Photo By Adam Holguin | First Sgt. James Edward Berry, right, first sergeant, 217th MP Company, walks out of...... read more read more
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FORT BLISS, Texas --The 217th Military Police Company, Alabama Army National Guard from Prattville, Alabama and the 363rd Military Police Company Detachment 1, a U.S. Army Reserve unit based out of Grafton, West Virginia, departed the Silas L. Copeland Arrival Departure Air Control Group airfield June 2, headed for the Middle East to conduct different missions in the U.S. Central Command area of operations.
The 217th MP Company will be based out of Kuwait for their deployment and will branch out into other countries across the area.
“We are heading to Kuwait, we will also have Soldiers in Jordan, United Arab Emirates, and Iraq. We are heading out there to conduct customs operations, both personnel and cargo coming into the different ports,” said Capt. Nathaniel Slaten, commander, 217th MP Company.
For the 217th MP Co. the logistical issue of being splintered into different areas was something the leadership has planned for and will work to ensure the deployment will go smooth for the entire unit.
“We’ve put in certain key features to make sure that we have control of the situation, we have upper leaders that we will move in certain directions, I will be moving in certain directions, I won’t be staying at one place the whole time,” said 1st Sgt. James Edward Berry, first sergeant, 217th MP Company. “So we are covering those bases to make sure that all the soldiers are taken care of.”
The 363rd MP Company Det. 1 will embark on a unique mission in Afghanistan.
“We are going to Afghanistan to conduct a protective services mission, it’s a high risk personnel protection detail, security for high profile guests,” said Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Allen, detachment officer in charge, 363rd MP Company Det. 1.
Both units completed pre-mobilization training at McGregor Range, New Mexico with the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security. Each unit trained specifically for their mission set and felt the training was a great preparation for their deployments.
“Training did consist of a lot simulation of events and different threats, we covered the gambit of conducting protective services,” said Allen, who thought simulations were great preparation for the unit. “You’ll never get the real experience until you are actually in theater, but it does get their brains working in the right direction, as to what they are going to do if X, Y and Z occurs, how are they going to react?”
Although some in the 363rd MP Company Det. 1 have deployed on a similar mission set, the training was essential for those that will deploy for the first time like Spc. Dan Lites.
“The simulations helped a lot, let us all work together as a team, we are starting to learn how each other operates together. It just opened up our eyes to being really adaptable, so that we can adapt to situations better, know how to react,” said Lites.
Another positive aspect to mobilizing through Fort Bliss is how the climate and environment helps prepare Soldiers for life in the Middle East.
“Without actually knowing, the desert gets you really drinking a lot of water and preparing yourself for down range,” said Cpl. Dustin Tyler Fox, team leader, 2nd platoon, 217th MP Company. “I think it has also gotten us used to not seeing green all the time, prepared us for the culture shock.”
“Out at McGregor we had a couple of dust storms, not as major as Kuwait, and us veterans would always say, ‘hey, this is what it’s going to be like, actually it’s going to be a little worse,’” said Berry.
| Date Taken: | 06.02.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.30.2015 16:41 |
| Story ID: | 168663 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Hometown: | GRAFTON, WV, US |
| Hometown: | PRATTVILLE, AL, US |
| Web Views: | 834 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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