Photo by Bill Pierce, Ohio National Guard Public Affairs
For Spc. Kayla Line, a member of the 323rd Military Police Company in Toledo, the training she has received in the military and skills she has learned have helped her to pursue civilian career opportunities, including her time working as a private security enforcement officer.
To Protect and to Serve:
Soldier uses military training to enhance civilian career pursuits
Story by Bill Pierce, Ohio National Guard Public Affairs
COLUMBUS, Ohio (02/08/19)
Have you ever wanted to be in charge of protecting lives and property? Becoming a 31B (Military Police) in the Ohio Army National Guard means that you perform those duties and many other critical roles. Whether you are providing security at an entry control point, or offering perimeter or flight line security, your job serves an essential role in the National Guard.
The duties of military police are very similar to the duties of a civilian police officer, except they usually only have jurisdiction on military installations. They both protect lives and property by enforcing the law and regulations, while controlling traffic, preventing crime and responding to all emergencies.
The training you undertake to earn the 31B military occupational specialty, or MOS, is 20 weeks long and takes place at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. MP Soldiers usually attend both basic training and advanced individual training, or AIT, consecutively at Fort Leonard Wood, which is also known as one station unit training, or OSUT. National Guard Soldiers train alongside active duty and Reserve MP Soldiers as well.
Spc. Kayla Line has been a 31B in the Ohio Army National Guard for more than six years and currently is a member of the 323rd Military Police Company in Toledo. She said she joined the Guard for the benefits of Ohio National Guard Scholarship Program, which pays 100 percent of a Guard member’s college tuition at any state university or college in Ohio, or the equivalent amount at a private institution.
“When I joined in 2012, there were no Army medic slots available, so I decided military police would be the best fit for me since my major was in forensic pathology and my minor in criminal justice,” Line said. “After my deployment to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey last year, I decided to reenlist and focus my career on law enforcement.”
While many Guard members join for the college benefits, many extend their enlistment and continue to serve because of the relationships they develop. One reason Line said she stayed in the National Guard was that she didn’t want to lose her “family” that she has built within the Guard.
“Working together, whether it was one weekend a month or during annual training, temporary duty (TDY) or for possible deployment, you build a strong cohesive bond with coworkers and you learn to depend on each other like a family,” Line said.
Until recently, in her civilian occupation, Line worked as a security enforcement officer at the Maj. Gen. Robert S. Beightler Armory — home to the Ohio National Guard Joint Force Headquarters — in Columbus. She now works at a local health care solutions company, and said the training and experience she has received in the National Guard will continue to be a benefit to her in the future.