351st Military Police Company

Bewildered Soldiers as Ground Rumbles

SGT Batavia — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:41:09 +0000

Last night at about 2300 hours, the ground began to rumble here in Mosul. Soldiers here are used to almost daily explosions and other loud sounds as choppers hover overhead randomly. Last night was different though, when the rumble was a shaking feeling that shook the whole room and that lasted about 10 – 12 seconds long, they knew they were dealing with something very different. As it turns out, Iraq has earthquakes, yes earthquakes. According to the U.S. Geological Survey group the residents of north central Iraq including Mosul, experienced a quake registering a 5.2 on the Richter scale. No one was hurt and no damage was reported as the quake was rather small but enough to startle a few Soldiers and have them looking around for the cause of the disturbance.

Less Than 4 Months To Go!

SGT Batavia — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:30:13 +0000

I just want to say that it is so nice to look at the counter on the right side of the page, and see less than 4 months remaining in our deployment. That means we are over 75% complete with our deployment. Please read the post about TOA if you have any questions to when we will arrive home. It will be a nice day when we land back in the states, hopefully in time for our Thanksgiving day feasts.

Our missions have been slow lately with the changes since June 30th, and many of our Soldiers have been partaking in training classes to keep sharp on existing skills and training on some new ones. Some of the classes that have been going on lately are:

Combat Life Saver: A class where Soldiers learn basic medical skills to treat things like treating shock, temperature ailments, rescue breathing, controlling bleeding and bracing broken bones.

Combatives: Soldiers learn basic unarmed hand to hand self defense techniques similar to some of those found in Brazilian Jui-Jitsu.

Fire Warden: In this class Soldiers learn about the rules and regulations regarding keeping their living areas safe and hazard free to prevent fires. Soldiers also get to utilize a fire extinguisher to properly put out a test fire.

July 4th (on the 3rd) Independance Day Party

SGT Batavia — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:28:49 +0000

The Soldiers of the 351st held a Desert Warrior competition along with a cookout to celebrate Independence Day. The festivities in the DW challenge were:

Humvee Push
Water Balloon Fight
Tug of War

Final Team Challenge:
Dizzy Bat
Sand Bag Fill
Duffel Bag Hop
Patch Placement in the Cold Pool
Target Shooting with Water Gun
and… The Hot Dog Eating Contest

Second Platoon placed a close second to The 1st Platoon ‘Rattlers’, good job Rattlers, you did a great job pulling ahead at the end with eating those wieners! The night was fun along with a few people getting thrown in the small blowup pool. One unlucky individual was SFC Meskimen who retaliated with a coordinated silly string ambush on 1st Platoon.

The food was provided by our beloved *wonderful* chow hall shoe leather hamburgers along with hot dogs and what some call steak, …yeah whatever helps you eat it. Below are some highlights of the night:

Happy 4th Of July

SGT Batavia — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:11:08 +0000

I just wanted to say Happy 4th Of July to all the friends and family back home. Eat a hamburger and knock back a few brews for us here. We will party and celebrate when we get home. Until then, enjoy the many celebrations of fireworks, parades and bar-be-ques.

Keep in mind while you observe this day in American history that just as America fought for it’s freedom and independence from Britain we now have a duty to help other nations achieve their independence weather its from another nation or from a dictator.

We are very close to ‘mission success’ here and soon enough we will all be home with a job well done. Do know that contrary to the media, we ARE making a difference here and the general people of Iraq do appreciate the changes made in the last 6 years since we have been here.

God Bless America

Keeping Cool in The July Heat

SGT Batavia — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:52:42 +0000

Several Soldiers found a way to keep cool in this May – July heat that averages 110 degrees daily. It feels sort of like you are standing in front of an oven and you can feel the heat blasting you, that is about how it feels here in Mosul during the summer. Florida has nothing on this place, it is crazy hot here. Pictured below are two soldiers enjoying a time out in the wet pool.

Soldiers Swimming in a Pool

Soldiers in a Pool

“Juice” even decided to do some water PT:

Juice Swimming

Juice Doing Flutter Kicks

Juice Doing Pushups

Breakin’ Free

SGT Batavia — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:34:27 +0000

According to Science Museum you can’t reach anywhere from the USA, but here we are in Mosul, trying to get back home any way we can. Our first effort is to dig our way, sure we will need a place to stash all this rock and sand, but those are just the small details. Anyone have grid coordinates through the earth?

5 Kilometer Run

SGT Batavia — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:08:02 +0000

Today the Deuce Deuce along with a few others from each platoon participated in what sometimes seamed like an endless run, although they tell us it was only 5 kilometers. It was a bright and early morning with a wake up at 0415 and race start time of 0500. It took the DD about 36 minutes for all of us to cross the finish line. We started as a squad and finished as a squad, no one was left behind.

5K Runners

June Volleyball Tournament

SGT Batavia — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:01:27 +0000

The Deuce Deuce didn’t win this one, but did place a close second to 3rd Platoon. Here are some images to recap the night last month during the June Volleyball Tournament.

Football Fever

SGT Batavia — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:39:40 +0000

Even though the College Football season does not begin until the first week of September, here in Mosul we are flying our flags high and proud in our pavilion. It all started with a Gator National Championship and then the flag had to be flown prominently in the center of the pavilion for all to see.

Go Gators!

Now many soldiers from the 351st have taken to showing pride for their favorite teams, and although none of them can claim a current national championship, I do commend them for their team spirit.

Team Spirit

Hot Off The Press

SGT Batavia — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:22:11 +0000

There are some news stories that have been added to the right side. I am looking for any other stories about the 351st and will post them if I find any more, as well as I have written a few news releases that I will post up soon.

If you know of any news stories that were posted in your hometown newspaper about the 351st MP CO, please drop me a comment with the link to the story, I would love to add it to the site for all to read.