89th Military Police Brigade

The mission of the 89th Military Police Brigade is to, on order, deploy worldwide to provide command and control and coordinate military police operations of assigned or attached units in support of III Corps and US Army Forces Command (FORSCOM). Previously, the Brigade's mission had been to alert, marshal, and deploy military police units anywhere in the world to provide combat military police support to III Corps during war and contingency operations. The unit was also tasked with providing law enforcement and community assistance to the soldiers, families, and visitors to III Corps and Fort Hood.

The 89th Military Police Brigade was a major subordinate command of III Corps. The 89th Military Police Brigade was a combat ready, deployable force, which stood ready to support worldwide contingency operations. During peacetime, it conducted daily 24-hour continuous enforcement and security support to the community of Fort Hood, Texas. The Brigade's primary mission was to support III Corps as a major subordinate command in peace and in war. Additionally, the 89th Military Police Brigade and its subordinate units were prepared, if called, to support other major headquarters for contingency missions on a worldwide basis.

The 89th Military Police Brigade was first constituted in the Regular Army on 19 February 1966 as as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 89th Military Police Group and activated on 15 March 1966 in the Republic of Vietnam. There its mission was to provide general military police support for the III and IV Corps Tactical Zones. While in Vietnam, the Group recieved participation credit for 14 campaigns: Counteroffensive, Counteroffensive Phase II, Counteroffensive Phase III, Tet Counteroffensive, Counteroffensive Phase IV, Counteroffensive Phase V, Counteroffensive Phase VI, Tet 69/Counteroffensive, Summer-Fall 1969, Winter-Spring 1970, Sanctuary Counteroffensive, Counteroffensive Phase VII, Consolidation I, and Consolidation II. With the departure of US forces from Vietnam, the Group was inactivated at Fort Lewis, Washington on 21 December 1971.

On 13 September 1972, the unit was reactivated at Fort Lewis, Washington. The 89th Military Police Group was designed to command and control the operations of 3 to 5 military police battalions and other assigned or attached units. Additionally, it provided a Provost Marshal Staff Section to the Corps headquarters when assigned as the 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 Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 89th Military Police Group was reorganized and redesignated as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 89th Military Police Brigade.

After the reorganization, the 89th Military Police Brigade deployed around the world in support of US Army missions, whether during war or humanitarian service. The soldiers of the 89th Military Police Brigade have found themselves supporting operations in Honduras, Panama, Cuba, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Virgin Islands, Bosnia, and Hungary. Such operations included disaster relief after Hurricane Hugo in 1989; Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-91; and Operation Sea Signal in support of JTF-160 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, between June and November 1994.

Personnel from the 89th Military Police Brigade were deployed in January 2002 to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to serve as the headquarters element for a new Joint Task Force 160 (JTF-160). They were replaced in May 2002 by personnel from the 43rd Military Police Brigade from the Rhode Island National Guard. The unit of the 89th Military Police Brigade that was deployed was the 401st Military Police Company, from Fort Hood, Texas, which was assigned to the 720th Military Police Battalion.

The 89th Military Police Brigade deployed to Iraq early 2004, where it took over the mission previously tasked to the 18th Military Police Brigade on 31 January 2004.

By 2005, the Brigade was composed of active, reserve and National Guard units. Under the 89th Military Police Brigade's command and control, these units provided maneuver and mobility support, area security, internment and resettlement, police intelligence and law enforcement operations in support of III Corps in times of war.

The 89th Military Brigade had units at several locations. Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 89th Military Police Brigade, 720th Military Police Battalion, and the 178th Military Police Detachment were all located at Fort Hood, Texas. The 978th Military Police Company was also in Texas at Fort Bliss. Two companies, 300th Military Police Company and 977th Military Police Company were located at Fort Riley, Kansas. The 463rd Military Police Company was at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri. The Brigade also exercised operational control for a period over the 759th Military Police Battalion, located at Fort Carson, Colorado. While in garrison, the unit was under the control of the 43rd Area Support Group, part of FORSCOM.

The military police soldiers assigned to the Brigade had the unique opportunity to perform the full spectrum of military police jobs, which were available at Fort Hood. During peacetime operations, the Brigade provided daily law enforcement support and community assistance to the soldiers, civilian workforce, families and visitors to III Corps and Fort Hood. This support was a combined effort of the 2 division military police companies then at Fort Hood (from the 1st Cavalry Division and the 4th Infantry Division), the 720th Military Police Battalion, the 178th Military Police Company, and the military and civilian workforce assigned to the office of the III Corps and Fort Hood provost marshal. This support included criminal investigations, traffic enforcement and accident investigation, community education, crime prevention, physical security, support to US Customs, Special Reaction Team, confinement and prisoner escort, police patrols, police reports and records and military working dogs operations.

With the realignment of units at Fort Hood and elsewhere within III Corps as part of both the Base Realigment and Closure (BRAC) recommendations and the transformation to of the US Army to the modular force structure, the 89th Military Police Brigade was reorganized. The elements of the Brigade at Fort Hood were grouped into the 720th Military Police Battalion. Those at Fort Bliss were formed into the 93rd Military Police Battalion and those at Fort Riley, previously assigned to the 924th Military Police Battalion (Provisional) were formed into the 97th Military Police Battalion. Both of these Battalions were assigned to the Brigade. Units not consolidated were reassigned or inactivated. By 2010, the Brigade also provided administrative control at Fort Hood, Texas for the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, detached from the 4th Infantry Division, which began to consolidate at Fort Carson, Colorado in 2006, as well as the 11th Military Police Battalion (Criminal Investigation Division).