The 333d Military Police Company is a

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

unit within the Illinois Army National Guard. The unit is based out of the Freeport Armory in Freeport, Illinois.

History

On September 1, 1997, the 444th Chemical Company was converted into the 333d Military Police Company, which assumed overseas training missions in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

and

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

. The company's duties in Panama, Germany and Italy were primarily assisting the active-duty component in conducting law-and-order base security. In Nicaragua and Belize, the company was tasked with guarding engineers who built roads, schools and drilled wells for drinking water. The company also escorted medical teams to render care to the local populace.

9/11

Following September 11, 2001, the 333d was activated by Governor George Ryan under Title 32 status for increased security at Illinois commercial airports. The mission, requested by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

O'Hare Airport on September 27, was to provide a trained and armed military security presence to reinforce the civilian security function. Soldiers reported for duty at the armory on September 28.

Iraq

In February 2003, the unit was activated in support of

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

and deployed to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

in May of the same year. In 2004, its year long tour was extended by the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

for 90 days, after the company had arrived safely in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. The unit's troops were among 20,000 soldiers whose deployments were extended because of the surge of violence in Iraq. For the remaining two months, the company was stationed at the infamous

Abu Ghraib prison Abu Ghraib prison ( ar, سجن أبو غريب, ''Sijn Abū Ghurayb'') was a prison complex in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, located west of Baghdad. Abu Ghraib prison was opened in the 1950s and served as a maximum-security prison with torture, weekly exe ...

, where one soldier, Sgt. Landis Garrison, lost his life as a result of non-hostile causes.

Afghanistan

From 2008 to 2009, the 333d served as a force protection unit, guarding U.S. troop perimeters and escorting convoys in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

Commanders

Former and present company commanders: *Captain Nicholas Klinke, 2016 - Present *Captain Kyle Scifert, 2014 - 2016 *Captain Jacob Beard, 2012 - 2014 *Christopher Dieball, 2010 - 2012 *Captain Michael Eastridge, 2009 - 2010 *Captain Eric T. Comiza, 2005 - 2009 *Captain Ronald Bonesz, 2001 - 2005 *Captain Brian Martin, 2001 *Michael Pauling 1996-1998 *Marc Schwarzkopf

References

External links

* {{Facebook, 104859089716506, 333rd MP Co. Association Companies of the United States Army National Guard Military units and formations in Illinois Military units and formations established in 1997