EX LONGLOOK 06
During the period 12 May- 01 Sep 2006 I was fortunate enough to be deployed on Exercise Long Look 2006. With bags packed the 110 member strong contingent left Sydney airport on 12 May 06 and flew by RAF Tristar to the UK.
During my exchange with the Royal Military Police I was attached to RHQ 1st Regiment Royal Military Police based in HerfordGermany. My time with the RMP was broken up into 3 main phases. My first phase was spent touring the RMP facilities and units with Germany, the second on the RMP Close Protection course and the final phase was spent at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
The first phase of my exchange was during the period 12 May -12 Jun 2006. During which time I was based at RHQ, 1 RMP gaining an overview of the running of an operational Regiment. During this period I also spent time at 1 RMP's 3 operational Coys including time in Hohne at 111 Pro Coy. I was also fortunate enough to spend a period of time attached to the SIB in Germany. This was an eye opening experience as due to the SOFA between Germany and the UK the RMP and SIB have carriage of all offences up to and including murder. The facilities available to SIB Germany were well over and above what is available to the SIB in Australia. The SIB Germany facilities include full forensic labs as well as photo labs and laboratory facilities I was also fortunate enough to spend time with the RMP Covert Operations Team (COT). COT provides RMP and the UK Police with a covert surveillance capability.
The second phase of my exchange was spent on the RMP CP course. From the start I have to say that it was one of the best and hardest courses I have ever attempted. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful on the course, failing on the last day, but the experiences gained from the course have been invaluable. The hours spent running up the hills around Longmoor camp were well worth it. The highlight of the course was the final exercise, Exercise Watch Tower, where we were given the task of protecting a VIP for a period of 7 days. The exercise included a very unique opportunity to visit 10 Downing Street and tour through the offices and equipment used by the Prime Minister Tony Blair's CP team.
The final phase of my exchange saw me attached to 3 RMP to assist in the provision of security to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2006. The security operation for the Tattoo was a huge operational involving the Lothian and Borders Police (the local Police Force), RMP, EOD teams, EOD dogs, local emergency services, Naval Police and a Military Intelligence detachment. The Edinburgh Tattoo was a fantastic experience. Providing security for an event on the scale of the Tattoo was an invaluable learning experience. I can also safely safe that the Scots know how to put on a party!
Overall Long Look was a fantastic experience which I would encourage anyone given the chance to undertake. I have taken a number of lessons learnt away from my time with the RMP. I will briefly cover the two most prominent. Recent operational experience has seen RMP NCOs embedded within Infantry Sections during the conduct of operations. This provides the Infantry Sections with a subject matter expert for the detention and processing of detainees as well as for the preservation of crime scenes and evidence gathering. It also provides the sections with additional manpower. There were some objections on behalf of the Infantry prior to having RMP embedded within their sections especially whilst deployed on operations. This was over come by ensuring that the RMP NCOs were trained to the highest standard in all areas of IMT as well as their MP skill sets. Only once the RMP NCOs had reached a standard at least on par with their Infantry counterparts were they then attached to Infantry units for the conduct of joint training prior to deploying. Experience found that on some occasions the RMP NCOs performed better then their infantry counterparts. The main problem that this idea brings with it is the added training burden both in terms of time and resources to reach a level of proficiency in IMT skills and MP skills so that this would be achievable. One possible strategy for offsetting this would be regular exchanges between RACMP and Infantry units during exercises. Embedding RACMP NCOs within Infantry units during peace time exercises would only help to increase the IMT skill level as well as raising the awareness of what RACMP NCOs can offer to Infantry Commanders.
Another lesson I took away from the RMP was in their Coy structure. Within their Coy HQ in addition to their OC, OPSO and CSM they have a Brigade Policing Officer (BPO). The BPO is dual rolled as the Coy 2IC and is also responsible for the direct liaison with the BDE HQ and assisting in the planning of all exercises and operations and providing policing advice to the BDE COMD.
The recent and on going operational experience from RMP can provide many lessons learnt for RACMP. I have only briefly covered the two most prominent that I encountered during my exchange. During this time of transition and change within RACMP I believe that we need to look at the recent experiences of other MP organisations in order to structure ourselves for the future and what it may bring.
