Military Police contains information about military police functions in maneuver and mobility support, area security, law and order, internment/resettlement, and police intelligence operations.
Issue link: https://militarypolice.epubxp.com/i/567773
MILITARY POLICE
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attached, which is the traditional means of augmenting CID
offces. The common challenge with attached Soldiers is that
by the time they develop into an effective team, their tem-
porary attachment expires. As a result, many CID offces
struggle with the certifcation process and are unable to de-
vote prolonged time to quality training. Therefore, the per-
manent assignment of new Soldiers enabled the JBLM CID
offce to invest in a team that could be molded and effectively
used to suppress drug activity in support of commanders.
Following their assignment to CID, the Soldiers under-
went an extensive 8-week, battalion-approved certifcation
in which they were trained to conduct investigations, use
contingency limitation funds (money used for emergency
and unusual expenses incurred during investigations and
crime prevention), and execute covert drug suppression op-
erations. Although the time requirement for the certifcation
process is taxing, the long-term benefts have outweighed the
short-term discomfort. One beneft is the creation of depth
within the team. In the traditional model of limited time
and personnel, DSTs could be crippled by reassignments,
mandatory career-enhancing training, or routine and emer-
gency leave. Due to the newly robust size of the JBLM DST,
the temporary loss of a few Soldiers is not a catastrophic
event. However, the most rewarding beneft of the increased
size of the team is the ability to task-organize members into
subteams. Within the larger DST, four smaller subteams
are each aligned to separate brigade combat teams and are
capable of autonomously conducting overt and covert drug
suppression operations. This alignment not only provides
senior mission commanders with a single point of contact for
drug suppression activity within their units; it also provides
the right allocation for proactive operations and results.
The JBLM CID offce shifted from a reactive to a proac-
tive approach when the DST certifcation was complete. In
traditional CID practice, proactive efforts are measured by
the quantity of target analysis fles developed, the amount
of contingency limitation funds expended, and the quantity
of controlled drugs seized from distributors. The key to the
proactive focus is the development of target analysis fles
(known as target packets in the operational Army). The
data in three objective areas before and after the addition of
personnel plainly shows the effectiveness of the DST. In all
of calendar year 2013, the team developed 35 target analy-
sis fles, expended $2,345 in contingency limitation funds,
and seized 1,693 dosage units
4
of controlled substances.
In contrast, during just the third quarter of calendar year
2014, the DST developed 30 target analysis fles, expended
$13,518 in contingency limitation funds, and seized 14,989
dosage units of controlled substances. In just one quarter,
the enhanced DST increased its proactive effectiveness by
nearly 476 percent.
In conclusion, to emulate the success of the only DST rat-
ed as exceptional, the understanding of proactive operations
must be redefned. Greater emphasis on improving commu-
nication and relationships with senior mission commanders
is the key to gaining additional personnel, especially in a
time of dwindling resources. By appealing to the objective
reasoning of senior mission commanders, through intelli-
gence-driven, statistically-supported engagements, DST ele-
ments shape their decisive operations. Failure to adopt this
concept will hinder the ability of DSTs to move beyond the
burdensome administrative requirements of drug-related
cases and address them with traditional proactive measures.
Endnotes:
1
"The Writings of George Washington," Vol. 8, John C.
Fitzpatrick, ed., Government Printing Offce, Washington, D.C.,
October 1938, p. 359.
2
"Veterans and Drugs," National Council on Alcoholism
and Drug Dependence, Inc.,