Years ago I had an old friend who had fought his way across France and Germany with Patton's Third Army. Once the subject of MPs came up, and he told me the combat troops disliked them, because MPs were soldiers who couldn't hack combat and were posted to the rear, where they were simply a PITA to real fighting men. Don't know to what extent this remains true after all these decades, but my friend's disdain for MPs is still vivid in my memory. From what I have read in Wehrmacht soldiers' memoirs, the "chained dogs" (feldgendarmerie MPs) were equally unpopular on the other side of the lines.
It is not a good sign if MP units are training to take on civilians. That is not their job, and never has been.
Years ago I had an old friend who had fought his way across France and Germany with Patton's Third Army. Once the subject of MPs came up, and he told me the combat troops disliked them, because MPs were soldiers who couldn't hack combat and were posted to the rear, where they were simply a PITA to real fighting men. Don't know to what extent this remains true after all these decades, but my friend's disdain for MPs is still vivid in my memory. From what I have read in Wehrmacht soldiers' memoirs, the "chained dogs" (feldgendarmerie MPs) were equally unpopular on the other side of the lines.
ReplyDeleteIt is not a good sign if MP units are training to take on civilians. That is not their job, and never has been.