South Dakota Guard Unit Trains for Deployment to Afghanistan

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota Army National Guard's 235th Military Police Company recently completed training in Arkansas in preparation for its second tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The unit is based in Rapid City, but also has a detachment in Sioux Falls. Its mission is to provide security for U.S. military and coalition forces, protect installations, and guard prisoners of war and civilian internees.

The Rapid City Journal reports that the 124-soldier unit recently spent two weeks training at Fort Chaffee, Ark. Its deployment to Afghanistan begins in February.

While at Fort Chaffee, soldiers qualified on the M9 pistol and M4 rifle. The training facilities also allowed soldiers to complete qualifications on land navigation, hand-to-hand combat and battle drills.

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