Every U.S. Military Police Job Explained

In this blog post, we’re going to go over the military police entities of all of the branches. We're talking the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and even the Coast Guard. The Space Force doesn’t have anything yet, they just get it from the Air Force. Sorry, Space Force!

This blog post will give you an overview of what each of them is, what makes them unique, the opportunities you’ll have in each branch, and much more. After reading this post, you will have a decent grasp on what each branch’s military police do, and a better idea of what you’d want to do if you're interested in this field.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: OVERVIEW

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: ARMY 

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: NAVY 

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: AIR FORCE 

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: MARINE CORPS 

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: COAST GUARD 

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: CONCLUSION

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: OVERVIEW

Military MP’s are the cops of the military. While there will be differences in each of the branch’s military police entities, just realize that there will be a large overlap in the overall mission and purpose of the job. You’ll be serving in some form of law enforcement and security capacity, but the stuff you’re guarding and patrolling may be different. For example, on any given base, there will be patrol cars operated by base and military police, so which branch you’re in really won’t make a difference.

But going into the finer details, in the Navy you’ll be around ships more often, and in the Air Force you’ll be around air planes more often. All in all, you’ll protect people's lives and property on military installations by enforcing military laws and regulations. Hopefully, you get the point we’re trying to make. Before we proceed, we’ll answer a burning question many people have about military MP’s. Is it possible to see combat as a military policeman? Short answer, yes. The long answer is that it depends.  

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: ARMY 

In the Army, they’re called Military Police. The entire entity is known as the Military Police Corps. There are six different career fields in which you can find yourself. There’s a 31A, which is a Military Police Officer, 311A, which is a Criminal Investigation Warrant Officer; 31b, which is military police, 31d, a criminal investigations special agent; 31e, internment/resettlement specialist; and a 31k, a military police working dog handler.

In the military police corps, you will be utilized in direct combat and during peacetime. It provides expertise in policing, detainment, and stability operations in order to enhance security and enable mobility. 

You can be a part of mounted and dismounted patrols, response force operations, area damage control, route reconnaissance, cordon and search operations, critical site security, and convoy and personnel escorts.

So as an Army MP, you can be deployed, see combat, work with K9’s, get trained as a sniper, go to airborne jump school, ranger school, and much more. There are lots of opportunities for you in this career field.

You will go through OSUT, which stands for one-station unit training, where your advanced individual training is mixed in with your basic training. It will take you 20 weeks of training before you become an MP.

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: NAVY 

The Navy does things a little bit differently. In the Navy, military police are called MA’s, which stand for Master at Arms. Unlike the Army, an MA in the Navy is technically considered one job title. The Navy doesn’t have MOS’s; it has rates. Since MA is a singular rate, any specialization is an NEC. MA’s can serve multiple functions, meaning that if you want to be a dog handler, you can’t be guaranteed that because it's a specialty, not its own job. 

As an MA in the Navy, you can be on a ship, guard prisoners, do patrols, work with canines, work with the NCIS, work in waterborne security, conduct limited investigations, guard nuclear missiles, and much more. 

Select MA’s can also work with Naval Special Warfare as SOF support, being attached to SEAL teams and DEVGRU, also known as SEAL Team 6. 

While you can deploy overseas as an MA, you are most likely never going to be a boots on ground asset. A lot of Navy MA’s are stationed in the U.S., and some of them never even deploy. The higher rank you get, the more administrative your role will be in your command. 

Again, while there are plenty of opportunities for you as an MA, you will primarily perform law enforcement and force protection duties. Do not expect to walk into your first command ready to go deploy overseas and work with the SEALs.

The training to become a Navy MA is in San Antonio, TX, and lasts about 9 weeks. At MA “A” School, you will learn antiterrorism techniques, armed sentry/post standing techniques, crime prevention, military and civil law, communications, first aid, firearms deployment, and physical restraint techniques. 

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: AIR FORCE 

In the Air Force, they’re not referred to as MP’s, or MA’s. They’re called Security Forces. You can identify them by the blue berets that they wear. Their Air Force specialty code is 3P0X1.

Security Forces is actually the largest career field in the Air Force. They are responsible for missile security, defending and performing law enforcement on air bases, combat arms, handling military working dogs, and some even guarding nukes. Not only are they responsible for installation law and discipline enforcement, but Security Forces are the Air Force's ground combat force. Like all other MP’s, Security Forces does a lot of the same work, but with an Air Force twist. Some examples of this include opportunities like DAGRE and the Ravens. 

DAGRE stands for Deployed Aircraft Ground Response Element. It was stood up in 2008. Belonging to AFSOC, DAGRE consists of small teams within the Air Force’s security forces that receive specialized training to support the command’s assets and personnel in austere locations around the globe. DAGRE is open to all security forces airmen within the ranks of senior airman to master sergeant who meet the AFSOC physical and professional standards. The DAGRE pipeline is located at Hurlburt Field, Florida, where members learn different skill trades, including tactical casualty combat care, defensive driving, tactical communications, tactical security details, land navigation, and a wide variety of firing courses. 

Ravens, otherwise referred to as Phoenix Ravens, consist of specially trained security forces personnel dedicated to providing security for Air Mobility Command aircraft that transit high terrorist and criminal threat areas. It ensures an acceptable level of close-in security for aircraft transiting airfields where security is unknown or additional security is needed to counter local threats. With over 200 security forces airmen in it, the training to get into the Phoenix Ravens is an intensive three-week, 12 hour a day course that covers such subjects as cross-cultural awareness, legal considerations, embassy operations, airfield survey techniques, explosive ordnance awareness, aircraft searches, and unarmed self-defense techniques.

As you can see, Security Forces have a lot of opportunities to work hand in hand with AFSOC. Some even get the opportunity to go to Ranger School and earn the Ranger Tab!

For the initial training for Security Forces you’ll go through 8 and a half weeks of training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, before you begin your work as a Security Forces airman.

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: MARINE CORPS 

We’ll mention this first: If you’re interested in becoming an MP in the Marines, just keep in mind that the Marines are currently reducing billets for them. They actually shut down their three law enforcement battalions due to Force Design 2030, which is a restructuring of the Marine Corps for the future. 

Marine MP’s MOS code is 5811, however, there are more depending on your specialty, and they perform law enforcement duties on Marine Corps installations. You’ll see them patrolling in police cars, guarding prisoners, scanning your ID at the gate, and they even have canine teams. 

It doesn’t stop there, though. Marine MP’s have the opportunity to join Marine Corps Special Response Teams, or SRT for short. SRT’s are pretty much SWAT teams for the Marine Corps. Consisting of around 7 to 14 Marines, they are trained to respond to high-risk incidents and scenarios. MP’s have to go through indoctrination to get selected into one, and once they do, they go and receive their initial training. Once they complete that, several doors open for training opportunities. To even start the selection process, you need to run a first-class PFT and CFT, as well as have an expert rifle and pistol qualification score.

Also, you may have heard of Marine Security Guards, or MSG for short. Do not confuse these with MP’s. While they perform security details, MSG is open to all MOS’s in the Marines, and is a secondary MOS. Marines typically serve three years in this billet, and go back to their primary MOS afterwards.

And on a final note for Marine MP’s, Marine MP school is located at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri, and is 9 weeks in length. 

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: COAST GUARD 

In the Coast Guard, these are called Maritime Enforcement Specialists, or ME’s for short.

ME’s Protect America's Ports, Waterways, and Interests at home and abroad. They are trained in Maritime Law Enforcement, Anti-terrorism, Force Protection, and Physical Security. Members of this rating can be expected to be assigned challenging duties including traditional maritime law enforcement, anti-terrorism, force protection, port security, and safety, as well as providing unit-level training in these fields.

ME’s in the Coast Guard have a lot of opportunities to serve in more than just a traditional law enforcement capacity. They can get into MSRT’s, TACLETs, Port Security Units, MSST’s, the National Strike Force, and much more.

In order to become an ME, you have to go through 10 weeks of intensive specialized training at ME 'A' School in Charleston, SC. This training includes:

• Leadership 
• Physical Fitness
• Communication
• Safety
• Rate Training
• Administration
• Security 
• Maritime Law Enforcement 
• Tactical Operations
• Port Readiness 
• Weapons Familiarization and Qualification
• Ports, Waterways and Coastal Security
• Anti Terrorism and Force Protection

Just keep in mind that you may have to join the Coast Guard and serve for a couple years before a slot opens up for ME, as it is a highly sought after rate.

U.S. MILITARY POLICE JOBS: CONCLUSION

And that just about covers the MP entities of the United States Military. Again, in the big picture, they all pretty much do the same thing. If you look into the finer details, and the down and dirty, you’ll notice they are very similar but quite different. The nature of which branch you join will have a big influence on the opportunities you’ll have. A branch that mainly consists of ships will have fewer ground opportunities than a branch with zero ships. 

If you want to learn more about the military, law enforcement, or government entities, we have a YouTube channel dedicated to providing the best info out there, plus we have a growing list of blog posts as well. Click the links to take you to them!

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