The Provost Marshal Office: What is it and what do they do?

By CourtesySeptember 8, 2013

By U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark S. Prince

ASG-QA, Provost Sergeant

DOHA, Qatar-The Military Police Corps can trace their lineage back to the Revolutionary War. During the Revolutionary War, the Military Police Corps or the provost marshal's as they were called were responsible for maintaining jails and supervising executions.

Initially, the provost marshal was made up of miscellaneous units and personnel with limited duties, however on May 27, 1778, Congress formally authorized the provost marshal's office under the Marechaussee Corps (French term for Provost Marshal).

The provost marshal's responsibilities quickly transformed from limited law and order duties to patrolling camps, rear area security, and handling of prisoners of war. Those duties have continued to grow throughout the last 240 years. Nevertheless, the fundamentals of assisting, protecting, and defending have remained the same. The provost marshal's duties on Camp As Sayliyah are no exception.

The PMO on CAS is responsible for assisting and advising the Area Support Group-Qatar commander on policing, investigations, force protection, and antiterrorism. To include law enforcement, criminal investigations, physical security, access control, high risk personnel protection, as well as biometric identification.

In addition, the CAS PMO coordinates with appropriate federal, state, local, international, and host nation law enforcement agencies on a variety of policing, force protection, and community engagement missions.

Assisting the ASG-QA commander and protecting personnel on CAS 24-hours a day, seven days a week requires a team effort between a diverse group of individuals with unique specialties.

The CAS PMO is composed of a PMO staff, Military Working Dogs, the 197th Law and Order Detachment, and the 753rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal. The PMO staff is the equivalent of the operations staff section within a brigade and ensures all policing, force protection, and antiterrorism measures are implemented, coordinated, and controlled as directed by the provost marshal and ASG-QA commander.

The duties of military working dogs and their handlers include bomb detection and deterrence. The 197th Military Police Detachment provides protection and the safeguarding of law and order on camp.

Finally, EOD which typically does not fall under the provost marshal, protects CAS by standing ready to respond and dispose of any explosive threat.

The aforementioned responsibilities of the CAS PMO are complex, diverse, and challenging. The office responsibilities require a group of individuals that are flexible, adaptable, and experts in their field craft. "Team PMO" encompasses these qualities, however, "Team PMO" continues to strive for growth, improvement, and enduring professionalism-a professionalism that would make the forbearers of the Marechaussee proud.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome and introduce Camp As Sayliyah's new Provost Marshal, Maj. Andrew W. Sanders, and the new force protection officer, Capt. Derrick Davis.

Gentlemen, welcome to "Team PMO!"