American Indians teach Turkmen officers to guard border with Afghanistan

[Carnage_59]

American Indians teach Turkmen officers to guard border with Afghanistan

http://www.times.kg/news/AllNews/All.../08/27/0057717

ASHGABAT (TCA). Three American Indians of the Blackfood, Sheyenne, and Pima tribes from the special squad Shadow Wolves guarding the US-Mexico border visited Turkmenistan to share their experience with Turkmen border guards in combating drug traffic.



According to the press service of the US Embassy in Ashgabat, the American specialists conducted a five-day training of 25 officers of the Turkmen Border Guard Service.



The southern border of Turkmenistan is used for illegal drug traffic so practical training was conducted in places resembling the landscape along Turkmenistan's border with Iran and Afghanistan.



According to Sharmaine Harris, instructor from Arizona, they taught the Turkmen border officers the traditional methods of American Indians who trace drug traffickers by noticing displaced rocks on the ground or broken branches. The desert area of southern Turkmenistan with impassible bushes in some paces is very much like the landscape along the US-Mexico border, she said.



The American instructors taught the skills of tracking drug traffickers at night and detecting components of weapons of mass destruction. The exchange of experience was bilateral. "It was very interesting for us to learn from Turkmen border guards some new methods used by drug traffickers to cover their traces while crossing the border - particularly a person's movement by rolling over the borderline to wipe out the traces," said Sharmaine Harris.



The Shadow Wolves unit was established more than 30 years ago. In 1972 the US army decided to take use of the extraordinary abilities of American Indians to "read tracks" and created this unique squad, sending it to combat drug traffic in desert on the US-Mexico border.



The Shadow Wolves have already conducted training courses in other post-Soviet countries of Central Asia, as well as in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland.



The US government's Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance Program (EXBS) also presented the Turkmen Border Guard Service 25 GPS sets, 25 instrument kits, and 25 hand flashlights that were used during the training.



Previously, the Turkmen border and customs agencies received from the EXBS Program 40 UAZ off-road vehicles, 11 water trucks, 40 night surveillance devices, 140 binoculars, and 40 GPS sets. An X-ray scanner HI-SCAN 100100V, made by Heimann Systems GmbH (Germany), was recently installed at the customs checkpoint in Serhetabat (formerly Kushka). The equipment was also presented by the EXBS Program.

[Woodmonkey]

Fascinating, Tom. I've never heard of this group before.

[JohnRN]

Very fascinating.

[Hoss68]

We see this as more of a US problem IMO. I think we don't always realize how (since it is so bad here, especially with meth labs and such) it can be worse.

Most of the drug busts here in MN you hear about are meth labs. TG I'll never understand the draw people have to drugs.

[JohnRN]

The same draw for money, lust, power...

It's human.

[Hoss68]

John~ When I read the stories you post, the family loyalty and traditions in other coutries, the low incomes, the lack of freedom, food, shelter, the dictatorship-like rulings... The list goes on~ it's hard for me to imagine that drugs can or do flow through those countries...

That may be thinking inside the box, but it does not seem as though that would be a problem every where else like it is here. At least I would hope it wouldn't be, just as I wish drugs had not destroyed so many lives and families here.

[Woodmonkey]

Originally Posted by Hoss68

John~ When I read the stories you post, the family loyalty and traditions in other coutries, the low incomes, the lack of freedom, food, shelter, the dictatorship-like rulings... The list goes on~ it's hard for me to imagine that drugs can or do flow through those countries...

Look at the corruption in those countries and the high ranking officials who make money from the flow of drugs. They flow with cooperation. In ours, there is a financial incentive to avoid the government controls, plus we have a huge country. We also have civil rights and the police are limited in what they can do to control us.

That may be thinking inside the box, but it does not seem as though that would be a problem every where else like it is here. At least I would hope it wouldn't be, just as I wish drugs had not destroyed so many lives and families here.

Don't we all.