Alabama MPs train with Romania

Story courtesy of the Alabama National Guard

Soldiers from Romania's 265th Military Police Battalion train practice training operations with Alabama Army National Guard military police Soldiers during a training exercise in Romania. Alabama and Romania are partners in the State Partnership Program. (Photo courtesy of the Alabama National Guard)
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FORT BENNING, Ga., (9/10/09) -- National MONTGOMERY, Ala., (9/14/09) -- The Alabama Army Guard’s oldest MP unit, the 231st Military Police Battalion, recently sent a team to Romania for a special training mission.

The Alabama team included Lt. Col. Jim McGlaughn, commander of the 231st MP Battalion, Maj. Eugene Butler, Capt. Jim Napier, Master Sgt. Donnie Nelson and Staff Sgt. Chad Cook.

The group, known as Team Bama, had a cross section of MP experience, including operators, combat veterans, instructors and logisticians.

With the demands of the ongoing Global War on Terror, a mission of this type might seem strange to those not familiar with the Alabama National Guard’s partnership with the country of Romania.

Today’s Alabama-Romanian partnership is a text book example of how a state and a host nation closely cooperate for the development of long-term personal relationships, training operations and cultural exchange.

During the training exercise hosted by Romania, the American team noticed that the Romanian Military Police had respect for the U.S. military.

McGlaughn, the team commander, noted the interesting duality of the country’s personality. “Romania is at the center of one of the world’s oldest civilizations. However, they are a relatively new and growing democracy,” McGlaughn said. “We are committed to assisting them with this evolution and ensuring their military has all the support we can provide. Additionally, the Romanians appreciate America and want to be our friends.”

During the recent exercise, the Romanian Military Police, including soldiers from Romania’s 265th MP Battalion, went through a complex exercise using the crawl, walk, run training method.

The event included squad live fire, crowd control operations, military operations in urban terrain (MOUT), and personal security of a VIP.

After each iteration, Team Bama personnel would conduct an After Action Review (AAR) with the Romanian command group.

In cases where the Romanian techniques varied from American doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures, the differences were explained and discussed. During the subsequent operations, the Alabama Team noticed the Romanians would adopt the AAR comments and incorporate these changes immediately and directly into the training scenarios.

The Romanian command group anticipates a long-term relationship with the American military in the Global War on Terror and wanted to ensure that their procedures are similar if troops from the two nations worked closely together in a theatre of combat.

The Bama Soldiers remarked that the most impressive thing about the event was the quality of Romania soldiers.

Recently, the Romanians MPs have had as many as six individual troop deployments to all corners of the globe.

McGlaughn gave the Romanians high marks. “These warriors are tough and battle hardened, we would be proud to serve with the Romanians anywhere and anytime,” he said.

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