First U.S. trainers travel to Georgia republic

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The first of about 150 U.S. military trainers were en route Monday to the former Soviet republic of Georgia as part of a previously announced program to train and equip Georgian troops to fight Chechen rebels, the Pentagon said.

A Pentagon statement said a "site survey team" of 20 special operations troops left Monday for Georgia from a U.S. military base in Europe.

The Pentagon said the deployment was in response to a request from Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze to help train the country's forces to reassert control over the Pankisi Gorge.

The initial team includes logistics, contracting and communications personnel.

"Once this groundwork is accomplished, the main body of instructors will arrive, and the initial program of instruction will begin shortly thereafter," according to the Pentagon statement.

The U.S. trainers will work with the Georgian Ministry of Defense, land forces, border patrol and other security agencies to teach them to build "strong and effective staff organizations capable of creating and sustaining standardized operating procedures, training plans, operational plans, and a property accounting system," the statement said.

The curriculum will consist of courses similar to the those taught at the National Defense University, Joint Forces Command and U.S. Army War College. Staff training is designed to last approximately 70 days and will be conducted in a small group setting, the Pentagon said.

In addition, U.S. troops will instruct Georgian units in light infantry tactics, platoon-level offensive and defensive operations and airmobile tactics.

Among the combat basics covered will be lifesaving, radio operation, land navigation, marksmanship, movement techniques, squad and platoon tactics, and human rights.