 All over the world, the United States Army is on the alert to defend our country. The Military Police Corps has a big part in this defense. Here's how General Maglin, the Provo Marshal General puts it. The broad scope and diversity of military police activities are not generally recognized. Few realize the extent of the training necessary to prepare select soldiers for their various duties. You will see portrayed here some of that training and its application on beach heads and battlefields in barn lands and at home. What makes the military policeman's job so important and so unique is that he deals with people, not things. There is no yardstick to guide him in controlling human behavior. He can do his job only by specialized training and what he gains from experience. He is often on his own and he must work his way with courtesy and understanding through all the recurring problems of human conduct. His job is most important in a modern, efficient army. Thank you, General Maglin. Now let's get on with our story, the military police story. Well, everybody knows the job of the MP, the military policeman, to make life miserable for the rest of the army. At least that's the idea our friend here might have. But then maybe he hasn't been around very much yet. The military policeman has a lot of duties besides keeping his fellow GI out of trouble. He's a combat soldier as well as the policeman of the army. He's a fighting cop. Along with a helmet full of other things, it's up to him to control the tremendous traffic of war. And it's his job to handle the prisoners of war. He's responsible for the prevention of pilfering of military supplies. And you were as apt to find him running down guerrilla fighters in the Korean hills as riding the highway patrol on the autobahns of Germany. Yes, a lot of knowledge and a lot of training goes into the making of today's MP. Camp Gordon, Georgia, a few miles out of Augusta is where it all begins. Home base for the military police corps. Most of your army's MPs scattered around the globe today once entered this gate as raw recruits. It is here in the Provo Marshall General Center that the military policeman gets his training. Both as soldier and guardian of the military law. New recruits come directly from their induction centers to Camp Gordon for training as military policemen. And sometimes they wonder why. A soldier sure, but a military cop. I imagine you're all wondering why you're here. Why you're going to be trained as military policemen. And maybe you don't like the idea of policing your fellow soldiers. Well for one thing, policing your fellow soldier is mostly helping him. Helping him to stay out of trouble. First of all, you're going to become soldiers yourself with eight weeks of rough, tough, infantry basic training. And then you're going to get eight weeks of training in the duties and techniques of being a military policeman. And when you're through, you're going to find yourself among the best trained, best uniform, sharper soldiers in the United States Army. And a funny thing, you're going to like it. You're going to be proud to be an MP. Eight weeks of infantry basic training. Learning to employ the weapons and techniques of the fighting man. And then training for all the specialized duties of the military policemen. Traffic control is one of the major jobs of the MPs. And they've got to get awfully good at it, clear, authoritative. It's tough enough to handle traffic at a busy intersection during a peak hour. But if you ever have to keep big troop movements flowing where the enemy might be dropping shells on a road you're controlling, well you've got to learn to think and move fast. And that's why the heat's put on the student right in training. Trouble. And it's time for a cool head. Not that kind though, it won't help. And the hand of experience gets them rolling again. Apprehension of military offenders and suspects is another MP duty. Strongly stressed in the techniques and attitude of the military police is the use of only as much force as is reasonably necessary in affecting an apprehension. But you never take a chance on your suspect packing a concealed weapon. A false move with this method of wall search. And an MPs in a position to handle it. And the handcuffs. A foolproof way of getting them on without running into trouble. Where there's no question of the intentions of the man to be apprehended, the military policeman has learned to take care of him too. Sadock, Sadock is going to try to stab me downward into the chest. And here's what I'm going to do. Force the knife out of the man's hand. Pick it up. Now here's the way we're going to break it down for you. That's the starting position. The knife will be held up in the air. Prepare to stab downward into my chest in this manner. Starting position, shot, move. At ready one, as he brings the knife downward toward my chest, I block with my left forearm against his wrist. Ready? One. At ready two, I reach my right arm underneath his arm, take a hold of my own hand. Lock my elbows together and force him down to the ground, kneeling on his shoulder to make him drop the knife. Again, pick the knife up. Do not let him keep it. Against wooden knives for training purposes instead of cold steel, the ancient and effective techniques of judo are mastered by the military policeman for dealing with a tough customer. A come-along is a grip that you put on a person that puts him completely in your control. No struggling, no fighting back. The first come-along that we're going to show you here today is what we call the hammer lock come-along. It works like this. Notice that I keep pressure on his elbow at all times. And the recruit learns how to squeeze them off accurately with the MP's own primary weapon, the .45 automatic pistol. This phase of instruction is a practical exercise on riot control. The general situation, a mob of approximately 600 gathered in front of the governor's palace. When your army is called in to restore order in civil disturbances, the military police are trained to deal with them. The wedge formation is a formation used to strike into and split up a crowd or mob. Now, keep in mind, however, that the platoon wedge is very vulnerable at the flanks. Therefore, we will commit our two support squads to lateral support. And when a riot alert comes in, even a practice one, things happen fast. An important rule in riot control, as with other MP work, is to exert the least force necessary to do the job. A show of strength by a determined-looking MP outfit is sometimes sufficient in itself to discourage a civil disturbance. Then there are the formations, each with a special purpose in breaking up a riot. And MP troops are trained to execute them with a precision of a chorus line. The wedge formation, a line of bayonets to keep a mob moving, avoids bloodshed but restores law and order when the MPs are called on for the job. Smoke helps too, harmless, but it's some protection against violence if the mob gets rough and a psychological weapon to discourage the rioters. Tier gas can be used also as a non-harmful persuader to send the crowd home. A course in criminal investigation for specially qualified MPs trains the detectives of the Army's police force, the military police criminal investigators. In their final examinations, two man's student teams are called upon to carry through complete investigations of assorted simulated crimes. Each case calls into practice every phase of their classroom training, including crime photography and sketching. Our pair of student detectives here would appear to have a combination murder robbery on their hands. Every shred of evidence, every clue is carefully noted and preserved. And let not our military Sherlock's overlook any possible bet. That bullet will be saved for the ballistics experts to have a look at later. It may identify the killer's gun. Fingerprinting is of course a vital subject for the military police investigators. Match the prints let by the killer and its positive identification. You've got your man. The clues lead the student team to a simulated suspect, and they learn how a lie detector might help get the truth from him. Were you born in the United States? Yes. The investigators find out that all questions for the lie detector must be short, clear, and require only a yes or no answer to properly evaluate the suspect's responses on the machine. Can you drive a car? Yes. The inking device on the lie detector chart would indicate symptoms of disturbance in the suspect's mind if this were the real thing and he were lying. Do you know who shot Corporal Smith? No. And so the student detectives get a firsthand knowledge of a modern weapon in the war against crime. At the criminal investigation laboratory, the trainees can become familiar with the very latest equipment for the analysis of evidence. For the testing and examination of materials that might help to solve a crime, the laboratory at Camp Gordon serves all the armed forces, as well as lending assistance to civil authorities. Here the spectrograph burns a minute sample of the material to be examined for possible connection with the crime. Discovery of a tiny portion of a substance may help piece together the story. So sensitive is this device that a study of the photograph spectrum of the colors produced by the burning can actually detect the presence of a material making up only one part per million of the tested sample. Wet chemistry analysis probes into the content to have submitted evidence. May come up with the answer to a crime mystery in the indication of a poison or narcotic. An x-ray depraction unit, one of the few in the world. This machine delves into the possible criminal significance of a tiny sample of evidence by bombarding it with short waves to determine its crystal formation. In the ballistics department, bullets are fired from suspected guns to be checked with bullets found at crime scenes. Every firearm writes its own signature on each bullet it fires. In the telltale distinctive grooves and markings, the bullet picks up as it passes through the weapon's barrel. The matching of a bullet used in the commission of a crime with a bullet fired in a ballistics chamber has solved many a killing and other type of crime. A complete fingerprinting laboratory here too with every device for bringing out a print that may point to a criminal with positive identification. A section of the laboratory also devoted to the examination of question documents for the comparing of handwriting, typewriter characteristics, checking for invisible writing. Yes, when a man completes his training as an MP, those initials spell something different to him than when he showed up as a recruit. Responsibility, pride, knowledge, MOS, Military Occupational Specialty 1677. Military policeman, and so ready for assignment, ready to answer the next call from whatever spot on the globe it might come. The call for a trained MP. Maybe it's Germany and one of the many important MP functions there, the Highway Patrol. This outfit is responsible for the remarkable job of reducing the accident fatality rate on German roads from four times greater than that of the U.S. to less than America's highway death rate. And the operation entails something more than watching out for speed violators and careless drivers. Attention all cars, stolen truck. The profits run high on stolen government property, but the military police are constantly putting practitioners of the trade out of business. Railroad security is another important function of the military police. In Germany, an MP railroad guard battalion carries out this vital task. Critical military supplies and equipment are landed at forts of embarkation and then shipped by rail. Since it is the responsibility of railroad guards to prevent pilferage and sabotage, the men undergo special training to prepare for this assignment. Stress is placed on the ingenious methods employed by criminals and enemy agents. And MPs learn to anticipate and recognize the devices peculiar to pilferers and saboteurs of many nations. Although railroad guard MPs often patrol lonely, relatively peaceful areas, they are also trained to protect supply lines in combat. Protecting military mail is another duty of the railroad guard MPs. Mail for U.S. troops in Europe arrives in the U.S. zone of Germany, then is shipped by rail. Military policemen ride mail cars to see that the mail gets through to every U.S. outpost in Europe. To travel on trains run by the U.S. military, such as the Frankfurt Berlin Express, passengers must have proper travel documents. U.S. MP railroad guards make certain that no unauthorized persons slip on board. As in most military police assignments, this requires vigilance tempered by tact and courtesy. When the train starts on its journey, military policemen will be on board. During the 110-mile trip across the Russian zone of Germany, it is the responsibility of railroad guards to protect passengers. Their orders are to assure a safe, uninterrupted passage across the Russian zone. But this is not always an easy task. Trains have been stopped in the past, sometimes leading to an explosive situation requiring cool heads. A train similar to the Frankfurt Berlin Express, called the Mozart, passes through the Russian zone of Austria. It travels from Munich to Vienna. From the time passengers climb aboard a military train, until they disembark, MP railroad guards make sure that everything goes smoothly. MPs in the U.S. sector of Berlin have one of the touchiest jobs ever assigned the military police corps. Working on a powder keg, they must employ tact and diplomacy as two of their most important weapons. With most streets separated from the Soviet sector only by a barricade, each MP realizes that in a sense, he must be an unofficial U.S. diplomatic representative. MPs have jurisdiction over U.S. military forces and those U.S. civilians working with the army. But they must work in close cooperation with the West German police. The last horse platoon in the United States Army has been organized to help keep the delicate situation in Berlin from getting out of hand. Their primary function is to quell civil disturbances. Quick military policemen have been given intensive training as horsemen. Here they go into a wedge formation. Like their dismounted brothers, they have discovered that the wedge can be very effective in subduing rioters with a minimum of injury to all concern. And like their dismounted counterparts, they have been trained to execute formations with speed and precision. These MPs double as steeple-chase jockeys. When trouble lies ahead, they're prepared to hurdle any obstacles in the way. Another activity of the military police in Germany is the customs unit. Although customs points are essentially the responsibility of the German customs police, U.S. military policemen work in close cooperation with them. Sometimes their work can be routine, such as checking the credentials and baggage of an American sergeant and his wife, bound for leave in Italy. Far from routine, however, are the efforts of U.S. military police to prevent the flow of strategic materials into the Soviet orbit. Through deception and falsified documents, Russia's attempts to overcome shortages of strategic materials has led to one of the greatest organized smuggling rings in history. To combat it, MPs must match wits with some of the cleverest black marketeers, crooks and near crooks in the business. Smuggling activities have become so widespread that the opportunists who spearhead them have been called Russia's sixth column. Every freight train that leaves the American zone, destined for the Soviet zone or a Soviet satellite, is carefully checked to stop the sixth column from sneaking badly needed items like steel, machine tools, and chemicals into the iron curtain country. In our own country, you see the men wearing the brissards on the trains, along with their counterparts of the Navy, the shore patrol, polite, helpful, but forceful, checking travel orders, identification, preventing trouble where possible, dealing with it sternly, swiftly when it comes. You'll find the MPs on duty at the harbors, the ports of embarkation, at the docks where military supplies and personnel are headed overseas, on guard against pilferage, sabotage, fire, helping to make sure the shipments are going to get where they are needed. And of course, the MPs have been busy in Korea. A tremendous job, traffic control, and complicated with a desperate refugee problem in keeping the roads open for the movement of the men, machines, and supplies of war. The dispossessed, the uprooted, the homeless ones in the wake of war. And at the moment of stern military necessity, these people still must be dealt with in the decent way of a democracy. Refugee control, another job of the military police. And on the job, making sure with detection devices that the enemy is not using our humanitarianism to smuggle in weapons behind the line. Road reconnaissance 2, a part of traffic control. A bridge bombed out, a road blocked, and the MPs have to come up fast with the answers on the alternate routes, detours. And so road reconnaissance crews keep constant check on routes, condition of bridges, facilities of every road in the area. Security behind the lines in a combat zone is pretty much up to the military police too. In Korea, it meant a constant alert and plenty of action against roving guerrilla bands. In Panmunjom, site of the Korean truce negotiations and the prisoner exchange, it was the MP who guarded the security of United Nations personnel and documents meant to be depended upon in a delicate situation to carry on their duties without incident while rubbing elbows with the enemy. The job too of watching out for enemy action in the neutral zone, guarding against the communists taking advantage of the flag of truce. And it's up to the military police to handle the prisoners of war. Besides the responsibility of preventing escape, the MP must see that prisoners are treated in full accord with the provisions laid down by the Geneva Convention. Article 13, prisoners must be protected against violence, intimidation, insults and public curiosity. Article 16, prisoners shall be treated without any adverse distinction based on race, nationality, religious belief or political opinions. Article 19, prisoners shall be evacuated as soon as possible after their capture to camps far enough from the combat zone to be out of danger. Article 26, the basic daily food rations shall be sufficient in quantity, quality and variety to keep prisoners in good health. Article 27, clothing shall be supplied to prisoners in sufficient quantities to make allowance for the climate of the region. No prisoner may be employed on labor of an unhealthy or dangerous nature. Stern vigilance with human decency. The MP way of handling prisoners of war. Amphibious operation and landing party away, including the military police. The fighting cop, the policeman who storms his way in to take over his beam. He moves in with the infantry and then he gets going on all the special duties. Strangler control, prisoner handling. He's the man with the answers and the directions on the beachhead. Essential supplies are coming in fast and it's the MP who has to see that a critical bottleneck doesn't develop. Traffic control and has got to be a map tucked away in an MP's head. He's the authority on routes and installations and his information must be up to the latest shift in the battle line. Knowledge of the latest road under fire. Nobody loves a cop, they say, except when you need one. Well, the US soldier around the world has learned that he'll find the MP by his side in time of need. His fellow soldier knows the military policeman as a soldier second to none. He's found the work of the MPs a vital part in our nation's defense. The cross pistol emblem of the military police. The fighting police force of your army. General Maglin will sum up what it can mean to you. Today's military policeman, you will agree, is equally at home in his combat gear or in his snappy town patrol uniform. He can fight in combat when his duties are required. In enforcement, he doesn't look for trouble. He looks out for trouble. When a military policeman was warned or even apprehended a serviceman, his approach is professional. There's nothing personal about it. It's a job that has to be done. From Korea to Alaska to the Iron Curtain in Europe to Africa, he is rendering assistance. Maintaining order, directing traffic and providing security for our fighting machine.