KABUL (BNO NEWS) -- Afghan National Police in the Rokha district of Panjshir province are taking the lead in training much-needed skills to fellow officers.

Afghan police captain Safat Ullah Sangee, Panjshir Operations Coordination Center-provincial, spends his days teaching map and compass reading techniques to police in each of the seven districts in the valley.

Sangee recently taught a three-day course at the Rokha Police Headquarters. He instructed policemen how to use a protractor with a map, give grid coordinates, find grid coordinates, identify terrain features, and measure distance between points.

"I have almost four months training in map reading in Kabul," said Sangee, who is a nine-year Afghan police veteran. "The Canadians taught us."

Sangee said map reading is necessary for the Afghan National Police because they will not always be working in the same area. He said even a policeman who knows his own district may have to respond to other districts in the province, or even to other provinces.

U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Stephen Jennings, a Task Force Wolverine Embedded Training Team (ETT) member with Provincial Reconstruction Team Panjshir, said Sangee was an outstanding student at the ETT's "Train the Trainer" course for map reading and has become an "awesome" teacher.

Rhoka Afghan National Police Training Officer Sefatmir said having an Afghan teach the class makes it easier for his men to learn. "We can easily learn from Afghans because we can understand them easily, and they know how to teach us," he said.

Sefatmir said if Americans would train Afghan police, it would take a long time. "The teacher will say something and then it will need to be translated by someone who isn't an expert in the field that's being taught."

U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Curtis Velasquez, Panjshir PRT commander and auxiliary police officer for the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia, agreed that learning from another expert in the field who speaks the same language makes training more productive.

"There are certain terms and concepts that police forces use that are unique to the field," said Velasquez. "Training can be a lot more effective if you're teaching or learning from people who use the same terminology. I think the training Captain Sangee provides is a great example of how an expert in one area of police work can offer quality training to others in the same field."

Throughout day two of the training, Sangee ran an interactive class. He instructed from a map, dry-erase board and computer presentation on a large flat-screen TV. The students participated often, and from time-to-time, the group would find something to laugh about.

Although the ETT interpreters moved among the students helping where they could, the U.S. Army ETT members stayed in the back of the room for the whole class in an observation role.

"Over the nine years we've been here, training has been plug-and-play," said Jennings. "Now, it's self-sustaining, and it's on the Afghans to provide the training."

Jennings said the self sustainment is important so "we can go home."

"It has been a pleasure having members of our ETT assist the Afghan National Police," said Velasquez. "Also, having some law enforcement experience from a great police department like Fairfax County has really helped me work better with the [Afghan National Police]."

Day three will be GPS training, said Jennings. After the group finishes the last district with the map and compass course, they will look at offering some training in close-quarter combat with weapons and room clearing procedures.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)