Photo Credit: Gerald L. Nino

A Bortac Patrol agent trains Iraqi border police trainee at the Jordian International Police Training Center.

Iraqi personnel trained are either in the Border Police, which is similar to the CBP Border Patrol, or work as customs officers and customs police, the counterparts to our CBP officers. Iraqi immigration officials are also being trained. In September 2004, a core cadre of instructors conducted the first of three month-long comprehensive border security courses.

Iraqi Border Enforcement Training – not just learning, but learning to do it right
CBP has extensive experience conducting international training, but this training is unique in many ways. Under Saddam Hussein, many of the Iraqi borders were sealed, and commercial travel in and out of the country was severely restricted. Iraqis were isolated from exposure to the routine of legitimate travelers and modern free trade policies. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and Border Patrol agents are fighting the war on terror, and we’ve taken it to the borders of Iraq,” says CBP Commissioner Robert C. Bonner. “Our people are on a vital mission to protect their own borders and build Iraqi institutions that will safeguard the new freedoms and democratic principles being established there.”

For all Iraqi border control officials, regardless of their titles, the most challenging lessons to be learned are about operating under a new paradigm. Functioning in support of a representative government is quite different than working under a brutally repressive government where kickbacks, bribes and other forms of petty corruption were commonplace. Under Saddam Hussein, Customs officials were frequently ordered to be complicit in smuggling drugs and weapons into the country. While CBP training provides the basic operational tools necessary for border enforcement, we are also laying the groundwork for border enforcement efforts characterized by legitimacy and integrity—assisting in establishing procedures and the fundamental mechanisms for border control.

CBP Officers teach border security curriculum
Basic classroom course work for the Iraqi Customs officers and Customs police includes instruction in border security tactics, human rights issues, firearms training and vehicle search techniques in addition to basic customs and immigration matters. In addition to line skills, evidence processing, anti-smuggling techniques, and ethics are subjects covered in these initial training forays. Supervisory training and train-the-trainer courses are also being conducted to provide skills for customs, border police, and immigration personnel.

Photo Credit: Gerald L. Nino

A BORTAC agent demonstrates a rescue technique.

Training is conducted at JIPTC but will eventually be moved to Iraq with accommodations for the Department of Border Enforcement at the Baghdad Public Service Academy. Regional Border Enforcement academies are also planned to be co-located with Iraqi Police Service academies in Kirkuk, Mosul, and Basra. More than 25 CBP officers have trained in excess of 2,500 Iraqi Customs police and Customs officers at the JIPTC since September of 2004.

CBP Border Patrol train Iraqi Border police counterparts
Iraqi Border Police face obstacles similar to those of the CBP Border Patrol. Smugglers and insurgents seeking to enter Iraq move along ancient routes that were once camel trails driving sport-utility vehicles in the desert night. While the Border Police receive comprehensive training, they also get additional hands-on instruction such as firearms instruction at a firing range, field tracking skills, and tactical maneuvers. In addition, an elite group of Border Police similar to CBP’s Border Patrol tactical teams are also being trained. These Iraqi tactical teams strategically deployed along the southern part of the Iraqi-Syrian border and the Iraqi-Jordanian border, receive instruction in advanced tactical techniques such as cover and concealment, defensive tracking, and survivalist methods.

Another aspect of training is in the field where smaller Border Support Teams work side by side with Iraqi border enforcement personnel. These four-person teams are multidisciplinary—made up of two Border Patrol agents and two CBP officers, and headed by a Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) agent. BORTAC agents are specially trained in mobile tactical techniques. Teams work side by side with Iraqi border enforcement personnel patrolling the border and conducting sweeps both on the border and at the ports of entry. Iraqi personnel have an opportunity to observe field patrol techniques first hand and work with these elite special operations teams.

Training reaps results
This type of collaborative effort has paid off. In December 2004, newly trained Iraqi border enforcement agents, assisted by CBP border-support teams, arrested 41 terrorists seeking to join al Qaeda forces. Those arrested had maintained a weapon smuggling route supplying Iraqi insurgents with arms and supplies.

It isn’t just terrorists, insurgents, and weapons that are being intercepted, but the funds that support these efforts. In another incident, a taxi driver and passenger were referred for inspection at a border crossing. Small amounts of currency were in the vehicle glove box and in a small travel bag. Further inspection revealed currency hidden under the rear seat, under the center console and in the trunk. In all there was 115,000,000 Iranian Reols (approximately US $17,000) and 15,000,000 Iraqi Dinars (approximately US $17,000.) Border security officials suspect that the money was to be used to pay insurgents. The driver was subsequently arrested by the military. These incidents are evidence of the critical role that CBP officers and agents played prior to, during, and continuing after the Iraqi national elections—keeping saboteurs, terrorists, arms, and illegal funds from being smuggled into the country.

Border forts – outposts of security
The U.S. military is also supervising the construction of border forts along the borders with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria. Thirty-one of the 153 that are planned are completed. These forts, which resemble stone castles with turrets, will serve as outposts for Border Police who will patrol the border. The Iraqi perimeters will ultimately be equipped with state-of-the-art security equipment like ground sensors, night vision technology, and communications equipment. Like the technology that supports CBP Border Patrol efforts, this equipment will provide expanded monitoring capability.

Training provides for multi-cultural exchanges
“Chonit?” one of the Border Patrol instructors may ask his students. Students may return the greeting that means “how are you” in Kurdish, but may as likely respond with “Hola, que tal,” a Spanish phrase learned from some of the bi-lingual Spanish-speaking agents. Iraqis and Kurds attend separate classes because of language differences, but having everyone at a common training facility and in a collegial environment has opened the door to cultural exchange. Simple familiarity with day-to-day routines such as food, drink, and language may help pave the way for increased tolerance of the multi-ethnic groups who now will live in a new Iraq.

Efforts from CBP officers and agents will be rewarded as Iraq moves towards self-government. The newly trained Iraqi Border police, Customs officers and Customs police will put their skills into action to secure their borders and in doing so will help protect America.

CBP is not just supporting the effort in Iraq through training but we have many CBP employees who have been called to active military duty. From October 2003 to the present, CBP has more than 280 employees who have served or continuing to serve on active military duty.