Kandahar, AFGHANISTAN - Jawad Yazdani knows a thing or two about training Afghan policemen. As a sergeant and instructor to other Afghan National Civil Order Police, he is aware of the emphasis and expectations placed on leaders and trainers.
So it was a bitter pill to swallow on Sept. 22 when Jawad and 172 other ANCOP did the dirty work of tactically crawling in Kandahar’s powdered soil and through clouds of dust as their 20 officers stood off to the side and watched.
Then a U.S. Special Forces team commander calmly stepped in to share his take on leadership, a view which places a premium on leader participation. Within minutes, the 3rd ANCOP Brigade commander had his jacket off and was crawling through clouds of dust along with his officers, just like the rest of their policemen did moments earlier. The Special Forces team commander was right there beside them.
This single gesture instantly changed the mood of the training environment.
The rest of the policemen then crowded the finish line, some cheering and nearly all laughing as a unified battalion of policemen. A few pulled out their cell phones to take pictures.
“If I wasn’t willing to get dirty, I couldn’t really expect everyone else to either,” said Col. Ghulam Muhaidin, 3rd ANCOP Bde. commander.
“There were a lot of ‘boo-boo’ lips when we first told [the ANCOP] what we’d be doing today,” said the Special Forces sergeant in charge of training.
His training plan this week emphasized movement techniques as well as how to react as a team while under fire. They are skills, he explained, that will save their lives. But they must keep a high level of motivation in order to survive as specially-trained policemen who must function as a team.
This is where leaders like Jawad, the instructor, came in to help the team.
“We are brothers, and I fight with my brothers,” he said.
Jawad is from Panjshir province, close to Kabul and nearly 400 miles northeast of Kandahar City. Many in his battalion - the 2nd Bn., 3rd ANCOP Bde. - are from at least as far away as Panjshir. A majority are from Herat province, which is more than 350 miles northwest of Kandahar.
The battalion is currently dispatched in northwestern Kandahar City to help with security and order in the provincial capital's district nine. This means establishing checkpoints and restoring a sense of order to parts of the city that until now has had little or no police presence.
Once this assignment is complete, the Afghanistan Ministry of Interior will allow them leave in order to return to their families in Herat.
When not cycling in and out of Kandahar City, the 2/3 ANCOP live close to and train with their Special Operations Task Force - South advisory team, presently staged near Kandahar Airfield.
"They have a hard task," said Lt. Col. Chris Riga, commander of Special Operations Task Force – South, adding that ANCOP is not designed to do major offensives.
“They are designed to fill the security gap when forces like the Afghan National Police are scheduled to leave a given area for continued training at the [police] academy in Kabul,” he said. “They are something of an expeditionary policing unit rather than a stationary presence like the ANP. That flexibility can take them farther away from their families.”
THE SPECIAL FORCES EFFECT
Despite their constant rotation from training to deploying out to district nine and back, less than 10 percent of the battalion's policemen have abandoned the ranks. Attrition had been a notorious problem in years past, according to Coalition reports, with attrition estimates of up to 80 percent only one year ago.
Jawad and Herat-born fellow policeman, Shabirak, credit 2/3 ANCOP’s dedication to their partnership with Special Forces.
Their battalion commander, Lt. Col. Muhammad Agha, credits their lack of attrition to the improving supply and logistics network Afghan officers are becoming more familiar with. As a result, their troops are getting taken care of via Afghan supply lines through the Ministry of Interior.
Only recently have officers come to depend almost entirely on that supply process for anything from uniforms to barracks furniture. Utilizing that supply system is crucial for their long-term independence from Coalition forces, the Special Forces commander said.
"If every one of those guys can come around to the idea that everything they need is available through [the Ministry of Interior], we'll have helped them be both tactically and administratively successful," he said. "It may sound simple, but that's a big win because at the end of the day, Special Forces' purpose is to work themselves out of a job."
URBAN, RURAL READINESS
Just because they’ve been in the city much of the last two months doesn’t mean they’ll stay in the city, Ghulam explained.
“We are prepared to make checkpoints along highways, but we must also be ready to patrol a neighborhood to follow threats," he said.
Soon they could find themselves in an entirely different district and maybe even a different province helping bolster rural as opposed to urban security.
“Think fields and farms rather than bazaars and alleys,” the Special Forces commander said.
That is why the ANCOP must remain a disciplined, flexible security force, and a partnership with Special Forces helps sharpen that flexibility.
“At the ANCOP instructor school [based in Kabul],” Jawad explained, “we were taught the importance of discipline and practicing, practicing, practicing.”
“We were also told it is important to have strong leaders,” he said. “With Special Forces, we see it is not yelling. It is getting dirty. It is doing. This was a good day, and I am happy to see the colonel dirty like all of us.”
Policeman Nesar, a 24-year-old from Paktia province, crawled through the dirt despite having already suffered a deep cut on his forearm, which was bandaged by one of the Special Forces medics.
"I have only one bandaged arm," the policeman said of his injury; "not two."
Pointing to the arm without a cast, Nesar explained, "I held my weapon with this one and my legs still move, so I am good."
He then held up his cast like a trophy for the rest of his ANCOP brothers to see — it was a symbol of resilience as the ANCOP around him cheered as he lifted it up.
“I don’t think any of these guys would have endured the training so willingly had those officers not gotten down and got after it,” said the Special Forces commander.
"We all at times need to be kicked, because we can get complacent too," Ghulam said, referring to himself and his officers.
“That’s why there’s a team of officers and a leadership structure,” said the Special Forces commander. “It's on you to make sure your guys stay on point."
| Date Taken: |
10.01.2010 |
| Date Posted: |
10.01.2010 01:30 |
| Story ID: |
57272 |
| Location: |
AF |
| Web Views: |
178 |
| Downloads: |
6 |
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