MPs head for home after seeing turnaround in Iraq

[unhappycamper]

MPs head for home after seeing turnaround in Iraq
By Vince Little, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, January 25, 2008

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — They dealt with the worst of times out west, witnessed and helped with a stunning turnaround in the volatile region and were among the troops told they’d have to stick around three months longer than planned.

Through it all, the 92nd Military Police Battalion’s soldiers never got discouraged, its leaders said.

The unit is headed back to Fort Benning, Ga., after recently transferring authority for its mission in west Baghdad and Anbar province to the 716th Military Police Battalion out of Fort Campbell, Ky.

The coverage area extends north to Taji and west to Ramadi and Fallujah, where the 92nd often supported Marine operations. At its peak in Iraq, the battalion had almost 2,200 soldiers and managed 11 units.

“Things were not that good when we first got here, to say the least,” said Col. Leonard Cosby, 44, of Canton, Miss., the 92nd Military Police Battalion commander. “Over time, it got progressively worse as far as deaths and incidents. We basically were in the middle of all that as we struggled to conduct our ( police transition team ) missions. It was particularly rough.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51896



uhc comment: This unit lost 15 soldiers and more than 70 were injured in their deployment.