I Corps starts deployment preparations with seminar

By Spc. Aaron Carpenter, I Corps Pulic Affairs

Soldiers in I Corps underwent training last week, to make them more ready to lead combat operations in Iraq.

The corps’ leaders attended the I Corps Leadership Development and Education for Sustained Peace Program’s residence seminar No. 1 at the Battle Command Training Center April 28-30 as part of their preparation on the path to war.

The lectures targeted two groups — one group included privates through staff sergeants, and the other was made up of sergeants first class and above. Both seminars included presentations on Iraqi culture, history, theology, religion, politics, economics, the media, coalition efforts, information operations and counter insurgency in and around Iraq.

Lieutenant Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr., commander of I Corps and Fort Lewis, was up front and guided the seminar to explore each presenter’s range of knowledge, beginning with the 27th Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, retired Gen. William W. Crouch. Other lecturers ranged from a regional expert from the Pentagon to a journalist from the leading English-language daily in the Middle East, the Arab News, published in Saudi Arabia.

All of them focused on giving the I Corps Soldiers a better understanding of the culture and situation they will face in Iraq if they deploy.

Barbara Fergusen, the Arab News reporter, stressed the necessity of U.S. forces staying engaged with the regional media. Others discussed relations with the Iraqi government, the Iraqi Army and the wide variety of non-governmental organizations operating in the region.

Bringing all those groups together would be one of the greatest challenges, according to Jacoby.

“We’re going to find a way for everyone to be on the team,” he said.

Learning more about Iraqi culture and understanding points of view were also important parts of the seminars.

“From our standpoint, culture becomes a serious issue,” said Lt. Col. Harold Geolingo, I Corps surgeon, “because we are the ambassadors and we are under more scrutiny.”

Understanding the various groups and the ways they think and react will provide I Corps’ leaders better overall intelligence of the region, he said.

The seminars contained a wealth of information to help develop that understanding, Geolingo said, and the format allowed the staff sections to work collaboratively.

The junior leaders’ course also emphasized the importance of proper representation as ambassadors when engaging in intercultural communication.

Sergeant Abe Menendez, I Corps inspector general’s office, said the most important knowledge he learned was about cultures and courtesies of the Middle East.

“You want to make sure that the troops in your section are all abiding by what the customs are in the country that you’re in,” Menendez said.

He said we’ve got to keep the same values they have in their country to achieve positive relations.

Having all leaders in the corps headquarters go through the seminars will help them better prepare for deployment and to succeed on their ultimate mission.

“We want a consensus on where we want to get to,” Jacoby said.

The seminars are only one part of the training the I Corps Soldiers will undergo on their road to war. There will be plenty more over the coming months.

“There will be overtime,” Jacoby said.