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    Black Jack PMO gets a KATUSA Soldier

    Black Jack PMO gets a KATUSA Soldier

    Photo By Sgt. SeoWon Lee | Pfc. Shin Sang-wook, who was originally an interpreter and translator in the Republic...... read more read more

    CAMP HOVEY, South Korea – The provost marshal office is a law enforcement agency that takes care of every military law related issue in the unit to maintain order and stability.

    The importance of their role rises as the unit deploys to a foreign country. Military police assist in keeping Soldiers out of any trouble that may occur while adapting in the new environment.

    “We are the advisers to the brigade commander on the best use of military police assets,” said Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Stephens, noncommissioned officer in charge of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, provost marshal office. “Additionally, we do joint missions with the 55th Military Police Company and 2nd Infantry Division PMO.”

    During the weekends, they patrol around the base, helping other law enforcement agencies.

    “We conduct missions as a military police duty officer on weekends to augment their staff and foster relationships between 2nd ABCT and 2nd Infantry Division PMO and local law enforcement Korean National Police,” said Stephens.

    However, Stephens has to face the language barrier as a challenge while interacting with the local police. That is why he decided to request a Korean Augmentation to the United States Army Soldier from the Republic of Korea Army staff office of the brigade.

    Pfc. Shin Sang-wook, who was originally stationed in the ROKA staff office as an interpreter and translator, was soon recognized as a suitable person.

    “A KATUSA Soldier is going to be very helpful for us since we are in the Korean Peninsula,” said Capt. Aedro Rodriguez, provost marshal of the 2nd ABCT.
    “We don’t speak the native language, so we definitely need a KATUSA to help us do our daily operations.”

    When Shin heard about the request from the brigade PMO, he thought this could be an opportunity for a new experience.

    “I’ve been in the Army for nine months now,” said Shin. “I wanted to have a challenge. When I heard military police is a tough job, I wanted to try it out.”

    Moving to a completely different job wasn’t an easy choice for him because he had to leave his familiar workstation and battle buddies.

    “When I first moved to this section, I was worried whether or not I could adapt to this new environment well,” said Shin. “However as I talked to them, I realized PMO people are very nice. I am slowly adapting thanks to my NCOs’ lead.”

    Considering their time in service, it is hard for KATUSA Soldiers to finish sufficient amount of courses to be a military police. Therefore, they only get the minimum amount of trainings to conduct their missions.

    “He is working on military police capacity,” said Stephens. “He is not actually a military police because he hasn’t had the schooling for it. But he is working on law enforcement capacity, so he has been briefed to handle the information not everybody gets to see.”

    It’s hard to say that he is completely settled in for the job yet. However, Stephens expects him to get better at his job as the time goes.

    “I expect him to learn his job by watching us and asking questions,” said Stephens. “So far Shin is doing great. He is still learning.”

    Stephens was satisfied when they conducted a mission together.

    “He did patrol with me last weekend,” said Stephens. “He learned a little bit while out there. He’s going to continue to evolve. He’s going to learn more as we do more stuff. I expect him to be physically fit as well.”

    When Shin was working in the ROKA staff office, most of his job involved paper work. Now as a military police, situation has changed. However, he is confident about it.

    “The toughest part about the job is that it’s physically challenging,” said Shin. “When I do patrol, I work for around 18 hours. It is very tough, but I am ready to take the responsibility because this is what we do.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 10.19.2015
    Date Posted: 10.20.2015 22:56
    Story ID: 179467
    Location: CAMP HOVEY, 41, KR

    Web Views: 141
    Downloads: 0

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