Washington State National Guard members deployed to Middle East

The Washington State National Guard Military Police Unit has deployed to the Middle East, said the Washington Military Department on Tuesday.

These are guard members from the 506th detachment, which is headquartered at Joint Base Lewis McChord, and they’re leaving for a nine-month tour. We’re told this is to support ongoing operations there.

About 45 people are headed to Jordan to a joint training center that serves as a facility for U.S. and Jordanian soldiers to train in combat and border security skills.

This is only the fourth time in 15 years that this military police detachment has deployed.

KIRO 7 has covered National Guard members’ training for deployments in years past. In 2019, we got an inside look at National Guard members training near Yakima with heavy artillery.

We’re told it’s work that helps guard members encode how to handle situations into their muscle memory.

This latest mission is not related to the Israel-Hamas war.

JBLM says the 509th has already left Washington state and is now in Fort Bliss, Texas for final prep before heading to Jordan.

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