OC 3 MP Coy

3rd Military Police Company

“News From the South”

2006 started with a rush for 3 MP Coy with the MP commitment to OP ACOLYTE, the ADF Support to the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. This dominated life until the end of March when the last of the athletes and deployed troops had left. The Coy then settled into what passes for routine and we found ourselves addressing the day-to-day concerns of providing MP support to local units and one or two further afield. The perennial challenge of maintaining AIRN compliance reared its ugly head and this, also, required constant attention to which members rose to the challenge The absence of full-time general duties MPs in southern Australia saw the Company responding to a myriad of support tasks across four states. Given that these activities invariably occur on weekdays and at short notice, the Company's much-vaunted flexibility was, once again, tested and proven. The issue of several shiny new two-wheeled offerings from the Bavarian Motor Works was a long overdue highlight which necessitated the rapid training up of a number of unit members so these capital assets could be put to good use.

The middle of the year was marked by the sight of the Victorian platoons stoically providing the honour guard for the Reserve Forces Day parade in the City of Melbourne. This celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Corps. The rain gods (usually so forgiving on such occasions!) decided the unit owed them for their forbearance in the past and inundated us with three or four millimetres of their finest Melbourne product. The men provided an inspiring example of steadiness under fire on what proved to be a surprisingly challenging day.

July found us facing the prospect of soldiering on without a Training WO, due to his deployment to Timor Leste. His return in early October allowed him a well-earned rest to prepare for the undoubted challenges of 2007. At the same time we lost our OPSO, on deployment to Timor Leste following successful completion of the CPP OP Course. We look forward to having him back by Christmas. The Training WO position was temporarily filled by the OPS SGT who ensured the myriad of training and operational requirements kept ticking over.