FW: MPs

> It seems like it would be sensible.  Except the penny-pinchers and
> whatnot wouldn't like it.  There is also something to be said for the
> "Of the troops, for the Troops" unoffical motto of the MP's.	By
> having a combat role, MP's gain credibility amongst other MOS's
> instead of being "just cops".  While I was on patrol, I actually had a
> 222nd Infantry troops back down from a fight when he learned I was one
> of the "MP's that go to the field" instead of the LEA MP's.  (My
> first unit went through three cycles on a platoon level when not
> deployed or
> otherwise
> tasked out, two weeks each;  Training, Support, and Law Enforcement.
>
> Training was exactly that: Practicing missions, some class-room, most
> in the woods firing blanks and getting dirty.

My platoon used to hate me when I took the trucks away and decided we
were
going to train without them for awhile...

>
> Support:  You supported another platoon that was in it's training
> cycle.

Which means you get absolutely nothing done, because you'll probably
lose
half your troops to LEA work, and the other half will be painting stuff
for
the 1SG.  If you're lucky, you might get your vehicles PMCS'd properly.

>
> Law Enforcement:  You tried to polish your field-destroyed boots into
> a spit-shine to look pretty on the road.

<chuckle>  Nah - you spend the extra cash and buy another pair of boots.
<grin>	Trying to do that *once* will cure you of it - or should have!
<grin>

> To anyone in the 511th MP Company in Ft. Drum NY:  Fraggin' Hoo-ah!

I believe the 511th was the Ft. Drum unit deployed to Panama when I was
there.	If so, I can certainly agree - good unit.
>
> But to my 2nd unit, the 212th MP Co in Germany:  Bite me!  It's your
> fault I wasn't a lifer!

Hey - at least you changed units.  I watched mine go to hell with a
change
of CO.	<grump>

> Keep in mind that most of the roles and whatnot discussed so far are
> the "all-out-war" roles.  In practice, during the humanitarian and
modern
> limited conflict missions of late, MP's have some of the most visible
> and high-profile roles.  In Somalia and Haiti, the infantry secured a
> base out of which the MP's operated, doing the food-truck escorts or
> reconning the operational areas.  That was something that really put
> the sand in some infantry commander's shorts...

Gives a new definition to the term "police action".

Kiara