Emiluz Davila, 5, approaches her father, Sgt. Manuel Davila, at a welcome-home ceremony for the 272nd Military Police Company on Monday evening in Mannheim, Germany. Almost 150 soldiers returned from Iraq following a yearlong deployment. (Steve Mraz / S&S)
Emiluz Davila, 5, approaches her father, Sgt. Manuel Davila, at a welcome-home ceremony for the 272nd Military Police Company on Monday evening in Mannheim, Germany. Almost 150 soldiers returned from Iraq following a yearlong deployment. (Steve Mraz / S&S)
Pfc. Roy Phoenix, left, is embraced by his girlfriend Spc. Sandra Golden following a welcome home ceremony at the Sullivan Barracks Gymnasium. (Steve Mraz / S&S)
MANNHEIM, Germany — Emiluz Davila did not want to wait through the pomp and circumstance of the 272nd Military Police Company’s welcome home ceremony Monday evening.
After seeing her father, Sgt. Manuel Davila, file into the Sullivan Barracks Gymnasium and rigidly stand at attention, the 5-year-old girl darted to her dad.
Unbeknownst to the child, a structured ceremony welcoming the 149 soldiers home from a yearlong deployment in Iraq still had to take place. Emiluz seemed bewildered that her father would not immediately respond. Soldiers near Davila repressed chuckles while trying to keep a stoic air.
“If I could have, I would have done like the little girl did,” said Melenda Davis, who leapt into the arms of her husband, Sgt. Joseph Davis, after the ceremony.
Monday’s event marked the end of a crucial mission for the company, which is part of the 95th Military Police Battalion of the 21st Theater Support Command. While in Iraq, the 272nd secured Iraqi police stations and instructed Iraqis at the Iraqi Police Academy. With its return, the unit became the last major element of the 21st TSC to come home.
One of the unit’s foremost missions in Iraq was to create a stable police force in order to provide a secure environment for democracy to flourish. Soldiers with the 272nd said Monday evening that the police forces they helped trained are well on their way.
Because of the oppression they lived under for decades, the Iraqis were not used to taking initiative and making decisions, said 1st Lt. Tricia Tyler, acting company commander.
“We got to see a big improvement over there,” she said. “They began actively policing rather than being reactive.”
But the 272nd or “Fighting Deuce” did not complete its mission without sacrifice: Pfc. Cole Larsen died Nov. 13, when his military vehicle rolled over after being hit by a civilian vehicle in Baghdad.
The company soldiered on, however, and one of its successes was working with Iraqi police officers to provide security during Iraq’s Jan. 30 election, Tyler said.
“They’re proven,” said Sgt. Michael Gillens, a team leader with the 272nd MPC. “With time, they’ll be up to speed.”
