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WASHINGTON D.C. (June 6, 2008) - The Marine battalion tasked
with training Afghan police members focuses more on helping Afghan
people prosper than on defeating the Taliban, a military official
involved in the training effort said today.
The mission of the 1st Marine Division's 2nd Battalion, 7th
Marine Regiment, is to train and mentor the Afghan National Police,
which they consider "the center of gravity," Marine Corps Lt. Col.
Richard D. Hall, the battalion's commander, said in a conference
call with veterans service organization representatives.
"[The police trainers] are not so much just wanting to go out
there and get rid of Taliban, but they want to improve the people's
lives, just like anyone would their own communities," Hall said.
"That's the way the Marines are looking at it: 'How can I make
their lives better?'"
The battalion is stretched across some 250 miles of Afghan turf
and currently is focused on bolstering eight districts, Hall said.
He added that new recruits in these areas are quick to learn
lessons bestowed by their trainers. In addition to the Marines,
personnel from DynCorp International, a private U.S. military
contractor, are providing the training.
The National Guard also contributes police trainers. Many
Guardsmen serve in civilian life as members of law enforcement, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the Drug Enforcement
Agency.
The colonel said the national police represent Afghanistan's
national government, extended to the local and district levels.
This force often is local citizens' "first taste of government," he
said.
The goal of these trainers, Hall said, is to convert four-man
fire teams tasked with maintaining rule of law into 40-man
constituencies, with the local populace playing a major role in the
effort.
"Our aim is to teach them how to do things on their own," Hall
said. "So by doing our best to turn over everything to them and
teach them how to do things on their own, [we] try to set the
conditions where they don't even want us here any more."
Hall said much of the training is focused on making the force
more credible and more respected by local Afghans. The ultimate
mission is to establish security, which often engenders prosperity.
Likewise, prosperity can help solidify security gains, he
added.
In addition to building security in the area, the battalion
works alongside civil affairs personnel who are helping establish
infrastructure.
"[Civil affairs teams] focus primarily on working with
provincial and district leaders to plan and execute and put forth
the projects that the people need," he said. "That may include
wells, building schools, training doctors, and those types of
things."
Hall said Afghan National Police members have been surprisingly
cooperative in working alongside U.S. Marines. He attributes this
close camaraderie to a common bond: They are both pragmatic,
warrior-like cultures. "I think they've already got this natural
affinity towards our personalities," Hall said of the Afghan
trainees.
"We're really motivated about our mission over there," he
continued. "I think that we're not only well-trained to do this
mission, but even for the opening few weeks that we've been
executing our mission, we've already achieved successes that went a
little bit beyond our expectation."
Hall said the early and clear success of Afghan forces is
encouraging for the Marine trainers.
"When you can see the results appear right before your very eyes
in a very short period of time, you get that tangible result from
your action and the immediate impact where you can visibly,
physically see lives improve right before you," he said. "And that
is really motivating."
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