Plans for new facilities in Lashkar Gah take shape

LASHKAR GAH, AFGHANISTAN

03.08.2012

Story by Bill Putnam 

Regional Support, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan / Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan - In 22 months the Afghan National Police will have a new, state-of-the-art training facility at the Lashkar Gah Training Center in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

The new training site, funded by the United Kingdom government, the Danish/U.K. Provincial Reconstruction Team and some money from the U.S. government, is expected to cost about $18 million.

The staff of NATO Training Mission Afghanistan’s Regional Support Command Southwest and the PRT held a meeting at the LTC, Feb. 21, to plan the road forward for the site.

The site has been on the drawing board since 2010, said U.S. Army Col. Matt Redding, the commander of RSC-SW. A PRT previously located in Lashkar Gah worked on the plan and last summer NTM-A became involved. Earlier this year, ANP Lt. Gen. Patang, the commanding general of the ANP Training Command, deemed the site a post-2014 enduring facility, when the Afghan government takes over security and training responsibilities.

Currently, the site has two sides: an already completed basic training side and a planned site with more specialized training. The basic training barracks and office spaces at the current ANP training site on LTC was funded by the US government and built by local contractors, said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Russell Pile, an RSC-SW engineer.

Pile is managing the basic training and collection point projects. He is also working with the PRT to synchronize how the basic training side will tie into the specialized training site.

All sides are re-doing the master plan and that will bring costs down, said Pile.

The new training center’s specialized training will include crime scene analysis and forensics. That will “make them a more professional force that will link Helmand and Nimroz provinces and ultimately to the Afghan national government,” Redding said.

The site is designed to hold 800 students. Another 200 will be in a collection point before beginning training. The idea, since the site’s space is tight, is to be flexible.

British Army Maj. Rich Bredin, with the 1st Battalion, The Princes of Wales Royal Regiment, said some of the newer buildings can be used as cadre barracks, specialty classrooms and student barracks. Refresher training for more experienced police will also be held there.

“All pillars of police training need to be serviced” at the new training center, said Redding during the meeting. That means the new center will train not only Afghan National Police but also Afghan Uniformed Police, Afghan Border Police and Afghan National Civil Order Police, Redding explained.

British Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Jonathan Brown, with the PRT, said the key to the site is sustainability and flexibility. There are seven phases to the build, he said.

Phases 1 and 2 are currently being built. They include male barracks and a mosque. The barracks should be completed by March 2013.

Phase 2.5 is a generator farm and water treatment facility. The question of what needs to be generated is fueling the generator requirements. The ANP will need sustainable equipment from fans to lights and they’ll need to get them locally.

Phase 3 is the laundry building, welfare building and dining facility, Brown said. The welfare building will be an open and multiuse platform. Students can attend classes or workout when they’re off duty.

There is no Phase 4.

Phase 5 will include a gym converted from a classroom building, with a football pitch and volleyball court, and seven classroom buildings.

Phase 6 will be a medical center and quartermaster department. The quartermaster will serve all police branches during training. There will also be a vehicle maintenance yard.

Phase 7 will be a barracks for female police trainees.
The new construction also means an increase in staff. A new tashkeel, or agreement, was hammered out allowing for 240 personnel for staff and instructor duties. The old tashkeel said the site needed 100 staff.

The goal for this site is for it to be completed by 2014.
“It’s just 22 months away,” Bredin said during the meeting.

In an interview after the meeting, Redding said the site as it stands now has come a long way. Classes were being taught and students were living in tents. The new site will be a big improvement, he said.

“We’re moving to a place where health and safety aren’t such big factors,” he said.

When it came to sustainability, locally made or bought items were big considerations. The bricks and mortar for the buildings is made near the site. Air conditioning units can even be bought at the bazaar in Lashkar Gah, Redding said.

A side benefit of the site’s construction and presence will be an economic one for Lashkar Gah, Redding said.

• Date Taken: 03.08.2012
• Date Posted: 03.30.2012 08:50
• Story ID: 86008
• Location: LASHKAR GAH, AF