FORT STEWART, Ga. — The hand that opened the cruiser door on a junior military police Soldiers’ first patrol 30 years ago, now aged by a full Army career, again grasps the handle of a 549th Military Police Battalion cruiser. She opens the door, climbs in and swings the Durango out onto the darkened streets for one last patrol.
Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Rebecca Myers began her military career as a military police Soldier in Panama and chose to close it out Nov. 27 with the same unit now stationed on Fort Stewart.
“If I was going to do this, I might as well have done it with the 549th because then I can feel like everything has come full circle,” Myers said.
Her MP training came back to her inherently knowing where to stand on a traffic stop and alert for things out of the ordinary, but Myers admitted she most appreciated being welcomed back into the brotherhood and sisterhood of the MP Corps.
“What was really kind of special was to be able to go and do some walking patrols with each of the patrolmen and talk to them about what they like about Fort Stewart and hear their thoughts and share stories,” Myers said. “It was just a good night.”
Myers wasn’t alone in commemorating her career come full circle that night, either. Sgt. Raymond MacKenzie, patrol supervisor, 549th MP Co., said he had worked with Myers when he was going through one-station unit training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Myers was the 795th MP Bn. command sergeant major.
“I was there for his first day in the Army,” Myers said.
MacKenzie told Myers he remembered her making him drop for pushups for not calling “at ease” when she walked in the building. Throughout the night, the two patrolled for MacKenzie’s midshift but saw a mostly calm post.
“It was awesome; it was quiet,” Myers said. “From a garrison sergeant major, I was happy that it was quiet, but from an MP perspective, I was looking for a little bit of excitement.”
The ride along ended with Myers’ last Ending Time on Duty call, where the 385th MP Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Craig Giancaterino commended her over the radio.
“That part was really special, in fact they had me speechless,” Myers said.
Capt. Chelsea Kay, 549th MP Co. commander, said the final ETD was something Kay had never seen before.
Giancaterino, also director of Fort Stewart Emergency Services, wrote the script which he and other members of the company made sure would be read by the Emergency Communications Center when Myers made her last ETD call.
“It is fitting your final days of active-duty are with the unit that your legacy began – the 549th Military Police Company, ‘Tropic Enforcers,’” Giancaterino said. “Your engaged leadership has left the most positive impact for the Fort Stewart and Marne community. Remember retirement isn’t just the end of something great, it is the start of something better. Happy retirement. Enjoy. You deserve it.”
Myers intends to seek employment through the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program following her retirement, but more importantly, she intends to spend time with her daughter in Kansas City, Missouri.
“I’m really looking forward to spending time with her,” Myers said. “Being apart for so long, it is going to be good to be able to have uninterrupted time to spend with her that I haven’t had over the last several years.”
Myers gave challenge coins to the entire shift of MPs with her that night, and she received unit challenge coins from the 385th MP Bn. and the 549th MP Co. She knows the challenges of the MP occupation, and she felt they deserved a display of appreciation for their hard work behind the scenes of the Marne community.
“Being an MP can sometimes be a very thankless job; you get to see the best and the worst of everybody,” Myers said. “I felt that it was important they understood how much I appreciated them and everything that they do every single day. To work all hours of the day, all hours of the night, on holidays, in the rain, in the heat … I wanted to thank them for doing what they do and keeping everybody safe here on Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield.”
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