Double graduation of 241 new policemen and 24 border guards in western Afghanistan

 

HERAT, Afghanistan (June 5) – Starting from yesterday, 265 new members of the Afghan National Security Forces trained in western Afghanistan are joining their operational units after the completion of their training

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In Adraskan, 241 officers of the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) graduated last Thursday at the NATO Regional Training Centre operated by the Carabinieri, the Italian military police.

The facility is able to train up to 800 policemen at the time, with special focus on the ANCOP, whose posture is more robust and designed to operate in particularly hostile areas.

The training lasted 14 weeks, divided in 3 phases. In phase 1, participants were taught basic police skills (6 weeks), also including counter-IED and firearms practice. Phase 2 (4 weeks) featured combat techniques, first aid, operational live fire and driving, and was followed by a final phase (4 weeks) where the graduating classes learned anti-riot and search techniques and urban combat practice. Selected participants also received specialist sniper and RPG fire training.

Trainers work in a combined fashion, where Carabinieri and Afghan Police plan all the activities of the Regional Training Centre, an example of the way ahead to the full independence of the Afghan National Security Forces.

Since November 2009 the Adraskan Centre has performed 30 training courses, attended by nearly 4,000 participants.

On the same day, 24 members of the Afghan Border Police graduated from the Advanced Patrolman Tactics Course, a training specifically designed to combine the expertise of fully embedded ABP, US Training center and Coalition Force Military Cadre in an Afghan home station training environment.

The course was live fire intensive and consisted of advanced Small Units Tactics, Afghan Law and Police Procedures, Advanced Drivers Training, culminating in a real Field Exercise.