Latham based National Guard Soldiers Recognized on Sat. Jan. 4 as they Prepare for Afghan Deployment

LATHAM, NY (01/03/2020) (readMedia)-- Twenty-four Soldiers assigned to the Latham-based 206th Military Police Company will hold a farewell ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 4 to mark their transition to active duty service in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan later this year.

Members of the press are invited to cover the ceremony.

WHO: Soldiers of the 206th Military Police Company, their family members, and New York National Guard leaders.

WHAT: A military farewell ceremony for the Soldiers and their families as they prepare to deploy to Afghanistan. The Soldiers are deploying to Afghanistan to serve as the security detail for a U.S. commander.

WHEN: 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020.

WHERE: New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs Headquarters, 330 Old Niskayuna Road, Latham, NY, 12110.

Coverage Opportunities

Video and still photo coverage of the ceremony and interviews with Soldiers, their families and National Guard leaders.

Members of the press wishing to cover this event must contact Sgt. 1st Class Garrett Cummings at 518-755-1924 for access to this secure military facility.

Background

The twenty-four members of the 206th Military Police Company will go on federal military duty and are expected to depart for their mobilization station at Fort Bliss, Texas on Jan. 9.

The Soldiers are being tasked to provide personnel security to a general officer in Afghanistan. They attended three weeks of special training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri to prepare for the mission.

The Soldiers are expected to spend three weeks training at Fort Bliss before they depart for Afghanistan.

They will be in Afghanistan for about ten months and are expected to return at the end of 2020. They will spend a total of 12 months on federal active duty.

206th Military Police Company

The 206th Military Police Company was initially activated in June 1921 in Buffalo, New York as Headquarters Detachment and Combat Train, 3rd Battalion, 106th Field Artillery and assigned to the 27th Division of the New York National Guard. The Company earned campaign credits in 1944 for service in the Philippines and Pacific Theater receiving the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.

After World War Two, the Company was reorganized in December 1947 as the 27th Military Police Company. The following decades the Company was reorganized several times. In August 1990 they were activated for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. At last, on October 1st, 2005, the MPs of the 27th Infantry Brigade were reorganized as the 206th Military Police Company.

On August 10th, 2009, the 206th Military Police Company deployed from Fort Dix, NJ in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While in Iraq the Company's primary mission as a Police Transition Team was to train, assist, and advise their Iraqi Police counterparts in full spectrum police operations. The unit earned the Meritorious Unit Citation for that missions.

In October of 2012 the company deployed to Long Island as the initial response force for the New York National Guard's Hurricane Sandy disaster response mission.