Over the past 2 years, I have spent most of my time focused on the future of the U.S. Army Military Police Corps Regiment. As the Army made cross-cutting decisions about structure and proponency that will have deep impacts on our Military Police Corps Regiment, it was time to reset our foundations. The tremendous professionals at the U.S. Army Military Police School (USAMPS), Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, enabled by broad engagement from leaders throughout every corner of the Regiment, dug deep into the pillars of our history and worked on constructing the blueprints of our future. If you have been relegated to longingly peering in the rear-view mirror, you are missing the progress the Regiment is making and the chance to help build our future. The transition will not be easy; nothing worth doing ever is. We will lose storied units; premier capabilities; and experienced, combat-hardened leaders in the process. The question is: Will we build a Military Police Corps Regiment that is prepared to assist, protect, and defend the Army of 2040 while simultaneously safeguarding the people, places, and assets that we need today—and every day—between now and then?
To borrow the U.S. Army Engineer Regiment motto, Essayons!—Let us try (with the emphasis on us)! Let US try. There is no one else to do the work—or anyone else as vested in the process as we are. The success of the Military Police Corps Regiment is not the work of the Commandant, Regimental Command Sergeant Major, or Regimental Chief Warrant Officer. And it is not the work of USAMPS. The Regiment rises and falls on the efforts and reputation of its people. Never before has there been a greater need for us to be on message as a Regiment. All components, all levels of command, and all ranks must understand where we are going and must work together to move the Regiment forward. We will not all agree—nor will we get it perfect. But we cannot let our pursuit of perfection become the enemy of our progress. It is with that spirit that USAMPS has been making necessary changes.
As I reflect on the hard work and accomplishments of our team over these past 2 years, three key themes stand out—protected logistics, new military police company design, and policing professionalism.
Protected Logistics
The Army is undergoing transformational change in preparation to win the next fight, forcing us as a Regiment to holistically contemplate how we will support the Army of 2030 and 2040 by enabling sustained operations in large-scale combat operations. When logistics are contested, the logic of efficiency through predictive and precise logistics rules until we get to the brigade support area; then, the focus must be on effectiveness of the close combat force to prevent early culmination. Military police extend the commander’s operational reach through protected logistics of key sustainment nodes and priority resupplies. As the force structure of Component1 becomes smaller, we can no longer provide the same level of service to support every brigade combat team; however, we can enable sustainment through protected logistics to extend the commander’s operational reach.
Protected logistics ensures the prompt arrival of priority supplies to frontlines, which increases endurance and prevents culmination. Small, dispersed units on a future battlefield will have no emergency supply reserves with which to continue operations in case of a missed resupply window. For sustainment to provide predictive and precise logistics, protected logistics must ensure that priority supplies reach the frontlines.
In World War II, military police extended the operational reach of the division and assisted the commander in increasing the tether between the forward line of troops and the base of operations. In 2030 and beyond, military police will prioritize supporting sustainment by enabling the corps commander to balance the tension among endurance, momentum, and protection.
New Military Police Company Design
Based on discussions at a recent strategic conference and recommendations from the operational force, I directed the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Organization Branch, with support from USAMPS, to develop a military police company force design update to enable mission command with small-unit leadership on the expanded and dispersed battlefield. This may increase the number of platoons in a company (from three to four) while right-sizing squad size (from four to three teams per squad) and decreasing the size of company headquarters (which would still need to go through further analysis). The additional platoon would retain unit cohesion and provide mission command when dispersed in a potentially degraded, denied, intermittent, and limited-communications environment requiring small-unit initiatives.
A four-platoon company would directly support the proposed Army Warfighting Concepts and Framework for 2040, which would optimize military police for a distributed and less predictable battlefield.1 This organization would contribute to the Secretary of the Army design principles and would enable the Army of 2040, as a member of the joint force, to defeat military peers on a transparent battlefield.2 The efficiencies gained with the new design would generate more capacity for large-scale combat operations through platoon task organization for different mission sets in a dispersed environment across the expanded battlespace, as the close area could potentially extend up to 300 kilometers in depth.
Policing Professionalism
As our Regiment becomes smaller as a result of the directed divestments from the optimization of people, we must increase our investment in training and programs to refine our policing enterprise and to ensure that military police Soldiers are ready to police in an innovative and standards-based manner.3
During March 2022 meetings about future force structure, USAMPS recommended a low-risk divestment. We received a directed course of action to divest 3,000 spaces. To maximize capability and mitigate the loss of capacity, we prioritized no risk to law enforcement by making the following recommendations:
Standard divisions will include one military police company and one law enforcement company organized as a table of distribution and allowances unit to perform specialized garrison missions.
Priority divisions will have a military police battalion headquarters, two military police companies, and a law enforcement company organized as a table of distribution and allowances unit.
Each law enforcement company table of distribution and allowances will be tailored to each installation to meet baseline requirements. Any additional requests to task a military police company above baseline support will degrade readiness.
Conclusion
Over the past 2 years, we, as a Regiment, have accomplished amazing feats that are critical to remaining relevant and ready in support of future large-scale combat operations. Through a blend of historic research and experimentation for the future, our concept of protected logistics is resonating with senior leaders. Our new four-platoon military police company design, which provides an additional command and control node on the expanded battlefield, is the first step in modernizing our force. As technology matures, the capacity of future military police formations will increase due to autonomous-capable systems that will remove military police from hazards and reduce Soldier labor. We are enhancing our policing professionalism with a stalwart focus on improving the quality of our military police as (standards-based) problem solvers.
War is a uniquely human endeavor that demands a resilient force that can as easily fight off a determined enemy as it can reroute displaced civilians—a force that can as deftly protect logistics as it can protect people struggling to flee from the effects of war. Remember—military police have always served as the humans in the loop at the greatest points of human interaction and operational friction. No matter when or where, as we solve people problems for the Army, we must always be professional, do what is right, and give a damn.
We are excited to welcome Colonel Charlie Green, the 53d Commandant of USAMPS and the chief of the Military Police Corps Regiment, and his Family to Fort Leonard Wood. The depth and breadth of Colonel Green’s experience are perfectly suited to build on the foundation that the last few commandants have faithfully laid. The Regiment is ready to move into the future, and I am confident that Colonel Green and his team will move rapidly and inculcate positive change as we build the Military Police Corps Regiment of 2040.
Thank you for allowing me to be your commandant. It has been a tremendous honor for Rob, Catherine, and me to represent our Regiment. I extend my deepest appreciation to the home team here at USAMPS. You are the true face of the Military Police Corps Regiment as you instruct, lead, and build our people, our structure, and our future. Our Soldiers, Civilians, and Families deserve our care, our efforts, and our professionalism—and any faults in delivering those things to the best of our ability lie solely with me.
Assist, Protect, Defend! No Matter When or Where . . .
2Bobby Lin, “China’s Power: Up for Debate 2021—Keynote Remarks by Secretary Christine Wormuth on the U.S. Army’s View of the China Challenge,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, 6 January 2022.
