McGREGOR RANGE, N.M. -- With the Army's increased demand for corrections specialists, many military police are cross-training into the corrections field.
Last month, Soldiers in the 551st Military Police Company from Fort Campbell, Ky., were introduced to the world of detainee operations by members of 3rd Battalion, 362nd Armored Regiment, Task Force Stallion, 5th Armored Brigade, Division West.
With more MPs needed for specialized operations such as field detention sites, more attention than ever is being paid to the training given here in detainee operations facilities.
"The training conducted by Task Force Stallion is currently the most accurate, and is in line with detention operations conducted by all branches of United States military," said Maj. Brian Caldwell, Task Force Stallion chief operations officer. "The detention training is the most-requested training line that we operate."
The Fort Campbell unit is the second active-duty unit to train on detainee operations in less than a month at McGregor Range with Task Force Stallion.
"We are very glad for the opportunity to fly out here to McGregor Camp and receive this training on detainee operations," said Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Stephens, platoon sergeant for 3rd Platoon, 551st MP Company. "We've only worked as combat support or law and order military police Soldiers, so this type of training is very new to us … we are here to learn everything we can."
Field detention sites in theater give maneuver units the opportunity to immediately and temporarily incarcerate detainees upon capture. Operating in similar fashion to small, local civilian law enforcement facilities in the United States, field detention sites serve as the initial detention facilities where foreign detainees are held.
Personnel in field detention sites process sensitive evidence collection, put detainees into the Biometric Automated Toolset and the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment system, collect biometrics, and provide detainees with thorough medical screenings, a process essential in the prosecution of detainees.
During their training, the MPs learned that, if field detention site personnel fail to annotate or overlook even one detail, the entire case against a detainee can be thrown out in the Afghan judicial system and the detainee would have to be released back into the local Afghan population.
Related Links:
Like Division West on Facebook
See Division West photos on Flickr
Social Sharing