U.S. Army Military Police: The Force of Choice for Defense Support to Civil Authorities

The potential enormity of a domestic incident requiring the use of military forces strikes deeply at our nations identity of domestic peace and tranquility. The federal government recognizes that the primary responsibility for response begins at the lowest municipal level, and ultimately belongs to each state governor and their state National Guard forces. However, the total force Army to include Active and Army Reserve has historically made up for shortfalls in extremis. The question remains, however, as to which capabilities are most desirable for Defense Support to Civil Authorities DSCA. The capabilities inherent in military police formations, specifically the military police core capabilities of policing, investigating, and corrections, along with the military police functional missions of Mobility Support, Wide Area Security, Law Enforcement, Dislocated Civilian Resettlement, and Police Intelligence point towards the right capabilities for successful DSCA operations. This study centers on case studies of two major domestic incidents with involved the use of federal forces, the Los Angeles Riots and Hurricane Katrina. The analysis uses the Cohen-Gooch model of mapping military failures against three independent criteria the training levels of the response forces, the capabilities of the types of units deployed to the area, and the ability of that force to quickly and efficiently integrate with response forces already on the ground. The conclusion of this research validates the capabilities inherent in military police formations as uniquely suited to particular elements of the DSCA mission. The ability of a U.S. Army Military Police headquarters to provide mission command from the perspective of a professional law enforcement organization is not duplicated anywhere within the Department of Defense or Department of Homeland Security.