The 82nd Military Police Company represents the experience of military police who served within the 82nd Airborne Division. Its veterans share the division's airborne identity, but their work centered on military police responsibilities rather than the mission of a parachute infantry battalion.
A Divisional Military Police Heritage
The organization's name must be matched to the period being described. The Army Center of Military History's World War II order of battle lists an 82nd Military Police Platoon among the division's supporting elements. That record does not establish that a company-sized unit existed under the later title throughout the war.
The Company and Its Veterans
An Army account of a May 2011 reunion at Fort Bragg brought together former company members, including veterans whose service reached back to the 1940s and 1950s. The gathering documented the continuity of the military police community across changes in organization and designation.
The same report states that the 82nd MP Company ceased to exist in 2006 during modular reorganization. Personnel from the division's later headquarters organization joined the veterans at the reunion. This is evidence of an enduring community, not by itself proof that a later element inherited every part of the company's formal lineage.
Preserving the Right Identity
AAC's collection honors the 82nd MP Company and its members. It should not be confused with the separate 503rd Military Police Battalion or other Fort Bragg MP organizations. Exact activation dates and individual campaign or decoration claims require the appropriate unit record; they are not inferred here from the division's wider history.
Historical Sources
- U.S. Army in Northern Ireland: order of battle. U.S. Army Center of Military History. Identifies the 82nd Military Police Platoon in the World War II divisional organization.
- 82nd MP Company alumni reunite. U.S. Army, May 24, 2011. Documents the veterans' reunion and reports the company's 2006 modular-era dissolution.
Airborne Apparel Company is proud to offer designs honoring the 82nd Military Police Company and its airborne military police heritage.