US Army military police soldiers are responsible for protecting Army posts by guarding gates, controlling traffic, and responding to emergencies. They also oversee military prisons and detention centers that house uniformed criminals, like the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Business Insider spent four days at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri to see how 31 Bravos and 31 Echos spend 10 weeks training to become military police and detention specialists. Students in military police training learn skills like riot control in a mock prison, detainee operations, and firing weapons like 9-millimeters in limited visibility with the aid of their flashlight.
In early 2024, the Army announced that it would restructure its force as it moves away from counterinsurgency operations, like those used in Afghanistan and Iraq, to large-scale combat operations for potential conflicts with China and Russia. A reported 3,000 soldiers working as cavalry scouts and military police would need to move to new positions. We look into how that could affect the 1,306 military police soldiers training at Fort Leonard Wood and what that could mean for the safety of Army bases around the globe.
Business Insider spent four days at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri to see how 31 Bravos and 31 Echos spend 10 weeks training to become military police and detention specialists. Students in military police training learn skills like riot control in a mock prison, detainee operations, and firing weapons like 9-millimeters in limited visibility with the aid of their flashlight.
In early 2024, the Army announced that it would restructure its force as it moves away from counterinsurgency operations, like those used in Afghanistan and Iraq, to large-scale combat operations for potential conflicts with China and Russia. A reported 3,000 soldiers working as cavalry scouts and military police would need to move to new positions. We look into how that could affect the 1,306 military police soldiers training at Fort Leonard Wood and what that could mean for the safety of Army bases around the globe.
Category
đŸ˜¹
FunTranscript
00:00Go!
00:01One, two, three!
00:03Go!
00:04Go!
00:05Go!
00:06Woo-hoo-hoo!
00:07Woo-hoo-hoo!
00:08Make the line!
00:09Go!
00:10Go!
00:11Go!
00:12You got to back up.
00:13You got to fight.
00:14I'm telling you, they'll get popped.
00:16Hey, look, look, look!
00:19These future military police soldiers
00:22are participating in a riot-control drill,
00:26a vital skill many hope they'll never have to use.
00:30We don't have riots all the time.
00:31It doesn't happen often.
00:33However, when it does call for them to experience a riot
00:36or have to deal with it, they're able to answer to it
00:38and do the things that they need to do.
00:40Come on!
00:44I like that one.
00:47I'd rather them stressed out here
00:49than be stressed out at the correctional facility.
00:52And it's the small things that can turn into the big things.
00:55He get hit, this shield can cut your hand
00:58or rip your hand or pinch your hand,
01:01and you're out of the fight.
01:02You're focused now on that hand,
01:04and then you're going to get vulnerable,
01:05the shield's going to go down,
01:06and then it's going to shake your ass in the neck.
01:08You got me?
01:12They're in the middle of their 10-week training program
01:15to become military police soldiers, or MPs.
01:20What are some misconceptions people have about what you do?
01:24So the biggest one is we're cage kickers, right?
01:26Glorified security guards.
01:28I mean, I always heard the MP for the party killers.
01:31You're snitching stuff.
01:34Well, everybody knows the job of the MP,
01:37the military policeman,
01:39to make life miserable for the rest of the army.
01:42Misconceptions aside,
01:44MPs operate in three different areas.
01:47Policing, detention, and security and mobility.
01:51We're protectors.
01:52We protect the people on post.
01:53They enforce the law on army posts
01:56and in military prisons around the globe.
01:59We deal with the worst of the worst criminals
02:02that were in uniformed services.
02:04In 2022, the army reported an average
02:08of 661 daily prisoners in its facilities,
02:12former soldiers who have committed crimes
02:14under military jurisdiction.
02:16Business Insider spent four days
02:19at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri's Ozark region,
02:22where about 1,300 future military police soldiers
02:26are training to protect army posts in the U.S.
02:31and around the world.
02:34There are five military occupational specialties,
02:37or MOSs, for enlisted soldiers
02:39within the military police corps.
02:42Commissioned military police officers are 31 alphas
02:47and lead the different MP MOSs.
02:51During our time at Fort Leonard Wood,
02:53we observed the training of 31 brothers
02:56in the military police corps.
02:59During our time at Fort Leonard Wood,
03:01we observed the training of 31 bravos and 31 echos.
03:07In 2024, the base salary for an entry-level MP
03:11started at about $2,000 a month.
03:25Before becoming soldiers
03:27and starting their MP Advanced Individual Training,
03:30trainees participate in a night infiltration event
03:33known as Nick at Night.
03:36We are coming in.
03:38We're sneaking up on the enemy
03:39because, of course, we're crawling, right?
03:41Kind of like the D-Day kind of thing, storming the beach.
03:43Trainees can only crawl through the course
03:46and toward the finish line
03:48under the cover of complete darkness.
03:51Occasionally, parachute flares fly into the sky
03:55and illuminate the course.
03:57During this time, trainees freeze
04:00and remain still until darkness returns.
04:08But unlike other training scenarios,
04:10machine guns fire live rounds over their heads.
04:15A lot of them are 18 years old,
04:17so them experiencing live rounds going over their head
04:20and having to experience this could be very nerve-wracking
04:23for somebody that's never experienced it before.
04:25And then it's going to be our job
04:27to make sure that they push through that fear,
04:29make sure they conquer that hill
04:31and be able to keep pushing forward
04:33and that fear shouldn't stop them from reaching their goal.
04:39After completing basic combat training
04:41and becoming soldiers in the U.S. Army,
04:44students begin their job-specific education,
04:47including five weeks of law enforcement instruction
04:50and scenario-based training like riot control,
04:54which is done inside a mock prison in Fort Leonard Wood.
04:58So get your three, get your three, get your three.
05:00Students are preparing to learn a technique
05:02they can deploy during a prison riot.
05:07Next, we're going to have a snatch-and-grab team.
05:09So you guys are going to stack up on each other
05:11like a five-member team.
05:13Basically, it's a formation of a line conducting riot shields,
05:17and then there will be people behind them
05:19supporting that line,
05:20and then they have a snatch-and-grab team,
05:22which is a five-member team.
05:23You guys will come up to that line.
05:25Come up.
05:26You will tap the shield wall.
05:28The shield wall will open up.
05:29The snatch-and-grab team will go out.
05:31No more than three people.
05:32As soon as that third person crosses that line,
05:34they grab that inmate, they pull him through the line,
05:37and then the shield wall closes.
05:38Within that snatch-and-grab team,
05:40their roles and duties are basically they are there
05:42to go and secure inmates from that line
05:45that are trying to obstruct our line wall or objects.
05:49♪♪
05:53Take that bull by the horns!
05:55Go!
05:56One, two, three!
06:02After learning the technique,
06:04it's time to put it into action.
06:06Get back! Get back!
06:07Get back!
06:08Get back!
06:10The riot shield serves as their main point of protection.
06:13If held incorrectly,
06:15they risk harm to themselves and the entire line.
06:18They have one arm through the shield.
06:20We have holders inside,
06:22and they have their hands pretty much flat
06:25trying to brace the shield.
06:27And they try to be in a staggered stance
06:30and pretty much making themselves very tight to the line
06:33and being able to maneuver.
06:37So we're trying to test the strength of the line
06:40whenever we're kicking and snatching and whatnot.
06:43Also the technique of how the correctional specialists
06:46are holding the riot shield.
06:48We teach them a way of how to brace
06:50and make sure that they're not shield-checking the inmates
06:53because they're not supposed to.
06:55So that's the main reason why we're running up to the line.
06:58We're trying to push through the line, kick the line,
07:01because we need to test out the intensity of that line.
07:08The first few attempts at the snatch and grab are unsuccessful.
07:12It's really intense, but, like, you're all there.
07:14You're giggling a little bit.
07:16And then I had one of my battle buddies.
07:18He was beside me. He's, like, 4'11", so he's really short.
07:22And he got grabbed over his riot shield,
07:25and me and the girl beside me were, like, staring at each other.
07:28We're like, oh, my God, what just happened?
07:30But you just have to be able to think on your feet.
07:33Students are not only attempting to remove inmates from the riot
07:36but also trying to clear large items that may be used against them.
07:43So the riot control training is more or less a training
07:46that we use for the worst-case scenarios, right?
07:49We haven't had a riot within our facility since 2010,
07:52but we would rather train up on these scenarios
07:54so we are ready for when that scenario may or may not happen.
07:58The riot he's referring to happened at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks
08:02in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in August 2010.
08:06Two prisoners overtook a guard, stole his keys,
08:10and released 11 other inmates into the unit.
08:13They flooded it and made weapons from brooms and table legs.
08:18The riot ended when a special reaction team entered and subdued the rioters.
08:24There are six U.S. Army correctional facilities around the globe.
08:28There are three foreign facilities in South Korea,
08:33Kuwait,
08:35and Germany,
08:38and two domestic medium-level facilities
08:41at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Fort Leavenworth,
08:46which also contains the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks,
08:50the Seoul Maximum Security Military Prison.
08:55Tell me how it went.
08:57The riot team did pretty good getting the objects out of the way,
08:59especially in one instance where one of the instructors stole one of the shields
09:02and we took it back from him.
09:04So you would rather train and know the knowledge
09:06and have that knowledge in your back pocket for when those scenarios do happen.
09:09You would want to know that your people are ready
09:11to fight that battle whenever it does come up.
09:13It's really empowering to be able to stand beside people
09:16that I've grown to know as my brothers and sisters
09:19and know that I can hold my own
09:22and not get knocked over by someone that I'm absolutely, utterly terrified of.
09:29You're going to segregate your detainee, okay?
09:32There's three basic categories that the Army segregates.
09:36Raise your hand, please, if you have an idea
09:39of how you can segregate a group of people.
09:41Gender.
09:42So gender, he's correct, right?
09:44Religion.
09:46So when it comes to religion, she is correct,
09:49but it's called affiliation, okay?
09:51What's the third way?
09:52Rank.
09:53Okay, so very close, okay,
09:55but you're going to separate your enlisted from your officers, all right?
10:01MP students learn how to properly handle detainees
10:05in a class called Detainee Operations.
10:08We've provided a restraint system to you.
10:11It's called the Blue Box and Belly Chain Restraint System.
10:15So we're going to apply this Blue Box and Belly Chain Restraint System
10:19within the confines of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, okay?
10:24So pretty much when we apply this system,
10:28we have to do it properly without harming, okay, our detainees.
10:33So that means we have to be engaging our double locks
10:36on our handcuffs and our labor strings
10:39so that these do not continue to tighten up
10:41on a detainee's wrists and ankles.
10:43The Geneva Conventions are a key piece of the curriculum.
10:47There are some basics within that treaty,
10:49providing the three meals a day,
10:51ensuring you provide the medical treatment to the detainees,
10:55ensuring you're not doing anything that would fall under torture or abuse.
10:59An important reminder,
11:01after the crimes committed at Abu Ghraib Prison
11:04during the war in Iraq.
11:06Who was responsible for the abuse within Abu Ghraib Prison?
11:09American soldiers acting on their own accord,
11:12described by some within the Pentagon as recycled hillbillies,
11:15or did it go to the very top of the military and civilian leadership?
11:19During the Iraq War, 11 U.S. soldiers were charged
11:23with crimes committed against detainees at Abu Ghraib.
11:26Seven of those soldiers were military police
11:29who were convicted of crimes like dereliction of duty,
11:33maltreating detainees, and assault.
11:36The lessons that we learned out of Abu Ghraib
11:39reminded us that we cannot turn a blind eye,
11:43that the spoils of war are not real
11:46when you start talking about humanity.
11:48Whether they're enemy combatants
11:50or whether they are our own citizens,
11:53we use scenario-based training to present really hard problems
11:57to our military police soldiers in training
12:00so they can have practice making those good decisions
12:03and they can apply, as an example,
12:06their learning about the Geneva Conventions to real life
12:10if they need to go and execute that on America's behalf.
12:15Left, right, bottom cargo pocket.
12:18You're going to put your belly chain.
12:23They're learning how to escort a detainee to a different destination,
12:27so that could be a medical appointment,
12:30maybe another correctional facility, going through court proceedings.
12:39So they're going to apply what's known as
12:41a blue box and belly chain restraint system.
12:44They put that on, ensuring they do the double locks,
12:47and then we go through how to actively escort that detainee
12:50to the new location that they need to be at.
12:53Students pat down the detainees,
12:55checking for any weapons or contraband.
12:58What are some of the issues they run into
13:00doing this for the first time?
13:02So the first time, it just depends on
13:05the comfortability they have with handcuffing.
13:08I would say that's one of the biggest things
13:10because it's sometimes one of the first times
13:13they're coming into close contact
13:16with somebody who is role-playing as a detainee.
13:19So we try to practice several times
13:22before they apply that system
13:24because that is one of the most dangerous parts,
13:26is applying the handcuffs.
13:28What's dangerous about it?
13:30Just because at the time prior to applying,
13:32that individual is unhandcuffed.
13:35You don't know the prior training or experience of your detainee,
13:39so you always want to ensure for the safety of the guard
13:44that you're applying it correctly.
13:47You're showing and displaying
13:49that you're confident in your abilities.
13:51Handcuffs are a little confusing sometimes.
13:54Hold on, it's not closing all the way.
13:57While some students struggle using handcuffs for the first time,
14:01other students are more familiar with the restraints.
14:04Does it feel weird to be getting cuffed?
14:06My family's in corrections.
14:08Yeah, it's pretty weird. It's a weird feeling.
14:11What if I told you it wasn't my first time?
14:14No, I'm playing, I'm playing.
14:16Does it feel weird getting cuffed?
14:18No, I've had it happen before.
14:21Wait a second.
14:23When you joined the Army,
14:25is this the image that you had of yourself in full restraints
14:28that you want to send to your mom?
14:30Honestly, yeah.
14:32Yeah, I would say so, probably.
14:34I signed up for 31 Bravo, something like that.
14:37I've asked him, like, can you show me how to do it?
14:40And he showed me.
14:42Step forward. See if you can walk.
14:47My cousin, you know, he was an MP.
14:49My father, he was an MP before me.
14:52My grandfather was a sheriff, actually, in L.A. County a long time ago.
15:00My mom, she's a corrections officer, actually, or she was.
15:03Now she's a counselor for juvenile delinquents.
15:09So it's kind of like a lot of people in my family did things of this nature.
15:14So I thought it would be, when I joined the Army, it would be a good choice.
15:17We have a number of soldiers who go on to have local law enforcement,
15:21state law enforcement, and federal law enforcement careers.
15:24This legacy of what we often refer to as a family business.
15:29But their long game is to be a law enforcement professional.
15:32Many of our soldiers go on to serve their communities.
15:35Many of our soldiers go on to serve at the federal level
15:38in a variety of different agencies and have good, long careers.
15:42And most look back and remember their time in training as a military police soldier
15:47as being the foundation of what made them a professional
15:50in the civilian law enforcement world.
15:53After several rounds of practice searching the detainees and applying cuffs,
15:59students were evaluated by their instructor.
16:02So some of the critical things that we're looking for is for one,
16:06that they engage the double locks on those handcuffs and the leg restraints.
16:10That's to ensure that those systems do not close up or tighten on the detainee.
16:16Because again, following the Geneva Conventions,
16:18we want to ensure that we're not hurting the individual during transport.
16:23And then ensuring the keyholes are facing down.
16:26That way, for some reason, if that detainee is able to slip that handcuff
16:30in that blue box, that they then have additional time for them
16:35to try to undo their leg restraints.
16:38So we had no no-go's, and I think that's just the additional practice time,
16:43allowing them to get comfortable, asking them if they need any additional time,
16:48have any questions. So everyone was a go today.
16:52We're ready. Stand by.
17:04Military police soldiers trained to fire the M17 Sig Sauer 9mm handgun.
17:10You cannot be lazy today. Hold that weapon high and tight.
17:14So today we're just going over firing familiarization.
17:18Familiarization is just trying to get reputation for the trainees
17:21to get used to the handgun.
17:23The majority of them have never shot before or used a handgun
17:26or any type of weapon before.
17:28Have you guys shot a 9mm before?
17:30I'm probably a law enforcement officer.
17:31I've shot a 9mm before.
17:32Oh yeah? So will this be easy then?
17:35It's pretty easy. The only thing that's not easy, like for law enforcement,
17:40we never shot so far. Normally we're, every interaction we're up close and personal.
17:46Firing weapons from farther away isn't the only difference
17:49between military police soldiers and civilian law enforcement.
17:53We cannot do certain things that civilian cops can do.
17:57I say one of the biggest ones is the escalation of force,
18:01how you could put your hands on somebody so very quickly.
18:04You kind of have to analyze and see the initial threat first
18:10before even trying to attempt to take the escalation level of it.
18:16Why is that? Why can you not do that here as a military police officer?
18:20Well, UCMJ mostly.
18:22The UCMJ, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice,
18:26is the set of laws that members of the U.S. military must abide by and enforce,
18:32a different legal framework than the laws that civilians follow
18:35at the state, local, and federal level.
18:37We feel safe to kind of approach just anybody,
18:41but the difference is in the civilian world, you have to approach with caution.
18:44You can't just approach somebody, you don't know if they have something
18:47on their person, such as any kind of weapon.
18:50But on the installation, those kind of weapons are illegal
18:53unless it's registered on the installation.
18:59Students learn the different positions used when firing the weapon.
19:02Yeah, so we have four positions.
19:04So four, you're going to break double retention out of your holster,
19:07placing the weapon on fire.
19:09And then on position two, you're going to go to the close and ready,
19:12which is like your right hand should be closest to the right side of your rib.
19:15In position three, you're going to come and collapse your left hand
19:18with your right hand, right just in front of your chest.
19:22And then position four, you're going to push out completely,
19:25going into the actual ready stance and ready posture.
19:28The soldiers also learn how to shoot from different distances.
19:31So we have blocks staged at 5 meters, 2 meters, as well as 7, 10,
19:36and then farther out to 25 meters.
19:43We understand majority of the time that you're pulling out your M17,
19:46you're probably closer to a threat.
19:48It's just trying to help them with their accuracy,
19:50getting that sight picture, taking their time, and then easy trigger squeeze
19:53because at the 25 meter, it's a lot easier to pull your shots
19:56than you would be if you were closer to the target.
19:59With many students firing a handgun for the very first time,
20:03some struggle with anticipating the recoil.
20:06When you fire, what you're doing is you're flexing
20:09and you're forcing the weapon to do this, whether you realize it or not.
20:12When you only use that trigger finger, again, just the trigger finger,
20:16the weapon's going to go up, reacquire the sights, come back down.
20:20The only part of my body moving is that trigger finger,
20:23then the weapon fires straight.
20:25If it's okay, if it goes up and down, that's recoil.
20:28If the trainee grips too hard on the right hand,
20:30usually they end up jerking the trigger to the right side.
20:33It's all about reaction time, so getting the trainees to go ahead
20:37and do repetition over and over and over helps their reaction time
20:40when it comes to actual road work.
20:42So if an incident did happen and they have to pull their M17
20:45out of the holster and engage at a threat,
20:48if their reaction time is a lot faster than it would be
20:50if they didn't have repetition.
20:53Once trainees are familiar with the 9mm,
20:57instructors introduce a new challenge, firing it in complete darkness.
21:05Tonight's the limited visibility familiarization,
21:09and they'll conduct it under the limited visibility hours,
21:13utilizing flashlights, different techniques that they're taught
21:17to hold the flashlights engaged.
21:19Hold the flashlights engaged.
21:21Flashlight comes on engagement.
21:23Conduct their post-engagement.
21:25Flashlight comes off, they holster, and then we continue.
21:27We move on from there.
21:33You don't want to turn on the light, give away your element of surprise.
21:36Sometimes law enforcement, that's what we use as our benefit
21:40when we're entering into a building or anything like that.
21:43Let's just say a shooter in a building powers out.
21:47Last thing you want to do is turn the lights on.
21:49If they're hiding somewhere or a basement of a building or a house,
21:53that element of surprise is absolutely imperative
21:56for the law enforcement officer.
22:04You've got to remember, as law enforcement,
22:06we only draw our weapons when the threat is presented to us.
22:10That means we're already at that disadvantage.
22:18Clear.
22:20Clear.
22:21All right, so there's multiple techniques you're going to use.
22:23The first technique, we call it the Harris technique,
22:25and that is flashlight-oriented towards your target,
22:29flashlight hand underneath, firing hand,
22:32backs of the hands together, punch out.
22:35From here, you can acquire your sights and engage the target.
22:38The second technique we teach is what we call the neck index.
22:42The neck index, your elbow kind of stays tucked in
22:45as much as you can.
22:47Flashlight pointed towards your target.
22:49One-handed, with your firing hand, your dominant firing hand,
22:53you punch out towards your target
22:55as if you're ready to conduct an engagement.
22:57Straight up and down, slight cant to help absorb that recoil
23:01or conduct recoil management.
23:03Conduct your engagement, and again, completed,
23:06you scan your target left and right or your sector,
23:09return back to position three,
23:11and then your flashlight comes off,
23:14and you holster and ready for another engagement.
23:17Beep, beep.
23:19Beep, beep.
23:20MPs must be experts
23:22at operating different types of tactical vehicles.
23:25So, say you're all the way this way,
23:27and you see you want to straighten their tires out,
23:29go like this.
23:30Everyone go like this.
23:32Before the drive,
23:34they learn the proper hand signals
23:36used to direct the M11-51A1 Humvee.
23:40Getting behind the wheel with the tactical vehicles,
23:43it is a little bit different.
23:45When it comes to steering and maneuvering the vehicle,
23:48you need a ground guide when it comes to that,
23:50so we'll have someone outside of the car
23:52directing us on when to turn and back up.
23:54Now back them up.
23:56Back them up. Walk with them so you can see.
23:58We learn how to actually drive the vehicle,
24:00and then we go on a convoy
24:03and do all that practical exercise and stuff like that,
24:06really getting hands-on with all the vehicles.
24:09Students load up in the Humvees
24:11and practice driving in a convoy.
24:14All right, you ready?
24:15Yes.
24:16We're going to take that bus right to the green zone.
24:22How is it different from driving a regular car?
24:25For the most part, it's honestly kind of similar.
24:30This practice comes into play
24:32when we're out in the field in real life
24:34and knowing the basics,
24:36knowing how to trust yourself
24:38and knowing that everyone else that may be in your squad,
24:41you'll know you'll be able to trust them when it comes.
24:44So, like, if anything were to break down,
24:46you know how to fix it, stuff like that.
24:51Law enforcement has been scrutinized
24:53over numerous civilian deaths at the hands of police officers.
24:57There is a lot of controversy today
24:59surrounding just police officers in general,
25:01law enforcement, anything like that.
25:03Although there are many differences
25:05between military and civilian police,
25:08we asked the 14th Military Police Brigade
25:10how this has affected their curriculum for future MPs.
25:1414th Military Police Brigade
25:16adheres to the peace officer standardization and training.
25:21And from the post-curriculum,
25:24a lot of different recent, perhaps, lessons learned
25:29from how our civilian counterparts
25:32have handled certain situations
25:35are tied to that training.
25:37We incorporate all of the various different aspects
25:41of racial and gender differences
25:45to understand how to treat people as people
25:48and to try to remove our subconscious bias, if you will,
25:53to see people more as people
25:55and less as something we might have been taught to see them as.
25:58And so for about five weeks,
26:00our law enforcement professionals in training
26:03go through a bunch of scenarios
26:05that are tied directly to the peace officer standardization and training,
26:09much of which includes those lessons learned
26:12from challenges our nation has faced
26:14in the recent past and the distant past.
26:17A big thing that I am really wanting to advance towards
26:20is getting rid of those stereotypes
26:22that all police officers are bad or whatever.
26:25I want to be able to make that change
26:28and be able to change people's perception of the MOS
26:32and just in civilian world as well.
26:34I think that would be really, really good.
26:37All over the world, the United States Army
26:40is on the alert to defend our country.
26:42The Military Police Corps has a big part in this defense.
26:45Military law enforcement officers have served
26:48since the Revolutionary War,
26:50but the Military Police Corps that exists today
26:53wasn't formally established until 1941.
26:57It was the MP who guarded the security
26:59of United Nations personnel and documents.
27:02Since its founding, the Military Police Corps
27:05has protected bases and provided security
27:08in every major conflict.
27:10The U.S. Army found the MP's skill set
27:13aligned well with small-scale counterinsurgency missions
27:17in Iraq and Afghanistan.
27:19But as the military transitions
27:21to potential large-scale combat operations
27:23in the Indo-Pacific and Eastern Europe,
27:25the Army is also training MPs to be warfighters.
27:29In February 2024, the Army announced plans
27:33to restructure its force,
27:35moving 3,000 MPs and cavalry scouts to new roles.
27:40So the Military Police Corps, since September of 1941,
27:45has grown and reduced and grown and reduced
27:50based on the need that the United States
27:53has seen for law enforcement professionals
27:56versus our need to support warfighters
28:00wherever we're asked to go.
28:02The Army said this restructuring
28:04was the result of lagging recruitment numbers
28:07and a shift in focus from counterinsurgency
28:09and counterterrorism operations
28:11to large-scale combat operations
28:13that could be used against more advanced military powers.
28:16Right now, we happen to be in one of those time periods
28:19in which we've gotten a little bit smaller.
28:21And those at the Department of the Army level
28:24have had to make some really tough decisions
28:27on overall manpower requirements for the Army.
28:32So, of course, the Military Police Corps has reduced.
28:36There's absolutely no misconception about that.
28:40But with fewer MPs,
28:42could that make Army posts around the globe less safe?
28:45The Military Police Corps
28:47is going through a reduction right now.
28:50What it doesn't equate to is the fact that our installations,
28:55our camps, posts, and stations are secure.
29:00Our families are safe.
29:02Our communities are just as safe
29:06as they were 5, 10, 15 years ago.
29:13Copy, Tango, out.
29:15A lot of people believe they're just law enforcement police types,
29:18but we are also dedicated war fighters.
29:21We are here to fight and win our nation's wars.
29:24In addition to the law enforcement and correctional training
29:27these future MPs receive,
29:29they participate in intense Army training.
29:35As part of their training to become war fighters,
29:38future MPs participate in a field training exercise.
29:42In the first phase,
29:44trainees set up 360-degree perimeters.
29:49And also, you conduct a thing called the SEALs.
29:52All right, stop, look, listen, smell.
29:55The platoon is split into three teams,
29:58Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie.
30:04Charlie, team on your feet.
30:06Charlie, team on your feet.
30:08Get in the zone facing that direction.
30:10Once a team is set and observing the perimeter,
30:14the next team is called to run out in front of them.
30:17Ruining my signal.
30:21To ensure they're headed in the right direction,
30:23Alpha team's leader practices using his compass.
30:26All right, make sure you keep it level
30:28so it's not canted to one side and get stuck, all right?
30:31Yes, sir, sir.
30:3212 degrees until you see the next LDA.
30:34Yes, sir, sir.
30:35It's on you.
30:44The two enemy soldiers are subdued.
30:46But then...
30:49What happened?
30:50Drill sergeants yell, real world,
30:53which means an actual emergency is occurring,
30:56and this training scenario is put on hold.
30:59The Alpha team leader, Private Johnson,
31:02was bitten by a black widow spider
31:05and quickly alerted the drill sergeants.
31:08Here, sir, he took a picture of it.
31:12All right, index.
31:14Get up, get up, get up.
31:18I knew you could.
31:20The drill sergeants rushed Johnson to get medical attention
31:24and had everyone check each other for spiders,
31:28including our producer.
31:31All right.
31:32Afternoon, drill sergeant.
31:34I mean, just a good.
31:36I think I'm good.
31:37Yeah, he just got bit by a black widow.
31:40The following day, we checked in with drill sergeant Diaz,
31:44and he told us that the spider bite
31:46did not break all the way through Johnson's skin
31:49and that he was able to return to training the next day.
31:53Get back, get back, get back.
31:55Somebody has to put the law and order around a military base.
31:58I mean, if there were no MPs, then it'd be crazy.
32:01Man, I really want to step out of my comfort zone.
32:03This sounds like something I could definitely go and pursue.
32:07And so I just kind of took that leap.
32:10I think it's just been the biggest thing, training with MPs,
32:13is everything's by the book, down to business,
32:15and most of all, integrity.
32:17It's one of our Army values, but here I think it's the strongest thing
32:20they're trying to enforce with us,
32:22because if the people who are supposed to be delivering justice
32:25aren't doing it, who's doing it?
32:34You got to back up.
32:35You got to back up.
32:36Guy, you trying to fight.
32:37You got to back up.
32:39You trying to fight.
32:40I'm telling you, you're going to get popped.
32:42You're going to get popped.