Airmen provide training for Afghan National Police Published June 11, 2009 By Senior Airman Erik Cardenas 455th Air Expeditionary Wing BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan -- In 2005, the State Department contracted civilian trainers to provide law enforcement skills to Afghanistan National Police, but three years later came the realization that the police really needed a logistics system to support the growing police force. The lesson the U.S. learned is sound logistics support is crucial for retaining the trained policemen in the Afghan force. A year ago, Air Force Maj. Michelle Hall became the U.S.'s first Logistics-Embedded Training Team areas advising the police on building a national logistics system. While coalition forces and the Afghanistan National Army are charged with clearing insurgents in Afghanistan, the ANP is charged with maintaining peace and stability in local villages. Twenty Airmen from the Combined Security Transition Command- Afghanistan in Kabul are charged with training ANP on a new NATO-standard logistics system. The Airmen, joined by 18 Sailors are logistics mentors for 400 ANP logisticians, expanding that ANP logistics force to 7,000 strong across 365 police districts in the country. The team provides mentoring in maintenance, supply, transportation, and Humvee training. "The ANP is often criticized for being uneducated and corrupt, but our experience has been different - many of the ANP we work with are smart, willing, and committed to reforms that reduce the corruption that long troubled the police force," according to Maj. Tara Parker, senior mentor for the Ministry of Interior's new Materiel Management Center. The team helped open a logistics center in Herat, enabling police in the west of Afghanistan to receive supplies, vehicle maintenance, and food--the type of support that was once difficult to receive in the remote western region. As Afghanistan prepares for presidential elections in August, the U.S. is supporting a rapid expansion in the ANP. Last month, the Log-ETT trained eight Kabul City Police Logistics Officers on procedures and documentation of organizational clothing and individual equipment in which members distributed equipment to 750 new ANP at three separate training sites. "With the expansion of the Afghan forces going on, you really see how important security is when new recruits, as young as 18 years-old, stepping up to take on the responsibilities for their nation," said Senior Master Sgt. J.J. Hughes, deployed from 366th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. With the upcoming Afghanistan national elections in August, training ANP members is critical for maintaining security. "Afghanistan is reforming and growing quickly - the people want to put the violence behind them, and that's why they're coming forward so readily to join the police and the army. Our job is to help build the logistics system that will support this bigger force, and to reform the old system's Soviet-style management," Master Sgt. Erik Rush commented, shortly before he returned home to Lackland AFB, Texas, after finishing a year-long deployment with the police.