720th
Battalion Time Line ~ 1976
~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association History Project ~
This Page Last Updated   5 April 2008
III Corps
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In 1976 the 720th MP Battalion was headquartered under the Command of III Corps, Fort Hood, Texas.
Vehicles In 1976 the Battalion MP fleet consisted of the standard Army 1/4 ton truck (Jeep), 1976 Ford Maverick sedans (supervisors and accident investigators), and Kaiser CJ5 Jeeps (K9 and remote area patrol).
 

Sky Watch Patrol In 1976 members of the 720th MP Battalion volunteered for duty with the night Sky Watch Patrol, provided by the 6th Air Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat) "Silent Thunder," located at Fort Hood. The patrol mission was to conduct over flights of the remote and restricted areas of Fort Hood in a Bell "Huey" UH-1H Helicopter. The over flights enhanced the speed and coverage area of their surveillance previously conducted by ground transportation. There were from two to four flights during a night shift.

        The MPs were assigned to operate the high powered search light, and the MP net radio. The patrols would concentrate their surveillance in the dark isolated areas  that civilians were known to enter in the northern sector of the post near Gatesville. They often trespassed into the artillery range impact areas to cut up old Armored Personnel Carriers and Tanks that were used for targets, to recover the scrap metal. The patrols were also available to assist in lighting up traffic accidents being investigated by the MP ground patrols in the more remote areas of the post.

 
WANTED: Personal stories, photographs and information on when Sky Watch started and how long they were conducted in the 1970's. Please use the Email Link at the top of this page to contact the History Project Manager.
 

Training & Alert Duty The Battalion companies were performing on rotation, sixty days on line duty followed by thirty days Training and Alert duty.

        The platoons would rotate on duty in the Alert Shack for 24 hour periods. The shack was located to the left of the Battalion Headquarters building. Like the HQ building it was of wooden framed WW-II vintage. The building had one floor divided into two sections. A barracks side and latrine side. In the rooms with the heaters you sweltered while sleeping, and in the others you froze while sleeping. The mattresses on the bunks were all stained and smelly. We watched training films while there. We wore out the one one VD training film, it was real graphic and made you want to swear off sex. SGT David W. Sullivan (MAJ Retired) 401st MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, III Corps, Fort Hood, Texas, February 1974-September 1976.

 
Exact dates unknown

First Sergeant Browns Revenge   SP/4 (SSG Retired) Ralph E. Jeffries, 411th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, 1975-1976 and 1990-1993.

Three strikes and your out...maybe   SGT David W. Sullivan (MAJ Retired) 401st MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, III Corps, Fort Hood, Texas, February 1974-September 1976.

 
February
 
21 February The 89th Military Police Group (Was immediate command of the Battalion in Vietnam under the 18th MP Brigade from 1966 through 1972) from Fort Lewis, Washington, transferred its colors to Fort Hood, Texas as it became part of III Corps.
89th MP GP
 
WANTED: Information on what year the 720th MP Battalion became subordinate to the 89th MP Brigade,. Please contact the History Project Manager via the Email Link at the top of this page.
 
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