Oregon National Guard MPs return from Afghanistan
The 1186th Military Police Company of the Oregon Army National Guard, just back from over a year in Afghanistan, is scheduled to be recognized in a demobilization ceremony on Sunday at 2 p.m., at the Anderson Readiness Center, located at 3225 State Street in Salem.
About 30 citizen-soldiers were mobilized in May 2017 for deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (OFS). The Soldiers provided Personal Security Details (PSD), protecting high-profile individuals.
Scheduled to attend the ceremony and welcome the Soldiers home will be Maj. Gen. Michael Stencel, Adjutant General, Oregon; Brig. Gen. William J. Prendergast, Land Component Commander; as well as other community and military leaders.
The Salem-based 1186th MP Company has often partnered with local law enforcement agencies for training. The 1186th MPs partnered with district and federal agencies to provide security, crowd management and traffic control during the 58th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C., in January 2017.
This unit has previously deployed overseas twice: to Afghanistan in 2011 and to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2004. The company also provided domestic operations support in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The unit is comprised of soldiers from Portland, Salem, Keizer, Beaverton, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Gresham, Monmouth, Eugene, Springfield, Veneta, Central Point, Oakland, Roseburg, Redmond, Milton-Freewater, Ontario, and Nyssa, Oregon. A few soldiers are from Vancouver, Aberdeen, and Everett, Washington.
The event is open to the public and media is encouraged to attend.
