Legionnaires back from Iraq tour, leaving an important legacy

SOLDIERS from the Spanish Legion (Brileg) base in Viator have returned after five months in Iraq.
They have left an important legacy by instructing Iraqi soldiers in anti-terrorist tactics against the Daesh jihadists, said Colonel Julio Salom who heads the Spanish contingent in Besmaya.
Engineers from the Deployment Support Unit also succeeded in converting the unsafe and dilapidated base into something “reasonably inhabitable,” Salom said. The Protection Unit concentrated all their efforts in ensuring safety where previously there was none, he added.
“The Legion instructors knew from the outset how important this mission was,” the colonel continued. “Within days they won the respect and admiration of the Iraqis and the international coalition.”
On arriving in Iraq the Legion collaborated with US instructors from the 82nd Air Transport Division, preparing the 75th Iraqi brigade. The following month the Viator soldiers moved to Besmaya, where they trained the 92nd Brigade, the first Iraqi unit not to have US instructors.