ISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan
2011-01-D-059 For Immediate Release
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KABUL, Afghanistan (Jan. 5, 2011) — The Police Training Center in Qalat, Zabul province graduated 134 new recruits, including the first volunteers from the Commerce Stability Program and five female recruits, during a ceremony Jan. 3.

The Commerce Stability Program is a village-level security program similar to a neighborhood watch that hires men from each village and pays them to man observation posts alongside Afghan police officers.

The class also included the first female candidates to be inducted within the Zabul province.

The six-week long training course is conducted by the Afghan National Police and the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment. Students are taught techniques and law enforcement skills that will help them in their mission to provide security and stability to the citizens of Zabul province.

The training is separated into classroom and hands on exercises. Instructors teach basic skills like weapons handling, weapons maintenance and first aid. In addition, recruits are taught room clearing, traffic control point operations and team leading procedures.

Due to the predominately male environment at the Police Training Center and the lack of the women instructors, the female recruits were unable to engage in many of the practical exercises with the men.

“They went through the basic classroom training such as first aid, the constitution, tactics and techniques, checkpoint operations and security operations,” said Capt. Vinh Bui, the provincial logistical advisor for the Police Training Center. “They also went to the range and qualified with both rifle and pistol.”

Bui did state that though they will face many challenges in their careers, these five officers have become a stepping stone towards progress in making Afghanistan a more stable and secure country.

“They give females a voice within the ANP,” Bui said. “They make it more diverse and well-rounded.”