Eighth cohort of Afghan National Army military police Soldiers graduate
 By MCC (SW) Maria Yager , Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435
  PARWAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan (April 23, 2011) — The eighth cohort of Afghan National Army Military Police Soldiers graduated from the Detention Operations Transition Course Thursday, April 21, 2011, the first of two phases of instruction required to serve as military police in the Detention Facility in Parwan. Afghan National Army (ANA) Brig. Gen Safiullah Safi, commanding general of Parwan and Pol-e-Charki Military Police Brigade, thanked the 137 graduates for their service to Afghanistan and commended them for demonstrated dedication to their training. “I am very proud of the professional performance of the military police in the DFIP,” said Safiullah. “When detainees are released and return to their villages they can speak positively of the care and treatment they received from the ANA military police brigade personnel at the DFIP.” During the ceremony top graduates were invited to the head of the formation to accept their certificates from brigade leaders. Upon receipt, each Soldier proudly hoisted his certificate in the air and exclaimed, “I am proud to serve Afghanistan.” The Parwan and Pol-E-Charki Military Police Brigade is responsible for the confinement of detainees, prisoners and national security threats. As part of the conditions-based transition of detention operations from U.S. to Afghan control, more than 1600 ANA military police will be trained and assigned as guard force and headquarters staff at the DFIP. Cohort 8 students arrived at the ANA Logistical Support Area in Parwan in March to begin the advanced individual training required for service in the DFIP, following completion of ANA basic military training and basic military police training in Kabul. This first phase of training included six weeks of classroom instruction on standards of conduct for duty, and emphasized safe, secure, humane care and custody of detainees and prisoners in accordance with international standards and Afghan law. Soldiers also received training in daily housing unit operations, including manning over watch stations, searching cells for contraband, escorting prisoners to and from appointments and overseeing recreation, and daily hygiene and meal service for prisoners. The second and final phase consists of on-the-job training in the DFIP, where the new graduates will be matched with an experienced guard force member for additional training and evaluation. The DFIP, a state-of-the-art theater internment facility located several kilometers from Bagram Airfield, was completed in September 2009 and occupied by detainees in late December 2009.  The DFIP is equipped with a medical facility, on-site family visitation center, vocational facilities and educational classrooms.  The design of the DFIP accommodates detainee reintegration efforts and enables Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435 to better align detainee operations with the overall strategy to defeat the extremist insurgency in Afghanistan. CJIATF-435 actively partners with Afghan forces in preparation for the responsible transfer of military detention operations to the government of Afghanistan.