The Black Sea Area Support Team said goodbye to the U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers with the 396th Military Police Detachment from Denver, Colorado after a successfully completed rotation, and welcomes reservists with the 313th Military Police Detachment from Sloan, Nevada to Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, Romania and Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria in early January, 2019.
The 313th MP Detachment are supporting all operations throughout the Black Sea Area region.
“We are a law and order detachment,” said 1st Lt. Anthony Perkins, executive officer with 313th MPD. “Our main functionality is police work operations, but being under the BS-AST, we also are in charge of customs for Soldiers rotating through MKAB, similar to Iraq or Afghanistan.”
The transition between the two detachments gave the outgoing unit an opportunity to train other military police service members in police operations. This also gave the incoming unit the knowledge they require to conduct their mission at the air base.
“The 396th MPD did a great job at helping us get set up,” said Sgt. Ryan Tobler, a military police investigator with the 313th MP Detachment, “They let us train ‘left seat, right seat’ with them for about a week. I really wish they could have stayed longer because they were a great group of people.”
The 396th MPD also introduced the 313th MPD to the Romanian forces they worked with throughout the duration of their rotation.
“Romanians have been very welcoming to us here at MKAB with open arms, whether it be on the security side, or just day to day operations,” said Perkins. “They are really reaching out to us on mutual support and knowledge as well.”
With the collective defense and assistance of the Romanian allies, the 313th hopes to lead by example, and set the standard when it comes to military police operations in the Black Sea region, along with supporting Operation Atlantic Resolve.
“Our relationship with the Romanians is just as important as our relationships with Germany, Italy, and even the United Kingdom,” said Perkins. “We hope our presence shows that we care about what is going on in this part of the world, and that it is going to be a continued operation that we do for years to come.”