Military Police Corps (United States)


The United States Army Military Police Corps is the uniformed law enforcement branch of the United States Army. Investigations are conducted by Military Police investigators under the Provost Marshal General's Office or special agents of the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division.
United States Army Military Police units have combat zone responsibilities in addition to their law enforcement duties. These responsibilities include mounted and dismounted patrols, response force operations, area damage control, route reconnaissance, cordon and search operations, critical site security, and convoy and personnel escorts. Operationally, these duties fall under the "security and mobility support" discipline of the Military Police Corps.

Mission

The United States Army's Military Police provide an important function in the full spectrum of Army operations as a member of the Maneuver, Fires, and Effects division. The Military Police Corps provides expertise in policing, detainment, and stability operations in order to enhance security and enable mobility. Military Police are actively utilized in direct combat and during peacetime.
; Disciplines
The Military Police tasks can be separated into three disciplines and one integrated function:
  1. Security and mobility support operations
  2. Police operations
  3. Detention operations
  4. Police intelligence operations
; Career
The Military Police Corps has six career paths within the Army, one for commissioned officers, one for warrant officers, and four for enlisted soldiers:
Currently 31 series, formerly the 95 series, and before that, 1677.
  • 31A - Military Police Officer
  • 311A - Criminal Investigations Warrant Officer;
  • 31B - Military Police
  • 31D - Criminal Investigations Special Agent
  • 31E - Internment/Resettlement Specialist
  • 31K - Military Police Working Dog Handler
A Criminal Investigations Warrant Officer investigates felony crimes and can be tasked to DoD operations in areas like counter-narcotics and HUMINT. An Internment/Resettlement Specialist works in the confinement and correctional facilities of the United States Military. Work includes maintaining physical security and supervision of facilities, but specialists are also responsible for offering counseling services to those within the facility.

History

The Military Police Corps is one of the youngest branches of the United States Army. It was officially established on 26 September 1941, although it has an irregular history dating back to 1776.

Military Police in the Revolutionary War

The Military Police Corps traces its lineage and history back to the American Revolution. General George Washington requested that the staff position of Provost Marshal be created to deal with disciplinary issues. In January 1776, William Maroney was appointed as the first Provost Marshal of the Continental Army. The Provost Marshals relied on soldiers temporarily drawn from other units, and had difficulty enforcing discipline. On 20 May 1778, Congress established the Provost Corps, which General Washington referred to as the "Marechaussee." This name was from the French: "maréchaussée," from the Old French "mareschaucie," meaning "the marshalcy." Captain Bartholomew von Heer, a German-speaking officer from Pennsylvania, was appointed as the first commander of the Marechaussee on 1 June 1778. Under the new organization, the Provost Marshal was responsible for soldiers under custody and for punishments, while the Marechaussee was tasked with the enforcement of order within the Continental Army. The Marechaussee Corps would be formed exclusively as a police organization, and was organized and equipped as light dragoons, utilizing their speed to aid in troop movements and moving prisoners from the battlefield. The Marechaussee protected the Army's rear and flanks during troop movements, searched for stragglers, guarded river crossings, and engaged in combat when needed, as in the Battle of Springfield. The Provost Corps was disbanded in November 1783.

Civil War

In 1863, the Office of the Provost Marshal General was established and oversaw the Veteran Reserve Corps. In the US Civil War, the VRC maintained law and order at garrison areas, while other provost guard units served on the front lines. After the war, the Office of the Provost Marshal General was discontinued as the Union Army disbanded.

Spanish–American War

During the Moro Rebellion following the Spanish–American War, the United States founded the Philippine Constabulary. Training began in 1902, and Brigadier General Harry Hill Bandholtz was appointed as chief of the Constabulary in 1907.

World War I

The complexity of warfare during World War I required a corps of specially-trained soldiers to handle massive numbers of prisoners of war and control the movement of troops and supplies in the zones of operation. The Military Police Training Department was established 9 September 1918 at Caserne Changarnier in Autun, France. Following the war, Brigadier General Harry Hill Bandholtz, who had served as Provost Marshal of the American Expeditionary Forces, proposed the establishment of a permanent Military Police Corps. Although Congress failed to act upon this recommendation, it allowed for the permanent organization of Army military police units in the National Defense Act Amendment of 1920.
In 1917, CPL Charles W. Baltimore, a black MP soldier stationed at Camp Logan in Texas, inquired into the beating of a black soldier by Houston police and was himself beaten and arrested afterwards. The racial tension which followed led to the Houston Riot, which killed four soldiers and sixteen civilians, and 60 black soldiers were executed or sentenced to life in prison.

World War II

During World War II, Military Police schools were established at Camp Gordon, Fort Benjamin Harrison, with the Military Police Replacement Center established at Fort Custer. MPs also trained for port security at Fort McHenry. Military Police soldiers moved traffic along the Burma Road, supported amphibious operations on Normandy beachheads, and managed enemy prisoners of war from Italy to the South Pacific.
When the Red Ball Express was established in August 1944, MP performed route reconnaissance and security to keep the trucks and supplies flowing. This was the 793rd Military Police Battalion's first mission in theater and commemorated this in their coat of arms and unit insignia; which consists of a field of green, a yellow road, and two red disks symbolizing the famed route.
Thanks to the actions of First Lieutenant John Hyde and his detachment of MP, The Corps was heralded for gallantry at Remagen, as a fighting force in numerous combat actions and as peacekeepers at war's end. In 1944, the Army again saw the need for a unit to investigate crime involving soldiers in Europe. The United States Army Criminal Investigation Division was established as a branch of the Provost Marshal General's Office and has continued investigative activity since.
After the war ended, cavalry units in Germany were utilized to form the United States Constabulary, a police-like patrol organization. It was disbanded in the 1950s.
In 1949, the newly formed Defense Department was in the process of reorganizing the Army and plans were developed to disband the Military Police Corps. But when Congress passed the Army Reorganization Act in May 1950, the Corps survived, remaining a separate branch of the Army.

Korean War and Vietnam War

When North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, there were some MP units stationed in Korea. One of those was the 55th Military Police Company, which had been assigned to Camp Ascom in December 1948. Most of those military police units that arrived during the early months of the war came from Japan, where they were serving as occupation forces following World War II. While the majority of MP companies came from outside Korea, most of the battalions of the Korean War were formed on the peninsula
During the Korean War, Military Police kept supply routes open. Subsequently, Military Police monitored the exchange of prisoners and patrolled the demilitarized zone. Military Police, adapting to a different style of warfare in Vietnam, earned status as a combat support arm, partially as a result of combat success during the Tet Offensive.

Current role

During Operation Just Cause, Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, the Military Police provided area security, conducted battlefield circulation control, and exercised custody over thousands of POWs.
Since 1991, the Military Police have assisted with interventions in Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia. Military Police maintained order in war-torn Kosovo, as well as keeping the peace in Afghanistan.
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, MPs were used extensively to maintain control over the large numbers of detainees being held by coalition forces, as well as helping to conduct raids, convoy security and regular patrols. MPs were the main force responsible in rebuilding and training the Iraqi Police. Ever since the invasion, military police have been one of the most heavily engaged military occupational specialty in the Iraqi theater.
In the United States, MPs often provided disaster relief and internal security, while still fulfilling their fundamental function of maintaining discipline and security within the Army.

Women in the Military Police Corps

Women in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps were assigned Military Police duties as early as 1941. By 1943, soldiers in the Women's Army Corps were trained as Military Police in order to police female soldiers, although they had jurisdiction over all soldiers, including males. Women have since served in the Military Police Corps, which has given the regiment some distinction. Females were officially accepted into the Military Police Corps in 1975. As the Women's Auxiliary Corps was disbanded the Military Police stood up to accept and train women alongside their male counterparts. Female MPs have crossed many gender barriers in the United States Armed Forces.
  • In the 1983 Invasion of Grenada, 4 female MPs from the 118th Military Police Company were deployed to Grenada. Conflicting views of women in combat caused them to be ordered back to the United States, only to be ordered back to Grenada days later.
  • In the 1989 United States invasion of Panama, CPT Linda Bray led the 988th Military Police Company in an assault against Panamanian Defense Forces, and is considered the first woman to lead U.S. troops in combat. CPT Bray was awarded the Commendation Medal for Valor.
  • Tulsi Gabbard became the first female to graduate Alabama Military Academy as the OCS distinguished honor graduate in March 2007, and one of the first women combat veterans to serve in United States Congress.
  • In 2010, Brigadier General Colleen L. McGuire became the first woman to hold the office of Provost Marshal General of the Army.
  • In 2015, CPT Kristen Griest, a military police commissioned officer, became one of the first two women to successfully complete U.S. Army Ranger School.
  • SFC Jeanne Balcombe and PFC Tekoa Lurray Brown became the first two female Military Police soldiers killed in the line of duty to be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC
  • On 27 May 2021, Command Sergeant Major Veronica Knapp, a Military Police soldier, became the first female CSM of a United States Army Division when she assumed the leadership role with the 101st Airborne Division.
  • SGT Leigh Ann Hester, an NCO with the Kentucky National Guard’s 617th Military Police Company, became the first woman to earn the Silver Star since WWII for combat valor through her actions on 20th March 2005, in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
In 2008, 25% of the MP Corps were women. The mixed-gender MP Corps is valued in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where cultural taboos may prevent male soldiers from interacting with women.