SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan – The word gendarmerie means “men of the weapons,” which perfectly describes four proud members of Romania’s Gendarmerie who recently completed instructing the first-ever heavy weapons course for Afghan National Police officers and non-commissioned officers.
The four Romanian instructors are all part of the Gendarmerie’s Special Brigade, a unit which specializes in anti-terrorism, and according to the training team’s commander, Lt. Col. Gheorghe Ionascu, is similar to a U.S. SWAT team.
The Romanians share their knowledge on the Russian-made NSV 12.7 mm machine gun, which according to Ionascu, is similar to the U.S. 50-caliber machine gun.
The students for the initial class included nine officers and one non-commissioned officer, and represented each of the ANP training sites from the southern Afghanistan provinces of Day Kundi, Uruzgan, Zabul and Kandahar.
The ANP trainees also learned how to use rocket-propelled grenades, as well as Russian-made PKM 7.62 Squad Automatic Weapons and the RPK light-machine guns.
The Romanians’ mission was twofold. First, they had to show their ANP students how to assemble, disassemble, mount and fire the weapons. Then, they needed to show them how to train others.
"That is a difficult job: teaching people to train,” said Ionascu. “You have to start with the very simple and work your way up to the very difficult. We have a way to do it and it works very well.”
During the seven-week training course, the ANP students received hands-on instruction and fired approximately 600 rounds of ammunition apiece.
Ionascu says the heavy-weapons training is vital in order for the ANP to be able to match the insurgents’ firepower.
“During duty, they are involved with shooting with the insurgents. They have to be able to avoid ambushes. They need the same weapon. The insurgents will have this type of weapon.”
Nearly a quarter of the training is conducted during the hours of darkness. “Eighty percent of deadly incidents happen during the night,” said Ionascu.
When the ANP students completed their training, they returned to their training bases with not only their new knowledge, but their newly obtained weapons, with which they’ll use to train their peers and subordinates.
| Date Taken: |
10.25.2011 |
| Date Posted: |
10.29.2011 08:09 |
| Story ID: |
79250 |
| Location: |
SPIN BOLDAK, AF |
| Web Views: |
206 |
| Downloads: |
0 |
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