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BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (June 6, 2008) - Deployed Idaho
National Guardsmen working as a police mentoring team travel
throughout Afghanistan's Parwan province to train and advise the
Afghan National Police.
As part of the training, the Guardsmen conducted a
traffic-control-point and vehicle-search class June 3.
"If the Afghanistan police stay on the same track they are on
now, in five years, I see them being fully capable of functioning
on their own," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Junier, a member of
the mentoring team.
Junier has previous training as a military police investigator
and 20 years of civilian police experience.
"My previous experiences fall right in line with the training I
give the ANP," he said. "The ANP want to do a good job. They are
willing to put in the time and effort it takes to train."
Before they practiced searching a vehicle, the Afghan police
officers attended an instructional lecture, taught by Junier. After
that, they performed a mock vehicle search on one of their work
trucks.
"They receive the training from us; afterwards, the ANP trainers
can develop a program," said Army Maj. Miguel Lopez, mentoring team
leader.
The training moves forward in "baby steps," each of which builds
on what the Afghan police officers already have learned, Lopez
said.
"Last week, we gave the ANP mirrors to check under cars with;
this week, we are teaching them how to search a vehicle inside and
out; and next week, we are going to teach them what to do if they
find an object in the vehicle," he explained.
Though each Idaho Guardsmen has a different way of conducting
business, Lopez said, the combination of skills they provide makes
for a productive team.
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