Thousands of Iraqi soldiers are trained by a dozen countries of the coalition against Islamic State.

"We want to do what we can to help change the conditions inside of Iraq and Syria so that what we see happening there now, does not happen again in the future," said Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, U.S. Central Command commander, in his posture statement March 26 to the Senate Armed Services Committee. "The key to doing so is enabling indigenous forces to defend their own borders and provide for the security of their sovereign territory. This is the goal of our advise and assist and build partner capacity efforts currently underway in Iraq, and soon in Syria."

The training courses in Iraq are six weeks long and cover some broad topics, such as leadership, ethics and law of war training, as well as practicing such tactics as reacting to ambushes, moving in different formations, and moving safely through roads and other areas where they might be exposed to enemy fire.