43rd Military Police Brigade (United States)

43rd Military Police Brigade
43rd Military Police Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia
Active	4 March 1959 – present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Military Police Brigade
Role	Military Police
Size	Brigade
Garrison/HQ	Warwick, Rhode Island
Motto(s)	"Protect the Right"
Anniversaries	Birthday - May 1, 1968
Commanders
Current commander	COL Javier Reina
Notable commanders	MG Kevin R. McBride
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia

The 43rd Military Police Brigade is a military police brigade of the United States Army.

Within the Rhode Island Army National Guard, the 43rd Military Police Brigade commands the 118th Military Police Battalion, to which the 115th and 169th Military Police companies are assigned. In addition, the brigade exercises administrative control over 1st Battalion, 103rd Field Artillery.

The headquarters of the 43rd Military Police Brigade is located in Warwick, Rhode Island.

The 43rd Military Police Brigade was constituted 4 March 1959 and allotted to the Rhode Island Army National Guard as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 103d Replacement Battalion. Organized and Federally recognized 1 April 1959 at Providence. Converted and redesignated 18 March 1963 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 43d Engineer Group. Converted and redesignated 1 May 1968 as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 43d Military Police Brigade. Reorganized and redesignated 1 May 1976 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 43d Military Police Brigade.

One of the next major state activations came in 1978. The "Blizzard of '78" crippled the state and forced all units to be called to duty from 6–16 February 1978. The 43rd organized traffic control to allow engineers to perform snow removal. MP's were stationed throughout the downtown area to prevent looting. There had not been a statewide call up since the "Hurricane of '38", thirty-nine years earlier.

Prior to 1986, the 43rd MP Brigade had two subordinate Military Police Battalions - the 118th and the 243rd. The 118th MP Battalion had the 115th and 119th MP companies assigned to it and the 243rd had the 169th and 1111th MP companies assigned to it. In 1986, the 243rd MP Battalion and the 1111th MP Company were deactivated with the 169th MP Company being transferred to the 118th MP Battalion. Other units under the 43d MP Brigade were the 1207th Transportation Company and Company D, 280th Signal Battalion (from 1986 until its deactivation in 1993).

Soldiers from the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 43rd Military Police Brigade, mobilized in April 2002, then deployed from Fort Dix, New Jersey, in May 2002 to the US Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The brigade was under the command of Brigadier General Richard Baccus. There they replaced the 89th Military Police Brigade as the new headquarters element for Joint Task Force – 160 (JTF-160). In early 2002, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) established JTF-160 and JTF-170 to operate a detention and interrogation facility at the naval base. In November of the same year, the two task forces consolidated to become Joint Task Force – Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO). During this period, US military personnel from all five services planned and executed a mission to safely and humanely detain suspected terrorists. Soldiers redeployed in November/December 2002 and demobilized in January 2003. On 28 January 2003, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) to Headquarters, JTF-160, for exceptionally meritorious achievement during the period 4 January – 31 October 2002.