Multi-National Corps – Iraq Press Release
CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq – More than 500 Iraqi men were screened and accepted for service as police officers in their local communities during a three-day recruiting/screening drive in Iraq’s western Al Anbar Province recently.
U.S. Marines screened thousands of applicants Aug. 11-14, 2006, in various regions along the western Euphrates River valley, to include the border city of Al Qa’im, Haditha, and Baghdadi – a small town just miles east of this sprawling U.S. air base.
The three-day event was the most successful recruiting/screening drive for U.S. and Iraqi forces in this region to date, according to Maj. Lowell Rector, officer-in-charge of the police transition team for Regimental Combat Team 7.
Police transition teams are teams of U.S. service members who mentor, train and oversee the establishment of Iraqi police forces throughout the province. {Click on image for details}
1 comment:
RCT-7 is the U.S. military unit responsible for providing security and mentoring Iraqi Security Forces in western Anbar – an area more than 30,000 square-miles in size which stretches from the Jordanian and Syrian borders hundreds of miles east to Hit, a city about 70 miles northwest of Ramadi.
Including the 500 new applicants, western Anbar Province will have more than 2,200 police officers in uniform.
Rector attributes a variety of “variables” to the success of the recruiting drive – consistent pay, new and better police equipment, and a rigorous screening process to ensure only high-caliber candidates are accepted.
“They’re getting paid, they realize the benefits, (and) the environment’s becoming more secure,” said Rector. “They want to serve.”
New applicants must attend eight to 10 weeks of police training at one of two police academies, located in Baghdad and Jordan, before they can begin service at their respective police districts, said Rector.
To qualify for service, applicants had to endure a physical fitness test, medical exam, background check, literacy test, and an interview and application process with retired U.S. police officers who work hand in hand with Iraqi police forces.
Meanwhile, a similar recruiting/screening drive in the greater Fallujah area netted 176 new applicants. About 1,700 police officers currently serve there.
Post a Comment