Royal Military Police Close Protection Unit

The Royal Military Police Close Protection Unit (RMP CPU) is a unit within the British Army's Royal Military Police (RMP) that has designated responsibility for protecting senior military and government personnel when deployed overseas. The unit itself does not supply the majority of the manpower for such taskings, but trains individuals from the RMP, Royal Navy Police, RAF Police and Royal Marines Police Troop for the role, as well as taking on urgent and short-notice taskings.[1][2]

History

The CPU was formed in the late 1970s, after a number of RMP bodyguards attended the Special Air Service bodyguard course at Hereford, and brought the skills back to an RMP-specific course, the first of which ran in 1976. Three years later, the course and unit moved to Longmoor Camp where it remains.[3]

Structure

The CPU is a sub-unit within the RMP's Specialist Operations Regiment, commanded by a major. It is considerably smaller than most RMP companies, however, with just a small staff of experienced CP operatives who act as instructors or are held ready to deploy on short-notice tasks.

Role

Close protection operatives trained by CPU protect high-ranking British army officers in high-threat environments, most notably during the Iraq war and Afghanistan war, and ensuring counter-insurgency and peacekeeping operations.[4] They also protect British ambassadors and other high-ranking Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials in locations where the threat level demands it.[5][6]

Training

The CPU offers a range of training courses. These include the eight-week Close Protection Course that qualifies service police men and women to be CP operatives, a further eight-week pre-deployment training course carried out before teams deploy overseas, and specialist driving courses for locally-employed civilian drivers.[3]

Equipment

The CPU trains and deploys with a range of specialist weapons not used by the majority of the British army. These include the Diemaco C8, in the past the Sig Sauer P229, possibly more recently variants of the Glock and the H&K MP5K.[6][7]

References
  1. Crozier, S.F. (2014). The history of the Corps of Royal Military Police. Naval and Military Press. ISBN 1783310952.
  2. Hayman, Charles (2014). The Armed Forces of the United Kingdom 2014-2015. Pen and Sword. p. 113. ISBN 1783463511.
  3. Keightley, Richard (2014). Deter, Suppress, Extract!: a history of Royal Military Police Close Protection. Helion. ISBN 1910294020.
  4. Collier, Hatty (17 July 2017). "Gunfire rings out as military police hold training exercise in Battersea Park". Evening Standard. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  5. Cowper-Coles, Sherard (2011). Cables from Kabul : the inside story of the West's Afghanistan campaign. HarperCollins. ISBN 0007432038.
  6. "RMP Showcases Close Protection Unit Skills". 5 April 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  7. "Royal Military Police train for close protection". Gov.uk. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
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