FXT-A strengthens partnership with Kuwait Police Crime Lab

Photo By Bethany Huff | U.S. Army Lt. Col. Ann Sampson (right), the laboratory officer in charge of the Forensic Exploitation Team- Arifjan, presents a plaque to Maj. Bader Alnser, a Kuwait police officer, as a thank you for visiting the facility, March 23, at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. The visit strengthens the partnership between the agencies through sharing techniques and demonstrating some of the capabilities the lab has. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Bethany Huff, USARCENT Public Affairs)  

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT

03.23.2017

Story by Sgt. Bethany Huff 

U.S. Army Central   

CAMP AIRFJAN, Kuwait – Tucked away off of Patton Boulevard, a very unique unit hosts a small group of host nation partners away from the hustle and bustle of life at Camp Arifjan.
Surrounded by forensic equipment, ominous posters and signs of proper protective gear, the two groups meld together over coffee and tea while talking about their backgrounds in their respective fields.
Police officers, chemists and other analysts from the Kuwait Police Crime Lab, toured the Forensic Exploitation Team-Arifjan’s facilities at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, March 23.
“We brought out the different disciplines from their facility,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Ann Sampson, the forensic exploration officer in charge of the Forensic Exploitation Team- Arifjan. “So their chemists came out today and they learned about different disciplines and how we work. It’s the same when we go to their facility.”
Earlier in the year, the Kuwait Police Crime Lab extended an invitation to the FXT-A to tour their facilities.
“They have a world class facility in their own right and we maintain a professional level of exchange with the scientists,” added the Columbia, Missouri, native.
The facility at Camp Arifjan supports the partnership with the Kuwait Police Crime Lab facility through these types of visits.
“This partnership is hard to maintain because they are permanent and we rotate every so often,” said Sampson. “However, we couldn’t have these unique partnerships if we were anywhere else. Because we’re in Kuwait, it gives us the flexibility to have these partners kind of out of the combat zone.”
The primary purpose of the FXT-A lab is to provide forensics intelligence to commanders for them to facilitate their operations in theater.
“75 percent of what we do supports Iraq and Syria, and the other 25 percent is spread out to other countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait,” said Sampson.
The visit with the chemists and police allowed the scientists and analysts the opportunity to discuss practices and technological differences between the two facilities. There was also an impromptu lesson on the facility’s handheld Raman spectroscopy device, which is a handheld device used to observe vibrational, rotational, and other low-frequency modes in chemistry to identify a substance.
Sampson stated the two facilities had some similarities, but there are some differences, which makes these types of visits interesting for both parties.
“There are some scientific principles that are different,” she said. “Then we of course have different reasons. They are primarily to support the justice enterprise, and we’re primarily here to support the battlefield operations.”

• Date Taken: 03.23.2017
• Date Posted: 03.30.2017 09:15
• Story ID: 228576
• Location: CAMP ARIFJAN, KW
• Hometown: COLUMBIA, MO, US