An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Panjshir ANP conduct refresher training

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Amber Ashcraft
  • Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team Public Affairs
PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan --  Paryan Afghan National Police began follow-up Basic Military Training classes here in the Paryan District, Jan. 9.

Recently, more than 15 local ANP members attended the first class on police values and ethics being taught by Paryan ANP trainer Lt. Col. Mohammad Yaseen in order to promote awareness of ethical behavior and how it impacts law enforcement.

"The ANP moved quickly into the training," said U.S. Army Master Sgt. Todd Eipperle, senior non-commissioned officer in charge of Task Force Red Bulls Embedded Training Team in Panjshir. "They were eager for class, taking plenty of notes and asking several questions."

The training is designed as a refresher course from the information local ANP learned at Basic Military Training in Kabul.

"Some ANP never see the initial training from BMT again,"  said the Marshalltown, Iowa native. "Being retrained and able to actually openly discuss the scenarios and information will help them apply it easier."

When the ETT members began visiting the districts and asking the local ANP if they were conducting any training, the response was a resounding no, Sergeant Eipperle said.

Knowing that local ANP were not being further trained on the basics, the ETT members began researching ways to help.

"We actually had electronic manuals on the information the ANP learn in their BMT," Sergeant Eipperle said.

ETT members started a "train the trainers" course, which they hold monthly with the information they found. Several district trainers from across Panjshir Province attend the week-long class in order to learn how to pass the police training on to their own local ANP.

ETT members aim for ANP to continue to hold their own classes.

"The idea is to have the ANP sustain the training once we're gone," Sergeant Eipperle said. "Just as we do annual training in the military to retain what we've been taught, the ANP will be able to continue their training and apply it to every day circumstances."

Two classes are held every month, each class covering a different subject. During the first class, students went over scenarios and were required to answer questions identifying the unethical behavior in the scenario, the dilemma and how to resolve the dilemma or behavior.

"When they broke into groups, there were many heated discussions," said U.S. Army Spc. Brian Brown, communication specialist with Task Force Red Bulls ETT in Panjshir, and Central City, Iowa, native. "Being able to talk about corruption and taking gifts as police officers is not something they discussed in BMT. Here, they were able to apply the training they just learned to everyday scenarios and come up with an ethical answer."

In July, at the end of the 16-class course, there will be a graduation for the ANP who attended, said Sergeant Eipperle.

"We're hoping that each district will be able to do the same and the ANP will be able to sustain their annual training and become proficient as teachers and students," he said.