The Iraqi military academy that NATO plans to set up outside Baghdad should be able to train about 1,000 officers a year, the alliance's top commander in Europe said Thursday. U.S. Gen. James L. Jones said the training mission would likely be smaller than the 3,000 instructors, guards and support troops that his planners have set as a ceiling for the mission in Iraq. "Three thousand will be the maximum and it is going to be less than that, I think," he told reporters at NATO's military headquarters in southern Belgium. The number of actual instructors is expected to be around 350. Jones declined to speculate when the academy would be up and running. Allied military experts presented a detailed operational plan for expanding the training to the 26 allied nations this week but officials said it would likely take at least a couple of weeks before it is approved. The United States is pushing for the training center to be operational by the end of this year.
Jones said at least 16 of the 26 allies had "indicated willingness to contribute troops inside Iraq" for the training mission. Others will help train troops outside the country, he added. A first group of about 20 Iraqi officers are set to begin a weeklong course Monday at NATO's Joint Warfare center in Norway. In additional help for Iraq's fledgling armed forces, NATO has already started work coordinating international efforts to supply military equipment. Jones said that was focusing on gear from the old Soviet bloc which Iraqis are familiar with since the days of Saddam Hussein. Many new NATO members from eastern Europe have surplus supplies of such equipment.
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