FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Twenty Soldiers from the 91st Military Police Battalion recently completed training for this season's Directorate of Emergency Services, Law Enforcement Division, bicycle patrol and community policing mission. This mission not only reduces crime and increases public safety; it also promotes positive ties between the Fort Drum community and its law enforcement.
Sgt. Christopher Stockton and Sgt. Brandon Hawkins, both assigned to 511th Military Police Company, will lead their Soldiers in patrol activities within the Fort Drum residential areas.
Through events such as the Bike Rodeo and other community policing activities, they will inform the public about safety, enforce Fort Drum traffic regulations in housing areas, and provide an active police presence and point of contact for the community.
Soldiers from 23rd Military Police Company and 511th Military Police Company recently underwent a strenuous two-week training program. The first week focused on strength and conditioning, culminating with a rigorous 20-mile bike ride. The second week focused on learning how to maneuver, care and maintain the bicycle and incorporated live-fire weapons qualification with the bicycle. The Soldiers also conducted radar training, which they will use to enforce traffic laws.
The live-fire weapons qualification incorporated elements from their bike patrol training as well as their law enforcement skills. The exercise involved a scenario in which Soldiers first operated in two-man teams, rode a difficult half-mile course, dragged a 180-pound dummy through a course, and then used their assigned weapons to engage targets on a range. Soldiers then rode another quarter-mile course culminating in another weapons engagement.
The training was led by a guest instructor from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on loan to the Directorate of Emergency Services and 91st Military Police Battalion. Agent Mike O'Connor, a bike patrol trainer for U.S. Border Patrol, travelled to Fort Drum to conduct the training at the request of Lt. Dave Shannon, Law Enforcement Division training officer. O'Connor has spent several years patrolling the southern and northern U.S. borders.
Military Police Soldiers assigned to 91st Military Police Battalion and Department of Army civilian police officers assigned to the Directorate of Emergency Services' Law Enforcement Division are the primary source of manpower used to provide law enforcement on Fort Drum.
Hsia serves with 91st Military Police Battalion.
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