MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, Romania - U.S. and Romanian military police conducted combined training at the passenger terminal on Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase April 15.
Soldiers from the 202nd Military Police Company, 93rd Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade from Fort Bliss, Texas are currently partnered with the 52nd Security Forces Squadron for responsibility of the military police mission on the airbase. The training was designed to teach the Romanian military police on U.S. tactics and procedures with regards to police tasks. The three-hour session of classroom and hands-on training was the first step toward integrating Romanian personnel into the MK Airbase police and patrolling mission, said 2nd Lt. Nicholas W. Smith, a platoon leader with the 202nd MP Co. and the officer in charge of the training.
"It's really important for us to train together as U.S. and Romanian military police, especially since we want to start these joint patrols in the near future," Smith said. "Our (U.S.) MPs are getting the Romanians on the same sheet of music to ensure that these patrols go safely. There are a lot of potentially dangerous tasks that can come up during a patrol; everyone has to know their role."
The training began with more than 150 Romanian military police personnel receiving classroom instruction on pulling over a vehicle, commanding someone to exit a vehicle, use of the collapsible Asp baton, conducting a vehicle search, and subduing and hand-cuffing a perpetrator. Once the classroom portion concluded, the Romanian personnel broke down into four groups and conducted hands-on training in searching a vehicle, commanding personnel to exit a vehicle, hand-cuffing a perpetrator, using the Asp baton and conducting a personal search.
For many of the Soldiers from the 202nd MP Co., this was their first time conducting international training.
"This is my first time outside the continental United States and my first time conducting training with one of our international partners," said Pvt. Cody J. Lyons, a military police Soldier assigned to the 202nd MP Co. and a native of Wylie, Texas. "It's really cool to train with them. They don't see the same missions we do as MPs, getting to teach them what we know is very rewarding."
As the training drew to a close, the commander of the Romanian military police unit expressed his views on the training.
"In the future, we all hope to start patrolling together... and soon," said Romanian 1st Lt. Laurentiu Anghel. "When my guys start doing patrols with the U.S., they need to know what to do so there are not any problems. This training is very good, and it is teaching us a lot."
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