The Marine Corps has announced its creation of law enforcement battalions designed to help terrorism. These battalions are the first of their type in the Marines. They are made up of specialized forces of military police officers. They are trained to help worldwide regarding crime investigations including terrorism, drug trafficking, and the training of security forces in other allied nations.
The military move is one that will hopefully help other countries learn how to investigate crimes, as well as to assist in any way possible to eliminate drug trafficking, terrorism, and other crimes. Three battalions began their military moves last month.
Each battalion has about 500 military police officers, along with military dogs to help them investigate. These battalions have existed since WWII, but they were mostly for security purposes. The terrorism and drug trafficking parts of the battalions are new. The concept is meant to show the flexibility and resourcefulness that the military can have, even with defense cuts.
Many of the officers will be moved to their new posts in the coming months. Some will be moved overseas, while others will be in local bases, such as Camp Pendleton, awaiting their service needs. For the moment they will help allied forces only, but if the concept is successful they may be able to help other countries that the US is in negotiation with regarding better relationships. For now the Marine Corps is concentrating on these battalions as a means of protection throughout the world of some of the more dangerous issues.
Jon Huser
