Deployed to Vietnam less than four months after its activation, the 18th Military Police (MP) Brigade took part in all but three of the official U.S. Army campaigns during the Vietnam War. The scope of its missions was quite broad, and included convoy escorts, responsibility for port and vessel security, base and installation security, safeguarding VIPs, direct support of combat operations, and of course maintaining law and order. During the Tet Offensive in January, 1968, the brigade was the primary force that repelled Viet Cong attacks throughout the city of Saigon. For its service in Vietnam, the brigade was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm and four Meritorious Unit Commendations.
Following a dozen years of in activation, the brigade was redesignated as a Headquarters and Headquarters Company in 1985. In 1990-1991, it deployed in support of VII Corps during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, as well as the subsequent Operation Provide Comfort to protect Kurdish refugees and deliver humanitarian relief. The unit deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995 as the NATO Implementation Force, and its excellence in the pursuit of fulfilling its mission resulted in it being honored with an Army Superior Unit Award.
The 18th MP Brigade has played an important and ongoing role in the Global War on Terrorism, deploying to Southwest Asia for the first time in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom in February, 2003. During that deployment, the brigade not only was responsible for MP operations in support of combat troops, but also helped create the Baghdad Police Academy and trained Iraqi law-enforcement personnel. The unit also became the first brigade in the U.S. Army to return to Iraq (November 2004), and in keeping with its motto “Ever Vigilant,” its headquarters returned in September 2007 to once again supervise Iraqi police training. To date, the brigade has garnered two Meritorious Unit Commendations and a Valorous Unit Award for the services it performed between 2004 and 2008 in Iraq.
A sword superimposed on
fasces (a bundle of wooden rods that sometimes features the emerging blade of an ax) is the focus of attention in the 18th MP Brigade’s CSIB (official designation: Combat Service Identification Badge). A fasces has long been a symbol of magisterial authority, while the sword is the emblem for the power of military law and order. Only two colors—green and yellow, the colors of the MP Corps—are used in the CSIB, as opposed to the red, black, yellow, and silver found in the brigade’s unit crest.
Related Items
18th Military Police Brigade Patch (SSI)
18th Military Police Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)