CAMP MCGREGOR, N.M. -- Senior leadership from the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal visited with 200th Military Police Command Soldiers during Exercise Guardian Justice May 14-15 located in a remote training area of Fort Bliss, Texas.
Canadian Col. Tim Grubb and Chief Warrant Officer Richard Day had a special reason to visit with Soldiers assigned to the 300th Military Police Brigade at the premiere military police training exercise, which brings military police to the isolated training facility to fine-tune their tactics and procedures.
Soldiers are going through the two-week training event with more than 20 Canadian Forces military police as part of an inaugural training partnership between the Reserve and Canadian Forces, who were invited by Maj. Gen. Sanford Holman, the commanding general for the 200th MPC.
Grubb and Day wanted to see firsthand not only how his Canadian Forces were integrated with the Reserve Soldiers, but also how U.S. forces conduct military police operation training.
"What we are trying to do is integrate a lot of our training to ensure that we are working to the same standards so that on the battlefield or on an operation, wherever we might be, we can work cooperatively together and towards a common mission," said Grubb.
Grubb and his staff are responsible for developing policies and plans to guide the management of security and Military Police resources of the Canadian Forces.
The CFPM is the Branch Advisor for the Canadian Forces Military Police Branch. He is also the Commander of the CF Military Police Group, exercising command and control over several Military Police units.
"This is an amazing opportunity for both countries," he said while watching his Soldiers talking the Reserve Soldiers. "Hopefully, each side walks away with a better understanding of who they are both professionally and personally."
Brig. Gen. Phillip Churn, the deputy commanding general for the 200th MPC, and Command Sgt. Maj. Abbe Mulholland, the 300th Military Police Brigade's senior enlisted Soldier, escorted the small Canadian staff around the small training facility.
"This is an incredibly important partnership with our neighbors to our North," Churn said. "As military police we are a small group of professionals, and learning from each other is a winning formula for success for both countries."
Churn said he hopes the joint training exercise continues for years to come, and he would like to see Reserve Soldiers training in Canada in the future.
"We must continue to train as we fight, and having our Soldiers eating, living and training side-by-side with their Canadian counterparts demonstrates that we are giving our warfighters the best possible and most realistic training for military police," Churn said. "Guardian Justice sets the standard for military police operations training."
After meeting with Churn, Grubb said the two reached an understanding that it is essential for both organizations to continue the joint training.
"There has to be a common level of understanding between the two institutions," Grubb said about the importance of bringing the two countries together. "It's fantastic. It's been a great opportunity for my military police to work with U.S. Army military police."
He said both sides must know how to work together and be best employed together.
"Historically, we have been deployed on so many operations with U.S. forces it makes complete sense that we would be as much integrated as possible in terms of having a common look and feel for the two military police organizations," he said.
The partnership brings together the nearly 14,000 Soldiers assigned to the Fort Meade-based 200th MPC with the Canadian Military Police Branch, which has more than 2,000 military members augmented by civilian personnel working within more than 90 units and detachments across Canada and at its headquarters in Ottawa.
"It's pretty marvelous that we are able to pull together as a much bigger entity," Grubb said. "We both belong to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and we both maintain standards and common expectations of our forces."
Although most forces associate MP with military police, Grubb said it is much bigger.
"The military police are a marvelous example of multi purpose," he said. "We tend to be a force that can be used anywhere, any time and in any conflict."
With the US Army having more than 60,000 military police within its ranks across the Reserve, Guard and Active components, Grubb pointed out the importance of maintaining partnerships for training, especially with the lower number of troops deployed into combat operations.
"It's important to maintain that esprit de corps and those connections between our two forces," he said. "Training is very similar in many aspects. We focus a little bit more on the law enforcement side of the house as opposed to focusing on combat support role operations."
After two weeks of intense training, Grubb said he hopes both sides walk away with a better understanding of the history and cultures of the others countries.
"I want them to have an understanding of us as (fellow North Americans)," he said. "There indeed are a lot more similarities than there are differences."
He said all military police must have an understanding of how the other organization thinks and how it reacts to things.
Grubb said the Canadian Forces will leave New Mexico with a very positive attitude about the Army Reserve.
"Specifically, in terms of their professionalism," he said. "You have a very large Army Reserve force that is very committed to supporting the U.S. Army wherever they go, and I think that will rub off on our people; and (it's a force) we want to be associated with."
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