NATO General Visits Kandahar’s First ANP Officer Candidate Class

KANDAHAR CITY, AFGHANISTAN

12.15.2010

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ernesto Hernandez Fonte 

NATO Training Mission Afghanistan

KANDAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - At a Police Training Center within Camp Nathan Smith located in Kandahar City, Afghan National Police cadets are eager to impress.

They proudly salute, scream and practice their drill sharply in front of NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan’s Brig. Gen. John McGuiness, deputy commanding general for regional support, during a Dec. 15 visit to the class.

An infantry officer with a background of supporting the warfighter, McGuiness has previously helped manage the U.S. Army’s mortar and Bradley Fighting Vehicle programs and was the project manager for soldier’s equipment.

In Afghanistan, the general oversees six regional support commands, one for each region of Afghanistan, and tries to visit each once a month. The RSCs play the critical role of training, sustaining, maintaining and equipping Afghan National Security Forces at training sites and fielded units throughout Afghanistan.

On his visits he assesses NTM-A programs and addresses issues faced by NATO advisors and Afghan instructors on the ground. Today he is curious about what the students are learning and their attitude, as well as the attitudes of the Afghan communities they come from. He knows these students are the future leaders of Afghanistan and will play a key role in the victory over the Afghan insurgency.

“What did they learn today?” he asks the instructors.

Challenges

The students are cadets in the first Afghan National Police officer candidate course outside of Kabul’s police academy.

“The problem with the police academy in Kabul is that officers from the north don’t want to come to the south,” said Robert Shering, a constable with 30 years of experience from Toronto, Canada.

According to Shering, who is one of two Canadians which designed the Kandahar course, the idea was to run an officer school in the south; recruiting locals, training them locally and stationing them here where their homes are.

“There are challenges all around us but there’s progress all around us too,” said McGuiness. “The challenge [in the class] is putting out a good product and by that I mean a law enforcement officer that respects the constitution, respects human rights, can do his job well and it looks like by all indication we will be able to do that with the leadership of the Afghan instructors assisted by the Canadian cadre.”

By recruiting and training locally the goal is to do just that. The students have a personal stake in the security of their communities because they and their families live there.

A Way Ahead

Through radio ads the Ministry of Interior recruited the 26 cadets; eight from Uruzgan province and 18 from Kandahar City. All have a high school degree and are literate; the minimum, yet hard to find requirement to be an officer in the ANP.

“They are regular civilians, all literate with a high school degree. They could have any other job, but they decided it was more important that they take up police duty and help their communities,” said McGuiness. “It says a lot that at a time like this they would decide to be police officers when their nation needs it the most.”

The Afghan cadets start as civilians and graduate as 3rd lieutenants after completing the six-month course subjects include basic patrolman duties, team leadership, driving, criminal investigation, tactics, management, and on-the-job training through internship at a local police station.

Guest speakers, judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers teach the Afghan legal system to the cadets. Today they learned about human rights.

“[26 cadets] might be a drop in the bucket but it’s a start. They don’t just spend time on marching, saluting and those kinds of things but on rule of law, governance, respect of human rights, how to properly search and mingle with the people not as a threat but as a regular police officer with the best interest of the people,” says McGuiness. “It says a lot to the community when you can trust the police and they are your neighbors. When they are not corrupt and you can go to them if insurgents or criminals try to infiltrate into your community.”

• Date Taken: 12.15.2010
• Date Posted: 12.19.2010 08:06
• Story ID: 62269
• Location: KANDAHAR CITY, AF