I'm thinking about switching MOS's to 31B. Advice?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 08:42:11 -0400

I want to know the day to day life of an active duty MP, and the benefits of getting out with the experience of an MP in the civilian world.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2016 8:48 AM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 08:48:10 -0400

Don't do it. Reclass to something that will coorsponde with jobs on the outside.

I was a 31B that switch to 25U and about to move over to 255A pending board for WO.

There is no kick backs being a mp to civilian police. No certs or anything will collaborate. You having served will do more justice than being a MP. Life of a garrison MP is nothing fun. Doing security checks at a playground at 2 am. Or standing at a intersection on 4th of July.

Also promotion is very political too. I fast tracked once I crossed over to signal and nothing has changed as far as being well rounded Solider.

What's ur gt score ?

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2016 8:54 AM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 08:54:49 -0400

Also Reclass into a mos that has a warrant officer feeder. 31B can lead to CID but that is few and far between to get picked up.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2016 8:57 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 08:57:08 -0400

Being an MP is a lot like other MOSs in that you will always have good and bad units, and good and bad leadership. What type of leadership you have is what will decide how well your time in the MP corps goes. If you are working law enforcement, youll find it varies from place to place in how much fun it is. For example, when I was in Korea, there was very little crime to deal with so working the road could be pretty boring, but here at Fort Hood, there is always something going on. Our day to day activities when we are not doing law enforcement include a lot of busy work. After weekly maintenance is done there isn't always a whole lot to do so sometimes you'll end up with your leadership finding random useless tasks to pass the time. If you're not in a detachment like MPI, CID, or K9 (the latter two are their own MOS) you'll also go to the field a lot. MPs have a vastly different combat role from our garrison role. We train on a lot of convoy escorts, route recon, cordon and search, and detainee ops. Being an MP has a lot of cool aspects. I'm still in so I don't know first hand how much MP experience helps with getting a civilian police job, but I've heard that it varies from place to place. Apparently some departments look well upon prior military police experience, whereas some don't because they don't want you coming in with bad habits.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2016 8:57 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 08:57:09 -0400

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2016 9:49 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 09:49:07 -0400

Depending on where you want to live after the service MP training can get you directly hired in several Civilian Police Departments. If you want to move to a certain area that doesn't accept the training it may not help but if you are open to living anywhere then it will.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2016 9:57 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 09:57:28 -0400

14E and 14T are offering big bonuses from what I'm hearing due to the fact we are under strengthed. Provides a decent job on the outside as well with companies like Raytheon, Lockheed and more. Worth looking into.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2016 2:55 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 14:55:51 -0400

Why? What are your reasons for making the switch?

Response by SMSgt Thor Merich made Jul 6 at 2016 6:50 PM

SMSgt Thor Merich — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 18:50:32 -0400

If you want to go into law enforcement, its might help. Emphasis on the MIGHT. However, I heard that AZ passed a law that will allow you an easy transition to civilian law enforcement if you are military law enforcement. Otherwise, being an MP (vs another MOS) will not help much. Military and civilian law enforcement are so different that they done really compare to each other.

Response by SSG Roderick Smith made Jul 7 at 2016 9:55 AM

SSG Roderick Smith — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 09:55:52 -0400

SSG Private RallyPoint Member,
With all due respect, I think some of these answers are a bit shortsighted when it comes to the term "experience", so let me clear that up a little.

If when you say experience, you're looking for a way to use your time as an MP to skip things like academies, or to only have to attend a state law refresher, there are states that support that. Arizona, Florida, and Texas are a few. If you get stationed somewhere that gives you the opportunity to attend a POST academy, your opportunities may expand a bit more.

Now, if you are looking for the MORE IMPORTANT type of experience, the type that prepares you for a career in law enforcement, then being an MP will MOST DEFINITELY benefit you. The jobs are the same, and I've worked as a civilian police officer too. I've worked in Korea, Germany, different installations, different jobs... everything corresponds. And they both have excitement and boredom.

If you have the chance to reclass to 31K, you have a whole plethora of doors that can open up for you. Training and handling dogs is a highly sought after skill, and the more experience you have, the better the jobs are. Good luck with your choice. Keep reaching out and do as much research as you can before you commit.

And if you aren't willing to work, or if you plan on being lazy and grumpy because you have to work nights, weekends, and holidays... my advice it that you find a different MOS.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 7 at 2016 3:11 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 15:11:23 -0400

I agree with some of the other post in that the knowledge and experience that you gain as a Military Police will definitely benefit you in civilian law enforcement if you are in an MP unit that does law enforcement. There are so many areas of specialty that you can go into. I have worked both civilian and military law enforcement as well as corrections in various states and I can say that the qualifications and paperwork vary. I've found that we had way more documents in the military. Your experience will definitely equate to college courses whereas some states require criminal justice courses as part of their academy requirements. If you decide to switch once you've gotten acclimated I recommend getting as many schools as you can such as Military Police Investigations, K-9 and or traffic school. I found my nitch in investigations and I was heavily recruited when I left active duty the first time. I even had civilian departments wiling to sponsor me for academy. So if law enforcement is your goal I encourage you to join the MP Corp and make the most of it. Get all the benefits and experience you can and make yourself marketable. Set high goals for yourself and good luck!

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 11 at 2018 3:09 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 03:09:18 -0500

I did 32 years in uniform between Active and National Guard retiring from active duty last February. 28 of those years was as an MP. I had a lot of fun and met some great people but if I had it all to do over again I think I would have entered as either a horizontal or vertical engineer. Both those career fields easily translate into good paying jobs in the civilian world.