Official poster depicts the US Army’s newest threat: The Iranian soldier

If America engages in a ground war with Iran , the U.S. Army wants to ensure that its soldiers can recognize the enemy.

A new U.S. Army poster depicts a soldier of the Iranian army. The graphics show a bearded soldier wearing sunglasses and a beret, with captions describing the various weapons he might carry and the uniforms he might wear.

That the U.S. Army has a quick-recognition guide for Iranian soldiers doesn’t mean America will invade Iran. The Army’s Training and Transformation Command has a library of graphical recognition posters for the armies of various nations, including China’s People’s Liberation Army .

The U.S.’s ongoing conflict with Iran has lasted nearly eight months. For now, both sides have waged war with aircraft, missiles and drones. But the possibility of American boots on the ground has always been present, such as seizing vital Iranian oil facilities on Kharg Island .

The new guide, published Sept. 24, isn’t focused on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps , the praetorian guard of the Iranian regime that grabs most of the headlines. The IRGC controls many of the weapons that have been fired at American forces and Iran’s neighbors, including ballistic missiles, drones and fast-attack boats.

Instead, the U.S. Army guide displays a soldier of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, also known as Artesh . It is a mainly conscript force of 350,000 personnel that is essentially the regular armed forces of the nation of Iran, including armored, infantry, special forces, air defense, aircraft and naval units, according to the research organization the Institute for the Study of War.

In contrast, the IRGC protects an Iranian regime that doesn’t fully trust the regular armed forces, which date back to the days of the Shah. As in many authoritarian nations, such as Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, there is a deliberate rivalry between the regular and politicized armed forces, with the regime’s pet army getting the best equipment.

There have been numerous reports of low morale and harsh conditions for Artesh soldiers, including lack of food and medical care. One draftee said in a 2022 essay for the Atlantic Council, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, that most soldiers do menial work, rather than combat training.

The Artesh soldier in the U.S. Army poster — wearing the green beret of the Iranian special forces — doesn’t appear much different than the infantry in many other armies, with a mix of Soviet, Western and Iranian gear. He is shown carrying an AKM, Masaf-2 or Heckler & Koch G3A6 rifle. He can also be armed with an MG3 machine gun or an RPG-7, plus grenades, body armor, rucksack, canteen and gas mask, among other gear.

The image shows five different camouflage uniforms, including khaki and woodland, as well as three camouflage patterns for the special forces. Also shown are the insignia of officer and enlisted ranks.

Michael Peck is a correspondent for Defense News and a columnist for the Center for European Policy Analysis. He holds an M.A. in political science from Rutgers University. Find him at theuncommondefense.com. His email is mikedefense1@gmail.com.

如果美国与伊朗发生地面战争，美国陆军希望确保其士兵能够识别敌人。

美国陆军新发布的一张海报描绘了一名伊朗士兵。海报上的士兵蓄着胡须，戴着太阳镜和贝雷帽，旁边配有文字说明，描述了他可能携带的各种武器和穿着的制服。

美国陆军拥有伊朗士兵快速识别指南并不意味着美国会入侵伊朗。陆军训练与转型司令部拥有一个包含各国军队（包括中国人民解放军）的图形识别海报库。

美国与伊朗的冲突已持续近八个月。目前，双方主要依靠飞机、导弹和无人机进行作战。但美军地面部队介入的可能性始终存在，例如夺取伊朗在哈尔克岛的重要石油设施。

这份于9月24日发布的新指南并非着重介绍伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队——这支占据新闻头条的伊朗政权近卫军。革命卫队控制着许多曾用于攻击美军和伊朗邻国的武器，包括弹道导弹、无人机和快速攻击艇。

然而，美国陆军指南展示的却是伊朗伊斯兰共和国陆军（又称阿尔泰什陆军）的士兵。据战争研究所称，这支主要由义务兵组成的部队拥有35万人员，是伊朗的正规武装力量，包括装甲部队、步兵、特种部队、防空部队、空军和海军部队。

与之相反，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队保护的伊朗政权并不完全信任其历史悠久的正规军，而这支正规军的历史可以追溯到沙阿时期。如同许多专制国家，例如萨达姆·侯赛因统治下的伊拉克，伊朗的正规军和政治化的武装力量之间存在着刻意的竞争，政权的亲信军队能够获得最好的装备。

有大量报道称，阿尔泰什士兵士气低落，生活条件恶劣，包括缺乏食物和医疗保障。一位应征入伍的新兵在2022年为位于华盛顿特区的智库大西洋理事会撰写的一篇文章中指出，大多数士兵从事的是杂务，而不是战斗训练。

美国陆军海报上的伊朗特种部队士兵——头戴伊朗特种部队的绿色贝雷帽——看起来与许多其他国家的步兵并无太大区别，装备混杂着苏式、西方和伊朗的元素。他手持AKM、Masaf-2或HK G3A6步枪。此外，他还可以配备MG3机枪或RPG-7火箭筒，以及手榴弹、防弹衣、背包、水壶和防毒面具等其他装备。

图片展示了五种不同的迷彩服，包括卡其色和丛林迷彩，以及三种特种部队迷彩图案。图中还显示了军官和士兵的军衔标志。

迈克尔·佩克是《防务新闻》的通讯员，也是欧洲政策分析中心的专栏作家。他拥有罗格斯大学政治学硕士学位。您可以在theuncommondefense.com找到他。他的邮箱是mikedefense1@gmail.com。