The issue of branch scarves is addressed in both Army Regulation 670-1 and Department of the Army Pamphlet 670-1. AR 670-1 specifies that branch scarves may be worn with either the Army Service Uniform (ASU) or the utility uniform when prescribed by a local commander during ceremonial events or occasions. DA PAM 670-1, on the other hand, mandates that the scarf be of a bib-type design and issued in the colors associated with particular branches. The green branch scarf worn by members of the Military Police Corps is the same as the one worn by Staff Specialists.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The post of Provost Marshal General has been a temporary one ever since George Washington appointed William Marony to the job in 1776, with Congress invariably disestablishing or dissolving the office almost as soon as the last shot was fired in any major conflict. What is truly startling about the position, however, is not so much the light-switch mentality Congress seemed to display regarding the office, but just how short the tenures were of many of the officers who were assigned to it.
During World War I, for example, the Office of the Provost Marshal General for the American Expeditionary Force was established in July, 1917 and Colonel Hanson E. Ely was tapped as its head—only to be replaced a month later by Colonel William Allaire, commander of U.S. troops in Paris. Allaire was promoted to Brigadier General and, thanks to be provided an assistant to handle all Military Police not assigned to military units, was able to handle the workload for a full year before being replaced by Lieutenant Colonel John Groome.
Groome was in office for a mere three months when he was replaced Brigadier General Harry Bandholtz. Bandholtz brought much-needed reform to the office and was a fervent advocate of a permanent Military Police Corps—but even so served as the Provost Marshal General for less than a year.
The office was dissolved after World War I but revived as World War II loomed on the horizon, with Major Allen Guillon named as the Provost Marshal General on July 31, 1941, followed shortly thereafter the establishment of the Military Police Corps as permanent, basic branch of the Army on September 26, 1941. Between 1941 and 1974, ten Provost Marshal Generals would be tasked with ensuring that the overseeing the Military Police and Criminal Investigations. From 1974 to 2003, however, that number fell quite bit—to zero, to be precise.
That’s because the Army made the decision to discontinue the office and hand over its functions, personnel, and equipment to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff – Personnel and Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff – Operations. Several reasons prompted the Army’s decision, including the desire to avoid redundancy of enforcement between different agencies and departments as well as changing operational needs.
The office was re-established on January 30, 2003 when the Department of the Army publicly announced that a new position—Provost Marshal General—was being created on the Army Staff. A concept plan for a new, permanent Office of the Provost Marshal General was approved in August, 2003, with an effective date of September 26, 2003—the sixty-second anniversary of the establishment of the Military Police Corps.
In the fourteen years since then, there have been five Provost Marshal Generals, with the most recent, Major General Mark Inch, assuming command in October 2014.