Courtesy Photo | The Afghan National Police dining facility at the ANP training center in the Sayed...... read more read more
Subscribe
WARDAK PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Afghan National Police leaders are taking steps toward maintaining long-term security in Afghanistan. An ANP training center under construction in the Sayed Abad district of Wardak province is one measure bringing their vision closer to reality.
The center is scheduled to open in late 2011. Contractors are constructing the project as the top-of-the-line facility, using all available amenities and materials.
U.S. Army Master Sgt. John Bali, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction representative at Forward Operating Base Airborne, is overseeing the construction. A Fostoria, Ohio native, Bali likes what he sees regarding what the ANP is procuring to train their new patrolmen.
“This ... is supposed to be the premiere site for all of Afghanistan,” said Bali. “They are actually going to close their other training sites to focus on this facility. This will produce almost 3,000 students at one time.”
The facility has weapons qualification ranges, barracks for all the patrolmen, an auditorium, three dining facilities, a gymnasium a soccer field, a parade field, sewage and water treatment plants, and eight classroom buildings, each with a capacity to teach 250 students. “It looks like a city within itself,” Bali said.
The center will bring major advantages to the ANP and how they train. The ANP training center will provide another benefit to the local economy as well: desperately needed income to the area, with approximately 2,000 Afghans employed at the center once it is fully operational, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineer estimate.
While it is very important for the ANP to have this large of a facility in which to train, maintaining such a large center will not be an easy task. However, ANP Col. Abdul Khalil is excited to be taking charge of such a huge task.
“We will train the ANP here [and] we have spent a lot of money here. It is very important to us. We want to take care of this place,” said Khalil. “I want to make the academy the best in Afghanistan. I want each young man to come here and train here right, that is my object.”
Along with the ANP, the training center also houses Afghan National Army soldiers and an international compound for coalition forces who work there, such as French forces. To keep the ANP in the forefront of this facility American forces are taking a step back on operations in the facility and leaving the ANP to train and take care of themselves.
“Coalition forces will maintain a presence in an [advising] role,” said Bali. “The Afghans will train the Afghans.”
With construction set to conclude this fall, the goal of having self-supportive ANP comes closer to being a reality. This goal is something coalition forces are eager to see the ANP achieve sooner rather than later.
“In the scheme of things, in the plan of turning things over to the Afghans, I think it’s huge because ... this is a premiere training facility and we can’t get it done quickly enough,” said Bali. “I’m very proud to be a part of it.”
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.28.2011 06:38 |
| Story ID: | 64373 |
| Location: | WARDAK PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, ANP training center on track for future success in Afghanistan, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
