Six years into the Iraq war, many service members already have deployed to the war zone two or three times.
But a new Cleveland, Tenn.-based military police unit of the Tennessee National Guard is mostly young and inexperienced and has to prepare for an upcoming tour from scratch.
“They’re kids, and they just don’t know what to expect,” said Sedara Bond, leader of the 252nd Military Police Company’s Family Readiness Group. “They are straight out of high school, and this is a really big step, a real-world experience for them.”
Capt. Darrel T. Hull, unit commander, said he estimates about 80 percent of the unit is new.
ADOPT-A-SOLDIER DRIVE
Area residents are invited to “adopt” soldiers in the 252nd Military Police Company, sending them letters and care packages. For information or to sign up, e-mail Sedara Bond at frg252mp@yahoo.com.
Older members had been part of the 278th Regimental Combat Team, which deployed between 2004 and 2005. But the National Guard recently transformed the unit from cavalry to military police and assigned several new recruits.
“It’s always nerve-racking (with new people),” Capt. Hull said. “But we’ve got enough people that have had some experience, and the training that we’ve been doing has really prepared us for the job.”
The 252nd is scheduled to leave July 29 for training at Fort Dix, N.J., Tennessee National Guard spokesman Capt. Darrin Haas said. Between 30 and 45 days after that, the unit will ship off to Iraq for close to a year.
About 170 soldiers will be deploying from the unit’s main company in Cleveland and its Alcoa detachment, Capt. Haas said.
U.S. forces are set to withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30. The military police team will assist the transition by ensuring Iraq’s police force is self-sufficient.
The Police Transition Team, as it’s called, will do more than simple weapons training, Capt. Hull said.
“It’s training them (Iraqis) on actual police station operations,” the commander said. “We want to make it so they have their own police stations, manage their own police force and interact with the public. We’re setting them up for success so they can have their own security forces without us.”
support at home
While the soldiers are off doing their jobs, Mrs. Bond will be home trying to rally their loved ones and the community at large.
As Family Readiness Group leader, she is in charge of making sure each soldier has a support network, and that the network members learn to cope appropriately with the absence.
Mrs. Bond is working with some of the soldiers’ wives to teach them basic self-sufficiency.
“We’ve got young wives who’ve never paid bills before,” she said. “We had one that we had to give a crash course in how to write a check, because she had never written a check before.”
The FRG also recently held a family day celebration so families could meet and get to know each other, as well as an Army-sponsored briefing to teach families what to expect during deployment.
Mrs. Bond said community support isn’t something she worries about. Residents of Cleveland and surrounding areas aren’t getting tired of supporting their troops, she said.
“I think your average person who’s not really involved, it probably isn’t a priority to them because they don’t see it,” Mrs. Bond said. “But when we call and ask people for help, they are more than willing to come forward.”
She’s asking that community members, churches and other groups “adopt” members of the 252nd before they deploy. She hopes all 170 will be adopted, but said it’s especially important for those who are young or who don’t have parents, wives and children close.
“A lot of these people just don’t really have anybody,” she said.
