CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq – An end of mission ceremony for 203rd Military Police Battalion here, June 6, marked the conclusion of more than 10 months of operations in southern Iraq.

The Alabama National Guard’s headquarters and headquarters detachment, with a home base in Athens, furled and cased its battalion’s colors during a morning event, and prepared to redeploy back home.

Even though this was the battalion’s first Iraqi Operation Freedom deployment since its reactivation December 2004, the unit has been called into Federal Service in support of World War II, the Korean War, along with two-hurricane relief operations.

The event featured six guest speakers to include: Capt. Brad Priest, 203rd HHD commander, Capt. Kevin Manion, 206th MP Company commander, Lt. Col. Charles Buxton, 203rd MP commander, Col. Steven Bulimore, 17th Fires Brigade commander, Brig. Gen Donald J. Currier, 49th MP Brigade commander and Staff Maj. Gen. Addel, Basra chief of police.

Master of ceremony, Capt. Patrick Martel, 203rd S-1 (personnel) officer in charge, opened the event with an extensive deployment history. “While arriving in Iraq from Kuwait late August, the 203rd conducted its transfer of authority Sep. 7, 2009, and assumed control of four military police companies.”

Martel continued to explain, “The HHD’s role in the battalion’s [Police Transition Team] mission focused on partnering with the Basra Provincial Headquarters and the District Directorate Headquarters.”

“During this deployment, the battalion commanded and controlled nine different military police companies manned by more than 1500 Soldiers,” said Martel. “The battalion integrated five companies in the battalion, and redeployed four of them.”

While partnering with the United Kingdom civilian police, the 203rd conducted a centralized community policing training plan, which was approved by both the Basra provincial directorate of police and Multi National Corps-Iraq (now United States Division–South), said Martel.

Martel continued with, “The battalion conducted more than 1,900 missions under the United States Division – South, and an additional 1300 mission in direct support of their PTT mission.”

Following Martel’s listing of dozens of military police accomplishments, which included operations during Iraq’s provincial elections and at the Basra Provincial Joint Communications Center, he introduced the first speaker, Capt. Brad Priest.

After thanking the Soldiers of the 203rd for their hard work and dedication to the mission, Priest continued and said, “As this chapter of our lives comes to a close, you can be proud of our mission in Iraq. Hold your heads high and be proud of what you’ve done.”

“When you go home, and friends and family ask you what you did [in Iraq]. You can tell them that you stood as a wall of democracy and helped the nation of Iraq become stronger,” said Priest.

“You helped give a voice to the people of Iraq through the elections and beyond,” he said.

The second speaker to address the two units was Capt. Kevin Manion, commander of the 206th MP Company, the New York National Guard unit also ended its mission.

He described his unit’s deployment saying, ”These past ten months have brought you to execute your duties as Soldiers in a significant environment. You have completed well over 750 missions, you have been engaged by the enemy and performed textbook reactions.”

He continued to say, ”[the 206th] has performed full-spectrum military police operations, force protection, partnered and trained Iraqi police, escorted visitors across the battle space, and you carried yourself with distinction.”

The 203rd MP Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Charles Buxton, the third speaker said, “To the Soldiers of the [203rd] HHD, 206th and 354th MP Companies, thank you for your focus on the mission and dedication to duty. I also thank you and your families for the sacrifices made over the course of this past year.”

Col. Steven Bullimore, 17th Fires Brigade commander and operational commander of the MP units, commended the 203rd saying, “I can’t think of another unit serving in this brigade and in USD-South that should be more proud of their accomplishments over this tour.”

While initially expressing concern for the units’ safety, Bullimore added, “You were the most exposed, you were in the greatest danger, because of where you had to go to do business.”

“[The MP units] were the force in contact; you restored order to chaos that I don’t think many of you will understand,” he also spoke of the MPs accomplishments saying, “You established three centralized training sites, which are key to the strategic relations in the future.”

The fifth speaker, Brig. Gen. Donald J. Currier, 49th MP Brigade commander, said, “It’s a great day to be here and to congratulate you. What you have done is a great accomplishment, not just to your squad and your unit.”

“Our greater mission here was to train Iraq Police, and your contribution to the larger effort was huge,” said Currier.

While commenting that the MPs have a great partnership with the IP, Currier said, “ We can train all day long, but without the leadership on the Iraqi side, and without the larger appetite from the community, it’s of no use.”

Currier continued and explained the importance of Iraq succeeding, and how a self sustained Iraq contributes to our national strategic interests.

“It’s in our national interests for Iraq to succeed. It’s in our interests to have a stable Middle East, and Iraq is the key to that,” he said.

“In order for Iraq to be secure and stable, and therefore influence the rest of the Middle East, [Iraq] has to be able to stand on their own as a government,” said Currier. “And any government in order to survive must be able to provide basic essential services to their citizens.”

“And there’s nothing more basic than security, and in this country police services are the key to security for the future,” he added.

Currier focused on the importance of police primacy saying, “We’ve made steady progress toward police primacy, and we’ve done that not just by tactical training, but developing relationships with the Iraqi Police, and helping them sharpen their leadership skills, in large part, because of your contributions.”

Staff Maj. Gen. Addel, the Basra chief of police and final speaker of the ceremony, described the strong relationship with US forces in his city saying, “We were like a large family against the enemy, as we worked together to make Basra the best city in all of Iraq.”

He also commented saying, “the future of Basra will be one of safety with greater development.”
During the historic drawdown of US forces, 203rd is the first MP battalion to redeploy from Iraq without a replacement.

Connected Media