Gabonese and Brazzaville-Congolese service members rehearsed proper security procedures while training alongside marines during the entry control point and vehicle checkpoint (ECP/VCP) demonstration conducted in Port Gentil, Gabon, recently.

Corporal Frederick Cunningham, a fire team leader for second squad of the Ground Combat Element, Security Cooperation Task Force, Africa Partnership Station 2011, led the exchange by conveying the proper means of searching vehicles, detaining hostile drivers, identifying threat indicators and reacting to a hostile attack to improve everyone's overall safety.

"Learning this now is important," said Cunningham. "When you're out there directing traffic, searching people and inspecting vehicles coming in, you're ensuring the safety of the entire area."

For the foreign partners engaged in today's bilateral exchange, learning the basics of how to construct and operate the ECP/VCP is an essential building block in being able to develop a means of operating one in their respective countries.

"A lot of what is being shown here is similar to what we do," said Brazzaville-Congolese Marine Warrant Officer Gildas N'Singou. "We use dogs and metal detectors like the U.S. marines do, so it is easy to add our own style into this and make it work for our military."

Whether working alongside Gabonese, Congolese, Afghan or Iraqi militaries, interoperability is what makes an ECP/VCP in a foreign country operate effectively.
"When it comes time for these guys to deploy, this is something they should already know," said Cunningham. "Not everyone gets the same training before a (deployment), so it's good for everyone to learn the basics and get on the same page."

The marines instructed their partners to learn the procedures by treating every practice scenario as if it were the real thing.

"As a soldier, your primary mission is to protect your country," said N'Singou. "It is necessary to be aware of everything happening around you so that you can accomplish that mission."

With the partnership here evolving daily, signs of progress through the cultural and tactical exchange are apparent.

"These guys are definitely getting into it," said Cunningham. "When setting up something like a (vehicle check point) in a foreign country, you have to know what you're doing and you have to employ the basics before adding in your own style."

Security Cooperation Task Force, Africa Partnership Station 2011 is an APS-11 asset that conducts hands-on, partnered engagement designed to strengthen participating nations' maritime security capacity through multilateral collaboration and cross-border cooperation. The SCTF, based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., is supported by Marine Corps Forces, Africa as it deploys throughout the Marine Corps' area of operations in Africa.