339th MP Company and 342nd MP Company Det. 1 redeploy from GTMO

Photo By Adam Holguin | Capt. John Burman, center, commander, 339th Military Police Company, is greeted by 1st Lt. Nicholas Gans, left, executive officer, 339th MP Company, after arriving at the Silas L. Copeland Arrival/Departure Air Control Group on Nov. 5. The 339th MP Company and the 342nd Military Police Company Detachment 1 redeployed from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after completing a detainee operations mission.  

FORT BLISS, TX, UNITED STATES

11.05.2014

Story by Adam Holguin 

Mobilization and Deployment, DPTMS Fort Bliss

FORT BLISS, Texas - The 339th Military Police Company, a U.S. Army Reserve unit from Davenport, Iowa and the 342nd Military Police Company Detachment 1, a U.S. Army Reserve unit from Columbus, Ohio, both redeployed Nov. 5 at the Silas L. Copeland Arrival/Departure Air Control Group after completing detainee internment and resettlement operations mission in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.

Capt. John Burman, commander, 339th Military Police Company, said he was pleased with the job the unit collectively completed. Both of the units were aware of the negative impression that GTMO entails; however, the mission requirements and execution of those missions were positive for the Soldiers on the inside, Burman said.

“They did an exceptional job, it is not an easy mission going down there; it is a very high visibility mission and they did an amazing job in terms of providing very professional care to the detainees there,” said Burman.

First Lt. Nicholas Gans, executive officer, 339th MP Company, expressed that the GTMO mission brings an added stress of a “fishbowl” environment.

“Whatever we do gets blown out of proportion; anything that happens over there, the whole world finds out about it, if something has gone wrong, especially if something is going wrong. They don’t hear about the good things the Soldiers do with the detainees.” said Gans.

Gans is referring to the care, custody, and control of the detainees, of which his Soldiers were trained to do. Soldiers who were trained to fight were now put in a position of care.

“Going there and treating them [the detainees] fairly and without bias is tough, for a lot of people; but our unit, we definitely did it very successfully,” said Gans.

While the difficulty of such a mission is compounded by the visibility of the area of operations, 1st Lt. Curtis Meyers, detachment officer in charge, 342nd MP Company Detachment 1, did acknowledge that such an environment can produce positive outcomes.

“The fishbowl effect can also be a motivating factor with the Soldiers, absolutely. Soldiers were definitely more inclined to do the right thing when they know that what we are going to be doing could potentially be blasted out to the rest of world and could show negative or positive light on the United States, the military, and our unit,” said Meyers.

In that regard, the completion of the mission for both the 339th MP Company and 342nd MP Company Detachment 1 without any incidents of note, is a commendable accomplishment, an experience that will help Soldiers in the future, said Burman.

“It was a great opportunity for a lot of the Soldiers that haven’t deployed before to get experience in detainee operations, so now they have something to build off of in the future, both in their civilian and military lives,” said Burman.

The units will complete the demobilization process with the Mobilization and Deployment branch of Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Safety before departing home to their respective destinations across the Midwest.

• Date Taken: 11.05.2014
• Date Posted: 11.14.2014 20:40
• Story ID: 147944
• Location: FORT BLISS, TX, US
• Hometown: COLUMBUS, OH, US
• Hometown: DAVENPORT, IA, US