KFOR military police celebrate National Police Appreciation Week through cooperative training

Story by U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. Jonathan Perdelwitz, KFOR Regional Command East

Photos by U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. Jonathan Perdelwitz, KFOR Regional Command East; U.S. Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Tawny Schmit, KFOR Regional Command East

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo — Kosovo Force military police celebrated National Police Appreciation Week May 10-14. Maryland Army National Guard Soldiers with the 29th Military Police Company, assigned to KFOR’s Regional Command-East, hosted international MP forces from Italy, Poland, Austria and Switzerland at Camp Bondsteel in an unprecedented week of cooperative training.

National Police Appreciation Week was founded by former U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1962 to celebrate the work of police officers across the country and pay special tribute to those who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

“[National Police Appreciation Week] is observed in the U.S. every year during this time period, and I wanted to include our NATO partners in this observation as well,” said Iowa Army National Guard Capt. Nate Hoeger, RC-E provost marshal. “I thought it would be a good opportunity to train with our police officer partners to strengthen the NATO police community here in KFOR.”

The troops kicked off the week with a pistol qualification range on Monday, an obstacle course on Tuesday, and ended the week with a ten-kilometer ruck and celebratory barbeque on Friday. Hoeger worked closely with his international counterparts to organize the events.

“I like the collaboration with other MPs,” said Capt. Luca Ghirlanda, deputy command provost marshal for the international military police at Camp Film City. “It was very good to find other friends to have not only duty, but a little bit of shooting and a little bit of training with.”

Not only were many countries part of the training, but the participants represented a wide variety of KFOR organizations as well, including Regional Command-West, U.S. Air Force Security Forces and KFOR Headquarters. It was an opportunity for these organizations to come together and focus on building mutual understanding and strong partnerships.

“This training benefits the KFOR mission tremendously by building greater camaraderie between U.S. and international military police officers,” said Hoeger. “This training has allowed us to get a taste of each nation’s military police capabilities and a greater understanding for standard operating procedures.”

Soldiers with the 29th MP Company and their international counterparts worked together to complete challenging events, often through interpreters. Hoeger emphasized their professionalism and adaptability during the training.

As the troops shared laughs and swapped unit patches, it was clear that the basic appreciation for the job and growing partnerships was never lost in translation.

“I like that we were able to make this training happen,” said Hoeger. “We can still recognize the selfless service of our civilian law enforcement officers that are deployed away from home here in Kosovo as well as recognize the U.S. Army military police officers that are here policing RC-E.”