Kazakhstan army visits US Army Central
The Kazakhstan contingent toured Fort Sumter National Monument on Fort Jackson, USARCENT and Shaw Air Force Base to see how the Army and Air Force take care of and train Soldiers and airmen as well as how the armed forces compete with corporate America to attract the "best of the best" to wear the uniform.
The Kazakhstani visit specifically entailed seeing how the American Civil War began, observing the basic training process, seeing how the Soldiers live in the barracks, watching them train on the ranges and becoming familiar with resources such as Army Community Services, or ACS, Army Emergency Relief, Master Resiliency Training, suicide prevention, the Chaplaincy Directorate and the Morale, Welfare and Recreation program.
Gen. Maj. Mukhamedzhan Talasov, deputy chairman of the of the general staff and the Kazakhstani contingent, said when the group was on Fort Sumter, they were impressed with how then-Maj. Robert Anderson and his men fought valiantly to the very last moment until having to succumb to the much larger Confederate forces. Talasov described Anderson as "a role model of a warrior."
"From this experience I understood where the strong spirit of the American Army is coming from," he said.
The members of the Kazakhstan contingent were especially impressed with the ACS program, particularly the support that the agency gives Families while Soldiers are deployed.
Talasov agreed on the importance of the NCO Corps, pointing out that Kazakhstan was the first Eastern Bloc country since the breakup of the former Soviet Union to implement the NCO Corps and raise its image within the armed forces.
The general expressed gratitude and admiration to Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev for his open mindedness about looking for new ideas to better the nation. He also expressed gratitude to Garrett and Kelley for being "very open to us" in helping Kazakhstan armed forces find their way and add to their strengths, such as patriotism and the "fire of our warriors," for the future.
Leadership from Kazakhstan and USARCENT agreed raising and maintaining an all-volunteer army is "very difficult." Still, the U.S. Army has successfully done it since 1973 and Talasov expressed confidence the Kazakhstan army can do it as well.
"A successful transition [from a conscript to an all-volunteer force] did not happen overnight for the U.S. and it will probably not happen overnight for us," Talasov said. "That's why we're here ... because we know we have a lot to learn from you."
See more at https://www.army.mil/article/160580/Kazakhstan_army_visits_US_Army_Central/