History of the United States Army Military Police School (USAMPS)

HISTORY OF THE U. S. ARMY MILITARY POLICE SCHOOL
PART II- World War II

On 31 July 1941, Major General Allen W. Guillion was appointed Provost Marshal General of the United States. On 26 September 1941, the Military Police Corps was officially organized and became a separate branch of the U. S. Army. The next day General Guillion suggested to the War Department that a school for military police be established.

"The need for immediate and thorough training of military police has been emphasized during the past two months by reports of difficulties encountered at Fort Knox, Fort Bragg, MacDill Field, Fort McPherson and other places. In all of those cases, investigation disclosed that the trouble was caused by inadequate training of military police…"

"I am of the opinion that the only satisfactory solution to the chaotic military police problem is (1) the activation of additional military police units organized in accordance with Tables of Organization and equipped in accordance with Tables of Basic Allowances; and (2) the establishment of a military police school from which will be graduated at approximately three month intervals some 100 officers and 100 enlisted men, who will return to their respective organizations as leaven for sound and uniform training for such units."

"A careful survey has been made of experienced personnel for the faculty of such a school. There are available in the service now, some of the leading authorities in the country in police work, traffic control and kindred subjects."

"The location of the school should be easily accessible to the Office of the Provost Marshal General. The 703rd Military Police Battalion (Zone of Interior) is now located at Arlington Cantonment."

This letter was followed by a Memorandum to the Assistant Chief of Staff on 16 October 1941 by the Provost Marshal General. "It was our experience during the last war and since, at maneuvers and elsewhere, that the mere assignment of officers as Provost Marshals and to Military Police duty, or the placing of brassards on soldiers, does not make them competent military policemen……Military police service requires the highest intelligence and integrity. Careful selection of personnel and thorough, special training, followed by constant supervision, is the only solution of the problem."

He further stated, "The instruction and training objectives of this school will be to give theoretical and practical instructions in the duties and functions of the Provost Marshal and Military Police and to prepare officers and selected non-commissioned officers to perform their duties efficiently. Through such objectives it is hoped to lay a foundation for the uniform instruction, training and development of military police units and the attainment of a high state of efficiency. The course of instruction at the proposed school will cover the following: General Military Police duties, Traffic Control, Military Law, Criminal Investigation, Counter Fifth Column and Emergency Plan White, and Prisoners of War and Alien Enemies. " He suggested that four courses be offered each year and each course to cover twelve weeks.

The Adjutant General, Otto Johnson, issued a proclamation on 10 December 1941 that the Provost Marshal General should establish what was then known as The Military Police School at Fort Myer, Virginia. The staff and faculty were not to exceed 29 officers, 31 enlisted men and 28 civilians, and the 703rd MP Battalion was to administer and operate the school.

The Military Police School was established at Arlington Cantonment, Fort Meyer, Virginia on 19 December 1941 but was not in full operation until after 1 February 1942. On 14 January 1942 the name of the school was changed to the Provost Marshal General's School. The course of instruction included basic training for future military policemen and a five-week course, increased to 13 weeks in May 1942, provided by four departments: Military Law, Traffic Control, Police Methods and Criminal Investigation.

On 10 January 1942, the Military Police Board was formed at Fort Myer. The members of this board were charged with the duties of conducting examinations, research, investigations and inspections on various subjects such as organization, activation, uniforms, arms, equipment, transportation, communication, and training for the improvement of the Corps of Military Police.

Between the establishment of the school and the first class, staff and faculty arrived at Fort Myer. The first school commandant was Colonel Hobart B. Brown, who had enlisted in the New Jersey National Guard in 1906. After serving in the cavalry, Colonel Brown served in the 29th Infantry Division, including the 104th MP Company in World War I. Then from 1919-1941 he was with the 61st Cavalry Division and subsequently in the War Department.

On 19 December 1941, captains Frank J. Day, Joseph C. Jackson and Alexander H. Gilfillan arrived at the school site. Captain Day had been employed in advertising in civilian life and served in the military police with the 29th Infantry Division and the 1st Army during World War I. After the war he was a cavalry officer until arriving at the school. Captain Jackson had been a civilian attorney and served in the Tennessee House of Representatives, and at the same time he served as a cavalry officer in the Tennessee National Guard. During his service, Jackson competed in weapons competition. Captain Gilfillan had been an insurance examiner in civilian live and entered the army as an infantry officer, subsequently becoming a Mess Officer.

Two days before Christmas of 1941, Colonel Leslie Leonard Connett, Major Brookner W. Brady, and captains L. B. Babcock, Allen B. Michell, and Ralph A. Price arrived at the school for assignments. From 1915-1917, Colonel Connett had served in the 4th Infantry Regiment of the Missouri National Guard, including duty on the Mexican Border and in Hawaii with infantry regiments. Then on 10 December 1941 he was assigned to the Corps of Military Police and placed in charge of the newly formed Military Police Board.
Major Brookner W. Brady was a graduate of the U. S. Military Academy, who had served in the Cavalry and Infantry. Just before his arrival at the school Major Brady had served with the military police in Hawaii. Captain L. B. Babcock had also graduated from the Military Academy and served in the infantry. He too had served as an MP officer in Hawaii but Captain Babcock had been the commanding officer of the 9th Division military police and had worked in the MP Division of the Provost Marshal General's department prior to arrival at Fort Myer to serve as the Executive Officer of the school.
Captain Allen B. Michell had been employed as an instructor of criminal investigation as a civilian and served in military intelligence in the National Guard. He was the commanding officer of the 28th MP Company, followed by duties in the MP Division of the PMG Department. In December 1941, he became director of the Criminal Investigation School.
Captain Ralph A. Price had served in the Canadian Army during World War I and entered the U. S. Army following the war. He then worked as a police officer and criminal investigator in civilian life before serving as Provost Marshal in Maine. At the school he became the Supply Officer.

On Christmas Eve, Captain Herman H. Kaesser arrived at the school. He was a West Point graduate and had served in the infantry until being transferred to the military police in Hawaii and subsequently to the school.

The above men were followed to Fort Myer by First Lieutenant E. Russell Kennedy, Jr, who arrived on 2 January 1942. Kennedy had practiced law in civilian life and then worked as an investigator and accountant. In the 1920s he worked as special agent in the agency that became the FBI and then with the Secret Service and Treasury Department. By 1941, Kennedy was a division G-2 officer, working in the War Department, before being transferred to the school.
Three days later, second lieutenants Anthony E. Papa and Paul Goff, and first lieutenants John G. Clary and Monte K. Pierce, along with captains Leslie C. Cave, Brainard E. Prescott, and John K. Daly arrived at Arlington Cantonment.
2nd Lt. Anthony E. Papa had worked as a Certified Public Accountant and then served in the 114th Infantry. 2nd Lt. Paul Goff had enlisted in the Army infantry and served in the Panama Canal Zone, then as an instructor, followed by work in intelligence and finally with the 3rd Armored Division before arrival at the school.
1st Lt. John G. Clary had been trained as an engineer in college but worked as an auditor and accountant in civilian life. He then served as an engineer officer in the Army, followed by duties as quartermaster and finally in supply before going to Fort Myer. Unlike Clary, 1st Lt. Monty K. Pierce had received a degree in business management but had a love for flying, thus he had worked with various civilian flying services. He served in the infantry and was commanding officer of a recruit training facility before being assigned to the school.
Captain Leslie C. Cave, who had worked as an investigator for the State of Louisiana and then as State Trooper, had been an instructor of police operations. He rose from private to 1st Sergeant in the Louisiana National Guard and entered the Army infantry before arrival at the school. Captain Brainard E. Prescott had been an attorney in civilian life and served in the infantry of the Army Reserve. Before arriving at the school he had served as a trial lawyer with the Judge Advocate General's office.
Captain John K. Daly arrived about the same time and had quite a different background. Daly had been trained as a civil engineer and served as an infantry officer in the reserves. Then he was commanding officer of the 77th MP Company from 1935-1940, followed by the command of the MP Platoon with the 1st Infantry Division.
On 7 January Captain Russell C. Lord arrived at the school. Lord had worked in real estate as a civilian and served in the cavalry and the 205th MP Company, during World War I. He was the only person on the schools staff that had attended the MP School at Autun, France in 1918 and he did so as a sergeant of military police.

Unlike Lord, Major Spencer Burroughs, who arrived at the school on 10 January 1942, had worked in finance, tax and business law before entering the service. Just prior to his transfer to the school Burroughs had served in the War Department.

A system of allotment was established for the various commands allowing them to send a specified number of officers to the newly formed school. This included:
· 10 from the First Army
· 5 from the Second Army
· 10 from the Third Army
· 15 from the Armored Force
· 5 from First Corps Area
· 10 from Second Corps Area
· 10 from Third Corps Area
· 20 from Fourth Corps Area
· 5 from Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Corps Areas
· 15 from Eight Corps Area
· 2 from the New York Port of Embarkation
· 1 from the New Orleans Port of Embarkation Aberdeen Proving Ground and Edgewood Arsenal,
· 2 from Huntsville Arsenal
· 1 from Rock Island Arsenal
The first class was composed of 215 officers, most of whom had experience in World War I. They were enrolled on 1 February 1942 and were given classes in military law, traffic control, police methods and criminal investigation. This course of instruction ended about 28 March and the second class began on 6 April 1942. It was the last class to graduate at Fort Myer.
The space and facilities at that post were not sufficient and the demand for military policemen was rapidly increasing. The students were required to travel to Fort Belvoir, Virginia or Fort Meade, Maryland for outdoor training and weapons practice.

While the school at Fort Myer was turning out Military Police officers, a Training Center for military police who were to serve with the Army Air Corps was being established. In early 1942 this Aviation MP Training Center was developed at Camp Ripley, Minnesota. Colonel E. G. Buhrmaster was appointed commandant of what became known as Headquarters Squadron, MP Training Center (AVN). After establishing the school, Colonel Buhrmaster was soon transferred to London, England to serve as the Provost Marshal and was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Benedict Ray. This school continued through 1944.

Due to the military build up during the early months of World War II, the demand for military police grew and so did the school. With no room for expansion at Fort Myer, the Provost Marshal General chose another location. On 19 June 1942, the school was relocated to Chickamauga Park, South Post, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia and designated as the Provost Marshal General's School Center.

At Fort Oglethorpe four separate schools were created: Officer Candidate School for 1,000 students, Advanced and Refresher Schools for 600 officers, Investigator's School for 200 and a school for specialists with the Office of Civilian Defense. Although the school remained at Fort Oglethorpe only four months, 611 soldiers became officers in the Corps of Military Police, seven refresher courses graduated 1,183 and 373 soldiers completed six advanced classes.
While Colonel Hobart Brown remained in charge of the Military Police School as director, instead of commandant, Colonel Archer L. Lerch was appointed Commanding Officer of the Provost Marshal General's School Center. Colonel Lerch had served in the infantry since the 1920s and then administrator for various agencies. In July 1941 he was appointed Deputy Provost Marshal General and in July 1942 traveled to Fort Oglethorpe for new duties.
The center's executive officer was Colonel Loren F. Parmley, who was from South Dakota and had served in the National Guard on the Mexican Border in 1916. Afterward, he was a regular cavalry officer and then in the Judge Advocate General's Office. Lerch and Parmley were joined by Lt. Colonel Parker C. Kalloch, Jr., who had graduated from West Point and served in the Philippines in the infantry. He had also participated in the invasion and occupation of Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1914 and then served as a military instructor. During World War I, he served in the infantry and in 1941 was serving in the MP Department of the Provost Marshal General's Office.
Major Alvin Sauer became a part of the center's staff. As a civilian, he was a high school teacher and served in the cavalry of the National Guard, followed by duties as an intelligence officer. He was joined by a man who was famous in the FBI. Major Melvin Purvis had practiced law and then served as Special Agent with the FBI from 1927-1935, during which time he hunted criminals, including John Dillinger. After 1935 he returned to his law practice and in 1940 served with the Provost Marshal General's Office before moving to the school.
Joining this staff were first lieutenants William J. Mead and Walter Hoyle. Mead had worked in business administration and served with the 44th Infantry Regiment before going to the school. Hoyle had been a lawyer and served in the infantry. By April 1942 he was serving with the 713th MP Battalion and became PMG Center's Provost Marshal.

On 17 October 1942, the insignia for the Provost Marshal General's School Center was approved by the War Department. This became the school crest and remains so today.

Due to the lack of adequate facilities, on 28 November 1942, the school was transferred to Fort Custer, Michigan. At the same time the name was changed from the Provost Marshal General's School Center to the Provost Marshal General's Training Center.
Several schools were set up as administrative units, each with its own director. There were nine departments of instruction, which included:

1. Basic Training Department- Basic duties of the soldier, discipline through infantry drill, morale building, map and aerial photograph reading, sanitation and hygiene, courtesy and customs, chemical warfare, and other basic military subjects.

2. Weapons Department- The practical aspects of weapons used by military police: M-1 rifle, Thompson submachine gun, pistol, shotgun, light and heavy machine guns, mortars, bayonets, and grenades.

3. Department of Tactics- Concentrated on defensive and offensive tactics by small units. Subjects included: field fortifications, cover and concealment, employment of small arms, camouflage, scouting and patrolling, night operations, counter intelligence, communication and team work.

4. Department of Police Instruction- Fundamentals of military police work, including techniques of town patrol, circulation control in the field, prisoner of war administration, riot control and relations with civil authorities.

5. Department of Occupational Territory Police- Prepare officers and enlisted men for duty in occupied territories. Taught the principles of military government, history and political structures of territories, coordination with commands and the study of foreign police organizations.

6. Department of Traffic- Traffic control in combat zones, movement of large units, intersection control, convoy operations, and use of road nets.

7. Department of Criminal Investigation- A balanced program covering fundamental principles of investigation, practical training, report writing, observation and description, surveillance, fingerprint identification, raids, interrogation and investigative photography.

8. Department of Law and Administration- The courses in this department included military law, its relationship to civil law, legal restrictions, jurisdiction, powers of arrest, and search and seizure.

9. Department of Physical Training- This department taught self-defense and aggressive control, which included Judo. It also offered instruction in first aid, body- building, and handling armed and unarmed prisoners.

The training center offered a refresher course for officers, which lasted eight weeks and supplemented earlier training in the techniques of MP duties. An advanced tactical course covered eight weeks and was designed to amplify the education already received in tactics of MP work.

The school also offered an Occupational Military Police course of eight weeks for officers who would command MP units. Some officers also received eight weeks of investigator instruction, including modern investigation techniques, scientific equipment and methodology.

Enlisted personnel were offered an eight-week course in criminal investigations. In addition, they received Occupational Military Police instruction, which lasted four weeks and taught the organization and operation of military government in occupied countries. An Air Force Basic Military Police course was offered to enlisted personnel, which lasted four weeks and taught duties and responsibilities with Army Air Force units.

In addition, an Officer Candidate School was in operation, which had a twelve-week course of study for selected enlisted men to become military police officers.

During the time that the MP School was located at Fort Custer, female soldiers arrived for training as military police.

Incorporated with the Provost Marshal's School was the Military Police General Unit Training Center, which produced Zone of Interior MP battalions and companies, prisoner-of-war processing companies and escort guard companies. In December 1942, the Military Police Replacement Training Center was moved from Fort Riley, Kansas and became part of the new Training Center. During the early years at Fort Custer a branch office of the Military Police Division of the Provost Marshal General's Office was established at the post.

Colonel Lerch continued as commander of the school during the relocation process but on 12 December 1942 he was transferred. Colonel Parker C. Kalloch assumed the duties as commandant and served until July 1943. By April 1943 command of the training center was extremely complicated and an assistant commandant position was added. Lieutenant Colonel William T. Babcock was appointed to that position but only served until September.
On 10 July 1943, Colonel Kalloch departed Fort Custer for another assignment. Because his replacement had not arrived, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph C. Jackson was appointed to serve as interim Commandant. Why LTC Babcock, the assistant commandant, was not allowed to serve as temporary commandant is not known. LTC Jackson filled the position until September when Colonel William H. Maglin arrived and Jackson then replaced Babcock as Assistant Commandant. Colonel Maglin remained at this post until June 1944 when he departed for an overseas assignment and LTC Jackson again took command.
The new school included a school headquarters and three administrative divisions
· Operations
· Publications
· Instructional methods

It had nine academic departments
· Basic instruction
· Weapons
· Criminal investigation
· Tactics
· Law and administration
· Police instruction
· Military government
· Traffic
· Physical training.

At Fort Custer the school had facilities that were adequate for its mission, such as barracks, mess halls, classrooms, training areas and ranges.

The out-door facilities included obstacle courses, bayonet practice courses, rifle and carbine ranges, mine and booby trap areas, amphibious landing mock-ups, jungle course and village for street fighting. (Hitlerville)

By the Fall of 1944 the demand for more military police was decreasing and in September 1944 the Training Center was discontinued. The Provost Marshal General's School was transferred to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where Colonel Maglin returned as commandant on 1 October 1944, replacing LTC Jackson. LTC Jackson once again reverted to Assistant Commandant. During the relocation process, Colonel Maglin was located at Fort Sam Houston while LTC Jackson managed the closing of the training facilities at Fort Custer.
The Provost Marshal General's School, Military Police Board and Provost Marshal General's Officer Replacement Pool were all relocated to Texas. In addition, the Branch Office of the Military Police Division office was re-designated as the Advisory-Liaison Branch and established at Fort Sam Houston. But, once again the faculty and administrators of the school found that facilities were inadequate.

After only six months, on 19 March 1945, the school was again moved. This time it was relocated to Camp Bullis, a sub-post of Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In May 1945, LTC Jackson again took command of the Military Police School, when Colonel Maglin departed for the second time, but he only remained in command for one month and was replaced by Colonel I. Brooke Summers. Colonel Summers had LTC Robert C. Patterson as Assistant Commandant, who was transferred in August 1945 with no replacement and the next month, Colonel Brooke was succeeded by Colonel George P. Hill, Jr.

Lieutenant Colonel Joseph C. Jackson served as Commandant of the Military Police School three times, for a total of six months and as Assistant Commandant twice, for sixteen months.

For the next two years, the school functioned with three academic departments, teaching tactics, weapons, physical conditioning, military administration, military law, criminal investigation, traffic control, and provost marshal instruction.

At Camp Bullis, out-door facilities included "Maxville", a complete model industrial city. It also included a model prisoner of war/disciplinary stockade, various types of traffic intersections and conditions, large working models of various weapons and numerous training aids. The school remained at Camp Bullis until November 1946.

Not all military police were training at the Provost Marshal General's School. Many of the Military Police Escort Guard units, such as the 377th, received their training at various internment and Prisoner-of-War camps within the United States. Some units were deployed overseas with virtually no training, such as the 795th MP Battalion that was sent to Scotland in June 1944 untrained. Other military police received training at Fort George Wright in Washington State, Northwest of Spokane and Fort Meade, Maryland.
In 1943 an MP School was established at Boca Raton and Fort Blanding in Florida to train Army Air Force military police, and an MP section of the AAF Technical School was located at Buckely Field, near Denver, Colorado. In addition, Aviation MPs received training at Barksdale Field in Louisiana.
With the swift development of additional correctional barracks to house the increasing numbers of soldier inmates. In 1942 an MP school was established at Camp Gordon with the Army Disciplinary Barracks and a similar school was operated by the Barracks at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana.
Numerous military police attended the Port Security School at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland and the Amphibious Training School in Virginia during the war.
In 1943, Major General William S. Keyes, PMG in England, established an MP School. Meanwhile, Colonel William S. Steer, PM of Pacific Area, began another MP School in Hawaii.
In the European Theater of Operations, the Corps and Divisions trained military police squad-size units. A temporary MP school was operated in Oran, Algeria to convert infantry units to MP companies.
Between 3 October and 12 December 1944, an MP training center at Le Mans, France successfully trained 16 battalions of military police, while a CID school operated in Paris.

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