The Battalion was assigned to the 8th U.S. Army in Tokyo, under command of MAJ Jackson. Prior to MAJ Jackson, MAJ John S. Levis commanded. There had been four Battalion Commanders in the proceeding two months.

        Tokyo had been divided into four patrol zones for enforcement purposes. One lettered company was assigned to each zone, and each company maintained its own MP Desk/Police Station, Desk Sergeant, and communications system.

        Duty assignments consisted of: Jeep patrol of the various occupational forces recreation sites; beer halls, dance events, etc.; train station duties; Ginza area (Tokyo) foot patrol; and the physical security detail at the Dai Ichi Building in Tokyo's Marunouchi district where GEN Douglas MacArthur had his headquarters.

        Even with the Battalion being over strength at six-hundred enlisted men and fifty-six officers, they had a tough time in filling the slots for their assignments. A high rate of turn-over of experienced MPs also aggravated the personnel problem.

        The squad spent the next month training in the large drill field behind Camp Burness at Nakano on their newly acquired Harley Davidson Motorcycles. Their instructor, CPL Scholten, described the area as, "room enough so they would not hurt anyone." Once the MPs mastered the first hurdles of balancing and operating the powerful motorcycles they moved to the streets of Tokyo and practiced weekly on their escort formations. CPL Scholten would take the lead and the six squad members would follow behind in pairs of two abreast. He blew on his whistle to signal the formation to break into single file and prepare to park curbside. CPL Scholten said "there was very little traffic then, due to the fact the Japanese had very few cars."

        The maintenance on the motorcycles was performed by the motor pool, and when not on cycle patrol the squad performed regular MP line duty consisting of desk duties, jeep escorts and patrol.

        Their primary motorcycle squad duties consisted of special escorts for: Daily War Crime Trials prisoner of war transport escort from Sugamo Prison to the court; daily mail truck escort from the Yokohama Checkpoint at 0900-1000 hours to the Tokyo office of General Ferrin; VIP escorts from General Ferrin's office to General Douglas MacArthur's office or home; casualty ambulance transport escorts carrying the sick and injured from Tokyo to the port at Yokohama.

Train Duty The primary mode of transportation in Tokyo was the train. The MP patrols were assigned to conduct regular checks of the train stations and the passenger trains themselves.

        Each passenger train had a special car attached to the rear that was identified by a white stripe along its side. The car was designated for allied military personnel only.

        The allied military were not permitted to ride in any other car and the 720th MP patrols strictly enforced the regulation.

        Of the eighty Class A war criminal suspects detained in the Sugamo prison after 1945, twenty-eight high-ranking political and military leaders were indicted on 55 counts of "crimes against peace, conventional war crimes, and crimes against humanity."

        The prisoner of the highest priority was Hidecki Tojo, the Japanese Minister of War and, considered the arch-criminal of the Pacific War.

        At the trial Tojo assumed full responsibility for all the actions of his government and the military during the war.