September 8 – Sgt. Brad Staggs

 

Last night, while we were fixing up our truck to sleep for the night… which meant placing the mosquito netting where it needed to be  and clearing enough space in the back for sleeping… the call finally came in. All of our Army Military Police and Air Force Security Police had a mission at last. It wasn’t what we expected, but it was a good mission.

 

The MPs and SPs together were to roll out to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to assist with security at the local civic center, where over 2000 refugees had been taken and Spc. Fellenzer and I were asked to come along to document what took place. We gladly accepted.

 

All of the Air Force and Army Police couldn’t have been happier. They had come down to Louisiana in order to do their job… their duty… and now they would have a chance to feel useful. Many of the policemen and women with whom we spoke were ecstatic to get the chance to help.

 

Let me say a word here about the joint environment. I have worked in joint environments before where differences in service and the way that things are done has gotten in the way of doing the job. That is not true at all here. The Army’s 229th Military Police Company and the Air Force’s 192nd Security Police Squadron work together as if they had been training together and working together their entire careers. Every man and woman knows exactly what his or her job is and performs that job with practiced precision. The Soldiers of the 229th all went through Iraq together, serving at Abu Ghraib Prison… honorably, I might add. They brought the 192nd into their family and never looked back.

 

Every Soldier with whom I have spoken has asked me to please include the Airmen of the 192nd in all stories about this mission, because they look at their Air Force brothers and sisters as part of their team. That’s the kind of brotherhood you won’t find on a recruiting poster. That’s the kind of brotherhood that is well-earned and respected because it is fought for. That’s the kind of brotherhood all Soldiers and Airmen should be striving for.