LIVERMORE FALLS – Brock Caton provided convoy security for the military and civilians in Southern Iraq for a year. On Wednesday, he handled different security needs, on the job as a law enforcer.

The 26-year-old Livermore Falls police officer from Farmington was deployed for 14 months. He spent two of those at Fort Dix in New Jersey preparing to go overseas with fellow National Guard members in B Company, 3rd Battalion of the 172nd Mountain Infantry. The unit, known as a quick-reaction force, was on its first deployment mission.

Caton sat behind the desk in the officers’ room at the police station with his sunglasses perched atop his head, working on the computer.

The first two days back, he is working with Lt. Thomas Gould to get caught up on what is new, refreshing his memory on department policies and procedures and learning to use the department’s new computer system.

He found the adjustment period from military life back to civilian life easy.

“I was nervous at first but once I got back into the swing of everything, it’s like riding a bike,” Caton said.

By midmorning he had already responded to a minor noise complaint with Gould.

While overseas, Caton said, he was promoted from sergeant to staff sergeant and conducted 40 combat missions.

Since his return to Maine on March 9, the four-year police officer has taken online courses and weapons qualifications to come back to the force.

The weather here is still a little chilly compared to the 140-degree summer days and 90 to 100 degree summer nights in Iraq. Winter there got pretty cold, he said, with days in the mid 70s, dropping to 20 or 30 at night.

Temperatures had already been creeping back up when he left Iraq at the end of February to go to Kuwait for a few days before flying to the U.S.

“It felt great to know you were getting close to home, but once we stepped off the plane in Fort Dix, we knew we were home,” he said.

He spent the last month hanging out with his friends, family and his fiancée, Nissa Allen, and spending quality time with them as well as doing some home repairs.

“It feels good to get back to work and see people from the police department and see the town again,” Caton said.

Though he’ll miss the guys in his military unit, he said he won’t miss anything else in Iraq.

“I’m proud of my service and the job my unit did,” Caton said. “We did an excellent job.”

And, if it comes down to it, he said, he’ll go back to Iraq or Afghanistan if his unit is recalled.