History of the U.S. Army Military Police School ... - MPRA Online

PART I
History of the United
States Army Military
Police School (USAMPS)
From the Provost Marshal and his troops of the
American Revolution through the Provost Corps of
the American Civil War, education of the
predecessors of the modern Army Military Police
Corps was confined to informal, on-the-job
training. Few considered the duties of military
police and provost marshals to be complex enough to
require formal, classroom education. This
perception began to change just after the turn of
the 20 th Century when the United States Army was
deployed to the Philippine Islands in the Pacific
Ocean. The first school to provide formal education
to American performing military police-type duties
began in 1903 in Manila, the capital of the
Philippines.
In April 1898, the United States declared war
against Spain and on 25 May the first U. S. troops
arrived in the Philippine Islands, a Spanish

colony. While the American and Filipino forces were
defeating the Spanish army, General Emilio
Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence.
Aguinaldo had been leading the Philippine rebellion
against the Spanish since 1896 and by August 1898
began establishing a Philippine government.
On 13 August 1898 the Spanish forces surrendered
to American military commanders and on 10 December,
the United States and Spain signed the treaty of
Paris. In this treaty, Spain sold the Philippine
Islands to the United States for the sum of $20
million, making it an American possession and
negating the idea of an independent country.
On 1 January 1899, Aguinaldo was declared as the
president of the Philippine Republic by his people
and inaugurated on 23 January, but the United
States did not recognize his government. Tensions
mounted until 4 February 1899 when the first shot
was fired in what became known as the American-
Philippine War. The first battle between the
opposing forces was fought on 24 April 1899 but by
mid-November the Filipino military dissolved and
resorted to guerrilla war against the U. S.
The Second Philippine Commission, headed by
William Howard Taft, arrived in the islands on 3
June 1900 and Taft became Governor General of the
new American possession. Although General Aguinaldo
was captured in March 1901, the rebellion continued
and officially ended on 4 July 1902. By 1901 the
United States had about 70,000 troops in the in the
chain of islands and wished to reduce that number.
On 18 July 1901, the Second Philippine
Commission established the Insular Constabulary and
on 18 August issued the Organic Act #175. This Act
designated this organization as the “armed forces
of the Civil Government of the Philippine Islands
and was established and administered under the
general provisions of the Governor General for the
purpose of maintaining peace and order, preventing

crime and enforcing law.” The Constabulary was
organized to assist in reducing the duties of
American soldiers in the islands.
Although the insurrection had officially ended,
rebellious groups still operated. These included
bandits, religious radical groups and the Moro
Muslims. It became the primary duties of the
Constabulary to combat and deal with these
problems. In order to accomplish this difficult
mission, it was determined that the members of that
organization needed educated guidance.
Harry T. Allen
On 8 August 1901 Colonel Henry T. Allen, a
native of Kentucky and graduate of West Point, was
appointed Chief of the Constabulary. The Officer
Corps appeared to be a United Nations with men from
Belgium, Cuba, England, France, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, Philippines, Poland, Scotland, Spain,
Sweden, the United States and Turkey. Their primary
duties were to maintain peace and order, enforce
the law, and protect lives and property. In
addition, they built schoolhouses, public markets,
bridges, etc. and installed telephone and telegraph
lines, and fought rebels and bandits.
The early recruits in the Constabulary were
mounted and in 1902 they underwent a rigorous
program of training. In August of the next year, a

system of competitive examinations for Constabulary
officers was instituted, requiring officers to
prove their knowledge of spelling, arithmetic,
writing, history, geography, civil government,
drill regulations, Spanish and native dialects.
These requirements placed pressures upon officers
to be better qualified in their profession.
Formal classes began for officers in 1903 in
Manila but in 1904 the Constabulary was reorganized
and its members became more military in appearance
and bearing. The same year, Captain William C.
Rivers, the Headquarters Inspector, ordered that an
academic program be established to train newly
appointed officers.

CPT Cary I. Crockett
Captain Cary I. Crockett, holder of the Medal of
Valor, was placed in command of the formal training
and about the same time the men received a
“Constabulary Manual”, written by Captain Rivers.
The officers underwent a 3-month training program
in such subjects as: Constabulary regulations,
laws, civil government and Spanish language. The
first officers graduated from this course of
instruction 30 June 1904.
On 17 February 1905 the Constabulary Officers’
School was formally established at the Santa Lucia
Barracks in Intramuros or the walled portion of
Manila. Captain Crockett was appointed as school
commandant. At this location the men received a
three-month course containing these subjects:
Military Map Reading
Penal Code
Guard Regulations
Infantry Drill
Fencing
The Compiled Acts
The Constabulary Manual
Spanish
It addition to the above, they received
instructions in social amenities and how to dance.

Harry H. Bandholtz
In 1907, Brigadier General Harry H. Bandholtz
relieved Brigadier General Allen as chief of the
Constabulary. Bandholtz had served on Cuba from
1898 to 1900, receiving the Silver Star, and was
transferred to the Philippines. In 1902 he became
governor of Tayabas Province and the next year was
promoted to assistant Constabulary chief. He would
continue as chief of the Constabulary from 1907
until 1 September 1913, when he returned to the
United States.
By 1908, the institution was known as the
Constabulary School and Captain John B. Bennett was
serving as commandant. On 1 September 1908 the
school was moved to Constabulary Hill in Baguio
City, the summer capital of the Philippines for
Americans, later called Camp Allen.
This school continued to educate men in the
Philippine Constabulary and was later converted
into the Philippine National Police Academy, still
in operation in 1978.

The Great War
AEF
On 2 April 1917, the United States declared
against Germany and the country entered what was
called “The Great War”. The following month, the
War Department began forming military police units,
the first one with the 1 st Infantry Division. The
number of these units continued to multiply and did
so rapidly after the American Expeditionary Force
arrived in France during the summer of 1917.
In July 1917 a Provost Marshal General was
appointed for the AEF and the department was formed
with four divisions: Military Police, Circulation,
Criminal Investigations, and Prisoner of War. This
organization continued until July 1918, when
General John J. Pershing, the AEF Commander, issued
an order that the Military Police become a separate
corps from the Provost Marshal Department.
Requirements for military police in all areas
from the front lines to the ports of embarkation
caused an increasing demand for more soldiers. With
their duties varying from enforcement of military
law, protections of supplies and equipment,
controlling traffic, apprehending deserters, and
escorting prisoners of war, there became a shared
opinion that these men must be trained in their
duties. By November 1918 there were 463 officers
and 15,912 enlisted men in 146 companies and 24

attalions of the Military Police Corps during the
war.
On 17 May 1918, General John J. Pershing,
commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
in France, issued a directive to the Commanding
General of the Services of Supply that a "Training
Depot for both officers and soldiers of the Provost
Marshal Service be established". In support of that
directive, General Pershing included instructions
in General Order No. 111 on 9 July 1918, which
said:
“There shall be established a training depot
for the military police corps at a suitable
place where all of the personnel will be
received and trained before being sent to the
Military Police units. This training depot
shall be directly under the supervision of the
Provost Marshal General.”
On 9 September 1918, the Caserne Changarnier
opened at Autun, France and was called the Military
Police Training Department.
The first commandant of the school was Captain
Thomas Cadwalader, who served in that capacity from

15 September to 1 November 1918. Major Fred J.
Osterman succeeded him but only commanded the
school for seven days. On 8 November LTC John R.
White assumed command of the school but only
remained until 19 November 1918. On that date, LTC
Samuel McIntyre assumed command and continued in
that position until 20 January 1919. The last
commandant of the Autun School was LTC Harvey L.
Jones, who took command on 31 January 1919 and left
when the school was closed in April of that year.
On 27 September 1918, Brigadier General Harry H.
Bandholtz was appointed Provost Marshal of the AEF
in France. Bringing his experience with the
Constabulary in the Philippines, BG Bandholtz set
about developing the Military Police Corps into an
effective organization and made major contributions
to the organization and operation of the school at
Autun.
Due to the inexperience of American Military
Police officers, LTC Peter Foley of the British
Army Military Police, was appointed as chief of
instructions and commanded a 14-man faculty of
British MP officers. Twenty-one enlisted men were
selected for the first class and subsequently
became the first American instructors at the
school.

The school offered classes for four types of
students:
1. Military police officers
2. Cadets for the Officer Candidate School
3. Student instructors
4. Enlisted military police.
Officers and enlisted men received basically the
same 4-week course with subjects such as:
esprit de corps
crowd psychology
rules of evidence
preparation of charge sheets
criminology
provost branches in allied armies
map reading and sketching
authority and power of the MP Corps
general duties
march discipline
duties during engagements
straggler control
traffic control
road rules
area policing
duties in cities and ports
duties in billets and camps
control of civilians in forbidden zones
searches
duties during train movements
range practice with the pistol
and prisoners of war.
There were 263 military police officers who
graduated from the school, plus another 101 cadets
in Officer Candidate School. In addition, 4,557
enlisted men were graduated from the school at
Autun. When the school closed in the spring of 1919
it would be another 23 years before formal training

would be re-established for the Army Military
Police Corps.

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 703 rd 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 703 rd 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 29 th Infantry Division, including the 104 th
MP Company in World War I. Then from 1919-1941
he was with the 61 st 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

een employed in advertising in civilian life
and served in the military police with the 29 th
Infantry Division and the 1 st 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 4 th 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
9 th 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 28 th 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.
2 nd Lt. Anthony E. Papa had worked as a
Certified Public Accountant and then served in
the 114 th Infantry. 2 nd 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 3 rd Armored Division before arrival at
the school.
1 st 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, 1 st
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
1 st 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 77 th MP Company

from 1935-1940, followed by the command of the
MP Platoon with the 1 st 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
205 th 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 44 th 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 713 th 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 mockups,
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
377 th , 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 795 th 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.