The job of the Army Military Policeman or Policewoman is to maintain order and enforce laws, investigating, detecting and preventing crime. Every military police officer is also a fully trained soldier, and you are also responsible for maintaining military order and discipline during operations and on post. Deployment for you can be anywhere in the world that the U.S. Army is stationed, supporting various Army Missions, and performing various security patrols. You will be involved in investigating, detecting and preventing crime and criminal activity.
To be an ideal candidate for the military police you should be determined and able to handle responsibility. You should be level headed, and mature and have an open mind. You should be interested in police work, and be able to work unsupervised and act and think independently. A person headed into police work should be of good moral character and honest.
Training will be extensive, and you will learn how to conduct patrols on foot and in vehicles. You will be taught how to deal with personnel of all ranks, rates and levels. Procedures on how to investigate and prevent crime will be explored during your training, as well as how to report and investigate crime during military operations.
Initial training is of course Basic Combat Training the same as any other Army Soldier. After BCT training you will then progress into advanced training. You will be trained in advanced techniques dealing with investigations, patrol, use of weapons, and how to deal with crowd control and other techniques in dealing with people. Often people do not realize that the majority of the time, a military policeman’s job is done out of sight of the public. A lot of the job is supporting military operations, and providing security. The times that a military police office is seen or needed are only a part of the total picture.
Military personnel are busy performing the mission and operations that they are trained for. Having security and force protection for our men and women in the military frees up their time to deal with the operations and missions that they are assigned for. The additional training needed to become a military police officer is twelve weeks. Part of this time is spent in the classroom learning and memorizing the latest in police methods, tactics and procedures. Additional training is spent on the firing range, and in the gym, learning and practicing the methods needed on the job. Becoming a Military Police Officer is honorable and a commendable, but a position based on the training and skills learned by the individual.