I enlisted into the U.S. Army Reserves as a Military Police Officer in 1999 and was shipped out to Basic Training in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri in November. On my 2nd day of actual basic training, Nov 16, 1999, my son was born and I was notified by a Red Cross message and an angry Drill Sergeant.

  I served as an Army Reservist, first in the 724th MP BN, an Internment and Resettlement Unit, then was transferred to the 810th MP CO 4th PLT, a Combat Support Unit. It was with the 810th that I was deployed to Iraq in March of 2003 for 18 months during the Iraq War.

  While in Iraq my unit had several different missions as the situations and overall Mission changed. We were certified in and conducted US Customs missions and inspections, MWR/PSD Security, Law Enforcement, Prisoner Escorts, Crime Scene Protection, Airfield Security, Downed Aircraft Rescue Team (DART) missions, and finally convoy escort missions throughout Iraq.