Photo By Staff Sgt. Margaret Nelson | Three of the thirty-seven female Iraqi police recruits take a 'breather' as...... read more read more
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By Staff Sgt. Margaret C. Nelson
1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
Kirkuk, Iraq – Thirty-seven females attended the first day of training at the Kirkuk Police Academy outside of Kirkuk city, Iraq, Aug. 16, 2008. It's been a year since the academy has seen any Iraqi females in blue and not a class of this size.
"We need these females badly," Lt. Col. Muid, a cadre at the academy said. "It is our religious custom not to touch our women—so we cannot search females. Our female IPs will be extremely important to use at checkpoints and government buildings throughout the province."
The cadre also pointed out that they would also be bringing a different perspective to policing. "Women think differently than men," he said. "They will bring fresh ideas to how we conduct business."
The 37 females are split into squad-like elements. Each squad will have a 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain female military police Soldier assisting—one a former drill sergeant; Sgt. 1st Class Sumalee Bustamante with16 years of Army service, and Spc. Jennifer Swierk with two. "This is going to be a big challenge," Swierk said, referring to the cultural differences, "but I'm proud to be a part of this page in Kirkuk's, if not Iraq's history."
For Nowal, 30, who lives with her brother and has never held a job, the experience so far has her realizing she has a lot of work ahead of her, "I am very tired," she said of the first day of training. However she is determined to, "serve my country." Nowal's brother is a member of the Kirkuk police force.
In lieu of the recent increase in female suicide bombers, these women are undaunted by the dangers of the field they have chosen. When asked what they would do if they were to spot one at a check-point, as a group they did not hesitate to answer—"Man or women—if you come through our check point; we will stop you."
"Terrorists are not welcome in the province of Kirkuk," Intesar, 29, said. She elaborated further regarding female suicide bombers. "They are not Iraqis—they are not Muslim," she said. "It is not our way—they are mad."
The police force is also providing some with much needed jobs. There's Jinan, 42, from Altun Capri whose husband was killed by insurgents a year ago, "I have a 5-year-old son I have to feed," she said. Jinan believes she is accomplishing two goals. "I will be able to take care of my son and also help ensure he has a safe future here."
An IP recruit earns approximately 185,000 Iraqi-dinar monthly (around $81 U.S.) with an additional 25,000 dinar per diem (approximately $20 U.S.). After graduating from the academy, an IP will make 500,000 dinar (around $360 U.S.) which includes hazardous duty compensation, with the amount varying depending on the area of responsibility, according to academy staff.
The women have to fulfill the same standards as the males to graduate. The Ministry of Interior's standards is 240 hours of training. The course will stretch out to approximately four weeks. Following two hours of calisthenics each morning which consists of marching, running, and various drills which are all geared toward team-building, the rest of the day is spent rotating from indoor to outdoor classroom instruction on law enforcement procedures ranging from democratic policing, human rights, hostage survival, basic first aid, to responding to an ambush. The only adjustments the cadres have had to make is utilizing a stick so that they don't physically make contact with their female recruits.
"We are so use to, 'hands-on training', when showing our recruits how to do something," Cadre Muid said. "In our custom we cannot touch our females—that is the only difficult change for me that I see so far. It is good that we have female coalition soldiers to help us," he said.
"This is going to be an amazing experience for all of us," Bustamante said. "I'm looking forward to helping my fellow female police officer and being a part of the positive historic changes occurring here."
| Date Taken: | 08.16.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 08.17.2008 15:21 |
| Story ID: | 22586 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 276 |
| Downloads: | 243 |
This work, Kirkuk Police Academy training-up females in northeastern Iraq, by SSG Margaret Nelson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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