Special Forces Military Police: The 550th Military Police Detachment, 1963-1974

摘要

My first encounter with Special Forces (SF) military police occurred while I was cataloging objects for the Military Police Corps Regimental Museum. 1 found a brassard with the familiar "MP" letters below the teal, arrowhead-shaped SF shoulder sleeve insignia. Curious, I checked the artifact file, but found very little information. I did discover a comment that had been written long ago by a cataloger with the U.S. Army Center of Military History. It stated, "There aren 't any SF MPs [military police]. " After performing research, I was able to discern that the first SF military police unit was the 550th Military Police Detachment, which was authorized by a Department of the Army letter dated 19 March 1963 and was activated on 1 April 1963. The unit was assigned to the U.S. Army South (USARSO), 8th Special Forces Group (SFG), 1 st SF, Fort Gulick, Panama Canal Zone.