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New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team personnel assist with riot training for the Provincial Quick Reaction Force course.

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New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team Commander Colonel Roger McElwain presents the Top Graduate Award to Afghan National Police Officer Abdul Azeem.

New Zealand Defence Force
Te Ope Kaatua O Aotearoa

Media Release

17 August 2007

KIWI SOLDIERS TRAIN AFGHAN POLICE

Eleven Afghan National Police (ANP) officers have completed the Provincial Quick Reaction Force (PQRF) course run by New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) soldiers in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan.

The course aims to improve the skills of the ANP to create a force that is capable of defending the interests of the Afghan people and covers weapon drills, live field firing, first aid, Afghan law, vehicle checkpoints, riot control and ethos and values.

New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZPRT) Commander Colonel Roger McElwain said that the roles of the Kiwi instructors were not always easy, but ultimately very rewarding.

“The multi-cultural aspect of the course presents its own challenges, with all lessons and work on the range having to be conducted through an interpreter, but tangible results could be seen as the students progressed through the course. Many of them had a limited understanding of marksmanship principles when they started the course, but by the end they were competently conducting drills on the range.”

Commander Joint Forces New Zealand Rear Admiral Jack Steer says that he is proud to see the results of hard work by both the NZDF personnel and the ANP students.

“The New Zealand Defence Force is in the Bamyan Province to assist the Afghan people to rebuild their lives, and bring peace and stability to their country. The New Zealand personnel are doing an outstanding job in Afghanistan, and this work with the Afghan National Police is a major part of it. We are all very proud of their efforts.”

The PQRF is a platoon sized group of ANP that is employed by the NZPRT to assist with day to day security tasks at Kiwi Base and around Bamyan Province. The platoon has its own rank structure, but is administered and trained by the training cell of the NZPRT.

A PQRF course is run about every four months, ensuring that the policemen rotate to other provincial stations regularly to pass on their skills and professionalism to other ANP. The nature of the course means that the PQRF officers are among the most highly trained policemen in the province.

There are 122 New Zealand Defence Force personnel involved in the NZPRT in Afghanistan today.

ENDS

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