to a company size unit of Georgian soldiers. The training consisted of small unit level tank and mechanized infantry tactics.
The training started on the squad level and then moved up to the platoon level, said 1stLt. Charles Baker, Team Leader. The training culminated with a company level, live fire evolution in a mechanized environment added Baker, from Clintwood, Va.
The graduation of the mechanized company marks the last training cycle of the GTEP program.
The GTEP program has been a "Great Success," said Ambassador Miles. "Not just for Georgia, but for the United States," added the former Marine who served from 1954-1957. The composition and structure of the GTEP program will serve as a "model for other programs in other parts of the world," said the ambassador.
U.S. Special Forces stood up the Department of Defense sponsored GTEP program during the summer of 2002 and provided battalion level staff training in addition to training the first battalion of infantry soldiers. U.S. Marines acquired responsibility of the program in December of 2002 and trained three battalion size light infantry units and one company size mechanized unit.
Although GTEP is ending, future training events between the U.S. military and Georgian armed forces will continue to take place.
"GTEP worked from the bottom up," said Ambassador Miles. The next step is to bring in Mobil Training Teams (MTTs) to work with higher-level military staffs. This training will emphasize working from the, "Top down," said Ambassador Miles.
During GTEP, Georgian military forces were trained and equipped to provide additional security to help maintain Georgia's territorial integrity. Military equipment transferred included uniform items, small arms and ammunition, communications gear, training gear, medical gear, fuel, and construction materiel. The U.S. government spent $64 million on the three-year program.