58th MP Co. gears up for JRTC

By Staff Sgt. Richard Sherba, 8th Military Police Brigade Public Affairs, 8th Theater Sustainment CommandApril 17, 2014

58th MP Co. gears up for JRTC
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – BELLOWS AIR FORCE STATION, Hawaii - Soldiers from the 58th Military Police Company, 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, evacuate a role-playing casualty during a downed aircraft exercise portion of a battalion exercise held ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
58th MP Co. gears up for JRTC
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ALEXANDRIA, La. - Pfc. Julia Kats, gunner, 1st Platoon, 58th Military Police Company, 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, dons her protective mask while conducting battle drills at an intermediate staging base for the Joint ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
58th MP Co. gears up for JRTC
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ALEXANDRIA, La. - Staff Sgt. Latasha Mack, squad leader, 1st Platoon, 58th Military Police Company, 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, installs MILES gear onto her M4 carbine in preparation for a rotation at the Joint Read... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
58th MP Co. gears up for JRTC
4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – ALEXANDRIA, La. - Pfc. Andrew Pullen, gunner, 3rd Platoon, 58th Military Police Company, 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, pulls security while conducting battle drills at an intermediate staging base for the Joint Readine... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ALEXANDRIA, La. - Months of training will soon be put on display by the Soldiers of the 58th Military Police Company, 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, as they make their final preparations at an intermediate staging base for a rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.

The commander of the 58th MP Co., Capt. Daniel Groller, took time out to reflect on the training opportunity that lies ahead for his Soldiers at JRTC.

"I'm expecting my Soldiers to get the training they can't receive at home station because of space, land availability and resources. JRTC is also going to provide a realistic training environment, and it's a DATE scenario - decisive action training exercise; we'll be going up against [role-playing] enemy forces in a realistic scenario," said Groller.

"My platoon leaders and XO [executive officer] haven't had a deployment experience, so this [JRTC] is invaluable, they are going to get the most realistic deployment experience possible, short of them actually deploying," continued Groller. "Everything about this training exercise is giving them an idea of what they can expect on a deployment. This [JRTC] is a large scale training event that mirrors everything as close as possible to an actual deployment."

Groller then explained that even though his platoon sergeants have had deployment experience, this training exercise would also provide them with opportunities to gain experience on conditions that they may not have been exposed to in awhile.

"We've been used to being on FOBs [forward operating bases] for so many years, going out on missions and then coming back to a safe place, bedding down, resting, and then waking up and going back out [on missions]. So this [field exercise] will force the platoon sergeants to work that work/rest cycle while maintaining security all the time. They'll have to maintain those work/rest cycles for [their Soldiers] and they haven't had to do that in awhile," said Groller.

Some of the training conducted by the 58th MP Co. prior to arriving at JRTC involved ranges, driver's training, and platoon based training which allotted platoon leaders the opportunity to shape their respective platoons' training into what they felt was needed to be successful at JRTC.

The 58th MP Co.'s training back in Hawaii culminated at Bellows Air Force Station with a week long field exercise in which the 728th MP Bn. provided multi echelon training while acting as the higher command and injecting missions, significant acts, and role playing enemies into various scenarios during the exercise.

Sgt. 1st Class Allan Huhn, platoon sergeant, 1st Platoon, 58th MP Co. spoke about his expectations for his platoon.

"One of things I expect them to learn from this experience is how some things might look good and go well in training, but when your up against an actually force you have to actually take those classes and lessons and develop them using your own decision making process," said Huhn.

Huhn spoke about the unique challenges of Military Police working the roads and their jobs while still training and preparing for exercises like JRTC.

"As MPs we have a very busy schedule, the time allotted for training brought these Soldiers a very long way. I think it's [JRTC] a great opportunity, I am hoping all of them take full advantage of everything this training has to offer," concluded Huhn.

As another day of preparations at the ISB came to an end, Pfc. Derian Moore, gunner, 3rd Platoon, 58th MP Co. spoke about his experience thus far.

"I am not really used to eating MRE's everyday, and constantly waking up, however it's actually pretty fun. It's fun because we normally work the road, and we don't always get this much time to do these things, such as dismounted patrols. This is the Army to me, I love it," said Moore.

When asked his thoughts on the upcoming training event, Moore paused, smiled and said, "it's show time."

Related Links:

Official Facebook Page of the 8th Military Police Brigade

Official Facebook Page of the 8th Theater Sustainment Command