Military Police

Spring 2013

Military Police contains information about military police functions in maneuver and mobility support, area security, law and order, internment/resettlement, and police intelligence operations.

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By Major Scott R. Blanchard and Ms. Eliza Edgar A unity of effort and action involving military and civilian law enforcement agencies improves the effectiveness of the U.S. government in achieving common local, state, and federal goals. Achieving shared interests and common goals in a synchronized, coordinated, and collaborative manner improves public safety, assists in achieving national security objectives, and reduces the overall cost of doing business. In January 2012, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) published a national strategy document entitled ÒSustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense,Ó which contains presidential guidance and priorities as well as national strategic objectives for the U.S. armed forces.1 In the preface, President Barack Obama indicates that the U.S. is Òjoining with allies and partners around the world to build their capacity to promote security, prosperity, and human dignity.Ó2 President Obama also reminds readers that the armed forces are not the only instrument of American power and that Òmeeting these challenges cannot be the work of our military alone.Ó3 The most appropriate response to the PresidentÕs remarks is unquestionably the uni¿ed action of all U.S. government departments and agencies in achieving shared national security objectives. At the strategic level, uni¿ed action refers to the synchronization, coordination, and collaboration of the diplomatic, informational, military, and economic instruments of national power to achieve national strategic objectives. At the operational and tactical levels, uni¿ed action refers to a wholeof-government approach that seeks to leverage the capabilities and partnerships of the joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational community toward arrival at common interests and achievement of common objectives. Ultimately, uni¿ed action leads to a unity of effort, which helps "build international and domestic support, conserve resources, and conduct coherent operations that more effectively and ef¿ciently achieve common objectives.Ó4 A uni¿ed effort is more important than ever in a ¿scally constrained environment, MILITARY POLICE . 19-13-1 where budget cuts, shrinking resources, pay freezes, and personnel drawdowns do not translate to modi¿ed missions or objectives.5 A practical example of a DOD attempt to achieve a unity of effort involves the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Intermediate-Level Education (ILE) Interagency Fellowship Program. The purpose of this program, which is offered to U.S. Army majors and midlevel government leaders, is to develop a cadre of national security professionals through partnered exchanges between the U.S. Army and other government agencies. Fellows are placed in an 11- to 12-month operational assignment in a participating federal agency, where they immerse themselves in the culture of the agency. The fellows become familiar with the mission, responsibilities, and capabilities of the host agency; and they apply their knowledge and experiences in developing joint solutions to achieve shared national security objectives. Of¿cers of the U.S. Army Military Police Corps have participated in the ILE Interagency Fellowship Program for the past 4 years; fellows from the Military Police Corps have been placed with the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The ¿scal year 2011–2012 ILE partnership with the USMS produced signi¿cant results for both agencies in two common areas of law enforcementÑ sex offender targeting and deserter operations. This article describes the successful participation of the Military Police Corps in the Interagency Fellowship Program and the value of the program in providing a means for achieving a unity of effort. The USMS is the federal law enforcement agency that protects the federal judicial process and ensures the enforcement of federal court mandates. The agency is operationally organized to conduct judicial security, fugitive operations, prisoner operations, prisoner transport, asset forfeiture, witness security, and tactical operations. There are about 3,950 USMS deputy U.S. marshals and criminal investigators located across 94 domestic federal court districts, seven regional fugitive task 21

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