Singapore Armed Forces Military Police Command - History

History

Formed on 1 September 1966 at the old Beach Road Camp, the SAF Provost Company initially consisted of one company of military policemen and was part of the Manpower Division, although it came under the command of HQ 1 SIB. In the same year, the School of Provost and the first detention cells were in operation at Beach Road Camp. With the implementation of National Service a year later in 1967, the unit grew exponentially in membership, before the entire unit moved to the Hill Street Camp in 1970. The Singapore Armed Forces Dog Company and Operations Company were established there.

In February 1971, the three companies were merged officially to form the Singapore Armed Forces Provost Unit (SAFPU) and moved to the Mowbray Camp at Ulu Pandan Road in July 1971. The Kranji Disciplinary Barrack was built in 1972, before being converted into a proper detention facility in 1977. The British Army Military Correction Centre was handed over to the SAF and renamed as the Tanglin Detention Barracks in 1972. Changi Detention Barracks opened in 1973, and Nee Soon Detention Barracks in 1974. The SAF Detention Barracks was opened on 29 March 1987 to replace the three facilities.

The Security Company (SC) was added to the SAFPU, while the Special Investigations Branch (SIB) was formed in July 1973. In 1974, the sixth sub-unit, the 1st Reservist Provost Company, was formed, completing the organisational structure of the unit which has remained so to this day. The Operations Company took on ceremonial functions in 1980, and formed the first pretige guard for the German ambassador to Singapore.

The distinctive Military Police uniform was first introduced in 1983. In 1984, a 93-man unit drawn from the ranks of the SAFPU formed the Silent Precision Drill Squad (SPDS), trained with the help of foreign instructors for a performance at a Reach Out Singapore event that same year. The overwhelmingly positive public response led to the sub-unit becoming a permanent fixture, and since then, has become one of the most well-known and visible aspects of the SAFPU which the general public would relate to. The unit first appeared in the National Day Parade in 1986, and put up its first mass precision drill performance in 1988 at the National Stadium. It performed twice for the Malaysian King and the general public at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1989.

From the mid 1980s, the SAFPU began performing ceremonial sentry duties at the Istana, the official residence of the President of Singapore, and the monthly Change of Guard parade has since become a public spectator event also attracting the attention of tourists. New colours was awarded to the unit by ex-president Ong Teng Cheong during the SAF Day Parade in 1995.

Today, the unit is based at a new camp near Choa Chu Kang. In keeping with tradition, the new road leading to the camp was called Mowbray Road, and the camp itself retaining the Mowbray Camp name. The old Mowbray Camp has since been handed over to the Singapore Police Force, which currently uses the camp for the training of reservists for the KINS unit. From 1 September 2006, the unit was renamed the Singapore Armed Forces Military Police Command (SAFMPC).