BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 26, 2004 — The Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement, as part of the Iraqi government’s continuing effort to provide peace and security to the citizens of Iraq, is establishing a new and comprehensive training program that will produce a fully trained, equipped, and professional force of 11,000 officers by the end of December 2004.

The program, under construction with Coalition and U.S. Department of Homeland Security assistance, will call for the initial training of 600 border enforcement officers and an additional 72 Iraqi trainers capable of teaching future iterations in their respective disciplines.

Classes are slated to kick off in Amman, Jordan, at the Jordan International Police Training Center Sept. 1.

“It is the most important problem for Iraq,” a senior Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement official said (name withheld for security reasons). “Right now our borders are open ports for enemies and weapons to come into our country.

“If we are to have a safe and secure Iraq, we must stop the problems at our borders,” he said. “But right now this doesn’t exist.”

An assessment the chief Coalition-provided assistant to the mission concurs with.

“The Iraqis have got to be able to secure the borders and stabilize the country before any progress can be made here,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Country Director for Iraq, Doug Melvin said

“The concept is to not only establish a program of instruction,” he added, “but to develop lesson plans tailored to fit each region in Iraq.”

The plan calls for 600 personnel to be trained every four weeks in a respective discipline within the border enforcement area of responsibility. Currently the department handles customs and immigration duties in addition to border security responsibilities.

“We want to enhance the ability of the Iraqis to provide their own security,” Melvin said, “thus disengaging from the Coalition side.

“To do that,” Melvin said, “the Iraqis have got to be able to train themselves.”

The course for Iraqi trainers is a nine-week course and will produce 72 additional instructors after each iteration. Instructors will be dispatched to the five regional training centers located within each major subordinate command in Iraq. By mid-November the first 72 trainers will be ready to commence training at the regional level. The goal is to eventually stand up a force of 37,000 border enforcement officers. An end-goal date has yet to be established.

“And the positive on the ’37,000’ number is that as the force is trained up, they will become more efficient and professional and that number might even come down,” Melvin said. “As soon as possible is the goal,” Melvin said.

“This thing is uniquely manageable,” Melvin added. “There is a true partnership here and the Iraqis are totally committed to this.”

Course work will include instruction in technical and non-technical inspections, custom tariff collections, evidence processing, legal considerations, anti-smuggling techniques, ethics, and various supervisory and support staff skills for customs, border police, and immigration personnel. The training effort will eventually move to Iraq with accommodations for the Department of Border Enforcement at the Baghdad Public Service Academy and the opening of regional academies co-located with Iraqi Police Service academies in Kirkuk, Mosul, and Basra.

Upon the openings, training efforts at the major subordinate command training facilities will also move to the new sites.

Iraq will eventually deploy 251 border forts equipped with state-of-the-art security equipment including night-vision capabilities, unattended ground sensors, and closed-circuit television, camera, and multiplexer equipment.

“We have a long history of border security,” the official said. “But with Coalition help we can do this and the future will be fine.

“This force and the training we are putting together is like a new-born baby for us,” he added. “The effect will be a safe Iraq.”