Yes, I refer to "we" as the battalion collectively, primarily the leadership. I was a lowly 1LT at the time and was opposed to the way the class was established, but had little influence. I was one of the few officers in the class, but I was going on a MTT assignment, so it was appropriate for me to be there. Unfortunately, in many cases, the language class was the last priority, trumped by FRG meetings, ranges and the like. I heard the BN instituted the same language class before their next tour (I had PCS'd) and made several appropriate changes, to include: making leaders attend, holding class during duty hours and making it priority over other training. That is good and I hope it was more successful for them.
I will concur with the majority of your second point; however, I don't think COIN is really that difficult, from a common sense perspective. I'd argue the INF BN I was a part of in Mosul/2003 got it right. Of course, our CG was Petraeus, we executed his tactics; he had COIN right from the get-go.
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