Tennessee National Guard’s 251st Military Police Company to Deploy
LEXINGTON, Tenn. – More than 150 Soldiers from the Tennessee National Guard’s 251st Military Police Company are scheduled to depart Tennessee on Thursday, May 18, for the first leg of a year-long deployment overseas.
The 251st, headquartered in Lexington with a detachment in Savannah, is a military police unit comprised of National Guardsmen trained in various security, policing, detention, and combat functions which enables the Army to maneuver freely, provide protection to the force, and promote the rule of law. The unit is deploying to Romania, with a platoon serving in Bulgaria, where they will conduct law and order missions as well as provide security for other forward deployed military units.
“We are ready and well trained for the mission ahead,” said Capt. Brennan Carter, commander of the 251st Military Police Company. “I believe this is one of the best military police companies and I’m confident in our abilities and professionalism. We will have an incredibly successful deployment.”
For nearly a year, the 251st has been preparing for this overseas mission by training at their Lexington and Savannah armories and at National Guard training sites throughout Tennessee.
“We did much of our preparatory training in Tullahoma and Smyrna,” said Carter. “Smyrna has a world class Military Police training school where we sharpened our policing procedures as well as our law and order skills. We couldn’t be in better shape to support the U.S. Army’s objectives in Europe.”
On the morning of May 18, the Soldiers will load buses for the Memphis International Airport and fly to Fort Bliss, Texas, where they will complete a few weeks of final pre-deployment training before traveling to Romania and Bulgaria.
