Some 45 Security Forces airmen deployed to Iraq are training Iraqi policemen in the Salah province to run their own police stations. Forming the 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron Det. 6 at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, these 45 airmen are one of two USAF teams engaged in training policemen—a new in lieu of the Army mission for the Air Force. Lt. Col. Steve Kaufman, detachment commander, says his airmen were supposed to fill a base security role near Mosul, but got “fragged” to COB Speicher at the last minute. The mission involves identifying police stations first, since some have moved or been destroyed, then the actual training process, and finally watching the Iraqi police recruits in action. “I’m going crazy here,” says Kaufman, adding, “It’s a good crazy, though. It’s a great mission.”
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
