Photo By Amabilia Payen | A mix of Canadian armed forces service members and U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers from the...... read more read more
Subscribe
MCGREGOR RANGE, N.M. - Military police service members from the Canadian armed forces (CAF) trained on detainee operations alongside U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 744th MP Battalion from Easton, Pennsylvania, at Operation Guardian Justice on Forward Operating Base Westbrook, June 15-27.
The 25 CAF MPs came from various providences of Canada and every branch, which included the army, navy, and air force. For two weeks, the participants were sprayed with oleoresin capsicum spray, tased with Tasers and sweated in unarmed self-defense classes, all in an effort to match the U.S. Army military police standards when it comes to internment facility operations.
Many of the CAF MPs had previous detainee operations experience from deployments to Afghanistan and used the training to compare to NATO standards.
Canadian army Master Cpl. George Rawski, assigned to 2nd MP Regiment, 4th Canadian Division, has served for 13 years in the CAF, and said his deployed experience confirms how important the training is for coalition forces.
“I really feel we should be doing this type of training more and more together,” said Rawski. “We are doing so much similar work together; it’s good to stay on the same page.”
Seaman Corbin McLachlan with the Royal Canadian Navy has never deployed, much less left Canada for anything. His first out-of-Canada experience was this two-week training exercise with Guardian Justice.
McLachlan conducts MP tasks in Ottowa, Ontario, and said he was grateful for the training he was receiving with the instructors of Operation Guardian Justice.
“I don’t do a lot of this field stuff, so it’s nice to have a change of pace,” said McLachlan. “The instructors are very down to earth, and they put more effort into things we actually do. Instead of power point slides, it was a lot of hands-on training, and I loved it.”
Canadian navy Lt. Emilie Viau, assigned to MP Unit in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was more than excited to be training alongside the Soldiers of the 744th MP BN.
“Back in Canada, we don’t have these facilities or resources to train on detainee operations,” said Viau. “We can share information between the U.S. and Canadian forces. Thank you so much for offering us the opportunity to come here and train.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Gerald W. Capps, senior enlisted adviser for 11th MP Brigade, believes the joint training with the Canadian armed forces is more beneficial for a unity of effort than anything else.
“This training is helping the nations join together, and we all have to work together to succeed in the future,” said Capps. “We talked about how in the future, we would like to have forces from Japan and maybe Korea, come here to this exercise to train alongside the Canadians and our MP Soldiers.”
U.S. Army Sgt. Rodolfo Tejada, military policeman with 744th MP BN, 11th MP Brigade, said he was grateful for the training experience with the CAF MPs. By knowing that the CAF have his back if it ever came to a deployment, Tejada said he feels that is “very beneficial” to his job.
“They have shown their enthusiasm when working with us,” said Tejada.
Operation Guardian Justice is a three-month exercise focusing on military police detainee operations at FOB Westbrook for U.S. Army Reserve MP companies and battalions, allowing opportunities to conduct annual training rotations. The exercise is commanded by the 200th MP Command and executed by the 11th MP Brigade and supported by the Directorate of Mobilization and Deployment. It is estimated that over 2,000 Soldiers are expected to participate.
Operation Guardian Justice is scheduled to conclude in August.
| Date Taken: | 06.27.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.10.2014 12:33 |
| Story ID: | 135723 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Hometown: | EASTON, PA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Hometown: | MCGREGOR RANGE, NM, US |
| Web Views: | 234 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Canada joins Guardian Justice, by Amabilia Payen, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT