Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Davis | Sgt. Colt Bell, Detachment 1, 1165th Military Police Company, conducts a roving...... read more read more
CINCU, Romania – Imagine being in a location where you have no knowledge of the roads and terrain, no understanding of the language and little understanding of the culture. With these challenges staring you down, you are then given a set of tasks to be completed, within a specific time frame, while working with foreign military counterparts.
As a military police Soldier, a person is responsible to handle five major functions. For now they must focus on just one: area security of multiple sites with possible need of response.
Soldiers from Detachment 1, 1165th Military Police Company of the Alabama National Guard, have served on an overseas rotation in the allied nation of Romania, working alongside American and Romanian Soldiers. The detachment has a long history of being ready when their skills are needed.
Over the last three decades, Soldiers from the armory in Brewton have responded to local, state and national disasters. They are obligated to leave the workplace or dinner table when they receive notification to report to the armory with their gear.
“I received a phone call while at work and was at the armory in 30 minutes,” said Spc. Jamica Jackson of East Brewton, referring to the ice storm of 2014.
The unit has also deployed for three separate combat deployments since 1990 and multiple foreign support missions that took Soldiers from Brewton to Latin America and Europe.
The 638th Ordinance Company was activated for the Gulf War’s Desert Shield / Desert Storm and recognized for its ability to move large quantities of material over long distances in short durations of time. The unit was reorganized in 1991 as a military police detachment of the 1165th Military Police Company based in Fairhope.
The 1165th Military Police Company was activated for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and 2004 and for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2011. During the two combat deployments, the 1165th earned some of the highest unit awards possible for their dedication and work, including the Valorous Unit Award, Meritorious Unit Award and the coveted Presidential Unit Citation.
Upon returning home from Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004, the citizens of Brewton welcomed home the men and women of Detachment 1 by lining both sides of the streets through Brewton, East Brewton and Riverview. Detachment Soldiers on the bus were humbled that day by the outpouring of the pride and support demonstrated by the people under that hot July sun.
Detachment 1 reflects Brewton’s sense of community with the feel of a traditional hometown armory. Many of the Soldiers live in the area and work at various businesses or government offices. Their sense of family is very prevalent for being such a small unit.
“To the community, we are a family to them,” said Staff Sgt. Chester Tolbert from Chumuckla, Florida. “They supported us really well when we went on missions, being hurricane duty or on a combat mission over in Iraq or Afghanistan to a support mission over here in Romania.”
Tolbert and other Soldiers of Detachment 1 stated how they get together for cookouts, attend each other’s weddings or celebrate when one of them has a child being born. Their values mirrors the Army’s values as well as those associated with small town life.
Some Soldiers, who have recently joined the Brewton Detachment, have only been out of high school for a couple of years and just had the burden to complete tasks seven days a week for shifts longer than most civilian workers. They received training in preparation for this support mission from their company leadership and previous annual training period. They applied that training in the real world, in a foreign country, while working with NATO allies who they did not know and could not easily communicate with.
“It is different than being at home station, because at the armory we have a scenario played out for us.” said Spc. Lacy Stinson from Red Level. “I learned that what you think in your head is not what it is always going to be in real life as you face those challenges in front of you, directing traffic as an example.”
Stinson said the inherent challenges being in a foreign country was different than the home station training, since the unfamiliarity can seem overwhelming. She learned to be more confident in everything she said and did while being mindful of her surroundings.
Detachment 1 is a small part of the Alabama National Guard’s commitment to Resolute Castle 16, a multinational joint force of engineers and support elements working at Cincu Training Range, Romania. The overall mission is to assist Romanian Land Forces improve the location’s infrastructure by expanding the work completed last year and increase the capabilities of Cincu Training Range to host a variety of NATO units and training exercises.
Operation Resolute Castle 16 is an extension of Alabama and Romania’s State Partnership Program. Founded in 1993, the trust between Romania and Alabama is one of the strongest, longest, continuous state partnerships in the United States.
It is that partnership that has encouraged the efforts of allied nations to support each other and learn from each other. The military police from Detachment 1 worked alongside their Romanian counterparts as part of their mission at Cincu Training Range.
“You can see how their military police operate, their techniques used and the tactics they employ,” said Sgt. 1st Class Michael McGraw, Detachment 1 platoon sergeant and the military police element noncommissioned-officer-in-charge.
Even though these young Soldiers faced challenges of language barriers or ever changing needs of the mission, they learned to adapt and even appreciate this opportunity to be in support role in a friendly nation.
“I look at it as a blessing where I get to enjoy and see things I never thought I would get to see places like this,” said Pvt. Tony Maye from Atmore. “It is definitely new to me, but yet I enjoy it.”
Soldiers have utilized their spare time to take photos of the local towns they visited. A group of Detachment 1 Soldiers visited Fagaras to purchase some groceries and lunch. While walking down the street, they were surprised by what they saw when turning a corner. The 600 year old fortress of Fagaras stood imposing before them, demanding to be explored. It is the only fortress in Romania that has never been overran by an enemy force.
Spc. Bryant Lane of Flomaton stated how this mission had given him unique opportunities where so many of his high school friends might never have had the same opportunity. He has friends in the military who would be amazed at the photos he will share with them because they are based stateside most of their career.
The families of the Soldiers of Detachment 1 were naturally anxious for their loved ones to be safe and come home as soon as possible. Over the last three decades, many Soldiers have come and gone through the Brewton armory. Some veterans noted that quite a few have literally grown up in the detachment, starting as young junior enlisted and rising in the ranks to high level seniority positions.
Some of the senior noncommissioned officers have been with the Brewton Detachment for more than ten years. Back then, they were the young Soldiers who were new to the scene and looked up to the senior leaders for direction. Now they are the old hands that the newer Soldiers like Lane, Maye and Stinson look up to.
“It is a rewarding position to be in, especially when you see them doing so well as the young hands succeed and see them progress,” said McGraw reflecting how his 13 years with the National Guard has passed. “Our leaders did a good job molding us, and if we can do the same thing for the younger ones coming up, then we were successful in our jobs.”
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.29.2016 17:24 |
| Story ID: | 202784 |
| Location: | CINCU, RO |
| Web Views: | 885 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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