Civilian vs. Military Law Enforcement & Investigations

When one considers the profession of law enforcement, all too often what we see on television in various fiction shows impacts our perceptions. Those shows, nine times out of ten, are about specialty teams or assignments such as criminal investigations or forensic investigations. Anyone who has served in the law enforcement profession can usually spend the majority of one of those shows telling you everything that’s inaccurate in them. Additionally, some of the most popular shows are about military law enforcement specialties, like NCIS (Navy Criminal Investigative Service). What too many people don’t know is the truth behind real law enforcement and the various military equivalents. In this article, we’re going to take a brief look at the military occupational specialties otherwise known as MOS.

Each branch of service has its own version of Military Police officers and have different titles in each branch. The Army has military police. The Air Force has security forces. The Navy has master-at-arms. Interestingly, even though the Marine Corps is part of the Navy, they have military police like the Army. The Coast Guard, depending on their mission assignment, focuses on law enforcement protecting our coastline and waterways. That said, as part of the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard can be assigned to wartime operations as well. Civilian law enforcement officers probably have more regular interaction with the Coast Guard in coastal areas than any other branch of service, with the notable exception of areas immediately surrounding military installations.

According to this website, https://militarybenefits.info/military-police-careers/, the Army’s military police job description is: ...you’ll protect peoples’ lives and property on Army installations by enforcing military laws and regulations. You’ll also control traffic, prevent crime, and respond to all emergencies. You’ll conduct force protection, anti-terrorism, area security, and police intelligence operations. You’ll also train in corrections and detention, investigations and mobility, and security around the world.

That job description sounds, in general, just like doing civilian law enforcement work with the exception of enforcing military laws and regulations. It is fairly all-encompassing for what the average MP does though. While MPs in the Army certainly get trained in “investigations and mobility,” it’s not a heavy focus of their day-to-day function. The usual MP workday is comprised of much the same as the average civilian patrol officer: report for duty, go to roll call, stand uniform inspection and then go on patrol. “On patrol” involves answering calls for service, enforcing traffic laws, providing a deterrent to criminal activity, etc.

If something beyond basic investigations on the street is required, the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, or CID, is called in. One cannot enlist into the Army CID. A bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice or a variety of other fields is required. Military Police officers are required to attend Basic Training and Military Police School, currently both located at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The total time spent is about twenty weeks between the two combined. It’s called One Station Unit Training or OSUT. To be a CID agent though, after having the bachelor’s degree, applicants have to successfully complete a separate 16-week training program also delivered at Fort Leonard Wood. CID agents are responsible for investigating all crimes that may have been committed by members of the Army or that impact Army operations.

MPs can be assigned to patrol duties, force protection, detention and/or corrections duties. The Military Police Corps also has K-9 Teams. There are specific training programs for the Corrections and K-9 MOSs that require additional training beyond “normal” MP school.

The Navy Master-at-Arms job description is very different from that of the Army MP, containing a bulleted list of potential mission assignments. The Law Enforcement and Security community provides a wide range of critical services to every part of the Navy including:

Security and physical protection
Training others in security and shore patrol duties
Security advising
Crowd control
Riot prevention
K-9 duties
Waterborne security patrol and interdiction operations
Preliminary investigations into Uniform Code of Military Justice violations
Crime prevention programs

With the exception of the waterborne duties, it does read much like the Army MP responsibilities. Like the Army, the Navy has a dedicated investigative service most people have heard of: NCIS. The basic requirements to become an NCIS agent involve age (under 37), a bachelor’s degree, driver’s license and more. (All of the discussed positions in this article require a clean criminal background and the hiring agencies are certainly skilled at performing them thoroughly). To become an NCIS agent, the applicant has to successfully complete the requisite program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. There are minimum standards set for physical fitness and academic performance. “Just finishing” isn’t enough. NCIS agents are required to complete the FLETC training in the top fourth of the course.

The Air Force’s Security Forces (as described on this website: https://www.airforce.com/careers/in-demand-careers/security-forces) comprise the bulk of Air Force personnel and have the following general job description: ...it’s the job of Security Forces to protect, defend and fight. They are responsible for missile security, defending air bases around the globe, law enforcement on those bases, combat arms and handling military working dogs.

Each of the Air Force MOSs that involve law enforcement have the requirement of successfully completing basic training, an 8.5 week school for the Air Force. There are additional training requirements, but each is specific to the occupational mission being assigned. For example, if the mission is asset protection then training specific to access control, site defense, etc. would be given. If the mission is working a K-9, then that would be the appropriate and required training.

To perform investigations, the Air Force has the Office of Special Investigations. They can be considered the equivalent of the Navy’s NCIS or the Army’s CID. OSI agents can be hired civilians or enlisted applicants who successfully complete the selection process and the additional training requirements.

While the Marine Corps does have military police officers as an MOS, the investigations duties are handled by NCIS.

The Coast Guard does have a specialty investigations branch: The Coast Guard Investigative Service or CGIS. Simply due to the sometimes common operational settings and overlap between the Navy and the Coast Guard, even though they have distinctly different mission responsibilities, the NCIS and CGIS can end up investigating the same crimes from different approaches. In such instances, jurisdiction can be shared but investigative control is assigned dependent on primary crime and concern investigated.

Keeping all of the foregoing information in mind, consider the civilian equivalent. Each agency of sufficient size has an investigations bureau. The detectives in those sections investigate the full range of crimes from robbery to homicide to theft and more. Interestingly, the process of investigating a crime is the same whether the investigator is military or civilian. The basic crime investigations process is the same across all disciplines. What differs are the laws and regulations controlling the investigative process for a given branch (civilian, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard) and, usually, the resources available related to forensic services and analysis.

As with most things in law enforcement, what’s available boils down to budget and what an agency can afford. As a result, the federally funded agencies tend to have better resources as compared to state, county or municipal agencies.

At the end of the day, investigators are investigators are investigators. Police work is police work. The basic job functions cover all of the necessary services for security, corrections, law enforcement, investigations and the rest. All that really differentiates one officer from the next is the name on the badge and the level or type of specific training required. In doing the research for this article, it become obvious that every military investigative service accepts applications online and all of the requirements are clearly listed.