Today I went and talked to my local recruiter about joining the Army. Everything thing went well, and I did pretty good on my "Practice ASVAB". He said that if I do decide to join that I will enter as a PFC due to my education. The main MOS I am looking at is a 31B. I am wanting a more personal description of the MOS so to speak. My main concern is that I am wanting to get married after I am done with all my training. Is it possible to really carry a marriage with this MOS? Any help from the MPs here is much apprecated.

Also, the other 2 MOSes I am looking at are 45B Small Arms Repair or 13M MLRS Crewman

MPs? Like all MOS's, we are all busy, especially Active Duty, making a marriage work is always hard work. There are programs in the Military to hlp, Chaplin, family support, Marriage retreats etc. Goodluck!(monkey Pumpers, sorry Im a grunt)

I'm National Guard MP.  When we were in Iraq we did all the jobs.  We ran the POW cage, convey escorts, and Main Supply Route protection.  We saw a lot of action.  They had infantry units stay back at the base and guard the gates while we went out and tangled with the Iraqis.

Was your MP unit the one that lost the Hummer with the .50cal in Salman Pak?

Quoted: Was your MP unit the one that lost the Hummer with the .50cal in Salman Pak?

Ouch, thats gotta sting

You mean lost as in misplaced or lost as in killed or destroyed?  

Regardless, wasn't us, we didn't have .50 cals.  Although we had a shitbag sergeant lose an AT4 off the back of her humvee in Fallujah.

Quoted: You mean lost as in misplaced or lost as in killed or destroyed?   Regardless, wasn't us, we didn't have .50 cals.  Although we had a shitbag sergeant lose an AT4 off the back of her humvee in Fallujah.

The humvee was destroyed, the .50 was captured by the AIF

her humvee in Fallujah.

This is not a problem associated with Infantry

Her? Thank God for the Infantry!

Some people are shitbags, male or female.

Yeah, we used Humvees, hard to use the MK-19 without one.

When we were at LSA Anaconda or FOB St. Mere, the infantry never had to worry about losing stuff in the city, they were always at the gate, guarding it while we tangled with the Iraqis.

Well, I can say from personal experience that being an MP is not an easy job; is not as glamorous as being a Ranger or a Green Beret or even being an Apache driver, but it has its perks and its rewards.



I have travelled the world and have met a lot of people, from Ex Sec. Of The Army Togo West to retired General Colin Powell. Have done humanitarian missions in Guatemala and fought in Iraq and some other stuff that's more mundane but no less important.



All I have to say is that I enjoy my job and amazingly, look forward to every weekend drill I have.

my old lady is a MP at ft wainwright, AK.  try to hold out for a signing bonus.  sometimes they wont give you one or a college loan repayment, so the small arms repairer may be better.  MPs have to enlist for 5 years also.   if you do become a MP, try out for the SRT team.  only time youll get any real training.  all you really do is sit in your car at the gate, or drive around post checking buildings.  civilians work the gates mostly.  hope you like paperwork.

I haven't heard back from my recruiter yet, but I think I may go 45B. Mostly because I have talked to some other MPs that aren't here on the board and the general response is "Go Infantry because thats what you'll be doing" type responses. My future father-in-law who is an E-8 in the Guard thinks that 45B would be better for me since I have a good fasination with firearms. He did tell me to get my ASVAB scores and talk to him before committing to anything.

Quoted: I haven't heard back from my recruiter yet, but I think I may go 45B. Mostly because I have talked to some other MPs that aren't here on the board and the general response is "Go Infantry because thats what you'll be doing" type responses. My future father-in-law who is an E-8 in the Guard thinks that 45B would be better for me since I have a good fasination with firearms. He did tell me to get my ASVAB scores and talk to him before committing to anything.

Your FFIL sounds like a good man listen to him.

MP work can vary from extremely exciting to mind numbingly boring. There are days where you are constantly on the go, and days where you stand in the same place for 12 hours at a time. I had one too many boring days, (more like boring years), and decided it wasn't for me. As a 45b you will be working on the same stuff all the time, but if you like weapons you won't get too bored.

I have to agree with what the other formers MP's have told you. Go infantry, same while deployed, and you get train in the rear instead of directing traffic, dealing with domestic calls, and drunks, much less political  "you are MP, we set the standard" bullshit.

"MP's Lead the way......Hooah"

MPs, No CIB for you, as their not a combat MOS(Armor, Arty, Infantry). Some Infantry may have been regulated to FOB security, but most where acutally doing combat missions, such as our Battalion. Funny though everytime we got into a firefight in JD, the MP platoon at the police station always popped smoke. You got good units and bad, Mp and Infantry.

I'm an MP at Ft. Campbell and its a busy lifestyle.  Lots of deployments and lots of work in garrison.  I wish that I had picked Infantry instead, but oh well.  To late now I guess.

Keep in mind though, that MP's are very very close to combat arms.  My company has more weaponry then a light infantry company.

Over 30 years ago, but I was assigned to 523rd MP Co at Aberdeen.  3 days, 3 swings, 3 midnights, 3 days off.  Now that was a schedule you could not adjust to.

Quoted: Over 30 years ago, but I was assigned to 523rd MP Co at Aberdeen.  3 days, 3 swings, 3 midnights, 3 days off.  Now that was a schedule you could not adjust to.

And I thought that my schedule sucked.  Although 3 months straight of day shift wore me out too.  0400-1600 5-6 days a week wears a person out.

The most screwed up shift I ever worked was 12 on then 24 off. The 12 on alternated between 6 AM and 6 PM so you were in a constant state of flux. You would get off duty and had the choice of trying to stay awake for the next 12 hours, for a total of 24 hours without sleep, then sleep for 12. Or you could crash right away, get up, then crash again before you had to go on duty. Working straingt 14 hour days after that was a breeze.

I did 8 years as an MP and now I work as a Deputy.  As an MP there are a lot of different "jobs" you can end up doing.  As infantry you basically know what to expect.
I did just about every aspect of the job.  I was first sent to Johnston Atoll and did physical security for chemical weapons, that was a 1 year stint without the wife (now ex).
Then I went to Ft Hood and was with the 1st Cav.  There we did rotations of working the road and going to the field, although we were in the field most of the time.  We did a rotation to Kuwait for 4 months and did combat support ops there.
When I got back I lucked out and got a job as a driver for the ADC (Assistant Division Commander) a 1 star general.  That was fun and I got to see a whole other side of the Army.  The schedule was brutal though as I was on the Bosses schedule and I worked mega hours.  I did get to go to schools and they took really good care of me.  We did a bunch of rotations to the NTC, JRTC and deployed to Bosnia for 9 months.  In Bosnia I worked as driver for the PSD team and that was cool (no guard duty or other BS when you work with the command group)
I then became the CG's driver.  That was also cool but the hours were hell.  More NTC and time in the field.
At that point I was thinking about getting out but then found out there were MP's at Macdill AFB in Florida.  I re-upped and got Macdill (thanks to the CG).
There I was on the CENTCOM PSD team working for Gen Franks, and what a blast that was.  We were out of the country every month and I traveled around the world.  I was there for the USS Cole bombing, overseas for 911- was on the only flight over the Atlantic since Lindberg since they closed the airspace; went into Afghanistan before ground troops, worked with the State Department at US Embassy's, did stuff with the CIA etc.....
I would highly recommend the MP field.  You never know where your career can take you.  Just be prepared for anything.  You might spend you whole time in a field unit and hate life.  You might spend you whole career and never get deployed.  I had a E6 squad leader do 19 years and never go anywhere, only to get sent to Korea his last year (got to love DA).
I went through 1 wife but I don't blame the Army for that.  Just be prepared for big changes with you and the MRS.  You will change during basic, you will show up with a high and tight haircut and your wife will freak.  You will use acronyms and driver her nuts.  She will see base housing and loose her mind.  Youre gone a lot and she has to hang with the other wifes (watch out!).  Don't let her go the family support group (the family bitch group).  You have to worry about Jody in the closet when your gone or get home (if you join you will learn what that means).
As long as you BOTH know there is a bunch of change ahead you should be ok.
Hope this helps, now that I look back at my time in, I really did enjoy my experience, even when I was sleeping in a fox hole at o'dark hundred with water up to my neck!
When you get out you can basically walk into a LEO job as long as your squared away.
Good luck!
Not your every day MP picture;

I'm not an MP, I'm a Navy Corpsman, but you might want to think about the fact that you will not be very well liked by the rest of the military. The way we regular military see it, you're not like a regular cop, there to protect and serve, you're just there to screw everyone else over.

Not trying to start anything but that is the general consensus in the Navy and Marine Corps.

And you know, Ive had more than one soldier/spouse tell me, "You guys aint so bad." when I see one headed out of a club drunk and I happen to be passing by and give em a lift home. We aren't all about dicking fellow troops over - little shit, most traffic shit, its a, "hey, <slow down/stop completely/buckle up.> and have a good day.

Hell, Ive saved a medic on post from trouble a couple of times - didnt have the money for a taxi, swing by the gate, run him to the ATM and back, and keep the taxi driver from dicking him over cause the taxi left the meter running.

"Death Before Dismount" wish that applied to me on my last drill (we had a road march).

To borrow a tanker phrase: "Why carry your weapon, when your weapon can carry you."

Quoted: Quoted: I haven't heard back from my recruiter yet, but I think I may go 45B. Mostly because I have talked to some other MPs that aren't here on the board and the general response is "Go Infantry because thats what you'll be doing" type responses. My future father-in-law who is an E-8 in the Guard thinks that 45B would be better for me since I have a good fasination with firearms. He did tell me to get my ASVAB scores and talk to him before committing to anything. Your FFIL sounds like a good man listen to him.

Yes, very sound advice.  If you would like more information and guidance (not that your FFIL can't handle it), you may want to check out ArmyParatrooper.org.  Although it's a Paratrooper site, don't be fooled, there are all types of folks there.  They have a mentor program for people that are wanting to join the military.  The mentors are active duty, reserve, NG, and vets.  I would suggest checking it out.