28th Military Police Company History
The unit was reorganized and redesigned as the 28th MP Co. 24 March 1964. State activations of the unit were initiated during the Pittsburgh riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr (1968), Hurricane Agnes in the Wilkes-Barre Area (1972), the Truckers Strike (1974), the Johnstown Flood (1977), the Glencoe/Hyndman Flood (1984), and Snow Emergency (1991). Personnel were deployed to Panama in July 1996 and February 1999 as part of a two-week training mission. The troops worked at two Army installations: Fort Clayton, at the southern entrance to the Panama Canal, and nearby Fort Kobbe, adjacent to Howard Air Force Base. There, they augmented the U.S. Army's active-duty military police force by working three shifts around the clock, and taking on a variety of law enforcement responsibilities, including guarding gates, screening visitors, patrolling housing compounds and monitoring traffic. In 2000, members of the 28th Military Police Company deployed for three annual training rotations to Italy. There, the MPs took up force protection duties on two high-profile Army posts, side-by-side with their active-duty comrades. Most of the MPs were stationed at Camp Ederle near the heart of the northern Italian city of Vicenza. A small detachment from the 28th MP Company redeployed 200 miles south of Vicenza to Camp Darby, near Pisa. There, they augmented security details at a large supply and equipment depot maintained by the Army to support any contingencies in the region. In 2001, personnel were deployed to Bosnia to assist in peace-keeping duties. 2001 - present: The unit has been involved in numerous deployments to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2017, after 53 years as a separate company within the Division, the 28th MP's were integrated as a subordinate unit into the 165th MP Battalion. Transformation and reorganization of military police units within the 28th Division The division was officially established in 1879 and was later redesignated as the 28th Division in 1917, after the entry of America into the First World War. It is a part of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Maryland Army National Guard, Ohio Army National Guard, and New Jersey Army National Guard. It was originally nicknamed the "Keystone Division," as it was formed from units of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard; Pennsylvania being known as the "Keystone State". During World War II, it acquired the nickname the "Bloody Bucket" division by German forces due to its red insignia. But today the 28th Infantry Division goes by the name given to it by General Pershing during World War I: "Iron Division". The 103rd MP Platoon was formed in July 1917 in Harrisburg, PA. The 28th is one of the most decorated infantry divisions in the United States Army. WWI http://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=157420 The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also known as the Maas-Argonne Offensive and the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front. It was fought from September 26, 1918, until the Armistice of 11 November 1918, a total of 47 days. The MP platoon suffered 3 casualties during this offensive. **CPL Thomas C. Kinsley, 01 October 1918 **Bugler Frank B. Crissman, 3 October 1918 **PVT Paul T. Schultz, 21 October 1918 |
The 1805 Harpers Ferry Flintlock PistolThe 1805 Harpers Ferry Flintlock Pistol was used in the design of the Military Police 'Crossed Pistol' symbol. In 1920, the Army reorganized. There were 5000 infantrymen assigned to the Military Police mission. This caused the War Department to create another temporary arm of the service: the Corps of Military Police. The device and its development were the idea of Captain George M. Chandler, War Department General Staff, U.S. Army. The original 1805 Harpers Ferry pistols for the design were in the collection of Major Jerome Clark, U.S. Army. Drawings for the insignia were made in 1922 by the Heraldic Section, Quartermaster General. The Chief of Staff, General Pershing, signed the drawings and later approved the metal collar mark, still proudly worn by the U.S. Army Military Police Corps. The "Crossed Pistols" insignia for the Military Police Corps was approved in 1923. The device depicts two scale models of the Harper's Ferry officer's sidearm and holster pistol of a century-and-a-half ago, rather than dueling pistols, as some believe. The Crossed Pistols have been the Official symbol of the Military Police Corps since its inception and continue to represent military and martial preparedness. |
GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR
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**SFC Robert Fike 11 June 2010 Received posthumous promotion from SSG to SFC. **SSG Bryan Hoover 11 June 2010 From local and wire reports A Pennsylvania National Guard official said two soldiers from Western Pennsylvania have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan. Guard spokesman Cory Angell said the guardsmen were SFC Robert Fike of Conneautville, Crawford County, and SSG Bryan Hoover of West Elizabeth. He said the attack happened Friday in Zabul province in southeastern Afghanistan while the men were on a foot patrol. Several civilians were killed. SFC Fike, a corrections officer at the State Correctional Institution Albion, had been deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2002 and to Iraq in 2007. His father, James Fike of Stafford, said he loved the military and also loved hunting and fishing as well as being with his daughter. SSG Hoover was a track coach for the Elizabeth Forward School District. Students gathered at the high school on Saturday to place a memorial there and to remember the man one student called a "nice, inspirational coach." They were serving with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's Company C, 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry, in Connellsville. They were providing security with Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul. "These were experienced soldiers who had done other combat deployments and were dedicated to serving the nation and the commonwealth," said Maj. Gen. Randall Marchi, commander, 28th Infantry Division. "It is a tragic loss and we send our heartfelt sympathies to their families and friends." SFC Fike was a 1989 graduate of Penn Trafford High School and earned a bachelor's degree from Edinboro University. He joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in September 1993. In his 16 years of service he served two tours, one in Saudi Arabia from 2002 to 2003 and another in Iraq from 2007 to 2008. His awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals and Iraq Campaign Medal. SSG Hoover earned a bachelor's degree in sports management from California University of Pennsylvania. He joined the Marine Corps in October 1999 and served on active duty until September 2004. In March 2005, after several months in the Marine Corps Reserve, he enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard. His military awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Pennsylvania Commendation Medal, Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Air Assault Badge and Humanitarian Service Medal. Sergeants Fike and Hoover previously served together in Iraq in 2007 and 2008 with the 28th Military Police Company. They were the 35th and 36th soldiers of the Pennsylvania National Guard and the 3rd and 4th 28th Military Police officers killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Article from http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/10165/1065439-84.stm?cmpid=news.xml 28th ID Museum at FIG Fort Indiantown Gap - Barracks Building T-8-57 and Barracks Building T-8-56 - These two World War II vintage buildings at the intersection of Service and Wiley roads hold the history of the Pennsylvania National Guard's 28th Infantry Division as the guard's official museum. USAF Maj. Gen. Frank H. Smoker, Jr. (retired), who was commander of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, had the idea for a museum in 1985. Smoker passed on in 2010 at the age of 85. "He was more than a friend to the museum," said Charles Oellig, who has been the museum's director/curator since 1998 after he retired as a collections technician from the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. He also is a Fellow of the Company of Military Historians. Oellig has served as curator ever since. Oellig served in the 28th's Military Police Company from 1958 to 1964. The 28th traces its history back to Ben Franklin, who formed in 1747 a militia known as the "Association for the Common Defense" or the "Associators." In 1869, it was reorganized by Maj. Gen. John Hartranft (who claimed there were too many generals for his liking) from 22 divisions into one division and renamed the National Guard of Pennsylvania. Gen. Omar Bradley commanded the division from June 1942 to February 1943. And the division played an important role in the Battle of the Bulge. Other noteworthy Local News items Army National Guard Pfc. Patricia A. Bronson has returned to the 28th Military Police Company, in Johnstown, Pa. after being deployed to an overseas forward operating base in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bronson is a chemical operations specialist with two years of military service. She is the daughter of Virginia A. Bronson of N.E. 2nd Ave., Poulsbo. The private is a 2006 graduate of North Kitsap High School. Army National Guard Spec. Nicholas R. Carrico, son of Lorie Kodiak, Brainerd, recently returned to the 28th Military Police Company, Johnstown, Pa., after being deployed to an overseas forward operating base in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Carrico is a health care specialist with eight years of military service. http://www.tribdem.com/news/local_news/area-soldiers-set-for-iraq-war-duty/article_f27b5d82-7533-54aa-8b00-c9a3cbb75da6.html Links of interest: http://www.milvet.state.pa.us/DMVA/3942.htm **MP Historian casualty documents http://www.pngmilitarymuseum.org/annual_histories/28th_ID/28MP2008.pdf http://www.militarypolice.com/index.php?name=news&file=article&sid=10 http://www.ldnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/2015/10/30/county-currents-museum-at-gap-treasure-trove-military/74995492/ http://www.bloodybucket.be/ |
Additional information regarding the history of the 28th Military Police Company from research conducted by LTC Greg Davis (ret) over a period of 20 years. From his beginnings as an enlisted soldier with the 28th MP Company, Davis attended OCS, and served as 28th MP Company Commander from 1991 - 1994 and as the 28th ID Provost Marshal from 2004 - 2007.
note: LTC Davis (ret) also found that the helmet belonging to PFC Kenneth Dagman (the only 28th MP KIA from WWII) is being displayed in a museum in Belgium. Davis also provided this site the grave marker photographs pictured in the World War I section above.
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