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CIVPOL Diary: Making progress amid new changes
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By Cpl Barry Pitcher
KPRT CIVPOL
Kandahar – The summer months are now behind us here in Afghanistan, and the heat is starting to subside. Our team of eight members has seen some changes recently. The ISAF rotation we deployed with has all gone home. It was quite a sight to see all our military friends boarding the large Chinook helicopters to return to their families. We, of course, are aware that most of us still have another four to five months in theatre!
With every military rotation, comes a new way of doing things, and our " Vandoos" brothers are no exception. While they were deployed here under some controversy, it is certainly not evident in their work ethic. The soldiers are very eager to make a difference and they take time to listen to our analysis of the Afghan National Police (ANP) security situation.
With French the primary language here, many of the CIVPOL team now has a chance to brush up and/or start learning a second language. The recent rotation of personnel also saw our own Superintendent Dave Fudge head home and eventually to his new positing in Nova Scotia. The incoming contingent commander, Superintendent Lou Racz, hails from Nanaimo, BC and we welcome his experience to the mission.
Ongoing CIVPOL operations are still the same for those of us who remain, with a few modifications. In this new rotation, we have seen that ISAF now pay closer attention to our recommendations on police reform. In particular, the usefulness of embedding advisors with the ANP in the combat districts has been realized. The importance of having mentorship applied at the checkpoint and sub station level is seeing reality in the districts. US Army mentoring teams have now moved in to our offices at the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (KPRT) to work exclusively with us in getting our input on this. The future premise is for these police mentoring teams to provide the security and combat tactics portion while we and/or the military police provide the policing expertise.
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Already, many of the reports and analytical assessments of the districts are being circulated and shared for everyone's benefit. It is very rewarding to have our previous hard work recognized at the highest level of military command. Our American cousins are becoming great comrades for us here at KPRT, and it is a nice change to ride in the Humvees versus the more cramped LAV III's!
CIVPOL's main effort in the coming months will be on specialty training such as crime scene management, advanced first aid, and police ethics. We are finding that it is the senior leadership and specialty branches of the ANP that benefit most from what we have to offer. In this society, the common police officer is in fact more of a paramilitary soldier. It is for this reason that the majority of field taskings we once carried out are now being moved to military mentors as they have more mobility and manpower than we do.
The threat level for us remains high in Kandahar. In the last month, we have been rocketed three times, the last attack hitting our sleeping quarters. A few of us also came under rocket attack while on patrol in Panjwayi last month. We have been extremely lucky in that nobody has been injured, but it certainly reminds us that we live and work in the middle of a war zone.
Within the city we are also still very active in assisting ISAF forces in seizing various forms of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and monitoring some ANP investigations. In the course of a week, it's not uncommon for us to oversee the seizure of a suicide vest, or perhaps cordon a Vehicle IED scene. These duties are on a call-out basis, with each of us taking a turn on standby for the KPRT Quick Reaction Force. As always, we are very careful to analyze all missions outside the wire and to ensure no unnecessary risks are taken by our team.
Letters and messages from home keep us all going, so morale remains high for us doing our duty at Camp Nathan Smith. Keep the faith back home and we all send our best to our friends and families back in Canada.
