Posted on 09/06/2009 1:28:49 PM PDT by SandRat
BAGHDAD — Iraqi River Police (IRP) conducted operations here on the Tigris River to hone their skills in keeping Iraq’s waterways safe from terrorists, Sept. 1.
The mission of the IRP is to provide search and rescue, safety patrol, and counter smuggling operations along the waterways of Iraq. Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq advisors, mentors and trainers help the IRP accomplish this mission.
There are two advisors at the River Patrol. One is responsible for teaching waterborne operations, how to pilot the boats, and how to use the boats to conduct the operations found in the mission statement.
The second advisor is a highly skilled and qualified dive instructor responsible for the dive training. These advisors have teaching certifications required to conduct operations in search and rescue, safety patrols and counter smuggling in a river environment.
Iraqis here received “Train-the-Trainer” instruction to give them the expertise they need to visit each Iraqi province and teach river-boat patrol techniques to their own units.
Currently, there are 22 boats in the Baghdad Training Center, with four different designs of boats used in this training. They are used for regular operations and also have different designs and capabilities. These boats can be used to respond to missing person reports as well as engage in the recovery of drowning victims.
The biggest success that the U.S. advisors have seen with the Iraqis is their ability to grasp these complex river patrol techniques and apply them to their own curriculum. This professionalizes the IRP to better handle its mission.
Despite some maintenance issues, which are pervasive across Iraq, the Iraqis do a good job of keeping these boats afloat and running, said one U.S. Army advisor.
There will be more Train-the-Trainer courses conducted by U.S. advisors and attended by the IRP trainers. This cooperation is in-keeping with the Security Agreement between the two countries and sets the stage for future training.
Ping.
They certainly know the waters...If they can get above the maintenance issues, they will be very effective...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.