Soldiers wearing military police uniforms from different eras were part of the 545th Military Police Company activation ceremony at Fort Richardson Aug. 12. Star Photo by Jill Fankhauser

A ceremony welcomed and commended the company of 170 soldiers for their long-standing service.

Brig. Gen. Rodney Johnson, Provost Marshal General of the Army and Commanding General of the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, said, “This unit has a tremendous history, a tremendous linage and a tremendous honor.”

The company was originally activated in 1942 in Fort Bliss, Texas. The police company has a long history of serving overseas. In World War II it was stationed in New Guinea and the South Pacific. It later served in Korea, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia. Recently, it supported Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Baghdad.

The 545th deactivated in 2005, after serving in Baghdad. Companies are often activated or deactivated depending on what the Army needs for personnel or how many soldiers have been deployed, Army spokesman Chuck Canterbury

Fort Richardson's own 164th military police are deployed in Iraq. The 545th will offer the post a better police presence, said Capt. Brian Sullivan, the 545th commanding officer.

“When we are here on post we provide law enforcement security type missions,” Sullivan said. “And if you look down range, this type of unit would train Iraqi and Afghani army or police doing the same things, trying to improve the security situation in their countries.”

Canterbury said the group would likely be rotated out and deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan in the next couple of years.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, August 21, 2008.