BLUEFIELD —
The soldiers of a Mercer County-based Military Police unit are preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan later this summer.
The 304th MP unit U.S. Army Reserves with headquarters in Bluefield will be headed to Fort Bush, Texas in late August for a brief, 6-day stay before being deployed to Afghanistan, according to Captain Jared Peck, unit commander.
“We’ve known about the deployment for some time now,” Peck said. “I was just down at the high school (Bluefield High School) making arrangements for our departure ceremony. The ceremony will be in the high school auditorium at 9 a.m., on Aug. 23.
“I have notified several dignitaries about the ceremony,” Peck said. “Hopefully, we’ll have several of them to attend as well as local dignitaries.”
The 304th was constituted on Jan. 6, 1942, as a prisoner of war escort, and re-designated as an MP Escort Guard Co., on April 1, 1942, and remained in that capacity throughout the duration of World War II. The unit was activated two additional times in Kentucky before being moved to Bluefield on April 4, 1963.
The company was ordered into active military service on May 4, 1991, deployed to Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Shield; operated a prisoner of war camp during Operation Desert Storm and was deactivated and reverted to reserve status on May 4, 1991. The unit was activated again on July 2, 1996, and deployed to Germany until March 27, 1997, and activated again from Dec. 6, 2002 to Dec. 5, 2003 for duty at Fort Stewart.
Peck said the unit will be on active duty status for a year, with about 9 months of that time in Afghanistan.
Local News
June 15, 2012
304th MP Unit U.S. Army Reserves heading to Afghanistan
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