Provost Command Sergeant Major

of the U.S. Army
As of January 26, 2012

              

 

The Provost Sergeant Major of the United States Army is a recently established position in the Military Police Corps. The Provost Sergeant Major of the United States Army is the senior MP NCO in the Military Police Corps. Since this position is assigned to the staff of the Provost Marshal General of the U.S. Army, which is a two star post, this Sergeant Major is representing the only two star position in the in the US Army Military Police and therefore is senior within the Corps.

As per Wikipedia, Provost Sergeants have been around for quite a while – “In the United States Army Military Police Corps or United States Marine Corps Military Police, the title of Provost Sergeant typically refers to the operations sergeant in charge of the staff of the Provost Marshal office or the NCO in charge of an MP Station. The position is commonly held by a Sergeant Major or Master Gunnery Sergeant, but may also be held by a Sergeant First Class or a Master Sergeant. U.S. Army Provost Sergeants cannot be recognized by any specific insignia and few Provost Sergeants even wear the distinctive military police identification patch on their Army Combat Uniform.

There was at least one Provost Sergeant at Valley Forge with General Washington and many of the old Cavalry Regiments on the western plains had a Provost Sergeant (as recorded by the 6th Cavalry Regiment historical files and Texas A&M). During the Civil War, both the Confederate and Union Armies had Provost Sergeants and even entire Provost Units. During the Mexican War, the Cavalry units all formed Provost Squads which were led by Provost Sergeants to collect, classify and detain all the Mexican troops which were captured during that action. It should be noted here that these units set up what has become the system used to this day by Military Police Units in any combat action to handle, classify and detain what we now call EPW’s or in days gone by POW’s.

LTG Arthur MacArthur had a Provost Sergeant on his staff when he was the PMG of the Philippines and there has been a Provost Sergeant Major at West Point since anyone can remember. Until 1941, none of the Provost Marshals or Provost Sergeants was of a permanent nature. All of these Provost Generals, Provost Marshals, Provost Sergeants and Provost Units were assigned these jobs on a temporary basis. Cavalry units were most frequently used as provost troops, but it was not uncommon for artillery or infantry units and even invalids from hospitals to be used as Provost Troops.

On 29 October 2003, Major General Donald J. Ryder was sworn in as the Army's Provost Marshal General by Lieutenant General James J. Lovelace, Director of the Army Staff, who hosted the Pentagon ceremony on behalf of the Army Chief of Staff.

The Provost Marshal General existed as a permanent position from 1941 to 1974, with ten individuals serving during the period. The last Provost Marshal General, Major General Lloyd Ramsey (Retired), served from 1970 to 1974.
Nearly 30 years after retiring the Provost Marshal General colors, Major General Ramsey, who is the only surviving former Provost Marshal General, participated in the ceremony by joining Major General Ryder in posting the same colors he cased in 1974. The positional flag, as it is called, was temporarily removed from its home in the Military Police Corps Museum to be part of the ceremony. An Old Guard Military Police Corps member, Specialist Brian Barry, carried the flag and passed it to newly appointed Provost Sergeant Major of the Army, Sergeant Major Brian Deorocki.

Sergeant Major Deorocki, newly appointed Provost Sergeant Major, passes the Provost Marshal
General positional flag to Major General Ramsey, left, and Major General Ryder.

Provost Sergeant Major Deorocki so far as we can determine is the first Provost Sergeant Major in the Army in this permanent post. Although previous Provost Marshal Generals did have substantial staff, most of them in the past were civilians as seen by this chart from 1974 here below.

 

       You will note that the only enlisted person was an E-3 PFC

 

The first official mention that can be found to date for the position of Provost Sergeant Major of the Army in the office of the Provost Marshal General is in the Memorandum dated 19 August 2003 and addressed to Director, Personnel Proponency Office, Subject: Justification for the Provost Sergeant Major position as seen here below:

 

Although there have been numerous Provost Sergeants and Provost Sergeant Majors in the past, the only three that we can definitely confirm as being the official United States Army Provost Sergeant Majors in the office of the Provost Marshal General are seen here below:

Provost Sergeant Major of the Army
Provost Sergeant Major Brian Deorocki

October 29, 2003 to June 1, 2008

 

           

 Provost Command Sergeant Major of the U.S. Army
Provost Command Sergeant Major Freddie L.T. Brock

June 1, 2008 to May 30, 2010

 

CSM Brock is a veteran of the 545th MP Company, a Cavalry MP and a member of our Association and if these four photos have not convinced you that he is a Cavalry MP then you have absolutely no knowledge of the United States Army Cavalry!

 

 

 

 

Provost Command Sergeant Major of the U.S. Army

Provost Command Sergeant Major Gary Fowler
June 1, 2010 - Present

 

 

 

 

US Army Provost CSM Gary Fowler visits the 545th in Alaska and shakes hands with 1SG Frank Solomon

 

 

 

Contents and images in this photo history provided by Mr. Andy Watson, Branch and Command Historian, US Army Military Police Corps, Wikipedia and by Provost Sergeant Major of the U.S. Army, CSM Freddie L.T. Brock as well as the archives of the 545th MP Company Association

 

Sam Reinert
CPT MP USAR (Ret)
Founder
545th Military Police Company Association
626 1/2 South 9th Street
Richmond, Indiana 47374 USA
(765) 962 4627 phone & FAX
http://545thmpassn.com/