[OT]ish - More MP stuff

Just for those who might not have visited the link Kiara sent... two things
caught my attention:

Item 1)

December 20, 1989 - At approximately 1:00
a.m., Operation Just Cause begins in Panama. The 7th and 82nd Military Police
Companies take part in the operation with their respective divisions as well
as the 549th MP Company, stationed in Panama. At 1:30 a.m., Captain Linda
Bray, of the 519th MP Battalion, leads a platoon of military police in an
attack against a Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) compound near Panama City.
After calling for their surrender, and receiving fire, she drives a vehicle
through the closed gate of the compound, forcing them to flee. Military police
quickly secure the compound and capture weapons left behind. They then secure
other portions of the Curundu and Curundu Heights areas and protect the Balboa
harbor. By her actions, she earns the distinction of being the first woman in
United States history to lead US troops into battle.

Item 2) John was surprised at the amount of firepower the MPs had on call.
Take a gander at
this - TANKS! Now that's firepower.
February 27, 1991 -The 214th MP Co, (AL
ARNG), assigned to the 118th MP Bn, 14th MP Bde, under the operational control
of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR), VII Corps, engages enemy units
while advancing north in Iraq, just west of the Kuwaiti border. The unit is
engaged in making an "end run" in an effort to capture Iraqi Republican Guard
units still in Kuwait. On this date, the 214th uses it's attached cavalry
platoon, with four M1A1 Abrams tanks and four M3A1 Bradley fighting vehicles
(from the 2nd ACR), to engage an Iraqi motorized rifle company, and destroys
seven BTR's and kills 15 enemy troops.

> Just for those who might not have visited the link Kiara

And, to further clarify, the 401st Military Police Company (on rotation to
Panama from Fort Hood, Texas) along with at least two other MP Companies
(I
believe the 511th was one) - also on rotation - were involved in this
operation, although they were opconned to local units in support.

My company was opcon'd to the 193rd Infantry Brigade, which happens to also be
the combat patch I wear from this particular little operation.

> At 1:30 a.m., Captain Linda Bray, of the 519th

*SPARE ME!* I am *so* sick of this story... Captain Bray was the subject of a
great deal of media attention for her assault on a dog kennel (the above
mentioned PDF compound). She gained this distinction by a matter of
hours - shortly thereafter my unit had also come under fire, lost a
soldier,
and secured the areas they were supposed to secure - and the two platoon
leaders involved were female.

More to the point, we were all under orders not to discuss operations with the
media. For some unknown reason, she and that platoon chose not to follow that
particular directive. I disagreed with the way the publicity was handled back
then, and I still do. I don't like the fact that one woman was held up as
unique when all those of us deployed were doing our jobs
- it
wouldn't have happened with a male officer, and I'm sickened by the fact that
it happened with a female officer.

I shall now quietly get off my soapbox at this point and go back to discussing
organizational structure rather than the politics involved with women in the
Army.

Best,

Kiara