The Oregon Army National Guard’s 1186th Military Police Company, based in Salem and Hood River, Oregon, is scheduled to deploy approximately 30 Soldiers to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (OFS). The Soldiers were selected for a special mission to provide a Personal Security Detail (PSD) for the International Security Assistance Force in support of the theater operational commander and other high profile personnel.
The Military Police (MP) Soldiers spent their three-week annual training in May 2017 at Camp Rilea, near Warrenton, Oregon, working on warrior tasks, battle drills, combat life saver training, weapons qualification, and then focused on specific training for their PSD mission.
The Oregon Army National Guard’s Pre-Mobilization Training Assistance Element (PTAE), a team of eight Soldiers that have experience from prior deployments, conducted the training at Camp Rilea.
“We’ll work with units ahead of time to create a package of training suited to the unit’s specific mission,” said Sgt. Nick Wolchesky, an instructor with the PTAE.
The training is fresh on the mind of one Soldier who recently graduated from Military Police training and was completing her first annual training.
“I’m the newest add for the deployment,” said Pvt. Alex Broussard, an MP with the 1186th MP Co. “I look forward to going to a new country with my unit and look forward to the experience I’m going to gain.”
More than half of the Soldiers deploying on this mission have previously deployed. The 1186 MP Company deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 and to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2004. The unit also provided domestic operations support in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
For Sgt. Robert Frey, a team leader with the 1186th MP Co., this will be a return trip to Afghanistan and a chance to build on his past deployment experiences.
“I’ve been doing this for 11 years and look forward to going back to Kabul," said Frey. “It’s a NATO environment and you work beside military units from around the world.”
The veteran Soldiers have deployed as base security as well as jail security elements, but PSD is a new type of mission for them.
“As a small platoon we have to cross-train and adapt to each job,” said Capt. Richard Smith, who will command the 1186th platoon while deployed. “This job is 100 percent paranoia; watching your sector and your buddies, keeping your situational awareness up at all times.”
Several Soldiers received PSD training prior to the annual training at Camp Rilea and were able to help mentor the other Soldiers. The annual training was a chance for the deploying platoon to work through real world situations based on current tactics and in-country social norms. The platoon of Soldiers was able to work through many situations in a training environment that included the surrounding towns near Camp Rilea.
“If we didn’t have this training prior to mobilizing, we wouldn’t be as bonded,” said Spc. Jacob Labato, a driver with the 1186th MP Co. “PSD is brand new to me and this has been a crash course on PSD.”
The 1186th MP’s are no strangers to tough training scenarios. In August 2015, the 1186th MPs spent 12 days conducting live-fire exercises and simulated battle scenarios at the National Training Center (NTC), in the Mojave Desert at Fort Irwin, Calif.
The unit also partners with local law enforcement agencies for training. They recently partnered with district and federal agencies to provide security, crowd management and traffic control during the 58th Presidential Inauguration, January 18-22, 2017, in Washington, D.C.
The unit is scheduled to complete additional pre-deployment training at Fort Bliss, Texas, before deploying overseas.