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A contract trainer for the Department of Defense border patrol program hands a diploma to a new Afghan border policeman at Gardez.

SIDEBAR

How Mentoring Works

The Department of Defense (DoD) mentoring approach shows promise for the long-term battle against illegal drug production in Afghanistan. In interviews, Afghan police officials from the Narcotics Interdiction Unit (NIU) and contractors who worked on the program say that mentoring under a public-private partnership can provide long-term support for Afghan forces with greater continuity and at lower cost than if done by uniformed or civilian U.S. government personnel. Serviam interviewed Jeff Gibson, vice president for international training at Blackwater Worldwide, for company insights into how the DoD and DEA mentor Afghan trainees.

Serviam: What’s the basic logic behind mentoring Afghan counternarcotics police?

Gibson: To make changes in the way people think and operate, you have to take this mentoring approach. You have to think in a very long-term timeframe. In Colombia, we started 20-plus years ago and we’re still there. In implementing the program in Afghanistan and keep it running for years, we must transition it slowly to Afghanis. The only way to change the mind set is by generations. You get the first group now—we’re teaching them how to manage programs and train, and as the first generation gets older and a new group comes in, they’ll have an established program that becomes second nature.

Serviam: Is there a problem with recidivism?

Gibson: Not if you really stick with it at the ground level. I love working with the Afghans. They’re proud people. They take pride in their work. If we just train them and walk away, they’ll backslide. But if you guide and mentor them over time, they’ll take ownership of the program. We’ve been there for four years and because of the one-on-one mentoring, with mentors embedded with them, they’re really accelerated from where they were.

Serviam: How does DoD’s mentoring of the NIU differ from previous training strategy?

Gibson: This program is successful. NIU guys do a six-week basic counternarcotics course, with basic military weapons handling, high-threat tactical training, then we stay with them. We work with them side-by-side. We make sure they live by their training. Their units are more cohesive and self-sustaining. We selected a few of their great guys to become unit trainers. Mentoring and being embedded with the NIU has made a significant impact.

Serviam: Why do it through private contractors and not directly with military or DEA personnel?

Gibson: As soon as our military people start to make a difference, they get rotated out. They go in for six, nine, or 12 months and then they leave and get replaced by someone brand new. The new people have to start over again. From scratch. Some of them don’t really want to be there and are counting the time to leave. There’s better continuity with private contractors. Some of our guys have been in Afghanistan for four years.

Serviam: Afghanistan hasn’t been able to secure its own borders despite the rise in trafficking and insurgency. What about the new border police?

Gibson: This mentoring approach is catching on. In the DoD border patrol program the mentors go out in the field and live with the Afghans, watching them do their job and advising them. At NIU, we train them and support their missions up north or east. These relations with the Afghans are priceless. The trust is hard to measure.

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From the March/April 2008 issue of Serviam.