ANP hone skills for operations

News: ANP hone skills for operations

7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Subscribe To This Unit

Story by Sgt. Andrea Merritt Subscribe To This Journalist

Sgt. Andrea Merritt

Members of the Afghan National Police practice shooting around a wall in a high-low stack during a room clearing class conducted June 4 at Forward Operating Base Warrior.

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Afghan National Police trained with paratroopers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in preparation for an upcoming joint mission.

During the training, conducted June 3 and 4 at Forward Operating Base Warrior, the ANP reviewed first aid, personnel and vehicle searches, and room clearing procedures.

“As we prepare to leave, the ANP will pick up security operations and bear the entire burden,” said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Anthony West, platoon leader for 1st Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 504th PIR. “We just wanted to refresh and keep them sharp on skills as we prepare to launch operations.”

Since the subjects of the training were relevant to their job and contained plenty of hands on exercises, the ANP remained engaged throughout the entire training process.

In the first aid block of instruction, the ANP practiced evaluating a casualty, checking for and treating shock, applying splints, and different methods to stop severe bleeding such as tourniquets, pressure dressings, and manual pressure.

“There are three types of bleeding – arterial, venous and capillary,” explained U.S. Army Sgt. Kevon Campbell, senior line medic for Company A, 1st Battalion, 504th PIR, as he spoke to the class. “Since someone is more likely to die from an arterial bleed, that is what we are going to focus on.”

For the personnel and vehicle search training, the paratroopers had the ANP demonstrate how they conduct searches and offered tips on how they could improve.

“The ANP are already good with searches. Their way works for them,” West said. “We just observed and gave notes in areas they could refine instead of starting from scratch and trying to teach them our way.”

During the room clearing class, the ANP trained on the proper way to enter a building with emphasis on each team member maintaining focus on their area of the room.

Throughout the class, instructors stressed the importance of communication between team members, muzzle awareness, and maintaining a strong stance.

“They did well. They showed a lot of interest and progressed throughout the day,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class George Turkovich, platoon sergeant for 1st Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 504th PIR. “Their morale was high and it made coaching easier for us.”

The training not only gave the paratroopers and ANP the confidence necessary to work together on future operations, but also gave the ANP the tools necessary to perform their jobs effectively when they run operations without coalition support.

“This was good training for us,” said ANP Sgt. Ahmad Shah. “It is important for us to do these things because it is what we do at our checkpoints. We need Afghanistan not to have weak military or weak police, so it was good for us.”

When 1st Battalion, 504th PIR, returns to Fort Bragg, N.C., later this the summer, the security of the area they occupied in southern Ghazni will be completely in the hands of Afghan National Security Forces.

Although the paratroopers look forward to going home, they also look forward to the ANSF succeeding in the fight to secure their country.

“I hope to see the ANSF take ownership of security and their country,” Turkovich said. “They will be the ones doing the job in the future and I hope they do the job with pride.”