Ridgefield Native Deployed to Republic of Georgia

A Ridgefield native and U.S. Marine is accompanying soldiers from the Republic of Georgia as part of an international security assistance force in Afghanistan.

Maj. Wilson Hopkins has spent the last five months participating in and conducting military-to-military engagement and training with Georgian military of the 42nd and 33rd Army Infantry Battalions. The Georgian soldiers have been preparing to join Marines and sailors in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

“We went through an entire pre-deployment training program with the Georgian army just as if it was for Marines here in Tbilisi,” said Hopkins, the officer-in-charge of GLT-9 and Ridgefield native. “We then had a mission rehearsal exercise that we conducted in Germany.”

The training focused on skills necessary for Georgian forces to operate alongside ISAF partner forces in a counterinsurgency environment in Afghanistan, according to dvids.com, a defense news website.

 “A lot of people think that what we are here to do is teach them how to do their job, but that’s not what we are here for,” said Capt. Brian Hart, an infantry advisor who serves with Hopkins. “What we are here to do is show them how we, as Marines, do it and I think that’s important because they are going to work for a regimental combat team commander, who is a Marine.”

GLT-9 has trained the Georgian battalions through an intensive pre-deployment training plan. The Marines instructed the Georgian soldiers in everything from individual marksmanship and squad tactics, to platoon, company and battalion level training.

The Georgian army will represent about half of the ground combat element for RCT-7. The ground element will consist of two Marine battalions and two Georgian battalions, officials say.

“They have been very well prepared and have worked very hard,” said Hopkins. “They are eager to join up with the Marines of RCT-7 in Afghanistan.”