Photo By Cpl. Monty Burton | U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Andrew Abbott, an Embedded Training Team company mentor,...... read more read more
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LOS ANGELES, Calif. - In many ways, the mission of the Los Angeles Police Department parallels that of the Marine Corps in Afghanistan: clear the communities of the criminals who cause havoc and unrest for the law-abiding citizens that live there.
Members of the Camp Pendleton based 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment’s Police Mentoring Team and Embedded Training Teams recently conducted a series of ride alongs with various police officers of the LAPD, in preparation for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.
During the training, the police officers taught Marines police tactics such as how to de-fuse tense situations with civilians while comparing and contrasting police methods for clearing buildings. These tactics varied in many ways from the military tactics that the Marines of the infantry battalion are accustomed to, helping them gain a fresh perspective.
U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Shane Farrar, the ETT company mentor, said the ride along gave the Marines a new way to look at things.
“We will be working alongside our Afghan counterparts as they police their own villages and the LAPD gave us a first hand experience of what to expect,” said the 24-year old Charlestown, R.I., native.
In Afghanistan, the Marines of the PMT and ETT’s will work side-by-side with Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army, training them to take charge of their country and successfully fight the crime caused by the Taliban in many areas of the war-torn country.
Training the ANP and gaining the trust of the local population will be no easy task according to Sgt. Mike Goosby, LAPD Southwest Division Community Relations officer.
“The real test will be when their boots are on the ground,” Goosby said. “They will have a harder time than the LAPD due to the lack of resources in Afghanistan, so they can’t go in with a mindset of things changing right away. The Marines need to take themselves out of the situation, and look at it from the outside in to really understand what’s going on.”
Goosby said there will be challenges adapting to police work.
“I think there will obstacles, one will be re-training the Marines’ way of thinking,” he said. “They can’t go into the situation with guns blazing and expect to win the trust of the people. You have to build that trust with the village elders and follow through with your commitments.”
Goosby also added the efforts of the Taliban to disrupt the peace and terrorize the local population will be a problem the Marines will have to overcome.
“With all of the good work that you do, you will have another group doing bad and blaming it on you,” said the L.A., native, referring to the insurgent groups in Afghanistan.
Farrar said spending a day in the shoes of real police officers will be extremely helpful to their mission in Afghanistan.
“The most beneficial part of the ride along was actually being out on patrol and seeing how the police interacted with the civilians in the community,” Farrar said.
In many ways, the Marine Corps’ mission of counterinsurgency mirrors the many missions of our nation’s law enforcement. Instead of kicking in doors and relying solely on combat tactics, these Marines will be tasked with winning the trust of the local population and ensuring Afghan security forces will be able to defend their country, even after the United States has left. The Marines of 2/1 are learning that they will have a unique mission during their deployment to Afghanistan and with the help of the LAPD, they are well prepared for it.
| Date Taken: | 07.01.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.12.2010 18:15 |
| Story ID: | 52727 |
| Location: | LOS ANGELES, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 131 |
| Downloads: | 103 |
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