War Hero, Firefighter, Police Officer, Actor and Writer

Police-Writers.com is a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books. Police-Writers.com added James McEachin to the website. He is a war hero and has been a firefighter, police officer, accomplished actor, writer and now a movie director.

James McEachin, a former police officer for the Hackensack Police Department (New Jersey) is an African-American actor and award-winning author most notably noted for his role as the first black man to have his own show on NBC called TENAFLY, and for his many character roles such as portraying police lieutenant Brock in the Perry Mason television movie series.

As a young man, James McEachin served in the U.S. Army before, and then during the Korean War. Serving in King Company, he was wounded (nearly fatally) in an ambush and left for dead. He was rescued by a young blond boy who carried him for two days and many miles over difficult terrain and nearby gunfire to safety before disappearing from McEachin's life forever. McEachin was one of only two soldiers to survive the ambush. He was discharged from the Army as a corporal. He was awarded both the Purple Heart and Silver Star in 2005 by California Congressman David Dreier after McEachin participated in a Veterans History Project interview given by Dreier's office and in which they discovered McEachin had no copies of his own military records. Dreier's office quickly traced the records and notified McEachin of the Silver Star commendation and awarding him all seven of his medals of valor shortly thereafter and fifty years after his service.

Following his military career James McEachin dabbled in civil service as first a fireman and then a police officer. In 1953, he had a brief law enforcement career as a police officer for the Hackensack Police Department (New Jersey) before he moved to California and became a record producer. Known as Jimmy Mack in the industry, he worked with young artists like Otis Redding and went on to produce The Fury's. He began his acting career shortly after, and was signed by Universal as a contract actor in the 1960s. He was regularly cast in professional, "solid citizen" occupational roles, such as a lawyer or a police commander, guesting on numerous series such as Hawaii Five-O, Mannix, and Dragnet. He played the dee-jay Sweet Al Monty in Play Misty for Me (1971) with Clint Eastwood. In 1973, McEachin starred as Harry Tenafly, the title character in Tenafly, a short-lived detective series about a police officer turned private detective who relied on his wits and hard work, rather than guns and fistfights.

While continuing to guest star in many television series and appearing in several feature-length films, McEachin landed his most memorable role, that of police lieutenant Brock in the 1986 television movie Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun. He would reprise this role in more than a dozen Perry Mason telemovies, appearing opposite the late Raymond Burr.

In the 1990s, McEachin semi-retired from acting to pursue a writing career. His first work was a military history of the court-martial of 63 black American soldiers during the First World War, titled Farewell to the Mockingbirds (1995), which won the 1998 Benjamin Franklin Award. His next works, mainly fiction novels, included The Heroin Factor (1999), Say Goodnight to the Boys in Blue (2000), The Great Canis Lupus (2001), and Tell me a Tale: A Novel of the Old South (2003). McEachin also published Pebbles in the Roadway in (2003), a collection of short stories and essays which the author describes as "a philosophical view of America and Americans." In (2005) McEachin produced the award-winning audio book VOICES: A Tribute to the American Veteran.

In early (2006) the film short REVEILLE in which James McEachin starred with David Huddleston began to play to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and people began to request copies of the film. The film was posted on video,google.com and quickly garnered 1.5 million hits and a deluge of fan mail to the jamesmceachin.com website which inspired McEachin's latest contribution, OLD GLORY in which he wrote, produced, directed, and acted. OLD GLORY is McEachin's directorial debut.

In 2001, McEachin received the Distinguished Achievement Award from Morgan State University. In 2005, he became an Army Reserve Ambassador, this distinction carries the protocol of a two-star general. (Source for some of the information was en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_McEachin)

As a former member of the U.S. Military, James McEachin is also listed on www.military-writers.com

Police-Writers.com now hosts 504 police officers (representing 211 police departments) and their 1066 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.

A Marine and A Sailor

Military-Writers.com is a website dedicated to listing all former United States military personnel who have written books. The website added a sailor, Shane Moore, and a Marine, Robert Taubert.

Shane Moore is a detective with the Gillespie Police Department (Illinois). His debut novel is A Prisoner's Welcome. Shane Moore describes his work as a fantasy similar to Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, but with much heavier writing and themes which are best suited for the adult reader.

One reader/reviewer of Shane Moore’s novel said, “A Prisoner's Welcome is a rare fantasy that lacks the troupes of almost every fantasy novel out there. It starts out with young Lancalion searching for a person to read some parchments that are supposed to detail the murder of his parents-an orphan with power trying to discover the one responsible for his parents murder-SAME OLD troupe! That is where it all changes. Moore takes us on a whirlwind ride with politics, deceit, trickery, and backstabbing on a grand scale.” Shane Moore served in the United States Navy.

Robert "Bob" Taubert is thought of by FBI veterans as the finest firearms and tactics instructor to serve in the FBI. He has a Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Physical Education and served 12 years as a reconnaissance infantry Marine pulling two combat tours in Vietnam, rising to the rank of Major and serving as company commander.

Robert Taubert joined the FBI serving his country as a Special Agent for over twenty-four years. While in the FBI he was heavily involved in Special Operations and was one of the founders and trainers of the FBI’s Elite Hostage Rescue Team (HRT. Bob served as the FBI SOG liaison for the USMC and US Navy special operations entities. Bob is responsible for the birth of the widely known SEAL Team 6 and assisted what was to become today’s US Navy's Development Group, in gaining official recognition as a national counter terrorism asset by the military.

Serving as the senior instructor at the FBI Academy in the FBI’s SOARS, the elite Special Operations units Robert Taubert was chosen by the DEA to train and equip DEA agents in Close Quarters Battle, SWAT tactics and combat survival skills. These agents went on to participate in some of the most highly secretive joint agency covert operations that the US has ever run. During his tours of duty with the Bureau and DEA he attended every major firearms school in the world and qualified as a Master or Expert in long and short firearms.

Following the FBI he was a staff instructor at the Smith & Wesson Academy; he is a subject matter expert in SWAT, Anti-Terrorism, Hostage Rescue and Police Survival issues; he is a Staff Instructor for the US Department of State's Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program and is also an adjunct Instructor at Alan Brosnan's Tactical Explosive Entry School and Kelly McCain’s Crucible Training Center. He is an accomplished author and is a staff writer for many law enforcement magazines, publications, and journals. Robert Taubert is the co-author of Soldiering on: The Stories of Two Former Kiwi SAS Men in Their Continuing World-Wide Careers of Adventure.

In addition to hosting current, former and retired military personnel who have written books, Military-Writers.com is building and extensive web-based directory of military personnel who own businesses.

Iraqi Police Becoming 'Very Capable' at Law Enforcement, Official Says

By Tim Kilbride
Special to American Forces Press Service

April 26, 2007 – Iraq's growing police force is technically competent and functioning as it should within the country's legal system, a top U.S. police trainer said yesterday. The operational problems they have experienced are primarily the result of an unusually tumultuous security situation in Baghdad and elsewhere, said Army Brig. Gen. David Phillips, deputy commander of the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team and the senior military police officer in theater.

"I believe the Iraqi police are getting very capable in handling the law enforcement type mission and traffic mission. The problem you have is ... that there's a lot of terrorists and insurgents who want to see them fail," Phillips said, speaking to online journalists from Baghdad.

The Iraqi army, Phillips explained, is trained to contend with terrorism.

"When you compare the Iraqi army, who are over here fighting in an insurgency and against terrorists, we are training the police to perform law enforcement," he said. "The training we give them - although they get tactical training - is primarily focused on being a police officer."

Under normal conditions, Phillips said, the police would be engaged in "investigating crime and traffic patrols."

In these capacities, the general said, the police are performing dramatically better now than even two years ago, when Phillips was last deployed to Iraq. He cited examples of traffic cops waving his convoy through traffic circles, and patrol officers walking their beat in a Baghdad neighborhood while local children played nearby.

With nearly 170,000 regular police on the country's rosters, Phillips noted that in many areas of the country the Iraqi security forces operate virtually independently of U.S. and international guidance.

"Approximately 75 percent of the country gets very minimal coalition force presence," he said. Those areas are "under the control of the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army, and they're out there doing what you'd expect them to do."

It is in Baghdad and other particularly restive areas, Phillips explained, that though "it is truly Iraqis in the lead now," the coalition continues to provide support.

And in areas such as violence-prone Anbar province, Phillips said, tribal sheikhs are now encouraging their relatives and affiliates to create local units to stand up to terrorist and insurgent activity - in effect, a "community watch."

Such forces, he said, are being created under the umbrella of the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior and will function as an extension of the standard police force.

An official government sanction is crucial to the success of these initiatives and will be forthcoming, Phillips said, though he noted there are worries among the sheikhs as to where and how their associates could be used.

"They want to come into the system, be sanctioned as police; they want to be trained as police," Phillips said. "Their concern is if they're trained will they be sent out of that area and then have to work in an area - they're predominantly Sunni - would they have to work in a predominantly Shiia area? That's where they object."

The Iraqi leadership, with coalition assistance, is trying to work out the command and control relationships for these organizations, Phillips said.

The general admitted the question of sectarian loyalty remains an issue throughout the force, but said its effect is less severe than commonly believed.

The police, Phillips explained, are trained at academies close to their homes and return to those homes at the completion of their courses, as opposed to Iraqi army soldiers, who train as a unit and then deploy to different locations.

For the graduating policeman, he said, "you go back to the same community you were in, ... and you're policing in the neighborhood where your family is, with the same influences you had, with people who are like you."

Sectarian bias will naturally apply in these cases, Phillips said.

"When you look, is one police force in this city predominantly Sunni and one in another city predominantly Shiia? Yes, it's going to be natural that way. But we also have mixed forces in the towns that are mixed."

Baghdad is a prime example of a mixed-force town, Phillips said, and working out the dynamics there among diverse populations will remain a challenge.

Useful progress is being made in screening out known risks from the police recruiting pool, however, Phillips said. He noted an Iraqi-operated "Automated Fingerprint Identification System" and other biometric information are being used to check potential recruits against a database of known or suspected criminals.

"I think the vetting process is not perfect, but it's catching quite a few who you would not want to be one of your community cops on the corner," Phillips said.

Addressing another common criticism of the Iraqi force, the general said overcrowding in police detention facilities does still occur, but is the product of temporary delays in legal processing rather than a flawed system.

"Yes, there's overcrowding," Phillips said, "And the reason is because of the number of investigative judges." The number of judges is not equal to the backlog of criminal cases, he said.

To compensate, Phillips noted, in addition to training more judges, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, Multinational Force Iraq commander, is expediting work on a "Rule of Law" complex in Baghdad that will house investigative judges, investigators, trial judges, police and detention facilities all in one compound. The proximity of all the key players in the Iraqi criminal justice system should streamline the legal process and help keep detention centers operating at normal levels, he explained.

"If there's a delay there, that's where you start seeing crowding in the jails," Phillips said. "The system in place as templated is a pretty good system; we just have to get the number of judges, the facilities and all of that, stood up."

Capacity issues aside, Phillips noted, the police are performing admirably in their assigned roles in a situation that is grossly outside their traditional mandate.

Until that security situation stabilizes, Phillips noted, U.S. forces will continue to support the police in their mission.

"If they're out there doing a simple operation and all of a sudden a terrorist starts shooting at them, of course they do not have the firepower to return - they're police officers - but they contact us and we respond," he said.

Still, despite the underlying security challenge, Phillips said, there is reason for optimism regarding the police's long-term effectiveness.

"If you took the equation of the terrorists and the insurgents out of the mix," he said, "You have a nationally trained police force that, I think, would be able to do quite well."

(Tim Kilbride is assigned to New Media, American Forces Information Service.)

Article sponsored by Criminal Justice online leadership as well as police and military personnel who have authored books.

Wounded Warrior Brigade Top Enlisted Soldier Provides Hands-On Leadership

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

April 25, 2007 – Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffery Hartless, an airborne ranger and master parachutist, served nearly his entire 24-year career jumping out of planes. He earned parachute badges from Italy, Jordan, Norway, Korea, Germany and Honduras. His airborne career ended, though, when he was crushed under a 10-ton front loader in Afghanistan in 2005. Once stable, Hartless was taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center here. He has since recovered, but in an ironic and unlikely career twist for an infantryman, Hartless' injuries have brought him back again to Walter Reed -- this time to apply his combat leadership skills to taking care of wounded warriors as the top noncommissioned officer in the Warrior Transition Brigade. The brigade stood up its headquarters and first company in a ceremony at the center today.

When Hartless was injured in Afghanistan, his femur was smashed in six places; a titanium rod now holds it in place. His pelvis was broken at the socket. All of his ribs were broken, and he suffered lung and liver damage. His left foot had literally exploded under the pressure, and his left arm was nearly pulled off.

Miraculously, the doctors were able to put Hartless back together, with all body parts still intact and functioning. He later called the care he received here "fantastic" and "unbelievable."

The two-time combat veteran now will lead a new group of NCOs, many hand-picked by the sergeant major of the army, tasked with improving soldier care at Walter Reed. In his leadership "rucksack," Hartless brings a hands-on approach that starts at the squad leader level.

"They will have a squad leader again," Hartless said of wounded warriors recovering here. "(Each squad leader) is going to know them. He's going to know their family. He's going to know what unit they are in. He's going to know the appointments they have. He's going to know whether his soldier needs help getting to his appointments."

A few months ago, at the time the center came under fire for poor outpatient soldier care, there were no squad leaders assigned to help lead the wounded soldiers, and the staff of platoon sergeants had as many as 50 patient soldiers each to care for.

"Fifty-to-one is horrible. (The platoon sergeant) is just trying to account for his people. What problems can he solve?" Hartless said.

When the staff of the new brigade is manned at its intended 166 soldiers in June, squad leaders will have only nine to 12 soldiers in their care.

Hartless said leadership at the squad leader level is critical because it allows for the face-to-face and hands-on communication needed to ensure proper soldier care. As an example, Hartless cited the practice of an infantry squad leader just after a combat encounter:

"An infantry squad leader -- once they've consolidate, they've pushed through the objective, ... that squad leader goes to every solder and puts his hands on him and feels him," Hartless said. "Why is he doing that? He's talking to him. How much ammo do you have left? How much water do you have left? He's getting a status report.

"But he's feeling him to see if he's bleeding. Because (the soldier's) adrenalin is running so high sometimes you have a wounded soldier and you don't know until you put your hands on him," he said.

Because squad leaders have that hands-on relationship, "that young private ... knows his squad leader cares for him personally," Hartless said.

Hartless, who hails from the one-stoplight town of Amherst, Va., just a little more than three hours south of the sprawling Walter Reed campus, said healing will be wounded soldiers' mission while at the center.

"To me a soldier's mission is healing while they are here. That's their mission. Just like they get a task or a mission in a regular unit -- we want them to heal,"" he said.

Hartless was serving as the garrison command sergeant major at Fort Polk, La., when the sergeant major of the army tapped him for this post. The infantryman said he had no angst about putting on the medical patch to take this assignment. But, it has been an adjustment, he conceded

"It's a different feeling. Acronyms are different here. CLS is not combat lifesaver, its common levels of support. I have to learn a different language as I go. I learn something every day, so it's good," Hartless said.

"(I have) no angst about the patch. The patch is just the history. It's the people that make the units," he said.

Hartless said his injuries, his familiarity with the care at the center, and his ability to empathize with soldiers looking at the end of their careers make him a good fit for the job. But, for the soft-spoken sergeant major who has spent his career down in the dirt with his troops, the "honor" is all his.

"It's quite an honor ... to be selected for this, to help take care of our injured soldiers. It's just an honor," Hartless said.

Hartless was injured when he was run over by an Afghan driving a 10-ton front end loader. As the command sergeant major of the 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, he had just finished checking guard posts on his forward operation base and was rounding the corner of a row of metal storage units when hit. Officials never determined if the incident was intentional. The Afghan ran and left him for dead, he said.

"I am lucky to be alive. The hand of God reached to me and said it's not time to come home yet. He's let me go on another day here for a purpose," Hartless said.

His surgeon and physical therapist still work at the hospital.

"They put me back together. I feel it every day. I have no complaints because I have everything. Everything works," Hartless said. "I won't say I can run anymore. I jog. I'm really not supposed to run that much, but I do it anyway, I guess because I'm hard-headed -- an infantry guy. I can go back to an infantry brigade or battalion and function."

Hartless said it was a "hard thing to accept" when officials first suggested that he may have to medically retire due to his injuries.

"I didn't believe it. I knew I could heal. I knew I carry a rucksack again. I knew I could go with the boys out on patrol," he said. "In my heart I knew I could do it. In my mind I knew I could do it too. I pushed myself because I wanted to get back. I wanted to be with those troops again.

"Today I can go. I can deploy and fight and win," he said.

Article sponsored by Criminal Justice online leadership as well as police and military personnel who have authored books.

Gates: Iraqis Need to Speed Up Reconciliation Process

By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service

Iraq, April 19, 2007 – The path to reconciliation among Iraqi factions is arduous, but Iraqi leaders from all parties need to step up the pace, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today in Tel Aviv, Israel. "Frankly, I would like to see faster progress," Gates said, moments before boarding a military aircraft to travel to Iraq.

Continued debate on Capital Hill over potential troop redeployments help show the Iraqis that "this isn't an open-ended commitment" on the part of the United States military, he said.

"Our president has said that our patience is not unlimited," Gates said. "I don't think we've been very subtle in communicating these messages to the Iraqis."

He said the Iraqi government needs to approve several important pieces of legislation, including laws governing foreign investment in Iraqi oil and how best to share the revenue from such dealings. Iraqis are also working on, but have so far failed to agree upon, a "de-Baathification law," to govern how best to deal with former members of Saddam Hussein's regime.

Passing these laws won't change the security situation overnight, but it will send an encouraging message to the Iraqi people, Gates said.

"I think ... the ability to get them done communicates a willingness (of) all of the parts of the Iraqi government to work together to begin solving some of these problems," he said.

After arriving in Iraq, Gates held a joint news conference with Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq. During the briefing, Petraeus seconded Gates' notion about the Iraqi laws.

"Those (laws) are hugely important for all Iraqis to feel a stake in the success of the new Iraq," Petraeus said.

U.S., coalition and Iraqi forces are working through the Baghdad security plan "to provide a window of opportunity ... that will allow Iraqi leaders to resolve some of these very tough issues that are out there confronting them, among those the need to reconcile in a variety of different ways," Petraeus said.

A series of bombings that killed and wounded hundreds in several areas of Baghdad yesterday set back what Petraeus described as "a bit of traction" in the security situation.

"Yesterday was a bad day, there's no two ways about it," Petraeus said. "And a day like that can have a real psychological impact."

Still, yesterday's bombings and an April 12 attack that killed an Iraqi Council member shouldn't stop the Iraqi government from moving forward, Gates said.

"Clearly the attack on the Council of Representatives has made people nervous," Gates said. "But I think that it's just very important that they bend every effort to getting this legislation done as quickly as possible."

Petraeus said these sensational attacks should not be viewed as anything other than setbacks and challenges.

"It does show that the enemy has a vote, and the enemy -- in this case al Qaeda -- clearly is intent on trying to reunite sectarian violence and on trying to derail the Baghdad security plan," Petraeus said. "And I think the Iraqi leaders and the coalition leaders have shown the determination to give back."

Iraqi leaders "responded very resolutely" to the attacks, Petraeus said. He noted that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other leaders met with Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker last night to discuss actions to improve security and focus intelligence on the car-bomb networks.

"And they met again today for that very purpose," he added.

Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who traveled here separately to join the secretary in high-level talks with U.S. military and Iraqi leaders, met with Petraeus, U.S. Central Command chief Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, and Multinational Corps Iraq Commander Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno in Fallujah today. Also present was Gates' new senior military assistant, Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, who preceded Odierno as the corps commander in Iraq.

Gates and Pace will meet with the other senior leaders again this evening to get their "in-depth evaluation (on) how they think things are going and what they see the prospects will be," Gates said. The secretary also is scheduled to meet with Ambassador Crocker and Iraqi leaders, including Maliki.

Article sponsored by Criminal Justice online leadership as well as police and military personnel who have authored books.

Corruption Ebbs as Iraqi Police Leadership Strengthens

By Tim Kilbride
Special to American Forces Press Service

April 19, 2007 – A firm commitment to professionalism and transparency from Iraq's political leaders are helping the country's growing civil security force perform well in "a highly challenging environment," a coalition training official said yesterday. British Army Brig. Gen. Rob Weighill, deputy commander of the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, told online journalists that, with 200,000 Iraqi police officers trained in the past two years, his organization is well on its way in its mission to "generate, train and sustain the Iraqi police forces," so that they can shape a security environment favorable to democratic establishment.

Iraq's overall civil security force - including local police, national police, and border, ports, highway and traffic patrols - is about 300,000 strong, Weighill said.

But sheer numbers are only a part of the game, Weighill explained. He said Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani has repeatedly made clear he values quality over quantity in building the force, particularly in relation to skills and rights training.

To ensure new police officers have the necessary capabilities to operate independently, police training has been largely standardized across Iraq's various police academies, Weighill said. He pointed to the Numaniyah police training center, southeast of Baghdad, as an example of how such facilities operate.

Numaniyah, Weighill said, has the capacity for 2,000 beds, roughly matched to the size of an Iraqi police brigade. Recruits who graduate the four-week program are typically sent out as a cohesive unit.

"They come, literally, straight out of Numaniyah, in brigade size, and get put into Baghdad, sitting alongside and working alongside their Iraqi police brethren" and the Iraqi army, Weighill said.

The general commended the "standard, tried, and now tested, police training program," but acknowledged room for further growth.

Respect for human rights remains a perpetual concern, Weighill said. Rights training has been a part of the Iraqi curriculum since 2003, but the issue has become increasingly germane amid Iraq's tide of sectarian violence, he said.

"This is an important aspect of their policing duty because it fulfills the vital requirement for them to understand and implement what it means to treat people fairly and with dignity and respect," the general said.

In the past, he noted, "a lack of leadership, a lack of training, and therefore an absence of support and trust between the police and the community" led to situations in which Iraqi police officers stood by while crimes were committed.

With a reinvigorated Ministry of the Interior, Weighill said, such behavior, along with more egregious cases of corruption, is no longer tolerated.

Minister Bolani "emphatically states he will not put up with corruption," Weighill said, noting that senior ministry officials have been removed in cases of nefarious activities.

The maturation of robust internal affairs and inspector general's offices within the ministry over the past two to three years has led to a swell of investigations within the force, Weighill explained. These offices are tasked with "identifying fraud, crime (and) corruption" and punishing perpetrators appropriately, he said.

In January, about 1,200 such cases were investigated by the inspector general's office alone, Weighill said.

"Contrary to popular belief - that is that the Ministry of the Interior and the Iraqi police are heavily infiltrated from the sectarian perspective - the work that I've done... would suggest otherwise," Weighill observed.

"Of course there are infringements of the law" and those are "dealt with in accordance with Iraqi law," Weighill said.

These examples of strong leadership from the ministry are crucial to maintaining professionalism throughout the ranks, Weighill said.

"Principally through police training, the leadership element within the Iraqi police, national police, is improving all the time," Weighill said. "If that leadership is strong, then by and large, the levels and frequency of criminality - whether it's taking bribes, whether it's involved in corruption, or indeed involvement in sectarian violence - tends to diminish."

To help ensure adherence to standards, ethics and protocol, the general said, the Iraqi police just conducted a full spectrum inspection of all 47 police stations in Baghdad.

The review highlighted that among other areas, police infrastructure, vehicles, and overall processes and procedures all need improvement, Weighill said, though he noted anti-corruption procedures are far tighter than in the past, especially relating to funding and personnel payments.

Management and administration of the police force stand to gain from the gradual introduction of digital information management systems, Weighill said. He predicted the systems could be in place by late 2008.

In the meantime, shortages of capacity within the police training regime have actually led to a temporary freeze on police recruiting throughout Iraq, Weighill said, though he characterized the hold as a positive sign.

"There's no shortage of volunteers," he said. "In fact, we've had to... place a three-month moratorium on recruiting simply because we don't have the capacity and the training establishments at the moment to deal with the numbers that are volunteering to join the police."

For the existing police training facilities and programs, progress is unlikely to be affected by the Iraq funding debate in Washington, Weighill said.

"We in the police are probably in a slightly better position than the Iraqi army," he said, "in so far as the money that is spent by the United States in support of the Iraqi police is a smaller proportion of those funds than is spent on the Iraqi army."
"What is interesting," Weighill added, "is that the Iraqi central government budget for the police in 2007 almost doubled from 2006, so actually the Iraqi government is contributing significantly to the way in which business is conducted."

That type of strong Iraqi government commitment is largely behind the steady improvement of the police force, Weighill said.

"I work on a daily basis in the Ministry of Interior building with people... who are becoming good friends," he said. They exert "an enormous amount of industry to try and ensure that the Iraqi police can operate and function effectively."

Weighill said close contact with the police force in his first two months in Iraq have reversed what were negative impressions of their capabilities and efficacy.

"I came out here with perhaps the view that prevails in the United Kingdom - I can't speak for the United States - which is that the Iraqi police are emphatically infiltrated with sectarian issues," Weighill said. "They're not trusted by the population, that they have difficulties in undertaking their tasks. I have found the opposite to be the case," he added.

"Pretty much every contact that I've had with the police is that these boys... and these women are doing a pretty good job in highly demanding circumstances," the general said. "And I think as you would say in your country, as far as I'm concerned, they're patriots."

(Tim Kilbride is assigned to New Media, American Forces Information Service.)

Article sponsored by Criminal Justice online leadership as well as police and military personnel who have authored books.

Use 'R-Triple-A' to Lead, Enlisted Leader Urges NCOs

By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service

April 11, 2007 – The Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy here gives students the tools to lead, but they need to use these tools in a way that works for them individually, the Defense Department's top NCO told graduates here today. Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told 75 Air Force noncommissioned officers that an "R-triple-A" approach is what up-and-coming servicemembers expect and need from their leaders.

The "R" means leaders should respect their subordinates by giving them responsibility, Gainey told the graduates.

"They crave to ... be 'Responsible' for something," he said. "Give it to them. They're not going to let you down. Give them all the responsibility they can hold."

But giving people responsibility isn't enough, Gainey warned.

"The hard thing for us as leaders is the first 'A' -- to give them the 'Authority' to be responsible," he said.

Gesturing to the flags adorning the stage, Gainey explained that a leader who gives people responsibility for the flags, but tells them not to do anything without first asking for his or her approval isn't being an effective leader. "What have you given them?" he asked. "Nothing."

If authority is properly granted, Gainey said, the second "A" then comes into play.

"Hold them 'Accountable' for their actions, as they're going to hold you accountable for your actions," he told the graduates, adding that it's necessary not only for when subordinates fall short, but also when they succeed.

When they do fall short, he said, it's time for the third "A" - "Assist" them when they stumble.

"Everyone stumbles," he said. "It depends on who's there to help you."

When the inevitable stumbles occur, Gainey told the graduates, a good leader will help the person recover, but then must coach, teach, mentor and train so the individual learns from the experience and can succeed.

At that point, he said, it's important to express pride in the person's accomplishment and show confidence. "They need you to look them in the eye and ... (let them know you) care about them," he said.

Exhorting the graduates to move forward with their ambitions, Gainey advised them not to let anyone get in their way as long as they can answer "no" to five questions about their ambitions.

"The first thing (to ask yourself) is, 'Is it going to hurt somebody else?' No? Go for it," he said. "Is it going to hurt you? No. Go for it. Is it illegal? No. Go for it. Is it immoral? No. Go for it. Is it going to bring disgrace to your name or the unit or your country? No. Then you go for it, and don't let anybody tell you that you can't do it."

But if the answer to any of the five questions is "yes," he said, that has to be resolved.

Gainey used the desire to climb a mountain as an example. While the person might be able to say "no" in answer to four of the questions, the answer would have to be "yes" to the second question if the person lacked the proper training or equipment.

"Stop, take a step back, reassess what you want to do, get the proper training, get the proper equipment, and make it a 'no,'" he said.

The graduation culminated a day in which Gainey met with servicemembers all over the largest U.S. installation in the Pacific theater. He'll remain on Okinawa for the rest of the week, visiting servicemembers at other bases on the island and meeting more people at Kadena.

Article sponsored by Criminal Justice online leadership as well as police and military personnel who have authored books.