MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Imagine being a prisoner of war for more than two years. Now imagine that you are treated so well by your captors that you want to help them, that is just the way Mohammad Alshamary felt. In 1991 Alshamary was serving in the Iraqi military as a heavy vehicle mechanic. Now he is an Arabic language instructor for the Berlitz Language Center, San Diego, which is teaching Arabic to Marines here.
"I didn't believe in the war, and there was no place to go in Iraq. We had the Republican Guard behind us and we refused to travel the 'Highway of Death', so we staged a revolt and of the 274 men with me only 13 survived, the rest were killed by the Republican Guard, I had no choice but to surrender to the United States personnel," said Alshamary.
"I was taught to hate Americans, I had a hatred of the United States from all the propaganda that was taught to me," said Alshamary.
"The Marines followed the Geneva Convention, and took very good care of me. I was amazed, here I've been taught to hate Americans and they way they acted and treated me was very different from what I was taught to expect. The Marines saved my life, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here today. I wanted to do something to help them. I was given an opportunity to go anywhere in the world and I chose to go to the U.S.," said Alshamary.
While at first he sought political asylum in the U.S., Alshamary eventually became a citizen.
He is deploying to Iraq in the future with Marines to serve as a translator. In the meantime he is teaching Modern Standard Arabic to Marines.
The course, which is being taught in the Horno area, is beginning Arabic. It is a month long course with 120 accredited hours. The students receive a certificate of completion at the end and, if they choose to, they can receive college units in Arabic 101, or Beginning Arabic. The amount of hours makes this course an equivalent to a 5.0 unit of credit class.
By the end of the month the students will be able to demonstrate skills in conversation, by producing and understanding common spoken language, grammar, reading and pronunciation, with the ability to read Arabic script, a working vocabulary of 1,200-2,000 words, listening with the ability to distinguish words with small sound differences, and tactical proficiency with the Basic Iraqi-Arabic Survival Guide. They will be able to ask interrogation questions and grasp key phrases from answers, as well as verbally issue commands.
Some Marines are repeating the course in order to better facilitate their understanding of Arabic.
"It's a really good course, we learn a lot. This is my second time taking the course and it has definitely helped me improve. We study a minimum of three hours every night in addition to the six hours a day we spend in the class, so it's very intensive learning," said Lance Cpl. Ian D. Smith, rifleman, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Lima Company.
For more information on the Arabic Course contact Division Schools.