July July 2016
www.MoonValleyTattler.com
VOL 36 No. 7
Their Motto is to Protect and Defend B Y S U S A N M E R C E R H I N R I C H S , R E P O R T E R , T H E M O O N VA L L E Y TAT T L E R
THEY’RE ALWAYS READY, ALWAYS TRAINED It’s a local Arizona Army Triem says. National Guard legacy dating “As commander, I’m basically responsible for everything that happens, whether from more than seven decades I’m here of not,” he says of his part-time position. He also readily credits the fullago in our immediate Moon time, enlisted personnel who assist with his duties there, too, “ensuring we meet Valley neighborhood. our obligations on a daily The men and women basis.” linked with the beige building “Our main mission at 10222 N. Seventh St., is (that) we protect the just south of that roadway’s citizens of Arizona,” intersection with East Peoria Triem says. Avenue, have been protecting “In any instance where our community, our state, our there’s a natural disaster, nation and even the world for like the Rodeo-Chediski that amount of time. They’re fire. . . they’ll go out and soldiers belonging to the 855 aid in evacuations and also Military Police Company, as protect key properties,” the unit now is known, based Triem says. at the Sunnyslope Armory. He referred to the Going back to World 2002 wildfire destroying Commander Triem with an armed security vehicle War II, recall Pacific Theater hundreds of thousands of battles in New Guinea and acres in east central Arizona that ranks among the Continued on page 3 the Bismarck Archipelago state’s most disastrous. Members of the 855 M.P. Sunnyslope Armory Commander First Lieutenant northeast of Christopher Triem shows the height of a Light Mobile Tactical Vehicle, or LMTV, that is designed for hauling that nation and in Luzon, The Philippines. More recently, think of the liberation and defense of Kuwait in the late 20th century and the still-fresh-in-our-memories battles in Iraq, where various of the company’s soldiers served two tours of duty there in 2003-04 and in 2009-10. The men and women of 855 M.P. have been there, serving proudly and with dedication, providing critical-site security and military-base security, among other policing functions. While the local armory’s physical complex wasn’t built until the 1950s, it’s now under the stewardship of First Lieutenant Christopher Triem, the company Commander, and First Sergeant Lawrence Wegman, who was unavailable for an interview. Triem enlisted in the Guard about 10 years ago in 2006; this armory became his home base. The Guard took him to other armories and helped him earn a bachelor’s degree in Global Security and Intelligence studies from Prescott’s Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, before being able to return to the place where his military career began. He guides a tour of the facility with pride. “This is the first unit I was a part of when I first came into the Guard, so it’s kind of ironic, but at the same time very fulfilling, to come back year 10 years later as the commander of the unit,” The row of Humvees on Armory grounds