Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Pietrantoni | U.S. Soldiers with the 206th Military Police Battalion, New York National Guard, begin...... read more read more
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WASHINGTON—Sgt. Ryan Murphy and Sgt. Timothy Stabell, members of the New York Army National Guard’s 206th Military Police Company, spent most of 2020 on active duty.
The two men, along with other members of the Latham, New York-based 206th, spent ten months in Afghanistan as a personal security detachment for a key leader.
Now, they’re back on security duty again, along with up to 25,000 other National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from throughout the country, on duty in Washington, D.C., in advance of the presidential inauguration on January 20.
“Leaving with such short notice was the most challenging part of this operation, so far,” Murphy said, as he explained his experience in the District.
“Many of us left jobs, families and kids behind within a 24-hour notice,” he added. “There really wasn’t a lot of time for prepping, packing or saying goodbye to family.”
Stabell said Soldiers of the 206th received the call to action on Jan. 6. They made quick preparations to mobilize and on Jan 8. the 206th arrived in the District to begin their mission.
“While we’re trying to acclimate to the regular world—unfortunately, we just got pulled away again,” Murphy said. “Some people thought that the deployment was their last mission—they were like ‘hey this is my last mission and after this, I’m done,’ but the incident that happened early January halted many Soldiers plans.”
Regardless of how difficult deploying to Washington was, Murphy, and Stabell agreed that if a Soldier is willing to go overseas to fight for their country, the Soldier should be mentally ready to do it stateside. For the two Soldiers, whether it’s combating foreign or domestic adversaries, it's still the same goal—to defend democracy and the constitution.
“We signed up to defend the home front and when the country needs help, we show up to defend our nation,” Stabell said as he spoke about the honor he felt in serving his country and the mission despite the hardship along the way.
“I think about it and for the most part, everybody we've dealt with has been appreciative of us being here—with the occasional one or two guys who walk by, yell and run away,” Stabell said.
Stabell said his experiences throughout his Army career have prepared him for this operation and he believes that this mission will make him a more well-rounded leader when dealing with future Soldiers.
“I’ve covered everything from hurricanes, floods, snowstorms and deployments to Afghanistan,” Stabell said. “Those experiences refine me as a leader and as a Soldier and when you perform well with the orders you’re given, leadership recognizes that.”
In regard to future Soldiers, Murphy feels anyone who is considering the New York National Guard as a career path, should join with realistic expectations.
“People who want to join the National Guard should just remember the bigger picture. There's a reason why you joined and you got to understand sometimes, defending your nation will not be easy and it will sometimes get in the way of your personal life but there's a bigger picture out there and you're serving for a better cause, so just try to try to keep that in mind always.”
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 01.25.2021 10:12 |
| Story ID: | 387434 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 149 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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