Dear Interested Reader,
IP and judges will soon learn the latest forensic techniques. Program in Diyala trains Iraqi mechanics. Taji Vocational Institute graduates vehicle mechanics and forklift operators. Employment and education opportunities are moving forward for the SoI. Huge explosives cache, as well as a mortar cache seized. In Afghanistan, CF and Afghan NP detained a suspected IED facilitator in Helmand Province, while militants are killed in a precision strike in Badghis province.
Joanna
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Feb. 18, 2009
Multi-National Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342
Joint Coordination Centers, Forensic Training to improve efficiency of police in Tuz
Salah ad-Din Police Chiefs (from left) Col. Khalif, Col. Husayn, Col. Asmeel, and Tuz JCC commander Maj. Mohammad discuss Tikrit's successful Joint Communication Center with Lt. Col. Chris Stenman.
(Army photo by Spc. Angie Johnston)
FOB BERNSTEIN, TUZ - Police chiefs from Amerli, Suleyman Bek and Tuz met with CF in February to learn better ways to operate their Joint Coordination Center in the Salah ad-Din province, and plan forensic training for policemen, and the importance of forensic evidence training for judges.
Lt. Col. Christopher Stenman, cmdr. of the Special Troops Bn, 3rd IBCT, 25th ID, meets with the police chiefs regularly, and offered to send some of his troops on joint patrols with local police in an effort to help shape the current security program.
The local SF met to discuss the security of their area of the province, and future training for policemen and judges, Feb. 9. With the help of Timothy Lorenzen, a DoD law enforcement contractor, IP will soon learn the latest forensic techniques. They can use that knowledge at crime scenes to gather hard evidence that will help convict insurgents and other criminals in the Iraqi court system. "I'm planning on teaching the investigative police these techniques and how to use their supplies, and I'm also teaching the judges, so that they'll know how important it is to accept this sort of evidence," said Lorenzen.
Amerli police chief Col. Khalif is excited about the upcoming opportunity. "Please, come visit us at any time, and my police will be ready to learn," said Sabah.
Stenman escorted the chiefs to Tikrit Feb. 12, where they met with Eisa Mahmoud, a retired IA Gen. Eisa commands the Provincial Joint Coordination Center, which is the communication hub for all police depts, and emergency responders in the Salah ad-Din province. "There are a total of 9 JCC's that report to us," said Eisa, "and we have direct communication with all of them. We also communicate with the other provinces from here."
Currently the Tuz JCC is located in a cramped office, but administrators have plans to move the op to a more spacious and technologically advanced workspace. "What we need to do is create an environment where people want to do their job and look forward to coming to work," said Cpt. Jeffrey Rhodes, cmdr., Btry A, 3rd Bn., TF Steel, who works with the ISF in Tikrit. Using the model environment in Tikrit, IP Chiefs in the Tuz Qada will be able to fashion their own JCC to meet the needs of the local citizens and keep up with other police deptts in the province.
CF in Tuz have a positive outlook toward their Iraqi counterparts. "I'm impressed with the leadership and professionalism that (Tuz JCC cmdr.) Maj. Mohammad brings; I'm very excited to be able to work with him," said Stenman.
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Program in Diyala Trains Iraqi Mechanics
By Pfc. Alisha Nye
An Iraqi Soldier conducts maintenance on a vehicle after attending a 2 week training course. The maintenance on the vehicle acts as a final assignment for the course.
FOB WARHORSE — Soldiers with BSB, 1st Stryker BCT, 25th ID, have begun training IA Soldiers the delicate art of vehicular machinery at FOB Warhorse, located in the Diyala province.
“We first started training ... close to the end of the year, 2008,” said staff Sgt. Ramiro Carrasco, an automotive mechanic currently overseeing the training of the Iraqi Soldiers. “We have them, roughly, for about 2 weeks at a time.” The training was started as part of a partnership program between the U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers in the area, said Carrasco. He also explained that the program is designed around the knowledge base of the individuals going through it at the time. “We do a knowledge assessment of what it is that they know, and we actually base our curriculum on how much they know,” he said. “We’ve actually gotten some that are pretty proficient in different areas. The last crew - we had 2 of them who were electricians."
Training these individuals serves a strong purpose, said Carrasco. “They’re going to have a lot of the same equipment that we currently have or that we’ve given them already,” he said. “So it’s best that we teach them how to use it and how to troubleshoot the problems.” So far, Carrasco said, that has been the chief element in training the Iraqi Army Soldiers on vehicle mechanics. “A lot of it has to do with just troubleshooting; just finding the right answers to the problem,” he said. “Once we’ve gotten past that, then we just show them how to maintain the equipment."
“At the end of every day, they do a check on learning, and it’s not just something they’re going through the motions with,” Carrasco said. “We’re trying to teach them something more advanced they can take back to their units with them.”
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Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Phoenix Base
APO AE 09348
Taji Vocational Institute graduation
TAJI - The Taji Vocational Institute (TVI) graduated 18 new tracked vehicle mechanics and 9 forklift operators at a ceremony held Feb. 11. The TVI provides a 2-week basic training course followed by a 4-week skills-specific course. The Soldiers then progress to the next phase, On-the-Job training, where they spend 6 months in a maintenance facility learning the hands-on portion of their trade. The culminating event is low-rate production, where the Soldiers collectively produce end-items for the IA.
The continuing need to increase the strategic logistical base for the IA provides an ongoing task for the TVI to train and educate Soldiers qualified to rebuild wheeled and tracked vehicles at the Taji National Maintenance Depot. The TVI has been active in educating Soldiers since its doors opened on 17 March 2008, and has since graduated 685 soldiers in 34 different depot-level maintenance and supply skills.
The Taji National Maintenance Depot is a joint venture between the Army Materiel Command (and its depot contractor, AGS/AECOM) and the GoI. The program is monitored on a daily basis by Multi-National Security Transition Command’s J4 Program Mgt Office, currently under the leadership of Lt. Col. William Donovan. Donovan said, “The Taji Vocational Institute is the foundation of the Maintenance Depot enterprise, because it educates soldiers in the theory and principles of skills critical to depot ops.”
Mr. Vince Sabatino, Program Mgr for AGS/AECOM, added, “The Taji Vocational Institute is the first step in a 4-phased training approach, which guarantees a safe and efficient production facility”.
The MNSTC-I J4 efforts at the TVI, highlight the commitment between the govts of the U.S. and Iraq in improving the infrastructure and capabilities of the Iraqi SF, during the critical transition from Coalition to Iraqi-led ops.
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Employment, education opportunities moving forward for SOI
BAGHDAD - The transfer of the SoI to GoI control, and the eventual transition into new employment and education activities, is moving ahead according to plan, CF and GoI authorities say.
The SoI - who number about 94,000 in 9 provinces across Iraq - arose out of a grassroots movement in 2006 known as Sahwah, or "The Awakening," that united Iraqis who had grown tired of Al Qaeda-inspired violence in their communities. In early 2008, the volunteers partnered with CF to combat terrorist elements in their neighborhoods.
"It's gone very smoothly," said Lt. Cmdr. Jason Ward, reconciliation ops officer, MNC - Iraq. "Today, we've got just under 72,000 SoI that have transferred to Iraqi control. It's just incredible, the level of commitment so many people have shown towards the SoI, due to their security contribution," Ward said. In light of that contribution, GoI and CF are working to find new long-term jobs for the men. 20% percent will join the IP or IA, and the remainder will be employed in a variety of civil or private-sector jobs, Ward said. Iraq's panel in charge of the transition, The Implementation and Follow-Up Committee for Reconciliation, is also exploring an optional severance package for older SoI members, which could be combined with vocational training.
On Feb. 20, IFCNR is expected to begin matching members' skills to the govt ministries' open job positions. IFCNR member al-Chalibi said the GoI was committed to completing the job transitions for SoI members by year's end, so that govt ministries could develop their 2010 budget requirements for the new workers. Chalibi said he would personally work diligently to repay SoI members for their sacrifices to the nation, no matter the cost.
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IA Soldiers discover, secure huge explosives cache
BAGHDAD - An IA patrol southwest of Baghdad discovered an extremely large quantity of explosives, Feb. 13.
At approx. 9 p.m., Iraqi soldiers reported finding a cache containing 4 tons of homemade explosive. MND-Baghdad Soldiers from 2nd BCT, 1st Armored Div, responded to assist their IA partners with securing the cache.
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Mortar cache found in New Baghdad
BAGHDAD - Feb 16, acting on a tip from a concerned Iraqi citizen, NP officers partnered with Paratroopers from 2nd Bn, 505th PIR, 82nd Abn Div., discovered 47 120mm mortar rounds.
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U.S. Forces - Afghanistan
ANP-led force detain suspected IED facilitator in Helmand Province
KABUL - Afghan NP and CF detained a suspected IED facilitator, Feb. 15, while conducting a search of a compound in the Gereshk district of Helmand Province, which is approx. 115 km northeast of Kandahar. The detained individual is suspected of distributing IED-making materials to insurgent cmdrs. throughout the Gereshk district and surrounding areas.
During the search the combined force discovered a bag of IED-making materials.
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Militants killed in precision strike in Badghis province
KABUL - CF used a precision air strike near Darya-ye-Morghab, Badghis province, Feb. 15, targeting the Taliban leader of Badghis province and 8 of his associates.
Coalition forces learned through intel sources that Mullah Dastighir and a group of associates were co-located in Darya-ye-Morghab, a village near the Turkmenistan border, approx. 550 km west of Kabul. Once the exact location of the militants was confirmed, forces engaged the target compound with a precision air strike, destroying a building and killing the militants inside. Surrounding structures remained intact, sustaining minimal external damage from fragmentation.
Dastighir was responsible for an increase in violence in Badghis over recent months, including attacks against Afghan National SF and Int'l Security Assistance Forces.
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