Asia Pacific Defense Forum Winter 2004

By Lt. Col. Mark W. Gillette, USA

Soldiers of the Mongolian Armed Forces’ 150th Peacekeeping Battalion deploy to Iraq as the first rotation for the Mongolian troops currently serving in the Coalition Forces of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
Photo by Cpl. Michael D. Darbouze, USMC

As the tracers arced across the darkness at remote Five Hills Training Center in central Mongolia, only the audience revealed the significance of what appeared to be just another live-fire exercise. Senior Mongolian officials standing on the raised viewing stand watched the first live-fire exercise between Mongolian and U.S. forces. They included retired Lt. Gen. Dashdeveg, Military Advisor to the President of Mongolia; Deputy Defense Minister Erdenbat; Maj. Gen. Basaankhu, State Secretary of Defense; Maj. Gen. Tsevegsuren Togoo, Chief of General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces; and other senior staff officers from the General Staff and Defense Ministry. Also present were the U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia, Pamela Slutz; China’s Defense Attaché Senior Col. Chen Lin Hai; and Russia’s Defense Attaché Col. Viktor K. Verba.

This first live-fire exercise occurred in August during KHAAN QUEST 2003, a peacekeeping training exercise between select Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF) platoons and U.S. Marines from the III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF). Field training between the two forces culminated in the night live-fire exercise at Five Hills Training Center, site of Mongolia’s future Regional Peacekeeping Training Center. The Mongolian platoons training in KHAAN QUEST are scheduled to serve as the majority of Mongolia’s second rotation of MAF platoons supporting Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF), in early 2004.

Col. Gur Ragchaa, Deputy Chief of General Staff and Chief of the MAF’s Peacekeeping Department, and former Mongolian Defense Attaché to the U.S., was tasked by Maj. Gen Togoo to transform the 150th Elite Peacekeeping Battalion into a UN-standard equipped battalion, fully capable of integration into worldwide peacekeeping operations (PKO). Col. Ragchaa, who was also co-Commander of KHAAN QUEST, worked with U.S. Marine planners to design KHAAN QUEST to increase the interoperability of Mongolian forces with PKO Coalition forces.

Mongolian soldiers practice a Karate technique for countering an underhand grab.
Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Defense Attaché, Mongolia

Col. Gur Ragchaa (left), Deputy Chief of General Staff and Chief of the Mongolian Armed Forces’ Peacekeeping Department, addresses Mongolian and U.S. exercise participants, while Lt. Col. Mark W. Gillette, USA, the U.S. Defense Attaché to Mongolia, looks on.

A three-phase exercise, KHAAN QUEST focused first on training in non-lethal martial arts and basic instruction instrumental to transforming Mongolia’s non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps to a professional organization. In phase two, the Mongolian forces took the U.S. Marines to Mongolia’s Five Hills Training Center for 10 days of practical PKO skill development and cross-cultural training. In phase three, the Mongolians tested their ability to apply lessons learned throughout KHAAN QUEST in a mobility exercise. This included conducting personnel and vehicle checkpoints, and preparing their personal equipment for a C-17 deployment.

During phase one, U.S. Marine SSgt. Brantley E. Friend noted, “The Mongolians rely heavily on their officers. They are starting to . . . understand what the staff NCOs and NCOs do in the Marine Corps. I believe they are going to start implementing it more with their military.” He was correct; the Marine training during KHAAN QUEST, in addition to recent Mongolian participation in the U.S. Army Pacific’s NCO Academy exchanges, are furthering Maj. Gen. Togoo’s vision of a professional NCO corps. NCO development is one of the most “important requirements for the transformation of the MAF to a professional force,” stressed Maj. Gen. Togoo.

Sgt. Tsetseg Ganchimeg, the MAF English language instructor in the 150th Elite Peacekeeping Battalion, echoed SSgt. Friend’s observations, saying, “In comparison to us, U.S. NCOs have a greater role than our NCOs. There were only two to three U.S. [NCOs] in this exercise and [they] organized most of the operations. Professional skills of the U.S. NCOs were amazing to me.”

Also during phase one, Capt. Javahlanbayar Dondogdorj, Training Officer of Unit 089, said, “I especially enjoyed the martial arts techniques that they [U.S. Marines] have been showing us. I liked the techniques and joint manipulation the most.” The non-lethal training the MAF received could become important in controlling individuals during OIF operations.

In phase two, the U.S. Marines learned skills from the Mongolians. Horse Mounted Patrolling, a class developed by the Mongolians at their training center, introduced the Marines to a skill already proven useful to U.S. troops in military operations in Afghanistan – patrolling on horseback. Care and feeding of the horses forms an integral part of training designed to adapt the soldier to 18-hour days astride their mounts.

U.S. Marine training provided during phase two included classroom and practical application in force protection, defensive actions, engineer capabilities, and battlefield communications. The first live-fire exercise between Mongolian and U.S. forces occurred during this phase. Day familiarization firing was followed by the night firing.

.....