Besmaya Training Center, Iraq, Dec. 17, 2009: Mundir Mohammed, a bomb disposal specialist from the 11th Iraqi Army Division, smiles from within an armored suit during training at the Besmaya bomb disposal school, which includes Iraq’s only facility to repair damaged bomb-disposal robots. Mohammed says his mother wishes he had a different job.

By the end of 2009, roughly 75 percent of Iraqi units have been through training here, much of which is now led by a cadre of 800 Iraqi soldiers. Specialized instruction includes an M1A1 tank course and a bomb disposal school. As the U.S. military contemplates it’s exit from Iraq in 2010, some Iraqis are not convinced they can maintain the same level of training.

Read the full story on the training center and see additional images here.

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