Military Police Badge US Army M.P. Hook And Loop Patch

Army military policing goes back to May 1778, when Congress authorized a Provost Corps that George Washington called the Marechaussee. Captain Bartholomew von Heer took command of it on June 1, 1778. Two years earlier, in January 1776, William Maroney had been named the first Provost Marshal of the Continental Army. The Military Police Corps became a permanent branch on September 26, 1941, and the Regiment still keeps that date as its birthday. Its motto is Assist, Protect, Defend.

In World War II, MPs moved traffic on the Burma Road, worked the Normandy beachheads and secured the routes of the Red Ball Express, and the Corps was recognized for gallantry at Remagen. In Korea they kept the supply routes open, monitored the prisoner exchanges and patrolled the demilitarized zone. Early on January 31, 1968, MPs of the 716th Military Police Battalion fought at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon alongside the Marine Security Guard, and four MPs and one Marine were killed before the compound was declared secure that morning. In Iraq, MPs ran convoy security, patrols, raids and detainee operations, and were the main force in rebuilding and training the Iraqi Police. Army CID special agents, set up as a branch of the Provost Marshal General's Office in 1944, have worked the felony cases the whole way.

The patch is cut in the shape of a police shield, 2.5 inches wide and 3.5 inches tall, stitched in subdued gray, white and black with a cut edge that follows the outline. An eagle with spread wings sits across the top above a curved scroll lettered UNITED STATES ARMY. The round center is filled with old military devices: a Roman breastplate, an upright sword, furled flags, a cannon and a stack of cannonballs, with a coiled scroll at the top. MILITARY and POLICE run down the lower edges on either side of the center. The back is the hook side of a hook and loop fastener, so it goes onto any loop panel and comes off again.

The MP is often the first soldier anyone meets on post and the one working the gate long after the rest of the unit has gone home. The same soldier may be on traffic control one year and route security in a war zone the next, and the branch has never treated those as separate jobs. Since 1922 the branch has worn crossed gold pistols, the M1805 Harper's Ferry flintlock, on its collar, with green and gold as its colors. Military Police soldiers, MOS 31B, train at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The four MPs who died at the embassy gate in Saigon are part of what that brass means.

Put it on the loop panel of a range bag, plate carrier or jacket, or mount it in a shadow box with your crossed pistols, your brassard and a photo from your first duty station. It also makes a good gift for a son or daughter heading to Fort Leonard Wood for MP training. The subdued gray works on a field uniform or a civilian bag alike. Assist, Protect, Defend says the rest.