New Mexico Minuteman - Fall 2011

226th Military Police Battalion
trains for law and order
Story and photos by Sgt. Suzanna Dominguez, State Public Affairs NCO, JFHQ
Military Police units serve an important
role in the New Mexico National
Guard. MPs are trained in fi ve main
functional areas: police intelligence
operations, internment and resettlement,
law and order, area security and
maneuver and mobility support, which
makes an MP unique. MP units are
ready to deploy at a moment’s notice,
whether keeping law and order during a
fi re in our communities, or deploying to
combat performing internment/resettlement
missions.
With the 226th Military Police Battalion
being called to communities throughout
the state for various missions, it is
important, now more than ever, to train
with an emphasis on law and order.
With the new battalion commander, Lt.
Col. Steve Garcia, the MPs did just that
during their annual training.
During the 226th annual training,
which included the 126th Military Police
Company, the 919th Military Police
Company and the 226th Headquarters
Detachment, they concentrated on the
law and order function that is vital to
being an MP.
“This year’s annual training was
broken into two distinct phases,” said
Capt. Isaac J.Tenorio, commander of the
126th MP Co. “We had a military phase
and a police phase.”
The fi rst week of annual training
focused on the police phase, which was
conducted in Deming, N.M., and focused
on law enforcement certifi cation.
The military portion was conducted
at Stallion Range on White Sands Missile
Range, N.M., and focused on small
arms qualifi cation and weapons familiarization.
According to Tenorio, the purpose of
conducting AT this way was to ensure
that every MP was given an opportunity
to get their law enforcement certifi cation.
“Part of the law enforcement certifi -
cation are two blocks of instruction on
4 NEW MEXICO Minuteman / Fall 2011
the use and employment of oleoresin
capsicum spray and the X26 taser,” said
Tenorio.
One of the MP requirements of
learning to employ both weapons was
to experience their effects fi rsthand by
being sprayed across the forehead and
being tasered for fi ve seconds.
Although some traditional Soldiers
from the 226th are civilian police offi cers,
the battalion asked two highly qualifi ed
New Mexico State Police offi cers to conduct
the taser and OC spray training.
“We have all the confi dence in the
world that our Soldiers could accomplish
the task,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jose
A. Chavez, 226th MP Bn. training and
operations noncommissioned offi cer.
“We wanted our Soldiers to get the
best training available from the best
instructors available, and we believe we
accomplished that.”
According to Chavez, a law enforcement
certifi cation has never been
done in the state, and the MPs from
the 226th Bn. accomplished the task
while having fun.
In addition to law enforcement certifi
cation, the battalion wanted to provide
individual training for cooks, mechanics,
and administrative Soldiers in their
military occupational specialty sets.
The battalion qualifi ed 100% of their
Soldiers on SAQ, while expending a
huge amount of ammunition on some
quality training to include .50-caliber,
M-203 grenade launcher, and M-500
shotgun.
“We had max participation from all
Soldiers who went to AT this year,” said
Tenorio. “We had “non-MPs” volunteer
to be tasered and OC’d which refl ects
the overall commitment and dedication
of Soldiers in the battalion. We accomplished
all these events and training
objectives while always keeping safety
at the top of our priority list.”