Interim Joint Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection - Rep. Scott Sharp

I am uh representative sharp from the 100 District out in Ashland the great 100 District the only three-digit District in the Commonwealth and for my uh compatriot Air Force compatriot Colonel I just want to say I'm celebrating juneth by making sure everyone knows it was a US army cavalry unit that went in and did that yes I noticed that's why I'm pointing it out but on to other things sitting next to me I've got sergeant major Timothy F9 and he is a military policeman he is the Serge command sergeant major uh for the 198th military police Battalion in Louisville which is part of the Kentucky Army National Guard now as someone that is a former military policeman I remember reading about his uh activities when I was on active duty and I was like man I got to meet this guy someday him and his team because what they did over in the sandbox is absolutely outstanding and I'm going to let him talk to it about it there's a couple of videos on YouTube you can watch and see what he did and this is exactly what the military police were trained to do to support combat operations and uh I'm just I'm very happy to be here sarden major and with that I'm going to let you talk to the the panel tell them a little bit about your background he good morning everyone I'm sorry major Tim n from the 198th military police as he said uh I have the distinct pleasure right now of representing 695 soldiers geographically dispersed across Kentucky our job is to service the people of Kentucky and provide law enforcement augmentation during emergencies and other disasters or when the governor decides that we need to go help uh it's one of the best jobs I could ever have in the Army and being a military polican as well has just been the the greatest thing ever uh I I work full-time I'm part of your full-time staff for the Kentucky National Guard and back in 2005 I'll take you back to on 20 March it was the second anniversary of our liberation of of Iraq and that's one of the greatest things about talking today we're talking about June 19th of for liberation of people well that's what we were there there to do and on that particular day 50 anti Iraqi forces uh set up a a small Ambush uh actually a little bit larger amb Bush to be able to stop Coalition forces from their freedom of movement throughout the the area on that particular day I was a Staff Sergeant I led a group of nine military police soldiers and one medic women and men on to counter this Ambush and at the end uh 35 were either C killed or captured of enemy forces and 15 were driven off because they thought we were a larger Force than what we were just normal everyday Kentucky Kentucky citizens outperforming operations globally uh doing great things uh one of the even the better part of it not one Coalition Soldier was killed in in the in the U entire operation so uh it's a ATT tribute to what the the citizens of Kentucky pay for and what we're able to do not just here but globally um right now I can honestly say that in since February 2nd of 20 or I'm sorry 2001 there's only been two years in 20 and almost 24 years now two years that a unit from our our Battalion has not been deployed somewhere so we're consistently up moving and going training and preparing to be able to service the people of Kentucky in the citizens of the United States so sir well the sard major has been deployed to places not only in the Middle East but he's been to Ecuador Panama Bosnia heroina as well as the uh Southern Border in Texas he's done a lot and how many people were on your team that day that you went into in Iraq there were 10 total 10 total okay and how many awards out of that uh myself I was awarded the distinguished service cross I Ser lean Hester was the first female to be awarded the SilverStar for Combat Action Against the enemy force uh Sergeant Jason Mike our medic was awarded the Silver Star as well and the remaining unit uh received uh bronze stars with Valor or aroms with V with Valor and five purple hearts were awarded that from that one action that day now my understanding is you actually went into the trench and start clearing a trench absolutely certainly lean Hester and I uh when it came to a point where we believed at least I believe that we were about to be overrun by the force uh that I had committed ourselves to uh went into a canal system to to close the fight and finish the day off uh against at least five different combatants uh at ranges uh no farther than 20 yards okay and my understanding is you got you were traveling in a stack she was shooting over your shoulder that happened how's your hearing actually it's uh it's ironic where your um audit auditorial uh uh your auditory shuts down and you can hear normal conversations but even with a muzzle and I I I tell the story and I can still feel the heat and the over pressure coming out of a barrel as she shot over my shoulder as we continue to fight our way down the trench throwing grenades and shooting rifles you know it when I read about that it's just amazing he's he's had a lot of uh the military police Corps has acknowledged what he has done he's had a lot of uh Al accolades for that and I'm I'm one that's just I'm just happy you're here I'm happy I'm the one that gets to introduce you as a former MP and uh I I think this is awesome and his wife is here is that is that Raina Renee Renee Renee is here and she doesn't want to come up front but I just want to acknowledge that because as far as the military you know it's not just a soldier it's he's got a family team that's got to support him and I'm sure she's had to put up with him deploying to all these places and taking care of everything on the home front so she needs to be recognized also and because she's put up with a lot and had to take care of a lot while he was out protecting the Commonwealth and protecting the nation so with that I just I want to congratulate you thank you very much sir and I've got a coin for you and I have one for you as well I'm sorry let me switch hands there okay sir yes sir s major is there any questions from the uh committee any members have any questions we we really appreciate what you've done and and of course it was mentioned that the distinguished service cross that is that you received is is actually one below the Medal of Honor so that uh that that's awesome so representative Johnson I don't have a question I just wanted to say certain major your actions and your actions of your team are in the finest finest traditions of our military and Kentucky guard and I just want to say thank you [Applause]