TEX trains local Afghans from Kunar

FORWARD OPERATING BASE JOYCE, AFGHANISTAN

09.21.2012

Story by Staff Sgt. Alex Ramos 

4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Local Afghan prosecutors, judiciaries, criminal investigators, and national directorates of security from the Kunar province received some explosive training at Forward Operating Base Joyce Sept. 17 and 18, 2012.

The two day training event was provided by the Theater Explosive Exploitation Team from Combined Joint Task Force Paladin, and covered basic site exploitation consisting of material recognition, documentation, and collection.

“The intent is to increase awareness and to get everyone on the same page as far as evidence gathering, forensic value of evidence and what we are looking for in the evidence to gain a conviction on the prosecution side,” said U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Burrows, native of Carlisle, Iowa, and TEX operations non-commissioned officer in charge.

During the course of the training the attendees were able to ask questions, participate in the gathering of evidence and locate improvised explosive devices as well as notice the value of all the evidence gathered, explained Burrows.

“...Even though they think that the IED has exploded, there is forensic value around the evidence that is around the scene,” said Burrows. “How to gather it, how to get it to someone that can exploit it, so that we can gain a conviction on the biometric match once we have exported the IEDs and get the bad guys off the battlefield.”

The training was coordinated by U.S. Air Force Capt. Marc Carn, native of Oklahoma and assigned to Rule of Law Field Force Afghanistan, Native Rule of Law Field Support Mission, who noticed the Kunar province was a little underdeveloped in explosive and evidence gathering.

“I wanted to make sure they got the opportunity to see some things that were pretty cool, like finger prints, which had a practical application,” said Carns. “So that as we transition, the more tools we can give them to prepare for not necessarily what they have today, but what they will have as resource in six months, in 12 months, in 18 months as the technology improves, as to what they will see. I thought it was pretty important to at least try to expose them, so that when they saw it in a courtroom this would not be something brand new to them.”

The first day of training started off with some power point slides explaining the different materials used to make IEDs, where and how fingerprints could be found and collected, and the types of IEDs that are common in the Kunar province. Later that day and the following day, the Afghan trainees were able to get some hands on experience by collecting biometric data, trying to locate fingerprints, and finding IEDs.

“I think it went really well, I think they get a lot out of it,” said Burrows. “I think they have some ideas of what they were looking for as investigators. We broadened their spectrum of knowledge on what to look for with DNA prints, the different types of prints, the different size of prints you can get with things like that. If they don’t think something’s there, there’s a good possibility that some type of evidence there exists.”

“So we want them to continue looking and gathering as much evidence as possible and to completely put together what happened and why we believe somebody is responsible for whatever the case may be,” continued Burrows.
Carns echoed that sentiment.

“I thought the judges thought it was great,” said Carns. “They also had some areas in where they had a little bit of their own knowledge, particular to their local area, and were able to contribute that back to the classroom...Them teaching themselves is the ultimate goal, I think, because that’s what transition dictates, is their ability to learn something and then teach themselves.”

• Date Taken: 09.21.2012
• Date Posted: 09.21.2012 01:13
• Story ID: 95079
• Location: FORWARD OPERATING BASE JOYCE, AF