SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS ANNOUNCES SCHEDULED RETURN 94TH MP UNIT

WASHINGTON, DC—Senator Susan Collins, who is a Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and has worked on behalf of families of the 94th Military Police Unit, announced today that the unit is scheduled to return to Ft. Drum, NY sometime on Tuesday. The unit, which has several members from Maine, has been mobilized 2 ½ of the past four years, including Bosnia and Iraq

"I join the friends and family of 94th Military Police Unit members in anxiously anticipating their safe return home this week. The have worked hard, served our nation well, and it's time for them to return home for some much deserved rest," said Senator Collins.

Senator Collins recently was joined by Senator Snowe in a meeting on Capitol Hill with family members of the 94th Military Police Unit. In addition, she arranged for family members to meet with Department of Defense officials to discuss the return home of their loved ones.

The 94th Military Police Company includes around 20 army reserve soldiers from Maine. The unit was scheduled to return to the U.S. in April, after a year in Iraq, but their return was delayed when the Defense Department extended the company's deployment for at least another 90 days. Senator Collins has sought parity among military units because the 94th MP Unit has been mobilized multiple times and has served continuously in theater longer than any other military unit. She has discussed these concerns with a number of high-ranking Pentagon officials, including Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers.

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