By Melissa Buckley, Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (September 26, 2024) — The U.S. Army Military Police School celebrated 83 years of the U.S. Army Military Police Corps from Sept. 23 to 26 at Fort Leonard Wood.
According to USAMPS Commandant Col. Charles Green the theme for this year’s celebration was, “Steadfast through Change, Marechaussee to Multi-Domain.”
Green said the regiment “ties our (military police) history to the Marechaussee Corps in General Washington’s Continental Army, which ties us through that period all the way to our current Army doctrine of multi-domain operations.”
Regimental events started by honoring fallen MPs at a memorial tribute Sept. 23 at the Main Post Chapel, where USAMPS Regimental Command Sgt. Maj. William Shoaf served as the guest speaker.
“To our Gold Star families in attendance — your presence is powerful, and it is a solemn reminder of your sacrifice and tremendous cost paid for the freedoms we all share,” Shoaf said.
A choir from Waynesville High School provided special music at the tribute before the ceremonial wreath laying, and bagpiper Dan Jackson played “Amazing Grace” to conclude the memorial.
According to Sgt. 1st Class Angel Waters, the operations and projects NCO for USAMPS, there are now 2,369 memorial bricks, each with the name of a fallen MP Soldier, located in MP Memorial Grove.
“Other bricks honor MP units, living Soldiers and members of the MP Hall of Fame, symbolically connecting past and present MPs in a shared legacy,” Waters said.
That afternoon at the MP Regimental Retreat ceremony in the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Plaza, the colors, or flags, of 23 different MP units were displayed representing the units which make up the U.S. Army Military Police Corps.
Providing remarks during the ceremony, Green thanked attendees for “taking a moment to honor our nation’s cloth. It is important not only today, but every day, that we stop what we are doing and take a moment to acknowledge the importance of retreat and pay respect to our flag, our nation and all of those who have fought under the colors.”
The ceremony closed with MP Soldiers lowering the flag, folding it and marching it inside for the evening while a narrator read the poem “My Name Is Old Glory” to the crowd that had gathered in the plaza.
The next day, Sept. 24, the Order of the Crossed Pistols event for spouses kicked off at Range 14 with a fun ruck.
Besides physical fitness training, events throughout the day included a military working dog demonstration, rappelling down the Warrior Tower, eating lunch at an Army Warrior Restaurant and a Rites of Passage ceremony in Memorial Grove.
Carey Killea, a retired MP Soldier and current MP spouse, said she was glad she came to the event because, “even though I have participated in events like this when I was active duty, it was nice to go back and do it again — this time with my MP spouse community.”
She said she enjoyed watching new MP spouses have fun and learn about the MP profession.
“Today is all about resiliency. It is important to have empathy for your loved one’s career. It is hard to relate unless you truly understand what your spouse goes through at work,” Killea said. “Being here today reminds me of the camaraderie I shared with my fellow Soldiers. I am proud to be a part of the MP Corps because we are the only regiment that is twofold. We have our garrison role in law enforcement and then we have our combat roll when we are deployed. We are tight knit group, and it is fabulous.”
At the Regimental Honors Recognition Ceremony Sept. 26 in Lincoln Hall Auditorium, the MP Corps recognized the hard work and dedication of NCOs during a presentation of the Command Sgt. Maj. James W. Frye NCO of Excellence Award.
Top honors went to 1st Sgt. Joseph Hansen and Staff Sgt. Corbin Mason.
Later that day, seven new photos were added to the MP Corps Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the John B. Mahaffey Museum. The inductees were retired Maj. Gen. David Glaser, retired Maj. Gen. John Hussey, retired Brig. Gen. Brian Bisacre, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Morris, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Woodring, retired Master Sgt. Patrick Garland and Pvt. 1st Class Patrick Brems, who was posthumously inducted. Brems was killed in action during the Vietnam War.
As regimental week activities were taking place, 56 MPs, in 14 teams of four, were busy competing in USAMPS’s 2024 MP Warfighter Competition Sept. 23 to 25.
The winners were with the 519th MP Bn. — 1st Lt. Jonathan Roy, Sgt. Hunter Valach, Spc. Brandon Thorton and Pfc. Jeremy Soto-Mayor.
Second place went to the team representing the 728th MP Bn. — 2nd Lt. Julia Rodriguez, Sgt. Samuel Elston, Spc. Alan Daniels and Spc. Jonathan Rojas.
Taking third place was the team with the 97th MP Bn. — 1st Lt. Nicholas LaMendola, Sgt. Adrian Chavez, Spc. Matthew Feroli and Spc. Kylie Hammonds.
A team from Germany and one from the Fort Leonard Wood Marine Corps Detachment were also recognized during the competition’s award ceremony for participating in the Army competition.
More photos from the competition can be viewed in this Fort Leonard Wood Flickr album.
The regimental celebrations included a bass tournament, pickleball tournament, motorcycle ride, golf tournament and concluded with the MP Regimental Ball, Sept. 26 in Nutter Field House.
More photos from the regimental ceremonies can be viewed in this Fort Leonard Wood’s Flickr album.
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About Fort Leonard Wood
Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 75 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains more than 80,000 military and civilians each year.
Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.
Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.