Military Police Marks 70 Years Running With 70-Mile Run

Nearly 250 soliders celebrated the 70th anniversary of the creation of the U.S. Army Military Police Corps with an overnight 70-mile relay run that started Wednesday evening at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

MP's from the 42nd Military Police Brigade and the 504th and 508th military police battalions took turns running the first 67 miles carrying their respective unit flags around 268 laps of the quarter-mile track in Cowan Stadium.

At 6:30 a.m. Thursday, all soldiers assigned to the 42nd MP Brigade and its two subordinate battalions were set to join forces for the final three-mile “All Brigade” run to complete the 70 miles. 

MP units across the country, as well as those deployed around the world, were staging similar runs to recognize the designation of the Military Police Corps as an official element of the U.S. Army on Sept. 26, 1941.

Col. Robert Taradash, commander of the 42nd Military Police Brigade, and Command Sgt. Major Dawn Rippelmeyer helped kick off JBLM's run by completing four laps before handing off their unit’s colors to other soldiers.

The runners all volunteered for the celebration — “or were ‘voluntold,’” Rippelmeyer quipped with an ear-to-ear grin.

“The significance is continued service to the nation, representing 70 years of continuous military police corps and soldier service to the Army and to the nation,” Rippelmeyer said.  “That’s why our corps is doing these 70 miles.”

Added Rippelmeyer, “For the last few years, probably five or so, they’ve encouraged soldiers to run. This year at Fort. Leonard Wood, home of the regiment, they were going to do it like this and I thought, ‘Hey, that’s a great idea. We’re going to do it like this, too.’”

Col. Robert Taradash, commander of 42nd MP Brigade, said military police have been around since the Revolutionary War. Formed as Marechaussee Corps by Gen. George Washington, they originally were used to maintain order in the Continental Army, assist in troop movements and remove prisoners from the battlefield.

“We’ve been around a lot more than 70 years but today we’re celebrating being an official branch of the Army,” Taradash said. “And, as you know, since 9/11 military police have been in high demand in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Although JBLM has a lot of new soldiers, Taradash estimated that as many as 70 percent of the MP brigade has been deployed to those battle zones.

“We have a combat support role. We have a law-enforcement role, a training role, detention and containee operations, investigations, military working dogs,” he said. “We bring all of those skill sets to the fight and we have all of those skills represented here.”