Oklahomans Train Iraqi Police in Securing Baghdad

Ducks patrol with IP
Originally uploaded by Sydney Weasel.

By Army Staff Sgt. Michael Skaar, US Central Command Public Affairs

When the Headquarters and Headquarters Services, 1-158th Field Artillery, of the Oklahoma National Guard arrived in Baghdad in October they were faced with a daunting task, to train the Iraqi Police (IPs) in methods that were a foreign concept to them compared to the type in use when Saddam was in power.

“In the past IPs never operated in quite the way that they do today and there were some growing pains at first” said Sgt. Maj. Jimmy Venable of the 1-158th. The IPs are coming around though and Venable went on to say that with each iteration of training the security situation continues to get better and better.

Training for the IPs has been mostly from the ground up, type of work since all police forces were disbanded when US troops first took control of Iraq said Venable. As a result US troops and contractors have begun with the basics, such as training the IPs in force protection (making sure that IPs are safe at their stations and in the streets) and investigation. {Click on image for details}