How military police soldiers are trained

US Army military police soldiers are responsible for protecting Army posts by guarding gates, controlling traffic, and responding to emergencies. They also oversee military prisons and detention centers that house uniformed criminals, like the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Business Insider spent four days at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri to see how 31 Bravos and 31 Echos spend 10 weeks training to become military police and detention specialists. Students in military police training learn skills like riot control in a mock prison, detainee operations, and firing weapons like 9-millimeters in limited visibility with the aid of their flashlight.

In early 2024, the Army announced that it would restructure its force as it moves away from counterinsurgency operations, like those used in Afghanistan and Iraq, to large-scale combat operations for potential conflicts with China and Russia. A reported 3,000 soldiers working as cavalry scouts and military police would need to move to new positions. We look into how that could affect the 1,306 military police soldiers training at Fort Leonard Wood and what that could mean for the safety of Army bases around the globe.