STUTTGART, GERMANY –
The 1103rd Military Police Company, based out of Fort Knox, Kentucky provided garrison MP support to United States military posts in Germany during their Annual Training in June this year.
Commanded by Capt. Dave Howe, the 1103rd MPs received notification four months ago that their assistance was needed at four military bases in Stuttgart, Germany: Patch Barracks, Panzer Barracks, Robinson Barracks and Kelley Barracks.
Sgt. Donald Bearden, from Louisville, was part of the company and conducted patrols providing security assistance throughout the four bases for nearly three weeks.
“This was absolutely the best annual training experience I’ve ever had,” said Bearden.
He received a coin from Brig. Gen. Ben Adams, the Land Force Component Commander, for a job well done throughout the training period. Adams was conducting a command visit and had the opportunity to recognize some of the troops in the unit.
Once the unit arrived on ground, they quickly gained the trust of their active duty counterparts and started operating nearly autonomously. Two MP Soldiers would patrol throughout their area of operations and report directly to a 1103rd patrol supervisor.
Sgt. 1st Class Maggie Brooks was especially instrumental in the success of the mission providing critical leadership for the entire unit. Brooks has previously served with the 101st on active duty and now supplements her time between the Kentucky Guard’s Joint Support Operations, working at Valvoline and the United Postal Service (UPS).
“Sgt. 1st Class Brooks has brought some much needed experience in law enforcement to the entire unit,” said Capt. Howe. “She’s helped our organization grow by leaps and bounds over the last couple of weeks. We’ve had to be ‘extra-diplomatic’ with the amount of rank that’s on post here and Maggie brought a great level of professionalism to the mission.”
Howe has nearly 28 years in the military, previously making it to the rank of 1st Sgt. in the MP corps, before pursuing a direct commission as a Military Police Officer in the Kentucky Guard.
“I couldn’t be any prouder of this unit or of my military career up to this point,” said Howe. “The culture created by Sgt 1st class Cooper (readiness NCO for the unit) and the other NCO’s (Non-Commissioned Officers) has been phenomenal.”
Deputy Director for Emergency Services in Stuttgart, Shane Crutcher, also a Kentuckian, said the unit’s performance has not gone unnoticed during this annual training.
“This is a large force protection mission that has been incredibly important over the years,” said Crutcher. “You can take great pride in the job you did and have represented the Commonwealth well. Be proud of the job you’ve done. We’ll have you back any time.”