Country United States Branch Military Police | Allegiance U.S. Army Reserve Type Separate company | |
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Active 15 October 1942 – 14 June 194526 June 1947 – 15 June 195922 February 1972 – present | ||
The 372nd Military Police Company is a law enforcement unit within the U.S. Army Reserve. The unit is based out of Cresaptown, Maryland. Eleven former members of this unit were charged and found guilty in the Abu Ghraib scandal. Another member of the company, Joseph Darby, was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for exposing the abuse at the prison.
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The 372nd MP Company is credited with the securing and stabilization of the city of AL-Hilla (Babylon), alongside of the 1st Marines (MEF).
The unit was responsible for guarding main supply routes (MSRs).
Unit History
The 372nd Military Police Company was originally activated on 15 October 1942 in Florence, Arizona under the authority of the Ninth Service Command. The unit was given orders in mid-July 1943 to report to Camp Shanks, near Orangeburg, New York. This operation was known as the Naples-Foggai Campaign. The unit also supported the Fifth Army in the Rome-Arno Campaign that began on 22 January 1944 and ended 4 June 1944. The unit has participated in Operation Dragoon in France, Operation Nordwind. The unit was deactivated on 14 November 1945 and then reactivated in Baltimore, Maryland on 26 June 1947. The unit was then relocated to Cumberland, Maryland on South Centre Street. The unit was then deactivated on 15 June 1959. The unit was then re designated Bravo Company of the 336th Military Police Battalion. In January 1964 members of the unit provided site security and acted as guides to the area for the B-52 which crashed in Garrett County. The Unit was then reactivated on 22 February 1972 once again as the 372nd Military Police Company as part of the First Army. The unit drilled at the VFW Hall in Lonaconing, Maryland. On 30 June 1973 the unit shifted its location to Cresaptown, Maryland, where it shared the reserve center with the 265th Ordnance Company. In the mid-1970s the unit recruited its first female military police officer. In 1985 a platoon size element was selected for duty in Operation Bright Star in Egypt and Jordan. In 1986 the entire company was selected to participate in Gallant Eagle in California. Then unit was then activated again on 25 September 1990 for Operation Desert Storm.
Few laters later, during the Iraq War, several detainees at Abu Ghraib prison were abused and humiliated, some of them quite a few times. Charles Graner, Lynndie England, Sabrina Harman and others were later investigated and made to serve time in a military prison.
Lineage
Campaign participation credit
- Naples-Foggia;
- Rome-Arno;
- Southern France (with arrowhead);
- Rhineland;
- Ardennes-Alsace;
- Central Europe
- Defense of Saudi Arabia;
- Liberation of Kuwait;
- Cease-Fire
- Operation Noble Eagle 2001–2002
- Operation Enduring Freedom 2001–2003
- Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003–2004
- Operation Enduring Freedom 2010–2011
- Operation Enduring Freedom 2016-2017