MILITARY PROVOST GUARD SERVICE - British & Commonwealth Military Badge Forum

engr9266 · #1 25-03-11, 12:55 PM

I recently brought a Officer Bullion badge to the MILITARY PROVOST GUARD SERVICE. A freind of mind is a member of the MPGS in the Portsmouth area and I mentioned this to him and to my surprise he said and I quote" We do NOT have Officers" The highest BADGED rank seems to be WO 1

Can anyone comment on this? I have looked at MPGS web site http://www.army.mod.uk/agc/provost/1242.aspx and there is no mention of officers.
Here is a image of the badge

engr9266 · #2 25-03-11, 12:56 PM

HERE IS IMAGE

54Bty · #3 25-03-11, 01:02 PM

In most Regiments and Corps, WO1's wear Officer pattern items.

engr9266 · #4 25-03-11, 01:26 PM

This may account for the fact that there is no Officers.

"All MPGS Units are formed under the command of the Units Commanding Officer for the site to which they are deployed with Technical Evaluation and Professional Standards assessed and maintained by PM (Army). A structured rank system within each MPGS Unit provides the opportunity for promotion up to Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO) and Warrant Rank. Promotion is based on your performance throughout your tour of duty within the MPGS".

HMPbadges · #5 26-03-11, 03:14 AM

Jerry, me and a few guys at work were approached for this unit, no disrespect to anyone in there, but it seems to be a Stag unit, just gate guard, watching the ramp etc - and that is how it was described to me. I reckon it's a bit more though. It's not VR or TA and will never go to War or have an operational role away from base/camp/station. I can understand that they don't have Zobs and it's all SNCO's.

Praepositus · #6 06-08-11, 01:31 PM

To aid better understanding, may I offer the following:The MPGS were introduced on the Great British mainland only, initially to obviate the need for Regular Army manpower being used as armed guards. There was also an element of reducing dependency at some establishments for Armed Officers of the MoD Police (MDP), which with Agency Status, was starting to 'hard charge' Heads od Establishments and Commands for armed guarding. (There was also a debate at the time about the need for and wisdom of employing MDP constables as armed guards). Once introduced (with its new cap badge designed by the College of Heralds and approved by HM The Queen), the other two Services quickly sought MPGS cover and this new branch of the Provost Branch of the AGC, expanded rapidly and now numbers several thousand. The MPGS has no officers and is superintended by one of the Provost Marshal (Army)'s deputies - namely DPM Custody & Guarding. It does however have WOs and its own Branch Sergant Major.