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216th MP Co. Deploys To Romania

Arkansas National Guard Public Affairs Office

Aug. 1, 2024 | 3:08

CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – More than 30 Arkansas Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 216th Military Police Company will participate in a deployment ceremony here at 10 a.m., Aug. 1, before departing to their mobilization station and on to Romania for a nine-month mission.

Once in Romania, they will conduct law enforcement duties on a military installation, to include security patrols, base entry, and customs duties for transiting American military members arriving from other countries, ensuring no contraband or prohibited items, per general orders, are possessed.

"There’s no prouder calling than serving one’s nation," said Maj. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs, Arkansas’ adjutant general. “These Guardsmen are trained and ready for this mission. We’re thankful to their families for the love and support they will give their Guardsmen over the course of this deployment, and we’re thankful for the support of their employers who will surely miss them while they are away.”

The 216th was originally created as a field artillery battery in West Memphis, Ark., in the 1950s. It converted to a military police company in 2000 and moved to North Little Rock, Ark., in 2009.

The 216th Military Police Co. was federally mobilized in 2003 to provide garrison security at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., for one year. Its members directly deployed overseas from Fort Leonard Wood to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2004 for its first overseas deployment. The unit deployed again in 2008 to Iraq to provide convoy security in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 216th deployed on federal orders in 2014 to Afghanistan to serve as prison guards in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The 216th deployed more than 30 to Romania in November 2023.

The 216th’s members have supported numerous domestic missions, such as disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and numerous state active duty missions in support of floods, ice storms, and civil unrest.