Photo By Warrant Officer Jessi McCormick | Afghan Uniform Police Sgt. Mohammad Dawood examines documents with U.S. Army Maj....... read more read more
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TARIN KOT, AFGHANISTAN – A young Afghan policeman who has mastered the art of bomb disposal is saving lives in Uruzgan province.
Sergeant Mohammad Dawood attended 12 years of school and received a formal education. That is an impressive achievement in the rural and remote Uruzgan province, where the overall literacy rate is 9 percent, according to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
In 2007, Dawood became a member of the Afghan Uniform Police in Khas Uruzgan.
“My goal was to be able to provide good security for my younger brothers,” Dawood, who is the second of four brothers, said. “I wanted them to live in a safe place.”
After working in Khas Uruzgan for three years, he transferred to the Provincial Sub Station in Tarin Kot. It was at the PSS that Dawood answered the call for the police’s need for an explosives ordnance disposal specialist.
“I took a written test every week for several weeks,” Dawood said. “I was the first one to pass and was sent to school.”
In June 2012, Dawood graduated from the Mazar-I-Sharif Afghan Explosive Ordnance Disposal Training Center, a 12-week formal school in Balkh province. He is currently the only police officer in Uruzgan province with an advanced EOD certification, although two other AUP officers are presently attending the EOD course.
Since then, Dawood has diffused or reduced approximately 120 improvised explosive devices (IED).
“Sometimes I diffuse one IED a week, sometimes it’s four,” Dawood said. “I have a robot, but it’s broken and being repaired right now. So I do everything with my hands.”
Dawood performs his EOD duties without a bomb suit or electronic countermeasures. The robot he normally uses to help improve safety has been awaiting repairs for approximately six weeks. During that time, he has reduced 25 IEDs using improvised techniques.
“This is a danger to my community,” Dawood said. “I can’t just ignore it.”
Along with explosives training, Dawood has also been through several emergency medical training classes. He has also shown great enthusiasm while working with and learning from the Australian Army’s Weapons Intelligence Team, a forensics team that collects evidence from weapons and explosives in order to detain insurgents.
“Sgt. Dawood has shown to be exceptional in the EOD field, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s Afghanistan’s first WIT officer,” said Maj. David Main, Security Forces Assistance Team commander. “When the WIT team comes to his station, he asks questions and wants to know the right way to collect evidence, so that he can get the criminals off the streets and in jail.”
Dawood said that he has tried to recruit some of his coworkers into the EOD field because there is a high demand for such skills. AUP officers from across Uruzgan are currently attending counter-IED awareness training and returning to local police stations to instruct others on the correct techniques of explosive handling, but none have Dawood’s training.
In the meantime, Dawood continues to provide safety for the community with the tools he has, his determination and his hands.
| Date Taken: | 03.25.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.05.2013 07:40 |
| Story ID: | 104678 |
| Location: | TIRINKOT, AF |
| Hometown: | ABERNATHY, TX, US |
| Hometown: | AUSTIN, TX, US |
| Hometown: | HOUSTON, TX, US |
| Hometown: | LUBBOCK, TX, US |
| Hometown: | MIDLAND, TX, US |
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