Photo by Nick Minecci Staff Sgt. Lawrence Brew (with magaphone), 298th Signal Company, 302nd Signal Battalion, taunts the olice at a mock demonstration as part of a training exercise with the 21st signal Brigade and Frederick Police Department, May 10.

The training was part of a longstanding cooperative agreement the police and Soldiers have according to Sgt. 1st Class Calvin Blythe, 21st Signal Brigade S3⁄Chemical NCO.

“We've trained here with the police for the last three-to-four years, and for this training Cpl. Brown from the police asked if we could assist in training the cadets - it gives them fresh faces for the training. Plus, the Soldiers get a kick out of this, and they get to learn from the police because we don't get to do riot control training and it's one of our warrior tasks,“ he said.

“We have Soldiers from across the Brigade, from [Headquarters and Headquarters Company] 21st Signal Brigade], the 114th Signal Battalion and 302nd signal Battalion here today. When the police asked for volunteers and the Soldiers found out, they jumped at the chance. This will also help because when we train back at Fort Detrick we can show the videos of our training here to the Soldiers that were unable to attend and show them the techniques and how to handle riot control,“ Blythe said.

Taking part in the training was something Spc. Christian Wilson-Diggs, a Unit Supply Specialist with HHC 21st Signal Brigade, jumped at the chance to attend, for professional as well as personal reasons.

“I'm going to college to be a corrections officer, so this is good training for me all around,“ she said. “This training is very good, very, very good...and I am having a lot of fun. They best part is [the cadets] are getting trained and we're getting trained too,“ she added.

According to Sgt. Greg Stocksdale, Frederick Police Department, the level of realism the Soldiers brought to the training not only aids in the training of the cadets, but for all the officers involved.

“It's always good to get fresh faces helping with scenario training; like the military we like the training to get as real as possible. So this is excellent to have the military here, they are used to dealing with conflict and bring a level of realism that is hard to beat,“ he said.