Airmen receive ARCOMs

Photo By Staff Sgt. Engels Tejeda | Army Col. Victor McCagnan (right), commander of the 16th Corps Support Group and Base...... read more read more

Photo By Staff Sgt. Engels Tejeda | Army Col. Victor McCagnan (right), commander of the 16th Corps Support Group and Base Camp Adder, Tallil, Iraq, salutes Airmen who served under his command as post security for the past six months. He awarded them 16 Army Commendation Medals in front of the ziggurat of Urr, an ancient monument located within the post's perimeter.  see less | View Image Page

02.02.2006

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

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Army Col. Victor McCagnan, the commander of the 16th Corps Support Group and Logistical Support Area Adder, presented 16 Army Commendation Medals to airmen who served as military police for the past six months.

"I speak for all my Soldiers when I say that we sleep well at night because we know you are all out here keeping us safe," McCagnan told the airmen.

The airmen served a six-month mission in support of Coalition forces serving out of LSA Adder and Ali Air Force Base, Tallil, Iraq.

The post's garrison commanding unit, the 113th Field Artillery, also awarded the airmen 30 combat patches and certificates for their work, said Maj. Wallace Steinbrecher, the provost marshal for Camp Adder.

"They were very professional troops," Steinbrecher said. "They were very well trained and we worked very well with them."

Steinbrecher said that the airmen manned a general law and order mission that the Army did not have the personnel to fill.

About 30 airmen, coming primarily from Tyndall Air Force Base, Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station and Seymore-Johnson Air Force Base mobilized last year to support the operation in Tallil, which lies about 200 miles southwest of Baghdad.

The mission consisted primarily of routine law enforcement duties including traffic management, traffic accident reports, theft and alcohol violation investigations, and crime scene examinations. Steinbrecher explained that the airmen brought invaluable skills that the Army lacked the resources to provide, such as a traffic accident investigator and a military police investigator. Among their specialties, those two airmen could draw and photograph crime scenes and lift fingerprints. The accident investigator could also determine the speed at which a vehicle was traveling during an accident.

"We learned a lot from them," Steinbrecher said.

Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Marc G. Melcher, the superintendent for military police of the group, said the deployment was mutually beneficial.

"I enjoyed the deployment to LSA Adder/Ali Base and the working environment with my US Army counterparts and supervisors during the entire deployment," Melcher wrote in an e-mail. "Maj. Steinbrecher was an excellent supervisor to work for. He is extremely knowledgeable in the MP career field and provided tremendous input to the day-to-day operations to ensure all activities were professionally accomplished."

Army Commendation Medals are rarely awarded to members of other services partly because such presentations require both services" commanding generals to approve the awards. Melcher, an Air Force Reservist who was serving his first overseas deployment, said the awards meant a lot to him and his troops.

"Receiving the decorations was a very exciting and a very proud moment for me personally," Melcher wrote. "I have over 25 years of military service and this was the first time I was involved with another service performing a mission. To be recognized by the Army for my service and contributions to the garrison was a great moment."

Multi-service operations are becoming increasingly common in Iraq and Steinbrecher said that other installations in Iraq have similar joint military police forces. The presentations, arranged by Army Master Sgt. Phil Smith and Army Staff Sgt. Howard Kempf, took place in front of the Ziggurat of Ur, an ancient monument located within the camp's boundaries. McCagnan thanked the airmen, wished them well, and said he's looking forward to continue working with other airmen in the future.

"I hope the next guys are at least half as good as these guys because they were great," McCagnan said.

The airmen returned home in mid- January.