Pro's and Con's of being an MP

[Asnyder86]

Hey guys, can anyone who is in the Army as an MP tell me what the Pro's and Con's are of being in it?

This would greatly help me!

Thanks

[333MP]

There are many pro's and con's to being an MP Many fit on the same list. MP's have many diverse jobs in the military. Depending on your unit and component you could be combat support or garrison. MP's have so many jobs that they can do, and they are very versitile. As an infantrymen you know exactly what your job will be as an MP there is a huge variety. MP's are one of the most deployed because of thier versatility.

[Asnyder86]

What is the difference between Combat Support and Garrison MP's. Also, what type of work do MP's do in both of them (by them I mean Combat Support and Garrison).

Thanks Again!

[333MP]

First I will tell you to look at this site http://www.wood.army.mil/usamps/default.htm. It is the MP training home page at Fort Leonard Wood. It will give you an outlook of what MP's do. Garrison is basically what a police officer does. Here are a few Garrison duties that you learn: Military and civil laws and jurisdiction. Crime and accident investigation procedures. Evidence collection procedures, including fingerprinting and suspect questioning. Use of firearms. Traffic and crowd control procedures. Arrest and restraint of suspect. (http://www.goarmy.com/JobDetail.do?id=98) Since I am not active and I don't do garrison I don't remember everything as well, but I know that they do rotations. I think 3 months on the road 3 months in the field and I can't remember what the other three months are. (someone who knows please jump in) As for Combat Support you do almost everything. Such as a deployment in Iraq you will be doing Internment and Resilient (s/c) That's the POW camps. Convoy Patrol MSR patrol guarding Check Points Traffic Control Points. Raids. There are so many MP functions. Some call us Multi Purpose. We are the Force of Choice.

Interment resettlment (I/R) is typically handled by the reserve or guard, not saying active component MPs couldn't end up doing it too. All of the above is true, MPs are very diverse as far as duties you could end up doing because MPs are the force of choice.

Here is the short and sweet answer. Long hours and high demands. I have had a lot of retreads (reclassification) fail to adjust to the MP world. Type "A" personalities dominate and we eat our young.

[stevet]

I will tell you this, I left Story in 04, Dod was taking over all of the garrison duties. There is no more garrison duties, period. Hood, all combat support with garrison gone, same everywhere, but... if you think about when you went to basic and what you learned initially then there should be no problem adjusting. You are an infantryman first and that is the way it should be.