AIT Field Training Exercise

[LTC Wyatt answers soldiers’ questions after a mission and “sand table” briefing at the B Company bivouac site]

Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) Infantry Advanced Individual Training (AIT) Class 08-01 conducted its capstone event with a field training exercise (FTX) from 31 January to 03 February 2008 at Camp Ware, near Careysburg. The FTX is the culminating event for 484 new AFL soldiers who will soon complete 12 weeks of initial entry training. The focus of the FTX is to allow the new soldiers to put their recently learned skills to the test in a field environment. The intense heat of the dry season adds a challenging dimension for troops unaccustomed to wearing full field gear and moving through the bush as a team.

After the FTX troops will begin to prepare for their graduation ceremony which will take place on Friday February 8th, 2008 at Camp Ware. On that day 464 of these troops board trucks and then be transported to Edward Binyah Kesselly Military Barracks on the Roberts Highway east of Monrovia. The remaining 20 soldiers are officer candidates who will move to the Barclay Training Center (BTC) in Monrovia for their next phase of training. Many of these new soldiers will profit from a unique training opportunity when they depart for Nigeria at the end of February. They will attend the Nigerian Jungle Warfare School.