KAZAKHSTAN: BORDER GUARDS VISIT U.S. AND WANT TO STAY IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 001824 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN (OMARA),INL/AAE (ALTON AND BUHLER) CENTCOM FOR MALCOM AND ROESNER DHS FOR CBP - GLYNCO AND ARTESIA SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR PGOV KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: BORDER GUARDS VISIT U.S. AND WANT TO STAY IN TOUCH ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On May 17-26, the Director and Deputy Director of the Kazakhstani Border Guard training academy visited Washington, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers in Glynco, GA and Artesia, NM, and the Rio Grande Valley Sector of the Border Patrol in order to familiarize themselves with U.S. methods of securing borders and training officers. The visit resulted in agreement for future professional cooperation between U.S. and Kazakhstani training academies; possible establishment of a regional training program for border guards of Central Asia in Almaty on the grounds of the Border Guard Academy; an invitation to the Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol Academy in Artesia to visit Kazakhstan; and a request to send two Kazakhstani border guards to receive basic training at the CBP Academy in Glynco, Georgia. End summary. -------------- BACKGROUND -------------- ¶2. (U) As part of the INL project to combat transnational crime at Kazakhstan's borders, INL proposed creating a professional relationship between the border guard training institutes of the U.S. and Kazakhstan. As the first step, in the spring of 2006 INL Assistant Secretary Anne Patterson and Ambassador Ordway invited of the Head of the Military Institute, Major General Bauyrzhan Yelubayev, to visit the U.S. ¶3. (U) Over the last year Yelubayev expressed interest in reforming the border guard training system for cadets and in-service officers. He said that Kazakhstan should abandon the use of border troops as a military vanguard protecting the country and reorient the service to perform a multi-mission law enforcement role. He asserted that the main threat at the border for Kazakhstan is transnational crime, especially narcotics trafficking from Afghanistan. Additionally, stability in the country and economic opportunity attract illegal migrants from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and even Russia. Therefore, INL organized a visit to the Customs and Border Protection Academy on the campus of the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, GA, the U.S. Border Patrol Academy on the grounds of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, NM, and the Rio Grande 
Valley Sector of the Border Patrol. -------------- -------------- STATE-DOD INTEREST IN REGIONAL BORDER GUARD TRAINING IN ALMATY -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) INL launched the visit of Major General Bauyrzhan Yelubayev and Colonel Nazym Muzdybayev, Director and Deputy Director respectively of the Military Institute of the Committee for National Security (which trains Kazakhstani Border Guards),with meetings at State and the Pentagon. In conjunction with the visit, Astana INL Officer and INL/AAE Desk Officer met with DASD for Central Asia, Mitch Shivers, to discuss joint State-DOD efforts to combat narcotics through improved border security in Central Asia. ¶5. (SBU) INL meetings with DASD for Central Asia as well as Yelubayev's meetings at the Pentagon with Principal Director for Transnational Threats, Ed Frothingham, in the office of the ASD for Global Security Affairs, and with State's Acting Director of INL/AAE revealed interest in the idea of establishing a regional border guard training center on the grounds of the Military Institute in Almaty. Department of Defense representatives also expressed interest in joining with members of the Astana country team to consider contributing to the development of the Military Institute or a regional border guard training center. -------------- A LOOK AT U.S. EXPERIENCE -------------- ¶6. (U) Beyond Washington, in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Field Operations Academy in Glynco, GA Dorothy Shiefer, Acting Director briefed on the training curricula for basic and advanced training for CBP officers. The graduates of the Academy work at international airports, seaports and land border crossings. Yelubayev said that using tools and technology as well as real life role plays during training is the best way to prepare the officers for real life situations when they are on duty. He expressed the willingness to send some of his graduates to receive basic training at CBP Academy. Shiefer agreed that this was an avenue of cooperation that should be explored. (Comment: Notwithstanding that ASTANA 00001824 002 OF 002 the government of Kazakhstan deploys border forces differently than the U.S. the tasks of border protection, passport control, and customs enforcement are sufficiently similar to permit joint training. End comment.) ¶7. (U) The discipline, intensive training courses, and facilities at the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, NM impressed the Kazakhstani delegation. Yelubayev told EmbOffs that he wanted to amend the Kazakhstani specialized training program on border management in order to have more practical exercises as is done in the U.S. system. He added that his Institute has a good location and highly professional staff; however, the institute needs modern equipment and new language learning methods. ¶8. (U) The method for learning English and other languages at the institute needs to be changed, Yelubayev asserted, and the course vocabulary must be specialized to relate specifically to those tasks accomplished by a border officer as he saw at Artesia. He requested that the Border Patrol Academy provide a copy of the Spanish language curriculum and textbooks so the Military Institute can modify its curriculum. (Note: On June 12, INL provided the requested material which it had received from Artesia. End note.) ¶9. (U) The representatives of the Public Affairs Office of the Rio Grande Valley Sector showed the Central Asian visitors the daily operations of U.S. Border Patrol agents. Yelubayev noted that high quality modern equipment is very useful in the work of border patrol agents and having such equipment in Kazakhstan would be an asset, especially the video surveillance system. Yelubayev noted that patrolling on the river prevents some illegal migration, but it not possible to control the river along the border 24 hours a day. The delegation immediately grasped the concept that patrolling in cooperation with the intelligence analysis increases rates of drug seizures and arrests of illegal migrants. -------------- FAST, POSITIVE FEEDBACK -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Arriving back in Kazakhstan on May 29 General Yelubayev reported to Armangeldy Shabdarbayev, Chairman of the Committee for National Security about the visit on May 31, and met with EmbOffs on June 1. Yelubayev reported that Shabdarbayev supported the idea of opening the Military Institute to regional training courses; the invitation of Charles Whitmire, Head of CBP Border Patrol Academy Artesia to visit the Military Institute; and concurred with sending two graduates of the Military Institute with excellent English language skills to attend the basic course at CBP Academy in Glynco. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (SBU) The system of training Border Patrol and CBP officers in the U.S. definitely caught the attention of the Kazakhstani delegation. Yelubayev seemed very interested in reducing the four-year training program of border guard officers in Kazakhstan and saw much to admire in the U.S. 17-week program. While the U.S. and Kazakhstani border management systems are quite different, teaching the specific tasks necessary for officers to accomplish their missions looks to be a basis to bridge the gap. MILAS