Not everyone sold on combat policing training

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Marine Corps Sgt. Ryan Pettit with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment talks with villagers during an operation in the Helmand province, Afghanistan. Marines will begin using tactics of inner-city cops to help build sources, gain intelligence and find insurgents.


Not everyone sold on combat policing training
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 23, 2009 19:21:03 EST

Grunts everywhere, prepare to face the Crips of Kabul.

The same techniques used by inner-city cops to fight street gangs in the U.S. are headed to Afghanistan — this time to root out insurgents, collect intelligence on improvised explosive device networks and build sources in Afghan villages.

The Schools of Infantry at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Camp Pendleton, Calif., will start teaching the methods early next year to sergeants and above as part of a broader effort to better prepare Marines for counter-insurgency warfare, where they can expect to be in combat one day and acting as cops the next. It is part of a broader effort that will build on police training for grunts across the Corps, said Lt. Col. David Lucas, head of emerging training for ground combat at Training and Education Command.

The brainchild of retired Los Angeles Police Detective Ralph Morten, the training will be taught by experienced police officers with a minimum of 10 years on the beat.

It includes lessons on:

• Evidence collection. Marines will learn how to collect evidence and find potential military intelligence as they seek out weapons caches, IED-making materials and insurgents.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/11/marine_cops_112309w/