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May 16, 2004 The scandal and resulting courts martial stemming from the alleged prisoner abuse has gotten much attention in the media and congress. This case has hit me close to home. I am a former Military Policeman from the late 1960s. This is how this case is different from what I went through. In the 50s and 60s, the Military Police went through law enforcement and corrections training. Similar to a regular police academy, with instruction in prisoner handling, care and rules that had to be obeyed. We also received instruction on the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice), citing rules that were to be applied to arrestees and prisoners, and how to effect an arrest and the use of force allowed to take the individual into custody. This said, we enter into the scandal that is currently being investigated by congress and other organizations. The current Military Police are given very little training in the above mentioned procedures. The Army, in its strange wisdom, has decided to make MPs into Infantry combat support troops. I cannot give a reason for this action, but suspect that it has to do with the creation of the Department of Defense Police Department, who basically replaced the Military Police and their function. So now we have soldiers that are trained as truck drivers, clerks, cooks, infantrymen, and other MOSs being assigned to Military Police duties without the proper training. These soldiers don’t know the proper procedure in handling prisoners and detainees. They received no proper training in these duties. Granted, the actions of these quasi MPs are deplorable and they should have known better than act like they did, but the blame should work it’s way to the top of the chain of command. And I am in no way trying to excuse their actions. Where were the patrol supervisors, platoon sergeants, company commanders, Battalion Command Sgt Majors and Commanders, Brigade CSMs and commanders? There is a definite lack of leadership in this situation. No matter what the Army Intelligence people or CIA try to tell the MPs, it has to come in the form of a “Legal” order from the chain of command. I see this situation as a failure of commanders to train and discipline their troops for the duties they were assigned to perform. No commander should let an outside presence in anyway hinder or affect their commands. If the generals allow this to happen, they are guilty of dereliction of duty and should be relieved and charges filed against them. The CIA and other intelligence agencies have to gather information, but they should have taken the detainees into their own custody and left the Military Police out of it completely. The Military Police Corps have been an honorable unit dating back to the Revolutionary War. Granted, they were not popular with other troops due to the facts that they were charged with upholding and enforcing the laws of the military. But that was always expected and we dealt with it as a whole. Of course there were bad MPs, but they were in the minority and eventually found out and either transferred out to another duty, or arrested and prosecuted under the law. ”OF THE TROOPS AND FOR THE TROOPS” is the motto of the Military Police, and we have always strove to uphold our honor and dignity. The female general that was in command of that prison has tried to distance herself from any and all wrongdoing there. This is a perfect example of a bad commander. She should have known exactly what was going on under her command. General Lipinski has in my opinion lied and tried to shift blame onto her subordinates. This is not a way for a credible commander to act. I wonder how she obtained her stars, could affirmative action have been a major factor in it? Most Military Police officers (not enlisted ranks) I have encountered did not spend any time on the ‘street’, they obtained their ‘police experience’ from classrooms and other training sources. When you hang a brassard (that’s the armband) or badge on a truck driver or other such person, you do not have a Military Policeman/woman; you have a trucker with a badge and no training. A combat prison is not the place to give on the job training in police work. This whole situation is a major cluster-f- ck, and will never be resolved until the Army goes back to making MPs real police persons. There is no other way to solve it, and the shame of it all is, the fake MPs have splattered the real Military Police with shame that will take a very long time to shed. So what we have here is some probably fine truckers, cooks, clerks and others who have had their potential careers ruined and facing possible jail time, all for the reason of not to tarnish some general’s stars. And lack of proper training. The Joints Chiefs of Staff should have a lot of explaining to do. As does the rest of the chain of command; right to the top on this one. ------------ About the author: Mike Romer is a politically incorrect, disgruntled resident of New Jersey and thinks a lot of people need their heads screwed on properly. He enjoys writing, reading and painting landscapes. Email: triv.fan@verizon.net Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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