Military Police Job

[JW03]

I've been in the Army for a year and a half now, and I was in training at Eglin to become an EOD Tech. I recently failed this school and am being reclassed to "needs of the Army". I received orders today for 31B - Military Police. This is not what I signed up to do by any means, but there is nothing I can do supposedly. I have a report date next week. Does anyone here have any advice/insight on this job? Any input is appreciated!

 

[Boss3209]

Depending on where you are assigned after finishing the school, you may love it or hate it. Some bases are garrison duty (no field work) just like being the local police, answering calls, working wrecks, writing tickets.

You could also get assigned to a unit that has NO road time, where all you do is site security.

I spent 5 years as a MP (95B back then) and my first assignment was in Germany on a Hawk missile site and all we did was site security and I transferred to Fort Jackson which was ALL garrison work. I enjoyed my time spent as a MP, hopefully you will as well.

Good luck with whichever assignment you get.

 

[truefiveo]

Gonna be completely blunt with you.

This is something you must have a passion to do.
Are you interested in learning more in depth about weapons(not that simple basic training combat arms training)
Are you interested in military base law enforcement?
Are you interested in riot control and searching and handcuffing techniques?
Do you see yourself issuing people citations who break the law?
Do you see yourself sitting at a gate waving traffic and checking IDs for 12 hours out of a day?

I was military LE for 4 years and all of the washouts Id seen thrown into my career field absolutely hated it and were disgruntled troops.
Most didn't last their second year and got booted out.

Washing out of the school of the job you desire to do can suck and be very depressing.

Did they offer you any other options??
How does one with a high enough ASVAB score and TS clearance eligibility for EOD Tech only qualify for MP afterwards??
But see that's where the military gets you where you wash out a school and they give you the option of putting you where
they really need you or getting the boot and going home because you failing the school has put you at the mercy of these two decisions

I really hate the fact that our Military Law Enforcement career fields are perceived as the job you will wash out into if you don't do good in any other MOS.
The military needs to cut that crap out already.
Law enforcement isn't something you wash out and land into without any desire or motivation to do.

Good thing is most of our base gates are now manned by private contractor civilians,
back in my day you started off on the gate your first year and when you proved yourself a good troop and tested on your job knowledge you promoted to patrolman and then dispatcher/LE Desk
Deployment wise MPs now patrol outside the wire just as infantry guys do and they are just as combat equipped and ready for enemy contact

Either way man its your choice to either adapt and overcome and make the best of this setback do your time to learn it like it and just do
your 2 or 4 years and seperate and try another branch of service

or

do your term and then apply to reclass/retrain into something else that your ASVAB score and Security Clearance allows you to apply for.

 

[clbailey]

Just wash out of MP if you dont think youll like it and try the Marine Corps or Air Force once your out. I know they both say they wont take prior service but the people that say that are full of crap.

 

[JW03]

I have a 6 year contract. So I still have 4.5 to go. It was pretty upsetting to fail EOD school... especially with an 84. I'm not the type person to be a pos or negative... and hate to consider myself a washout. I will take the job seriously and try to be the best at it that I can be. I was really looking for details about what the job entails both stateside and deployed.

 

[JW03]

And yes I do have a TS clearance... and scored an 88 on the asvab. I know that isn't the highest in the world but I would have thought it would give me more than just MP

 

[truefiveo]

I have a 6 year contract. So I still have 4.5 to go. It was pretty upsetting to fail EOD school... especially with an 84. I'm not the type person to be a pos or negative... and hate to consider myself a washout. I will take the job seriously and try to be the best at it that I can be. I was really looking for details about what the job entails both stateside and deployed.

Thats a great attitude to have man!:beer:

What else do you want to know?

BTW I wouldn't recommend failing out of MP school you DO NOT want to loose your TS Clearance and forfeit all benefits if you get booted out.

 

[runsonboost]

Im pretty sure the Marine Corps and Army both use FLW as their MP school and the course is pretty much the same for both branches. I was a Marine MP, though 5831, so I worked in the Brig. It wasnt bad really, learned alot about how to talk to people and de-escalate situations, searching, handcuffing and watching how people act/react. Alot of good qualities if your looking for a job in law enforcement after your military career. You have the right attitude, do the best you can with what your given. I saw alot of Marines that were pissed off at the world for their position and in turn did shitty jobs and tried to drag everyone else down. Dont be that guy. TS clearance, GI Bill benefits and all the other VA benefits are great to have once you get out. Alot of guys in the brig I talked to didnt realize how badly they were screwing themselves by throwing all that away just to get out of the military. Stick it out with a good attitude and take every chance you can to learn something new, dont be afraid to ask questions. When you ask questions and apply the things you learn people will take notice and things will work out great for you. Good Luck! Have Fun!

 

[Beerdog80]

Just wash out of MP if you dont think youll like it and try the Marine Corps or Air Force once your out. I know they both say they wont take prior service but the people that say that are full of crap.

Uhh...sorry to burst your bubble but the Air Force will only accept other prior service folks if they have a technical specialty they have a need for.

Since he already failed out of EOD (and especially if he fails out of MP school) there is about a .00001% chance the AF would take him.

 

[Beerdog80]

Alot of good qualities if your looking for a job in law enforcement after your military career. You have the right attitude, do the best you can with what your given. I saw alot of Marines that were pissed off at the world for their position and in turn did shitty jobs and tried to drag everyone else down. Dont be that guy.

Great advise. Move on with your career, accept what you have been handed (in this current situation) and try your hardest. That way, no one can say you didn't give it your best shot. In the military, the right attitude will go a long way.

TS clearance

After 5 years from the clearance date, it will be downgraded to a regular secret clearance. MP's do not require a TS.

 

[truefiveo]

Just wash out of MP if you dont think youll like it and try the Marine Corps or Air Force once your out. I know they both say they wont take prior service but the people that say that are full of crap.

What are you talking about??

None of that is good advice.

He shouldn't just simply fail out of MP school thinking he can jump into another branch.

What makes you think the Air Force wants to recruit a prior service person who's failed 2 schools and has a revoked clearance?

But yea what do we know we are full of crap:nono:

 

[megameGT500]

OP,
Do your best, keep a positive attitude and complete your "needs of the Army" mission. It's all about internal fortitude and doing your best with what you are given. Life will present more opportunities for you if you continue to just drive on and honor your contract. Besides, who knows, you might like the MOS. At Fort Sill, MP's augment the civilians on the gates but they also patrol with the post LE. Opportunities are out there, it's going to come down to your attitude and perception.... it's going to be what you make it. BTW that TS might come in handy for a CID job. Good Luck!!!

Also, do not get down on yourself for having to reclass.... it happens, next mission.

 

[wildride02gt]

OP: sorry to hear you washed-out on EOD training. I know it sucks to think that you will not be doing what you signed up for, but at least they didn't just toss you. with all of the budget issues and talk of major drops in troop count, I'd say you got lucky. Keep the good attitude about you and you will be fine.
Honestly, many soldiers end up doing nothing like what they initially trained for. I was trained as a mechanic. I ended up as a team leader on a gun truck when we deployed. I spent most of my time doing everything other than turning a wrench.
Good luck with the new training, and keep your spirits up. The last thing you wanna do now is get tossed from or leave the service.

 

[Beerdog80]

but at least they didn't just toss you. with all of the budget issues and talk of major drops in troop count, I'd say you got lucky.

Good point. I have a civilian who works with me that failed out of a linguist academy after over a year in training (no other negative administrative actions) and the AF politely showed him the door.

 

[04SloSnake]

Most MP's I know actually really enjoy their job. Too many jobs in the military consist of doing the same thing every day and it gets old quick. The guys I have talked to like the constantly changing environment of the job.

 

[ragingclue]

It seems to be one of those MOS's that are what you make them. I had BMOS of 5811 for almost a year when I got to my permanent duty station. I hated it quite a bit, but that's probably mostly because I was only a Lance and there's a ton of shit detail to hand out at PMO, and as an "outsider" who was FAP'd (yeah I said fapped), it was an easy choice for them to hand the crap stuff out to for a while. Eventually it turned out not to be too bad once we started riding along and responding to calls, but I saw a lot of people who were miserable in that MOS, and some others who really had a passion for it.

I don't know if your branch does it like mine, but my best advice to you is if you're going the MP route, make sure to keep your ass in check for as long as possible once you get to your duty station and make sure to follow the lead of the right mentors. This should be true for any MOS, but when I was at my particular PMO post, a lot of guys had determined whether they were going to loathe or love their lives for the next X number of years within the first couple months of getting to their base.

 

[clbailey]

Uhh...sorry to burst your bubble but the Air Force will only accept other prior service folks if they have a technical specialty they have a need for.

Since he already failed out of EOD (and especially if he fails out of MP school) there is about a .00001% chance the AF would take him.

Sorry to burst your bubble but I am Air Force, and work with a prior Marine that didnt have anything to do with aircraft maintenance when he was in the Marines.

 

[Beerdog80]

Sorry to burst your bubble but I am Air Force, and work with a prior Marine that didnt have anything to do with aircraft maintenance when he was in the Marines.

And what does he do now and when did he cross over?

Aircraft maintenance? Yeah, that's a field that is normally short...hence the other comment I made concerning "technical specialty"

 

[Matts00GT]

Sorry to burst your bubble but I am Air Force, and work with a prior Marine that didnt have anything to do with aircraft maintenance when he was in the Marines.

You really missed the point of their posts.

Suggesting for someone to "wash out" of anything is never a good idea.

 

[truefiveo]

Sorry to burst your bubble but I am Air Force, and work with a prior Marine that didnt have anything to do with aircraft maintenance when he was in the Marines.

So your an Air Force Recruiter right????

No didn't think so:smmon: