Marjah police officer willing to sacrifice anything for country

CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN

08.29.2010

Story by Lance Cpl. Jeremy Fasci 

Regional Command Southwest

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan - Allawadin, a 24-year-old Afghan police recruit is lacking one very important feature necessary to being a cop here. Mainly, he doesn’t have a trigger finger.

“According to the rules of the military, I shouldn’t be a policeman because I lost my finger, especially my trigger finger, but I will be one until I die,” Allawadin said.

Allawadin, a police recruit at the Joint Security Academy Southwest, Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, is willing to give up everything to fight for his country. Losing his index finger during a fire-fight with the Taliban didn’t faze his commitment to his family and community.

He has been fighting the Taliban for the last nine years in Marjah and has seen first-hand the toll of Taliban intimidation on the people of Afghanistan.

“I saw that the Taliban was bothering or killing the people that supported other governments,” Allawadin said. “I saw a lot of orphans who lost their families to this and I couldn’t tolerate that.”

Even though his family was not broken during the Taliban’s rule, he still endured the consequences of their power. Taliban fighters destroyed his school when he was in ninth grade forcing him to continue his studies at home.

His father, a teacher, educated Allawadin after his school was destroyed allowing him to become well educated despite the Taliban’s push for the destruction of formal education in Afghanistan.

Seeing the terrible things the Taliban were doing to the people of Marjah, Allawadin decided to become a police officer to help protect his community. By doing this, he has put himself and his family in harm’s way to make things safer for the people of his community.

After becoming a policeman he opted to move his family to Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, to ensure their safety.

“They were shooting at our homes in Marjah because we worked with the government,” Allawadin said.

When Allawadin first joined the police force there were no official recruiting offices or police stations in Marjah. The lack of formal government in the area made it difficult for the police to receive training or receive pay. Allawadin fought and served his district without being paid for almost five years.

“We didn’t get paid for almost five years because we didn’t train at the academy,” Allawadin said. “Now in Helmand province there are police offices, so we went there, joined and came here for training.”

His experience as a policeman made Allawadin a prime candidate to attend the training at JSAS. He has knowledge and skills that can only be learned by being in the field and demands only the best from his fellow recruits.

“He demands a lot from his leaders,” said 1st Lt. Nicholas J. Wilkes, a team officer-in-charge at JSAS. “He is very forceful and gives direction. He does a very good job of corporal-level leadership, probably one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

Experience alone did not make this recruit stand out at JSAS. The JSAS instructors dubbed him ‘trigger finger’ after shooting tight groups and being the best shot on the range, using his middle finger in place of his index finger.

As he prepares to graduate from recruit training he is better equipped and just as motivated to return to Marjah to bring peace and security to his community.

“My biggest goal is to serve my country and fight against our enemies,” Allawadin said. “My other goal is to make the tribal fighting go away. We are just Afghans, we are all brothers. If this kind of fighting doesn’t go away our country is not going to get better.”

• Date Taken: 08.29.2010
• Date Posted: 08.29.2010 12:26
• Story ID: 55361
• Location: CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF