U.S. Troops Train Afghan Security Guards

By Army Sgt. Charles Brice
Special to American Forces Press Service

Jan. 6, 2009 - U.S. soldiers are training new Afghan security guards in an effort that is bringing them more help at traffic checkpoints. Soldiers from 1st Infantry Division's Company A, 201st Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, taught the specialized training at Forward Operating Base Fenty in northeast Afghanistan. The training included tactics, techniques and procedures for working traffic control points and conducting body searches.

"What we teach in the class can carry over into their daily routine," Army Sgt. Prentice Rouse, from Company A, said. "In return for their participation, they can go back and train their peers."

During training, the soldiers demonstrated techniques, which the Afghans followed.

"Each [Afghan security guard] will go through the same training over and over until they grasp the information and feel comfortable with teaching it to others," Rouse said. "We encourage them to participate and interact with our company and their fellow soldiers."

The security guards were taught a different skill set by the troops every week.

"Now that our forces are combined, we can run the checkpoints and gates more effectively along with the [Afghan security guards]," Army 1st Lt. Craig Gridelli, base defense and operations officer in charge, said. "The training that we leave behind will hopefully have built a little bit of institutional knowledge with the [Afghan security guards] so that they can do the job themselves."

(Army Sgt. Charles Brice serves in the 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team public affairs office.)