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As Joe "Red" Mulkern so aptly said in his posting to the www.imjinscout.com guestbook: "On your Imjim Scouts page under DMZ Units should be listed the 1st Provisional DMZ Police Company,1st Marine Division 1953/54/55. We were the first." It is with pleasure that I present the story of the 1st Provisional DMZ Police, 1st Marine Division. They are an important part of the heritage of Imjin Scouts and from whom the baton we carried for over 25 years originated. In fact, I discovered that Camp Semper Fidelis, pictured in the album, is where I served with 2/9th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division, in 1969. It was known as Camp Wentzel in 1969. KEEP UP THE FIRE! Don Lopez |
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The following description of the founding and make-up of the 1stProvDMZ Police Company is quoted from U. S. Marine Operations, Volume V, Historical Division, Headquarters, U. S. Marine Corps, Washington, D. C., 1972. I have inserted a remark or two inside brackets.
A stipulation set by the Korean armistice agreement in July 1953, was that both the Communist and United Nations Command police their respective sections of the DMZ with "civil police," not to exceed 1,000 in the zone at any one time across the entire 155-mile front. Since no civilian police were available to either side, requirements were modified so that a specially designated military unit, in lieu of civil police, could be employed and the original quota enlarged if this became feasible. Due to the delicate aspect of the DMZ, as well as the non-repatriated POWs in the custody of Indian forces, security measures were of the utmost importance. [There were 23,000 POWs located in a camp in the regimental sector between the southern boundary of the DMZ and the DML. These POWs did not want to be repatriated] The 1st Marine Division activated a new unit, the 1st Provisional Demilitarized Zone Police Company at 0800 on 4 September 1953. The new unit, charged with maintaining security throughout the 1st Marine Division sector, became operational three days later. Commanding officer was Captain Samuel G. Goich, formerly of F/2/7. Each regiment from the division furnished 25 enlisted men and 1 officer to form the company, including standby personnel. On 21 September, the DMZ Police Company was attached to the 5th Marine Regiment which was the regiment deployed on the new MDL. The 1st and 7th Marine Regiments were in reserve. During the period of its existence, the 1st Provisional DMZ Police Company was attached to the 5th Marines. Police Company personnel were required to have at least three months' Korea service, a General Classification Test score of at least 95, a minimum height of 5 feet 10 inches, and were "selected for physical stature and mental capacity required in coping with the delicate situation existing within the Demilitarized Zone." The average DMZ Police Company member was said to know "map-reading on an officer level, first aid, radio and, understand the fine print of the cease-fire like a striped-trouser diplomat." The mission of the Marine provisional police company as set up by the truce agreement was to furnish military police escort for special personnel visiting the DMZ and to apprehend truce violators or enemy line-crossers. Visitors who rated a military escort were members of MAC, Joint Observer teams, Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission personnel, inspection teams or agency assistants, or other VIPs authorized to enter the UN half by the Military Armistice Commission. The Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission supervised all phases of implementation of the armistice. It consisted of the Secretariat and 20 neutral nations inspection teams staffed by personnel from Sweden, Switzerland, Poland and Czechoslovakia.) Six Marine DMZ military policemen, each armed with a .45 caliber pistol; and M-1 rifle, accompanied UN joint observer teams up to the demarcation line, midpoint between enemy and friendly boundaries, but did not cross the DML. I Corps orders directed that military police were to be "responsible for the safety of the United Nations members of the team and, when meetings were held south of the demarcation line, responsible for the safety of the CCF members of the team as well." Major tasks performed by the 104-man company operating within the 2,000-yard wide, 28-mile long zone were:
DMZ Police Company personnel operated in motorized patrol teams and traveled the entire division sector in radio or cargo jeeps. One platoon was kept in a standby basis at camp to serve as a mobile reserve in the event of an emergency. The roving patrols submitted reports of all incidents, [and all sightings of enemy personnel north of the MDL] which were then compiled in a company report. A copy was submitted to the S-2, the Northern regiment, and 1st Marine Division G-2. UNC security measures at all times were strict and uncompromising in the Korean DMZ buffer zone. This included the salvage period, the BIG SWITCH prisoner exchange that took place within the division sector at Freedom Village from 5 August - 6 September, and the lengthy nonrepatriated POW settlement that extended through January 1954. In places where the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), was not marked on the ground or clearly recognizable, the conservative ruling was to stay at least 500 yards south of its estimated location. This applied both to body recovery and salvage operations. The No-Fly line was scrupulously verified. Alleged violations charged by the CCF/NKPA were checked out with the Marine ground observations posts set up in August to record all movements of fixed-wing (reconnaissance) and rotary aircraft in the area. Helicopters were allowed to fly in the DMZ but no closer than the 500 yard limit from the MDL. Helicopters operating forward of the CPs of the 5th Marines units having sector responsibility were required to obtain clearance from the ground unit concerned for each flight. Commitments for the DMZ Police Company increased substantially with the arrival of the nonrepatriated POWs [22,000 CCF and NKPA], at their camp in the DMZ corridor west of the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines area. The Communist "explainers," as well as Polish and Czech members of the Neutral Nations Commission, had to be escorted while in the UN half of the DMZ. This required a 24-hour checkpoint and escort cadre be established in the zone. As the number of enemy sightings, a daily occurrence in the DMZ, continued to increase, the size of the police patrols increased correspondingly. A typical example was related by a member of the police company: "It was common practice of the Communists to have a group of their men, supposedly their DMZ Police, walk up to the Military Demarcation (No-Pass), Line and either stand close to it or step across. When one of our patrols approached in superior numbers to attempt to apprehend them, the Communists would immediately reinforce with more men. This made it necessary to have our patrols at sufficient strength that they could protect themselves from being kidnapped." As these requirements for security increased, the original complement of approximately 5 officers and 99 men became inadequate to patrol the DMZ. By late October 1953, the T/O strength of the 1st Provisional Demilitarized Zone Police Company has been increased to 6 officers and 314 men. Authorization for the number of police personnel on duty in the DMZ had similarly augmented from 50 to 175. The 1stProvDMZ Police Company served from September 1953 until February 1955, when it was relieved by the 24th Division and returned with the 1st Marine Division to the States. Semper Fi!
Bob Caulkins |
