FORT POLK, La. — It’s often difficult for a commander to get their Soldiers together for a training opportunity, especially a unit such as the 91st Military Police Detachment, 519th Military Police Battalion. The 91st MP Bn Soldiers can be found spread across Fort Polk performing a myriad of jobs to include military police investigations, desk sergeant duty, traffic and force protection and military working dog patrols.
That was the problem faced by Capt. Nathan Barnes, commander, 91st MP Det.
His solution: Ask for a little help from the Directorate of Emergency Services and other MP companies on Fort Polk and take his entire detachment to the field.
The result: Four days (Dec. 3-6) spent getting Soldiers back to basic individual, team and squad tasks, missions and procedures.
“Our day-to-day mission is garrison law enforcement and all we have is sergeant’s time for the basic Soldier training you might see in a line unit,” Barnes said. “This was an opportunity for us to come together and get back to basic Soldier training and have some fun.”
Barnes said the “fun” included work on “presence patrol” — what his Soldiers would do as a deployed MP company.
“We focused on ambushes, attacks and other relevant training, such as letting the local population know we were there,” he said. “It was good to get the vast majority of my unit together and work on the basics of tactical operations.”
The training, which took place in November, presented no surprises, Barnes said.
“It was what we expected,” he said. “We knew we would have a few difficulties but were able to work through it. You could clearly see a difference in quality from Monday when we first went out to Wednesday when we did our final mission. We also did day, night and CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive) qualification with our weapons.”
Spc. David McCloud, a desk sergeant with the 91st MP Det, said the training was different from other line units he had gone to the field with.
“This was a lot cooler: The same amount of training, but the missions were based on different objectives, and the objectives had your adrenaline pumping and made you want to accomplish them,” he said. “It was realistic and the role players did a great job.”
McCloud said the unit’s squad leaders handled everything well and made the missions seem real. He also said he learned the importance of communication on the battlefield.
“I’ve never been one to call out direction, but this was so realistic I felt like I had to,” he said. “ I’m ready to go out and do it again. It wasn’t boring.”
Staff Sgt. Justin Cooper, 91st MP Det, is a combat veteran and said the training was vital for his unit.
“Even though we’re a small element, it’s important that we maintain our tactical skills,” he said. “When it comes to this FTX (field training exercise), we started with the basics, then moved on to situational awareness.”
Echoing McCloud’s comments, Cooper said (improvised explosive device) lanes and learned how to keep our eyes open and be aware of our surroundings. We really worked on situational awareness, what the role players were doing, how they were acting, and then came up with a plan of action.”
One of the missions Cooper’s team faced was removing a high value target from a local village.
“We worked through it well even though we were outnumbered,” he said. “We were able to set up a ‘snatch and grab’ and accomplished the mission by setting up a diversion. We then struck quickly, grabbed the target, met up with our trucks and got away.”
Cooper said communication and situational awareness were the keys to success.
“We adapted and overcame,” he said. “It can be difficult switching between combat and garrison roles, and that’s why this training is so important, to be able to get away as a unit and work on our tactical skills.”
Cooper said he was able to draw on his combat experience to provide additional training for the unit’s younger, less experienced Soldiers.
“I’ve been involved hands on with insurgents,” he said. “I’ve learned how to spot IED-making material. Being able to communicate that to others is important. We were able to use that when training.”
Although it’s important to “learn by the book,” Cooper said more is needed.
“There is no ‘right way’ in combat because situations change, and you have to be able to make quick decisions, and if you don’t, you’re in trouble,” he said. “That’s why training like this is important — it allows you to know how to react and builds trust with the younger Soldiers and those who have been there and have experience. The fact that we came together and were able to accomplish this mission was amazing, how well we worked together and fit like a puzzle.”
Two of those “younger” Soldiers were Sgt. Jordan Marsteller and Pfc. Scott Kokjohn, both military working dog handlers with the 50th Military Working Dog Detachment assigned to the 91st MP Det. Marsteller said the training was particularly important for the unit’s dog handlers.
“Being a dog handler, we basically wear two different hats: We have the law enforcement side and we have the conventional warfare side, which is IED detection and occasionally drug suppression with units deployed around the world,” he said. “It’s hard for us to get in the training we need. We typically deploy as individuals instead of complete units, so we have to know what we’re doing so we can sell ourselves to the battlefield commander. Going to the field gave us time to devote ourselves to that training and develop our combat skills. We were leading patrols, searching for IEDs, communicating with the platoon and reacting to combat.”
The training was especially important to Kokjohn, as he will deploy in the spring.
“On a day-to-day basis we don’t get that training with other elements,” he said. “I realized how important communication is — if one link is messed up, the whole line of communication can be messed up. I know what needs to be communicated to the rest of the unit. It will help me greatly on my upcoming deployment.”
Marsteller, who is a recently promoted noncommissioned officer, said being placed in a leadership position during the training helped him develop his NCO skills.
“I had the opportunity to lead a mission and it allowed me to develop leadership skills which will be invaluable to me when I deploy,” he said.
“I learned that it’s not easy, you’ve got to learn to think on your feet, because now you’re not just worried about you and your dog, but about a squad- or platoon-sized element that you’re leading. It definitely gave me more confidence.”
Barnes said the feedback he received from his Soldiers and leaders indicated the training met its goal of improving the lines of communications between elements.
“From what I saw and heard it was good refresher training and bonding time,” he said. “It’s rare they can get together and train. I’ve been the commander here for about 15 months. We participated in a battalion FTX in May, saw what our deficiencies were then and we worked on them. I think this training was a success.”