Country United States Role Military Police | Branch Active Duty | |
 | ||
Active 15 March 1966 – 21 December 197113 September 1972 – present Type Military Police Brigade | ||
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.
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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 a supporting 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. It is headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas. Almost 1,000 soldiers of the brigade are stationed there.
The Brigade contains five subordinate battalions of military police:
Vietnam War
The 89th Military Police Brigade was originally activated as a "group", roughly the size of a modern regiment. The 89th Military Police Group was constituted in the Regular Army on 19 February 1966 and activated on 15 March of that year in the Republic of Vietnam. The mission of the 89th Military Police Group was to provide general military police support for the III Corps and IV Corps Tactical Zones. 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. With the removal of US forces from Vietnam, the organization was inactivated on 21 December 1971.
On 13 September 1972 the unit was activated at Fort Lewis, Washington. 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. Additionally, it provided a Provost Marshal staff section to the corps headquarters while assigned as their senior military police organization.
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. 1973 & 1974 special members of the 89th PM Group were covertly assigned to Yakima base in Eastern Washington, for special assignments on CID Trafficking via the ASA/NSA center located under ground. PFC Scott Barnes was one member working under orders from MG Gard of Ft. Lewis and Captain Colbert of the MP unit to investigate narcotics trafficking. Source Cited US Congressional Hearings 1986 thru 1989. Classified Hearing as well as in the Book BOHICA 1987 by Scott Barnes and Kiss the Boy's Goodbye by Monika Jensen 2014
Operation Iraqi Freedom
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. 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.
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. During the deployment, it was composed of over 5,000 military police soldiers in the theater. Brigade responsibilities included corrections and security operations. It deployed K-9 units during some operations. 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. The brigade commander would brief US Department of Defense officials in The Pentagon on the current situation, live from Iraq. It suffered several casualties, including a soldier killed by sniper fire, a soldier killed by a suicide car bomb, and two soldiers who died of non-combat related causes. The brigade returned home in October 2007, replaced again by the 18th Military Police Brigade. After this, the brigade resumed its policing roles at Fort Hood.
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. He was acquitted of the charges, though he was convicted of other charges and subsequently dismissed from the military.
Operation Enduring Freedom
The 410th Military Police Company deployed to Afghanistan in May 2009 and returned in May 2010. The 116th Military Police Company, 97th MP BN, 89TH MP BDE deployed to FOB Shinwar, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan from May 2010 to May 2011. The 401st and 64th Military Police Companies deployed to Afghanistan in May 2010 and returned in April 2011. The 411th Military Police Company deployed to Kandahar Province in May 2011 and returned to Fort Hood in May 2012. HHD, 720th Military Police Battalion deployed in December 2011 and returned in December 2012.