Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French (Modern French ). While a provost marshal is now usually a senior

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

, they may be a person of any rank who commands any number of MPs; historically, the title was sometimes applied to civilian officials, especially under conditions of

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

, or when a military force had day-to-day responsibility for some or all aspects of civilian

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

(such as some

British colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...

). A provost marshal may also oversee security services,

imprisonment Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

emergency services Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety, security, and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while ot ...

and

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

British Armed Forces

In the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

, the provost marshal is the head of the military police of each service, with the senior military police officers at lower levels being titled deputy or assistant provost marshals. In many cases the provost marshal is in charge of discipline. Provost Marshal is the oldest extant appointment in the British Army. It dates back to early Tudor times but the office was probably in existence in the 12th century. By the end of the 17th Century each

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

had its own provost marshal under the Provost Marshal General. Currently, the provost marshal (army) is also the commander of the

1st Military Police Brigade The 1st Military Police Brigade (1 MP Bde) is a policing formation of the British Army, which is the only one-star command of the Royal Military Police. The brigade was formed in 2014 and is commanded by a brigadier. History Army 2020 Pri ...

Canadian Armed Forces

The Canadian Forces Provost Marshal (CFPM) is the branch advisor for the

Canadian Forces Military Police The Canadian Forces Military Police (CFMP; French: ) provide police, security and operational support services to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Department of National Defence (Canada), Department of National Defence (DND) worldwide. Ab ...

Branch, and also the Commander of the Canadian Forces Military Police Group (CF MP Gp). The CFPM is headquartered in Ottawa and has five sections, each under the command of a Deputy Provost Marshal (DPM): DPM Police, DPM Resource Management, DPM Individual Training and Education, DPM Security, and DPM Professional Standards. The CF MP Gp is composed of the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS), Military Police Security Services (MPSS), Canadian Forces Service Prison and Detention Barracks (CFSPDB), and Canadian Forces Military Police Academy (CFMPA).

German Armed Forces

The chief of the German Military Police ('' Feldjäger'') is called (equivalent to provost marshal general). The German Armed Forces (''

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

'') do not have a specific title for military police officers so in most tactical units and especially in multinational deployments, they will use the English term ''provost marshal''.

New Zealand Defence Force

The provost marshal of the Joint Military Police Unit holds a senior commissioned rank. Currently a colonel holds the provost marshal position for the NZDF. The provost marshal is responsible for all three military police units from the Navy, Army and Air Force.

United States Armed Forces

In the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and United States Marine Corps (USMC), the senior-most military law enforcement officer is the Provost Marshal General (PMG) (Army) or provost marshal (USMC). The US Army PMG is a post that was reinstated in 2003, having been abolished 29 years earlier. The PMG is a general in charge of the United States Army Military Police Corps, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and United States Army Corrections Command (ACC) policy and procedures from the Office of the Provost Marshal General (OPMG) at

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

. The senior MP officer at the theater, corps, division, and brigade level and for each garrison is known as a provost marshal. In many US Army garrisons, a provost marshal is at times also responsible for the provision of fire and physical security as well as law enforcement services and thus is also referred to as the Director of Emergency Services (DES).

Other uses

The British far-right group Britain First also use the rank, presumably as head of their

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

wing 'Britain First Defence Force', with provision for two "provosts marshal" in their official group constitution.

In popular culture

* In the 1988 film The Presidio,

Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...

portrayed Lt. Colonel Alan Caldwell, the base provost marshal.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Canadian Forces Provost Marshal website
Military provost ranks