NPS brings special skills to Iraqi Police
BAGHDAD – Two senior lecturers with the Naval Postgraduate School’s Defense Resources Management Institute instructed Ministry of Interior Iraqi policemen on resource management at the High Institute of the Baghdad Police College here Apr. 15-23.
The 52 students represented all provinces and included a cross-section of expertise ranging from budget and program managers to Personal Security Detail personnel. Each student is, in some way, responsible for compiling budget requirements for their subordinate organizations.
“This class of students represents the first time provinces from across Iraq have participated in joint training at the BPC,” said Col. Larry Saunders, Directorate of Interior Affairs, BPC Training Team director. “Because of prior life support challenges officer professional development course at BPC have been limited to Baghdad,” he said.
“This event truly serves as a model for future training. By bringing all the provinces together, not only are we able to offer professional development to officers in provinces, but the BPC is able to truly
synchronize inputs which will ensure more effective communication within the MoI.”
The nine-day workshop concentrated on the budget preparation and execution process to include life-cycle costing and effectiveness analysis.
Life-cycle costing demands that analysts look beyond the initial cost of the system.
“Maintenance, repair, facilities and training all have to be considered when determining the cost of a system,” said Mr. Steve Hurst, the senior lecturer. “That’s how you determine if you can truly afford a system.”
Effectiveness was another key point discussed in the workshop.
“A (country’s) minister should look at what capability he is trying to gain, then choose the most effective and affordable system to do it,” said Hurst. “We want them to think outside the box, to look at the purpose of buying the system.”
The lecturers did not try to force American management culture on the students, said Mr. Luis Morales, another lecturer from NPS DRMI.
“We teach them what we see as international best practices to show them how the rest of the world does it,” he said.
The majority of the course was dedicated to budget justifications at the organizational level.
“The students were instructed on the concept of budgeting to a task or capability,” said Hurst. “Those requirements, in turn, drive the budgeting output or submission.”
This was the fourth budget workshop provided by the NPS DRMI. The next course is scheduled to begin in July.
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