HADITHA, Iraq — Three Riverine squadrons have deployed to Iraq since the units made their first post-Vietnam combat appearance in 2006. But only Riverine Squadron 3 has had the task of training Iraqis to maintain security at Haditha Dam and on the Euphrates River.

Chief Petty Officers Corey Velasquez and Robert Noe have been charged with training the Iraqis because of their experience training foreign military personnel. Noe said the biggest challenge in devising a training plan was taking materials they already had and translating them into Arabic.

They also had to make what they knew relevant to working on a river as opposed to the ocean.

What they ended up with was four weeks of training that included handling boats, rescue techniques and navigation.

Noe said the course didn’t teach tactics because as police, the Iraqis already had their own.

"Most of that stuff came with their police training. Basically stopping a boat is like stopping a car," Noe said. "We taught them what to look for on the water."

Noe said there won’t be another course taught by RIVRON personnel, as the next step is for Iraqis to begin training their own, and a school house is slated for construction just north of Ramadi.

Even with a good training plan worked out, Noe said there were growing pains to work out in the first classes.

"In the first class we had guys who couldn’t swim," said Noe.

"We teach basic lifesaving — pulling people out of the water. We don’t need the rescuer becoming the rescuee."

Noe said as classes continued and the sailors learned what to ask for in students, they received a better selection of trainees. He said the Iraqi police have come a long way since then.

Training began in June with a class of 15 Iraqi police. Since then a total of four classes with 63 graduates have been trained to provide security on the waters around Haditha Dam.

RIVRON 3 is slated to leave Iraq in November. They’ll be replaced by RIVRON 1, which will continue to work with Iraqi river police, but will not have the responsibility of training them.

Noe said the Iraqis are ready to take charge of security on the Euphrates.

"They’re great," he said. "If they were to come up here today and say, ‘Hey we’re going out on a mission in town,’ I’d go."