Task Force Marne Soldiers strengthen Mosul police with training

Photo By Spc. Crystal M. Bradley | Pvt. Daniel Pierce, 417th Military Police Company, playing the role of a suspected insurgent, is questioned by a local Mosul policeman during a sensitive-site search and secure training exercise for the policemen instructed by Task Force Marne Soldiers at Forward Operating Base Marez in northern Iraq, Feb. 9.  

02.16.2010

Story by Spc. Crystal M. Bradley 

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAREZ, Iraq — "Boom," an explosion thunders through a small three-room house as thick smoke clouds the air. Four U.S. Soldiers, armed and ready, enter the house, one behind the other, their eyes and ears open, focused and ready.

They patrol each room, searching high and low for explosives, dynamite, weapons, and other harmful devices. They search the occupants of the house thoroughly, ensuring that they have no weapons on their person.

After finding several incriminating items, the Soldiers apprehend the criminals, gather the evidence and document all of their findings.

Before the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq, house clearing missions may have been done by U.S. Soldiers, but now 417th Military Police Company, attached to 317th MP Company, are passing on this task by training local Mosul policemen at Forward Operating Base Marez, in northern Iraq, to ensure that the policemen will be able to provide adequate protection to the people of Mosul once all U.S. forces have gone.

These Task Force Marne MPs set up mock houses with hidden explosives and armed personnel acting as insurgents for the policemen to search, secure and compile sufficient evidence to convict discovered terrorists.

Pvt. Daniel Pierce, 417th MP, said that the training exercises teach the Iraqi policemen a great deal and they are grasping all aspects rather well.

"These guys seemed to be not only excited but also passionate about what they are doing," Pierce said. "They go through the rooms in the house, searching up and down. Once they are done, they gather everything they find, take pictures and make documentation of it.

"They have also been doing a great job on arresting and questioning any culprits found at the house in question. They do realize the importance of their jobs and this training."

Spc. Sean Cortes, 417th MP, said that the training is definitely empowering the Mosul Police force.

"In the past, only detectives and high-ranking officers have actually been able to go out to suspected dangerous sites," Spc. Cortes said. "Now, the lower-ranking officers are receiving this training from us, giving these young officers an opportunity to learn something new and valuable that will benefit themselves and their entire police unit as a whole."

The Mosul policemen have been training with the 417th MP Company weekly, strengthening their sensitive-site search and secure skills and will continue to do so, using life-like situations and training until the policemen have perfected these skills and are ready to apply them in the city of Mosul.

• Date Taken: 02.16.2010
• Date Posted: 02.16.2010 04:41
• Story ID: 45398