Missouri Guardsmen provide prison security training to El Salvador army

With soldiers of the El Salvadorian Army looking on, Sgt. 1st Class Alex Worth and Sgt. Robert Morley of the Missouri National Guard demonstrate the proper procedure for handcuffing a prisoner. (CSM Jay Marsden photo)

By Bill Phelan
Ngmo.pao@US.ARMY.MIL

SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - Soldiers of the Missouri National Guard are helping the Central American nation of El Salvador stem the flow of contraband and gang activity into that country's prison system.

Five Missouri soldiers recently spent a week in the capitol of San Salvador working with the El Salvadorian army to improve their procedures for handling inmates about to enter prison.

"The state still runs the inside of the prisons, but because of corruption and the amount of contraband entering the prison system the El Salvadorian President ordered the army to take over control of security outside 11 of the country's 22 prisons," explained Command Sgt. Maj. Jay W. Marsden, of Dardenne Prairie, senior noncommissioned officer for the 70th Troop Command, headquartered at Jefferson Barracks in south St. Louis County. "These are regular army soldiers, so taking over the external security of prisons is something new to them."

Joining Marsden on the mission was Maj. Richard Fox and Sgt. Robert Morley, both with 70th Troop Command, and Master Sgt. Jeffrey Wolfgeher and Sgt. 1st Class Alex Worth of the 110th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, based in Kansas City.

Each soldier chosen for the mission has a background in military policing.

"We nominated soldiers for the mission who could best teach our military policing practices and how best to work in an environment that requires military police," said 1st Sgt. Charles Hinde, Troop Command operations sergeant.

"It's an exchange, a partnership in which we assist the El Salvadorian army with improving the overall security of their prisons," added Marsden. "We teach them the best practices for handling prisoners in a non-lethal way - everything from search methods to prisoner transport to basics like handcuffing. The classes were very well received by the El Salvadorian military and they were all eager to learn everything we had to teach them."

Fox, the mission commander and Troop Command operations officer, said the training his team provided should help the El Salvadorian government curb gang activity in and outside of the prison system.

"El Salvador has a very bad gang problem and the two main gangs are in a turf war right now," said Fox, of St. Charles. "These gangs have contacts outside of the prisons so they can keep giving orders and some prison guards have been killed when off duty on orders given from within the prison. The training we provided should help shut-off some of that communication and help stem the violence."