WARDAK, Afghanistan – Afghanistan’s second vice President, Karim Khalili, the Minister of Interior, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, MoI leadership, NTM-A deputy commanding general and EUPOL and German Police Project Team officials gathered for the ribbon cutting ceremony of Afghanistan’s largest premier police training facility.
The modern facilities of the National Police Training Center Wardak will have the capability to house 3,000 Afghan National Police students plus ANP and coalition instructors and staff. With 65 percent of the training facility construction completed, there are currently 720 Afghan National Civil Order Police attending classes.
This U.S. Funded and NATO partnered $106 million modern facility has 23 barracks, eight classrooms, 23 guard towers, three dining facilities, three headquarters and administration buildings, gym, auditorium, medical facility, fire station and an international trainers compound.
In addition to the more than 300 Afghan instructors and staff, there are 96 professional coalition police trainers from France, Romania, Portugal, Czech Republic and U.S. These trainers are fully partnered with their Afghan counterparts as they assist and coach ANP instructors, assist in the Center's staff development in Logistics, training and facilities management, and security, as well as with the overall command of the Center under ANP Training Command.
When asked about meeting ANP personnel goals - both for growth and professionalization of the ANP, Col. Abdul Khalil, NPTC Wardak commander, said that the country’s largest police training center is on track to meet those goals.
Maj. Gen. James B. Mallory III, NTM-A deputy commanding general, agreed.
“Recruiting goals are being met and we are on track to increase the Afghan National Police force to 157,000 by fall 2012, he said. The focus is not only on meeting the ANP quantity goals, but the quality as well. We are committed to increasing the professionalization of the ANP; which can be seen in the mandatory literacy courses, the recent extension of the Basic Patrolman Course from six to eight weeks, and the ongoing development of ANP Training Command's ability to run its training centers while we increase the number of specialized ANP instructors.”
As the ceremony was concluding, a rocket impacted in the training center. There were no injuries or fatalities during the attack and dignitaries were able to safely depart the site. Wardak province has a history of sporadic rocket attacks that are the ongoing focus of Afghan and NATO forces in that area.
| Date Taken: |
06.15.2011 |
| Date Posted: |
06.15.2011 12:28 |
| Story ID: |
72123 |
| Location: |
WARDAK, AF |
| Web Views: |
306 |
| Downloads: |
0 |
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