MoI Holds First Ever ANP Provincial Commanders Seminar - Clinton Atkins, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan Public Affairs.
The Ministry of Interior, the branch of the Afghan government responsible for Afghan National Police development and operations, held its first ever Provincial Commanders Seminar July 31 and will last five days at the Border Police Facility.
ANP leadership from every province and border zone attended the seminar where key note speakers such as Minister of Interior Bismillah Khan Mohammadi and Assistant Commanding General for the Combined Training Advisory Group-Police Brig. Gen. Carmelo Burgio offered words of wisdom and guidance to boost the spirits and leadership abilities of 34 provincial commanders, six zone commanders and five MoI department directors.
Through the course of the five days, the seminar will cover in-depth on leadership, management of change, future challenges for police, police education, recruiting, training and assignment of police personnel. They will also discuss gender issues, community policing and anti-corruption as a challenge to Afghan police forces.
"The purpose of the Provincial Commander's Conference is to bring together the operational leadership of the MoI and give them an opportunity to interact with the MoI Headquarters staff in addition to police experts from our coalition partners," said General Burgio. "In partnership with EUPOL, NTM-A facilitates the sharing of ideas, expertise and experiences among the provincial commanders to improve their knowledge about important topics such as leadership, reducing corruption and organizational management."
On day one, ANP commanders learned the values of leadership and how being a good role model earns the respect of subordinates. Each lesson was taken to heart as the crowd focused on taking notes. "The things we learned today are very beneficial to us," said Brig. Gen. Ghulan Jan, ANP chief of recruitment at MoI. "It will help us a lot to do our duties better for the people of Afghanistan."
During his lecture, General Burgio laid down plans for the future with hopes of integrating various Afghan National Army and ANP training together such as ANA command and general staff college, joint training at ANP schools (crime task force management and police intelligence operations), and Afghan Defense University attendance.
"All of the things General Burgio spoke of will be beneficial to the ANP," said General Jan. "Those programs that were mentioned today will undoubtedly improve the quality of the ANP. Our future is bright."
General Jan said that ANA and ANP coordinating together will boost the success of the Afghan Nation Security Forces.
The road of ANP development is long and as with any great force it starts with good leadership.
"By offering some western points of view about these topics, our hope is that the seminars provoke discussion among the Commanders which ultimately enhances the effectiveness of their leadership styles and methods," he said. "We want to encourage Afghan solutions to Afghan problems."
Photo cutline: KABUL, Afghanistan (July 31, 2010) -- Juergen Illig, Finnish Head of European Police Mission Afghanistan, speaks to Chiefs of Police of provinces and border zones from all over Afghanistan during a seminar that brings them together for the first time. The seminar will last for five days and the two main themes are "Vision" and "Development." (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jeff Nevison)