{"id":7407,"date":"2022-03-06T17:48:18","date_gmt":"2022-03-06T17:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=7407"},"modified":"2022-03-07T19:26:24","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T19:26:24","slug":"behind-the-uniform-spc-jameka-sledge-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2022\/03\/06\/behind-the-uniform-spc-jameka-sledge-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Uniform: Spc. Jameka Sledge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Spc. Jameka Sledge, a military police with the 200th Military Police Company, who has served for two years in the military.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did you join the MDNG?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always wanted to work in law enforcement. When I visited a police department, they had a couple of Guard members out there. They were telling us about the benefits and how it would be to serve in the National Guard part-time while working in local law enforcement as well. So, I thought it would be a good idea to dabble in it and see how it would be. I thought it was a good fit for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does it feel to work in the community?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it makes me feel really good. Just knowing that sense of being able to support and assist people in need. Normally, everybody needs a little hope, when it comes to certain things. I feel like in certain situations, when they see us in this uniform, we present hope for those who may be in doubt in whatever situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has the interactions with civilians been while serving in the community?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy interactions have been good so far. When I\u2019m in uniform, I go to the store or go anywhere, people see me and say \u2018thank you for your service\u2019 with smiles and love. People are happy that we\u2019re here and people are happy that they feel protected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What part of your training has prepared you the most for COVID missions?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think every part of my training helped me prepare. It made me both mentally and physically challenged with the long hours that we worked and then also being able to know how to interact with people on a day-to-day basis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your favorite part of being a soldier?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think just being able to be there for someone, like that sense of somebody needs something, I\u2019m able to be in a position that helps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has it been balancing military service and family time during the past few years?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt first it was complicated because I wasn\u2019t fully aware of all the resources that the military had to offer. At the start of the pandemic, it was a lot of jobs being cut and hours changed. I didn\u2019t know we had assistance for childcare. It was just a bad crisis, but it opened my eyes to more of what is offered to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has serving during COVID impacted\/changed you as a soldier?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt made me better with my time management and mental stability. Making sure that I balance family and whatever obligations I may have here. Also, making sure that whatever is going on at home doesn\u2019t come off the wrong way when I\u2019m in uniform. It allowed me to create a balance within myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the next thing for you after this mission is over?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack to my civilian life and back to part-time military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your favorite part of being a Soldier:<\/p>

\u201cI think just being able to be there for someone,…”<\/p>SAID SLEDGE<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

A member of the 200th Military Police Company, who has served two years in the military.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spc. Jameka Sledge, a military police Soldier with the 200th Military Police Company, who has served for two years in the military.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":7401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[909,145,205,907,509],"class_list":["post-7407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-i-am-the-mission","tag-covid19nationalguard","tag-maryland-army-national-guard","tag-maryland-national-guard","tag-mdngcovid19response","tag-military-police"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7407"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7465,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7407\/revisions\/7465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}