FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq – Iraqi Police in Wasit province are now capable of sustaining their own training needs after Coalition forces leave Iraq thanks to a coordinated effort between the Iraqi Police Advisor Teams, 772nd Military Police Company and the Wasit IP Provincial Headquarters.
The effort established an IP mobile training team to conduct training at the provincial headquarters and IP stations throughout the province as well as train-the-trainers so the separate units can continue to train their policeman on their own.
“It’s most important to me to let the world know that with the support of Coalition forces, the 41st Fires Brigade, 772nd MP Co. and the Iraqi Police training teams, the creation of this mobile training team not only readies the progress for the future, but we are ready to stand by and stop any kind of enemy,” said Capt. Hayder Adnan Ali, IP liaison to Coalition forces. “When you get good training and good policeman, you can fight the enemy and protect your community,”
Focus at the provincial headquarters was firearms training for the IP trainees. One of the MTT instructors knows the importance of quality training.
“I like to teach my training ideas and training goals to the students because I know that when I stand and fight against terrorism and any enemy against our country or while protecting all our communities, buildings and people’s lives, these recruits will be standing beside me and I will know that they have been trained right,” said Sgt. Hayder Sahib Silan, Wasit IP MTT instructor. “This is the first province in Iraq to have this mobile training team,” said Hayder. “The other provinces rely on their academies and the Coalition-led Police training teams, but here in Wasit, we have the first independent, fully-trained Iraqi mobile training team responsible for professional development and training of the Iraqi Police.”
The mobile training team also ensures the Iraqi Police will be able to conduct training, even when they can’t afford to send new recruits to the police academy.
“Sometimes we don’t have the time to send them to the academy or we don’t have the budget to house, feed and put electricity in the academy,” said Hayder. “The mobile team can go out to all the units anytime. They are ready to go and train.”
The curriculum for the training was developed through Coalition forces and Ministry of Interior lesson plans and combined into a simple, comprehensive training plan encompassing both basic and advanced police training.
“This program has been a complete success with the collaboration of the IPs, IPAs and MPs,” said Staff Sgt. Elton Dean, headquarters squad leader, 772nd MP Co. “We are looking to add more police mobile training teams in each district to ensure adequate instructors for the whole province.”
“Every time we visit the instructors and trainees, you can tell they are putting the lessons they learned in the instructor course to use,” added Dean of Douglas, Mass. “It is apparent in the way they conduct the classes, how professional they look and how the students improve week-to-week.”
The mobile training team is made up of seven instructors and three officers who handle the administration and mentorship responsibilities. The 772nd MP Co. will continue to partner with the Wasit IPs until the unit is scheduled to redeploy in October.
