U.S. Marine Corps training and advising team launched “intensive training” of the Georgian servicemen to prepare them for deployment in Afghanistan, the Georgian Defense Ministry said.

31st infantry battalion will be deployed in Afghanistan under the command  of U.S. marine expeditionary bridge after a six-month training program.

The training will focus on skill sets necessary for Georgian forces to operate in a counterinsurgency environment and does not envisage providing weapons to the Georgian side, according to the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi.

Similar training program was conducted by the U.S. military instructors for the Georgian military ahead of their deployment in Iraq. Georgia withdrew about 2,000 of its troops from Iraq during the last year’s war with Russia. At the time of those troops’ arrived from Iraq, the active combat operations were already over.