Martin Cunningham's Afghanistan blog
Martin Cunningham is a UK Chief Inspector with Kent Police, and is seconded through the Stabilisation Unit to EUPOL Afghanistan for 12 months . He has 31 years policing experience, 9 of which was in the Royal Military Police, during which he served for 2 years in Northern Ireland and also policed the East / West German Border from 1985-1987.
He has a degree in policing and is an experienced public order and firearms commander. During his time in Kent police he has run many operations and projects, and also ran the Force Control room for 10 months.
His role at EUPOL Afghanistan is the training of police commanders at the staff college, in Command Control and Communication. The courses are designed to take the theory of Leadership and Command and translate them into practical police leadership within a policing environment in Afghanistan.
Kabul blog 2: The future leaders of the Afghan Police
There have been times when I have wondered why I am here. On one such day, early into my life in the mission, I had this answered. We were driving back to our base from the staff college and on the way there were a couple of hundred school girls walking home from school. It could have been a scene from any developed country, they had their school bags and were talking and laughing with each other, and the only stark difference was there was no anti social behaviour that I have often witnessed at home.
Under the Taliban, these girls would not have been walking home from school at all. Whenever I get frustrated with things here I remember I am, in a very small way, contributing to these profound successes.
Before coming here, I had heard a number of things about the students I would be teaching. Some people said, ‘They are illiterate, they have no systems and structures, they do nothing but sleep in class, they cannot grasp even the most simple of concepts. You will really need to dumb it down.’ Fortunately I took the view that I would form my own opinions and assess things for myself.
Consider for a moment, ‘Can you talk for 30 minutes on the life of Winston Churchill?’ If you answered, ‘No’, you are not too different to many in the UK. Neither can I, I am ashamed to say. Ask anyone here about a historical figure like Ahmed Shah Massoud, the legendary mujahedin fighter and Afghan national hero who was killed a few days before the 9/11 attacks. They will tell you everything about his life, times and accomplishments. Whilst he is a hero from recent times, the Afghan people can also tell you all about figures from the deeper past like Saltan Mamod Ghznawe, Ahmed Shah Baba and Amanulah Khan Ghaze. In a way that surpasses what I, and many Brits, could tell them about Churchill.
When I spoke to an Afghan Police Major about grading systems, he articulated the system they all know and use to good effect. During combined Military and Police exercises run by a Canadian Colleague, the Afghan police commanders were very clear about their role and the demarcation between the military and the police and most importantly how they support each other. They showed a refined understanding of systems and structures.
The learning for me here has been that the Afghan people I work with are well versed at learning through verbal communication, and their retention of knowledge is excellent. Because some of them are illiterate, the common assumption that learning is primarily a book-based skill means we can miss the point, and miss the intelligence and application that many Afghans bring to bear in their studies here. These are a very hardy and resilient people, and it is not for them to learn blind—it is for us to facilitate learning in a manner that complements their abilities and allows them to get the best out of themselves. Yes, of course we should still strive for literacy but we should not underestimate these people.
The recent promotion course of Captain to Majors was filled with literate, educated Afghans with vast experience. As for them falling asleep in class, let’s look at a couple I had on my course. One was a Staff Officer for a General. He was at work at 5am, got the General’s requirements completed, came to class and then went back to his day job until late in the evening. Two young Captains, who were always tired, concerned me. When I enquired into why they were so tired other class members explained they had some of their men working on convoy escorts throughout the night. These were pre-planned operations and they felt it was their responsibility to ‘count them out and count them in’. After a couple of hours’ sleep they came to my class. I adapted break times and activities in the class to better meet their needs.
Do not underestimate the Afghan person or the Afghan police. The ones I have met are intelligent, operationally sound, responsive to change, quick to learn, resilient, hardy and open to new ideas. These men I have been teaching are the future leaders of the Afghan National Police and they give me hope. Hope for their promising careers, and hope for Afghanistan as it transitions to Afghan security lead in the coming years. These future leaders, and the emergent national police force they are a part of, will be critical to the success of this transition.
Kabul Blog 1: Ramadan in Afghanistan
I have completed 5 months in Afghanistan now, and the turnover of staff is such that I am fast becoming one of the longer serving seconded members of EUPOL.
The turnover a challenge, because as people get to know what they are supposed to do, and as they deepen their network, the key people can move on. The benefit is that we constantly gain new experiences, skills and enriched opinions. EUPOL is an excellent place to work and the people, both experienced and new, have a wealth of knowledge. I am a trainer here, but every day is a school day for me.
The support and shared experience is one of the best things about being here. Whilst it is a challenging environment and the restrictions on movement and personal life can compound this, these difficulties only strengthen the bonds we have with our colleagues. But we know the challenges we face are not nearly as difficult as those faced by the military.
And hopefully, by doing well and helping to improve the longer term capability of the Afghan National Police, we can support in the process of security transition to Afghan lead – to bring our troops home and to improve the opportunities for the Afghan people.
This August is the time of Ramadan here so all the local nationals are fasting during the day. Not so much as a drop of water is allowed to pass their lips and only a doctor can give them permission to eat or drink, and this only on medical grounds. The temperature is hot all day long, which is a real test of their will. So, while the Afghans still work during the day, we aren’t able to gain the best out of them in lessons. So there isn’t training this month. This is a great opportunity to write course material and improve some of the courses we offer them.
One of the ways we deal with the restrictions we live under is to use the gym in the evening. I am in a bit of pain this morning as I have taken up squash. Indeed, I learnt an important lesson the other night: using your head and shoulder as a brake against the wall, when running full pelt, really hurts…
Another way of feeling a sense of normality is the contact we have with loved ones back home. We are grateful for the use of the internet and British forces mail, without which contact would be really difficult.
Our thoughts and concerns, and those of the other EU and Afghan police officers we work with, have lately been with our colleagues who are on the front line back in the UK, who have dealt with the disorder and criminality of the riots there. There is a touch of irony to this, given that we are in Afghanistan and loved ones back home usually ask after our wellbeing. We have been asked on a daily basis—including by Afghans—how things are going, what news we have and if the friends and colleagues known to us are okay.
Policing is a family and working with the police of other nations is evidence of this. There is a bond, no matter how different the national culture or the policing model. I’ve noticed here that police officers are of a similar breed the world over. We all thank and salute men and women who are actually in the arena, whose faces are marred by dust and sweat, no matter where they serve or what specific issues and challenges they must resolve. So, whether dealing with looting and rioting in the suburbs of London, or stopping crime in the other European countries which are represented in EUPOL, or quelling disorder, criminality and even terrorism here in Afghanistan, as those we are training must do, we police are united by the same spirit.
