Doraville Chief Heads to Afghanistan

DORAVILLE, Ga. (MyFOX ATLANTA) - A local police chief is once again being called to serve his country. This time the unit commanded by Doraville Police John King is on its way to Afghanistan.

"Who can train a police department or police officers better than American police," said Doraville Police Chief John King.

Chief King said he will take more than 20 years of experience in local law enforcement to Afghanistan.

King is also a colonel with the Georgia Army National Guard and will be deployed this week to help train the national police there.

"Doraville's been supportive of this and they understand that we're at war in this country and part of that contribution is that they have to support this, but they do it willingly," said King.

"He's an example of a fine leader in our organization just as he is in the Doraville Police Department," Maj. Gen. Terry Nesbit.

Before departing, the city of Doraville gave Chief King a party. This isn't the first time Chief King has gone overseas. King's unit was deployed to Bosnia and Iraq.

"My family is also aware of the sacrifices and listening to the news about the potential bad things that could happen," said King.

For King it also means a year away from this department and his job, which he had to fight just to keep.

Following a previous deployment to Iraq, King was fired by the city council for missing time away from the job. Mayor Ray Jenkins later reinstated King.

"It will be a sacrifice for us but John has trained his people well and he has people that will do his job while he is gone," said Jenkins.

"I've actually spoken to several of the individuals involved in that discussion and actually they're supportive," said King.