Training the AUP

By: Vincent J. Curtis

Date: 9 Dec 2010

Dateline: FOB Rushmore, Afghanistan

Afghanistan has a lot of war materiel.  When the United States begins its drawdown in 2012, not all of it is coming back.  Among the material being left behind is the redoubtable Humvee.

It’s frame strengthened, its sides and bottom covered with armor, a gun turret, its windows bulletproofed, this vehicle has come a long way from the jeep replacement it originally was.  Even so, the Humvee is deemed obsolete by the army, and use of the vehicle by US troops outside the wire is no longer authorized.  The bigger and much more capable MATVs and others like it are now the primary the beasts of burden for US troops in the field.

The Humvee is still a capable vehicle, and many of them are still mechanically fit, and so the US army is turning over its inventory of Humvees in Afghanistan to the Afghan forces, and in particular to the AUP, or Afghan Uniformed Police.  The AUP presently conduct their vehicle patrols in modified Ford Rangers, which are unarmored.  The Humvees represent a big step up in protection and potential for firepower.

A familiarity with driving is not something you can take for granted among Afghans.  Motorcycles are common, but cars are found only in the cities.  The AUP need to be trained in driving across desert roads and through wadis in the heavily armored, four wheel drive Humvee.  That’s where trainers like Sgt Carlson Parks, 27, who hails from South Carolina, come in.

Parks is the master driver and trainer of the Brigade Support Troops Battalion, 4^th Brigade Combat team, 101^st Airborne Division.  He has been in the service since 2001, and for the last three years has been the master driver trainer for his battalion.  His battalion is nicknamed “the Warhawks.”  Sgt Parks normally teaches a three week familiarization course, but due to constraints has had to cut the program down to one week for driving and basic maintenance.  He had sixteen student drivers who, after a week of familiarization training, were assessed for their driving skills over a desert course laid out on the sprawling FOB Sharana.

“[The course] gives them better familiarization with operating the vehicle and also for their own maintenance level that they can do without us,“ said Sgt Parks explaining the purpose of the program.

All sixteen drivers passed the course and were awarded with a course certificate.  The best overall student was also awarded a battalion coin.

Ultimately the job of these drivers is “to go out ahead of us.  Basically doing what they’ve been doing since we got out here: helping to build up rapport in the cities and find the bad guys is the best way to put it,” said Sgt Parks.

The Humvee will make that job just a little safer for them, and it is hoped, will add to their confidence, willingness, and activity.

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