On August 19-25, the NATO DEEP Iraq ADL workshop was held in Olsztyn, Poland. It was dedicated to improving digital competencies and addressed to the representatives of the Iraqi Armed Forces, representing the key entities of the higher military education system. More at:
https://deepportal.hq.nato.int/eacademy/events/nato-deep-iraq-adl-event-in-poland-completed-successfully/
In summary, the goals were met, leaving Iraqi participants highly satisfied and equipped with valuable skills and knowledge for the future. The event also facilitated cultural exchanges and strengthened ties between participating nations. In an interview conducted at the conclusion of the event, Lieutenant Colonel Firas Al-Bawi shared his thoughts on the results achieved and the utility of the training sessions – see the transcript below.
We also encourage you to watch this interview below:
Transcript:
Q: Question
FA: LtCol Firas Al-Bawi
Q 1: How satisfied are the Iraqi participants concerning the development of their skills in content creation?
FA: Highly satisfied because the amount of information and knowledge they were exposed to is very good. And I think they all learned something. And something that I’ve noticed, that they’ve all used the e-portal before they even come to Poland for this course. And that helped for them to find a lot of solutions for the dilemmas they’ve challenged before. And I think they’ve gained a lot of information that could be very useful for the future.
Q 2: What is the future of the ADL solutions, seen from the perspective of the Iraqi Higher Military Education (HME) systems?
FA: I could tell you that His Excellency, our Prime Minister, has focused and emphasized on the technical and technology education in Iraq in general. But when it comes to our military leadership, they are very interesting in enhancing the system of education in Iraq. And I could tell you that we’ve established a center for this matter. So I think the future is going very well.
Q 3: What is your opinion about the utility of the training sessions conducted in Olsztyn?
FA: First we would like to express our gratitude to the people who made this happen. And we enjoyed our staying in Olsztyn. And the people showed nothing but a friendly attitude towards us and everything was ready to host us and everything else was very well in the city.
Q 4: What is your opinion about the social and cultural programme, coordinated by the Polish Association for Security?
FA: The tour was very well prepared and we enjoyed everything. We also visited one of the biggest castles in the world in Malbork and everything was well prepared for and we’ve learned a lot about the Polish history and the Polish heritage. And that being said, also we went to the other city, Gdańsk, and also we visited one of the biggest churches in Olsztyn, the old historical church and it was something very nice to see a sightseeing. And of course, in a short amount of time we cannot have a full tour on all the historical sites in Poland because Poland is very rich with historical sightseeing.
Q 5: To what extent the goals of the training sessions were met?
FA: I think the instructors paid very well effort to achieve a good success in this training session and I think 80% this is my percentage that I could give as a success for this session. And the 20% is not a failure, but I would say they are the challenges that some of those software that they’re not available for us and the cost of those software, they are very high. So we probably cannot achieve that price. And hopefully in the future we will try to ensure the amount of money.