Six military police officers with the Missouri National Guard are headed to Iraq.
Adjutent General Steve Danner addresses the six National Guard MPs who are headed to Iraq just before they receive their official orders to deploy.
Adjutent General Steve Danner called them the “Super Six” and called for a big “Hoo-rah” at the end of the ceremony, where Governor Nixon and other dignitaries wished them good luck and Godspeed as they prepare to deploy to Iraq.
Danner says there, the soldiers will be heading up investigations in criminal and civil cases. That includes doing drug investigations, theft, fraud, armed robbery, “It can be very dangerous at times.”
Eighty six soldiers from all branches in Missouri have been killed in Iraq … a relatively low number in comparison to other state. Danner says as a fellow general put it, Missouri has the best trained soldiers in the country.
“I was at a training command meeting last week and the active component Lt. Gen. Miller said we had the best trained soldiers in the country coming out of Missouri and the Guard here.”
Danner attributes the Missouri Guard’s grit to survive war to the training they receive before deployment.
These six MPs will be premobilized in-state for a month, then will be federally mobilized at Camp Atterbury in Indiana before they ship out July first. Danner says they’ll do about ten months boots on the ground in Iraq. Most tours are about a year total.
“Generally you can count on 1,200 to 1,5000 [being deployed] at any one time,” Danner says. “In calendar year 2009, we deployed and returned over 4,000 guardsman. We always have about the same amount coming and going [on a revolving basis].
Jessica Machetta reports [Download / listen Mp3, 1:18 min.]
General Danner addresses guardsmen [5:48 min.]
Chaplain, Gov. Nixon, others address National Guard soldiers [17:48 min.]