May 24, 2012:
Uganda has set up a special training camp for army troops headed for peacekeeping duty in Somalia. Ugandan and foreign (mostly Western) soldiers who have already operated inside Somalia are part of the instructional staff. The Peace Support Operations Training Center in Uganda conducts courses ranging from a few days to over a month and teaches peacekeepers combat and peacekeeping tactics known to work best in the area where they will operate. The UN has such centers all over the world, usually close to where large numbers of peacekeepers will operate. For over a decade the UN has operated a peacekeeping force of over 100,000 troops, deployed to over a dozen major operations. Each is different and each requires special training for the new peacekeepers.