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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – U.S. Army Spc. Judy Sanchez did not realize that taking a high school course on law enforcement would eventually land her in Afghanistan.
“I was taking a criminal justice class at my high school senior year, and I found that I really liked it,” Sanchez said. “I enlisted straight out of high school and now I’m here.”
Sanchez, a military police officer, specializes in traffic accident investigations but performs a variety of duties on Bagram Air Field. Her reserve unit, the 539th Military Police Detachment, is currently deployed to support the law and order mission on Bagram.
A typical day for Sanchez begins with a briefing in the morning covering the events of the previous shift. She then performs safety checks on her patrol vehicle, verifies her paperwork and heads out to start her patrol.
MPs on Bagram typically perform the same duties a civilian law enforcement agency would in the U.S.
Sanchez responds to a variety of calls on any given day including traffic accidents, suspicious activity and hit-and-runs. She also fills her shift with community policing as she stops to talk with local vendors at the bazaar and patients and staff at the hospital.
“I serve because law enforcement is something that I really enjoy and doing the job in the military motivated me to do something different with my life,” Sanchez said. “I’m proud of my service and everything I do here.”
Sanchez is the only member of her family who is currently serving the military.
“They weren’t thrilled when I first enlisted, but now they’re super proud,” she said.
She is particularly close to her nephew who hopes to enlist in the Army when he graduates high school.
Sanchez has reenlisted for another six years and plans on staying in the Army reserves and going back to school when she redeploys.
Sanchez’s leadership has nothing but positive things to say about her work here on Bagram.
“She’s a vital asset to the military police mission here and to me as a supervisor,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Schultz, the day-shift desk sergeant. “She is the first to volunteer for any duty and does all her assigned tasks in a professional and timely manner. She never complains and is an outstanding Soldier to have on my shift.”
After working a 12-14 hour shift every day, Sanchez still finds time to stay in shape and takes a regular CrossFit class at the Rock Gym to maintain her physical fitness.
Now that Sanchez has experienced the law and order side of the MP career field at Bagram, she wants to transfer to the combat arms side when she returns to Arizona next year.
According to Schultz, her future success and leadership potential is guaranteed.
“I believe Sanchez will be an outstanding leader just as she has been an outstanding Soldier,” Schultz said.
| Date Taken: | 10.02.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 12.11.2012 01:24 |
| Story ID: | 99067 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Hometown: | PHOENIX, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 175 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Why we serve: Spc. Judy Sanchez, by SGT Christopher Bonebrake, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
