Members of the 178th Military Police get support from local community in advance of deployment

Members of the 178th Military Police Company at a deployment ceremony at 1025 Church on Oct. 20, 2023. Photo credit: Tommy Hatton, American Legion Post 64.

Last month, members of the 178th Military Police Company had a deployment ceremony, courtesy of American Legion Post 64, prior to shipping out for a overseas tour. On Oct. 20, the deployment ceremony at the 1025 Church was followed by a meal for the soldiers, and their families, catered by When Pigs Fly.

Five days later, the buses with the troops were given a fitting escort out of town by local law enforcement. Also on board those buses were some citizen soldiers from members of local law enforcement.

Members of the 178th Military Police Company get escort by local law enforcement as they ship out for a tour of duty overseas. Contributed video

After reporting to Fort Texas, the Company was commissioned to ship out to Kuwait. At the time of the original call-up, Russia had already invaded Ukraine but the war in Israel had not yet begun. But with Europe and now Israel being hot zones, it is likely that there is more concern than usual for any overseas deployment. The community is asked to keep these soldiers and their families in their prayers, especially over the holidays.

With Veterans Day this past weekend, Maj. Scott Whisnant had addressed the issue at the November TRIAD meeting in Loganville.

“We have 25 – 30 % of our staff currently serving for National Guard or retired military. We put four of our current employee on buses to send to Fort Texas to go on to the Middle East – and nowhere is safe right now,” Whisnant said. “We’ve got three more in February that will get on a plane to do the same thing. Several of our employees are going for 9 months to a year and then will come back to serve your community again.”

According to a story by Maj. William Carraway of the Georgia National Guard, this deployment by the 178th MP Company is the latest in a long line of Georgia National Guard units who have supported overseas operations since September 11, 2001. The 178th MP Company, which began in 1874 as the Walton Guards, previously deployed in support of overseas operations in Iraq in 2003 and 2009. It also has been deployed in state-side missions over the years in the cases of hurricanes, winter storms and floods – and most recently during the 2020 COVID pandemic.

You can read Maj. Carraway’s full story on the 178th Military Police Company at this link.