Military Wiki
89th Military Police Brigade
89MPBdeSSI
89th Military Police Brigade shoulder sleeve insignia
Active 15 March 1966 – 21 December 1971
13 September 1972 – present
Country United States
Branch Active Duty
Type Military Police Brigade
Role Military Police
Size Brigade
Part of III Corps
Garrison/HQ Fort Hood, Texas
Motto(s) Proven in Battle
Engagements Vietnam War
Gulf War
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Commanders
Current
commander
COL Robert N. Dillon
Notable
commanders
BG David Phillips
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia Image2356

The 89th Military Police Brigade is a military police brigade of the United States Army based at Fort Hood, Texas. It is a subordinate unit of III Corps.

Activated in Vietnam in the midst of the Vietnam War, the unit provided military police services for two corp-sized forces operating in the region. It played a supporting role throughout the entire conflict, staying in theater for the entire war and earning fifteen campaign streamers.

Since then, the brigade has seen duty in numerous areas of operation throughout the world and performed numerous duties including disaster relief for Hurricane Hugo as well as service in Guantanamo Bay. It also played supporting a role in the Gulf War. Recently the brigade served two tours of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Organization[]

The brigade is subordinate to III Corps.[1] It is headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas.[1] Almost 1,000 soldiers of the brigade are stationed there.[2]

The Brigade contains three subordinate battalions of military police:[3]

History[]

Vietnam War[]

The 89th Military Police Brigade was originally activated as a "group", roughly the size of a modern regiment.[4] The 89th Military Police Group was constituted in the Regular Army on 19 February 1966[5] and activated on 15 March of that year in the Republic of Vietnam.[5] The mission of the 89th Military Police Group was to provide general military police support for the III Corps and IV Corps Tactical Zones.[1] The group stayed in Vietnam in support of the two corps' areas of operation. As the group was a supporting unit, it never saw front line combat. However, it did receive all 15 campaign streamers that could be earned for Vietnam service.[5] With the removal of US forces from Vietnam, the organization was inactivated on 21 December 1971.[5] On 13 September 1972 the unit was activated at Fort Lewis, Washington.[5] The 89th Military Police Group was designed to command and control the operations of three to five military police battalions and other assigned or attached units.[4] Additionally, it provided a Provost Marshal staff section to the corps headquarters while assigned as their senior military police organization.[1]

The 89th Military Police Group remained at Fort Lewis until 21 February 1976 when the colors were transferred to Fort Hood, Texas. On 16 July 1981 the 89th Military Police Group was reorganized as the 89th Military Police Brigade.[1][5]

Post-Cold War[]

Army mil-2007-01-11-094613

Soldiers of the brigade in an overturned Humvee simulator.

The 89th Military Police Brigade has deployed around the world in support of US Army missions in numerous places, seeing both wartime and humanitarian service roles.[4] The soldiers of the 89th MP Brigade supported operations in Honduras, Panama, Cuba, Somalia, Virgin Islands, Bosnia and Hungary. The Brigade played a supporting role during the Gulf War.[1] It was sent to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as part of operations include Desert Shield and Desert Storm during 1990 and 1991.[1] During the action, it provided military police duties for XVIII Airborne Corps. The Brigade was one of numerous units thought to have been exposed to chemical weapons following the Khamisiyah Pit Demolition.[6] The long term effects of this exposure are not clear.

The brigade participated in disaster relief after Hurricane Hugo 1989, and Operation Sea Signal in support of Joint Task Force 160 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from June to November 1994.[1]

Personnel from the 89th Military Police Brigade were deployed in January 2002 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to serve as the headquarters element for Joint Task Force 160.[4] They were replaced in May 2002 by personnel from the 43rd Military Police Brigade from the Rhode Island Army National Guard.[7] The subordinate unit of the 89th MP Brigade that deployed for this mission was the 401st Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion.[1]

Operation Iraqi Freedom[]

Army mil-2007-12-06-023950

89th MP Brigade soldiers on a humanitarian mission in Iraq.

The 89th Military Police Brigade deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom early 2004, where it took over the mission previously tasked to the 18th Military Police Brigade on 31 January 2004.[4] At that time the brigade assumed responsibility for the Iraqi Police training mission as well as the majority of all the Military Police Units in Iraq at that time. The unit returned to Fort Hood in December 2004.[1]

The 89th Military Police Brigade deployed for a second tour in August 2006 to the Iraqi theater of operation in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2006–2008.[1] During the deployment, it was composed of over 5,000 military police soldiers in the theater.[8] Brigade responsibilities included corrections and security operations. It deployed K-9 units during some operations.[9] The brigade's primary responsibility, though, was the training of Iraqi police units. The brigade focused on local police units throughout the country, as another MP brigade handled the national police.[10] The brigade commander would brief US Department of Defense officials in The Pentagon on the current situation, live from Iraq.[11] It suffered several casualties, including a soldier killed by sniper fire,[12] a soldier killed by a suicide car bomb,[13] and two soldiers who died of non-combat related causes.[14] The brigade returned home in October 2007, replaced again by the 18th Military Police Brigade.[15] After this, the brigade resumed its policing roles at Fort Hood.[8]

During its second deployment, one of the unit commanders, William H. Steele, became infamous for being accused of breaching military law by aiding the enemy.[16] He was acquitted of the charges, though he was convicted of other charges and subsequently dismissed from the military.[17]

Honors[]

Unit decorations[]

Ribbon Award Year Notes
Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) 1967–1968 for service in Vietnam[5]
Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) 2004–2005 for service in Iraq[5]
Vietnam gallantry cross unit award-3d Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm 1965–1970 for service in Vietnam[5]

Campaign streamers[]

Conflict Streamer Year(s)
Vietnam War Vietnam Defense 1965[5]
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase I 1965–1966
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase II 1966–1967
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase III 1967–1968
Vietnam War Tet Counteroffensive 1968
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase IV 1968
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase V 1968
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase VI 1968–1969
Vietnam War Tet 69/Counteroffensive 1969
Vietnam War Summer–Fall 1969 1969
Vietnam War Winter–Spring 1970 1970
Vietnam War Sanctuary Counteroffensive 1970
Vietnam War Counteroffensive, Phase VII 1970–1971
Vietnam War Consolidation I 1970
Vietnam War Consolidation II 1971
Gulf War Defense of Saudi Arabia 1990
Gulf War Liberation and Defense of Kuwait 1990
Gulf War Cease-Fire 1991
Operation Iraqi Freedom Iraq 2004–2005
Operation Iraqi Freedom Iraq 2006–2008

See also[]

References[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 89th Military Police Brigade Homepage, SGT Penny Stephenson. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  2. Fort Hood Homepage, Fort Hood staff. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  3. "Subordinate Units". Pao.hood.army.mil. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20101205130232/http://pao.hood.army.mil/89thMPBde/Subordinate%20Units/Subordinate_Units.htm. Retrieved 22 December 2010. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 GlobalSecurity.org: 89th Military Police Brigade, GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 Lineage and Honors for the 89th Military Police Brigade, United States Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  6. Distinct Units Exposed 10–13 March 1991, Gulflink.mil. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  7. 43rd Military Police Brigade, RI Army National Guard. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  8. 8.0 8.1 18th Military Police Brigade assumes Iraq mission, Multi-National Corps – Iraq Public Affairs Office. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  9. K9 Team Brings Special Skills to the Fight, Amanda Morrissey, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. 6 July 2008.
  10. Iraqi Police Learn Rule of Law, Concept of Tolerance Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  11. 89th Military Police Brigade Commander to Brief Live From Iraq, U.S. Department of Defense Public Affairs. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  12. Multi-National 89th Military Police Brigade service member killed by sniper Corps – Iraq PAO. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  13. 89th MP Brigade Soldier killed and two others wounded by a suicide car bomb, Multi-National Corps-Iraq. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  14. U.S. military deaths in Iraq at 3,707, The Associated Press. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  15. 18th MP Brigade starts 3rd rotation in Iraq, ArmyTimes.com. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  16. Soldiers who guarded Saddam testify against commander, USA Today. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
  17. Katarina Kratovac (19 October 2007). "Ex-US Commander in Iraq Gets 2-Year Term". ABC News. Archived from the original on 15 November 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071115163324/http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3751752. Retrieved 22 October 2007. [dead link]

External links[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at 89th Military Police Brigade (United States) and the edit history here.