Iraqi Border Police / Department of Border Enforcement
The Iraqi Border Police is tasked with guarding the six international borders of Iraq. The number of Iraqi border police and immigration and customs inspectors also almost doubled, from 12,000 in November 2003 to approximately 23,000 by February 2004.
In August 2004 the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement, as part of the Iraqi government’s continuing effort to provide peace and security to the citizens of Iraq, established a new and comprehensive training program that will produce a fully trained, equipped, and professional force of 11,000 officers by the end of December 2004. The program, under construction with Coalition and US Department of Homeland Security assistance, will call for the initial training of 600 border enforcement officers and an additional 72 Iraqi trainers capable of teaching future iterations in their respective disciplines.
Classes kicked off in Amman, Jordan, at the Jordan International Police Training Center 01 September 2004. It is the most important problem for Iraq. The borders are open ports for enemies and weapons to come into the country. The Iraqis have got to be able to secure the borders and stabilize the country before any progress can be made. The concept is to not only establish a program of instruction, but to develop lesson plans tailored to fit each region in Iraq.
The plan calls for 600 personnel to be trained every four weeks in a respective discipline within the border enforcement area of responsibility. Currently the department handles customs and immigration duties in addition to border security responsibilities. The course for Iraqi trainers is a nine-week course and will produce 72 additional instructors after each iteration. Instructors will be dispatched to the five regional training centers located within each major subordinate command in Iraq. By mid-November the first 72 trainers will be ready to commence training at the regional level. The goal is to eventually stand up a force of 37,000 border enforcement officers. An end-goal date has yet to be established.
Course work will include instruction in technical and non-technical inspections, custom tariff collections, evidence processing, legal considerations, anti-smuggling techniques, ethics, and various supervisory and support staff skills for customs, border police, and immigration personnel. The training effort will eventually move to Iraq with accommodations for the Department of Border Enforcement at the Baghdad Public Service Academy and the opening of regional academies co-located with Iraqi Police Service academies in Kirkuk, Mosul, and Basra.
Upon the openings, training efforts at the major subordinate command training facilities will also move to the new sites. Iraq will eventually deploy 251 border forts equipped with state-of-the-art security equipment including night-vision capabilities, unattended ground sensors, and closed-circuit television, camera, and multiplexer equipment.
Members of the Border Police wear khaki shirts and navy trousers. This uniform is due to change to a full khaki uniform.
