U.S. Department of Defense instructors completed on Friday a training course for 27 Armenian border guards which was aimed at improving their ability to detect and prevent illegal trafficking of weapons of mass destruction.
The 10-day course conducted by nonproliferation experts from the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) involved lectures and practical exercises for the officers deployed along Armenia’s border with Georgia.
“The border guards were introduced to new tools that can be used to maintain security and aid in border monitoring,” the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan said in a statement. “The course also included sessions on basic tracking skills, operations management, safety, and evidence control.”
The statement said 12 of those border guards will undergo additional U.S. training to become instructors. “This will enable Armenian authorities to institutionalize the training locally and ensure all Armenian border guards eventually receive the training they need to succeed,” it explained.
Possible smuggling of radioactive materials and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) through Armenian territory has long been a source of U.S. concerns. They apparently stem, in large measure, from the country’s proximity to Iran.
Over the past decade, the U.S. government has supplied Armenia’s border guard and customs services with U.S.-made radio-communication systems, border sensors, metal detectors, cargo truck scales, and X-ray devices. According to the U.S. Embassy, it has spent $21.3 million on training and equipping Armenian border guards in the last five years alone.
As part of the same effort, Washington has also facilitated growing cooperation between relevant government agencies in Armenia and Georgia.
The U.S. mission in Yerevan announced on Friday that earlier this week it hosted a two-day workshop for Armenian and Georgian officials dealing with the matter. It said they shared their experiences in controlling the flow of WMDs and conventional weaponry.
“The Armenian and Georgian officials also learned new ways to safeguard dual-use technology from being transferred to proliferating states and terrorist groups,” added the embassy.