Would it be better to go into the navy and be an MP or into the army as an MP?

Question

What are some of the differences?
Try to not be bias.

Answer 1

Ask an Army recruiter if he can guarantee you will be trained and work as an MP after boot camp.

When you enlist in the Navy you can be guaranteed you will be trained and work as an MP. The Navy will put this guarantee on your enlistment contract. If you don't get sent to MP school after boot camp the Navy will be in violation of the enlistment contract.

Answer 2

The navy has Shore Patrol, Master at Arms, and Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD); they don't have "MP". I guess the Shore Patrol would be closest, but the MA's have been expanded since 9-11 and often serve on bases as the local police units.

Master at Arms is the law enforcement on ships. The senior MA is often called "the sherrif". The junior MA's usually do the escorting of detained sailors and urinalysis.

The funny thing is that all non-commissioned officers in the navy eventually get a taste of law enforcement or security, whether they're standing a quarterdeck watch on a ship (with a side arm), taking part in a boarding party (with hand guns, shot guns and kevlar vests and helmets), or when ships go in to higher security status (then everyone gets a gun except the lower ranking guys who are still swabbing floors, cooking and painting the decks).

The navy's funny that way. It's more like an everyone does everything service. As a technician, I cooked, cleaned, painted, carried a weapon, cheufferred flag officers, pulled mooring lines and gas lines, and published the ship's cruise book. Sometimes I got to be a technician.

(By the way, you have a variety of descent answers here, though mostly from the Army. I don't think you've gotten a clear picture from anyone, and you likely won't until you actually join up. In the Navy, I can just about guarentee you will serve on a ship and be deployed. Our deployments are usually shorter and come more frequently and they are almost always on ships, not on solid ground. In a 6-month deployment, you might spend a total of 30 days on land, if you're lucky.)

Answer 3

Well, I really don't think the Navy's doin much right now (except chasing the killer stingrays). The terrorists don't exactly have a navy. I could very well be wrong though, I'm not in the Navy. MP's tend to do a lot of checkpoints in the Army. Checkpoints are not really the idealistic work environment because you tend to be a sitting target. Again, I could be wrong, I'm not an MP either.

Also, in response to the post above, the Army will do the same. You will have your MOS (basically, your job - MP) in your contract before you sign and swear in. If they try to put you in another MOS, the contract is void, and you can go try the Navy. Just be sure your security clearance issues are clear, as that can take you through a lot of crap you don't want to deal with.

Answer 4

I am in the army, so my thought on what the Navy MPs do might be off. The biggest real difference is that Navy MPs may get fleeted for a period which sticks them on ships for a good period of time. That is the only real info I can come up with. From what I have seen the Navy puts up with less BS than the army, so it might be worth it to join the Navy if you are so intent on joining the military.

Answer 5

okay, okay, i am a navy MP, and i will tell you, you're probaly going to work a little bit harder if you join the army, but the basic fundamentals of the job will be the same. MPs in ther navy don't do law enforcement that much anymore, the law enforcement is now being done by civilians on many military bases, so i would suggest the police acadamy if u want to be a cop, mps have a more force protection role i.e. standing posts, working entry control points, standing towers, etc. but if you have to join one or the other, it's really up to you. do you want to be a soldier or a sailor? and if you want to go to iraq, the chances of you going will greatly increase if you joion the army, currently the navy generally only send navy MAs to iraq who are military working dog qualified. hope i could help.

Answer 6

the training has to be close as both use the UCMJ and both carry the same side arm I believe .45 or 9mm so the difference will be sea duty ( if it is a REQUIREMENT or not) if you can get SAN DEIGO or PEARL for 4 years I say NAVY ,but if your assignment is luck of the draw or you have to spend at least sometime on a ship then I gotta go ARMY cause I aint lost nothin on the ocean! also look at what type of installion you are posted at try to get Ft. Sam Houston as you will see all the cute girl trainees and you can go "VISIT" your co workers at sheppard AFB and meet cute air force girls too!lol I was in the army but what about air force security police ,i think they have it the best

Answer 7

Both services are fine but in my experience nobody likes MPs. In most peoples' eyes, MPs are the jokers who drive around and try to catch you doing something wrong while you are busy doing your job. They have competitions to see who can write the most tickets in a day. They have contests to see who wrote a ticket on the highest ranking officers. They all walk around like they are THE BOMB even though they have no friends outside of their unit, so they walk around in little MP packs. It's sad and pathetic. Dont go MP!

Answer 8

GLENN has absolutely no idea how little the Navy honors it's contracts. Seriously, you would be better off doing this job as a civilian. If you have to join the military, join the AIR FORCE, they have much hotter chics. Otherwise, join the Navy because you will get some excitement from it and you won't have to worry about getting your apendages blown off. All in all, you're better off staying a civilian.

Answer 9

That depends? Do you want security or excitement? The Navy is definitely safer, but the army will probably be more exciting (a.k.a. more dangerous). If I could go back in time, I definitely would've told my boyfriend that he should join the navy instead of saying that i preferred him to join the army.

Answer 10

It all depends on how much you want to get deployed if you go in the army you can bank on it. The navy is not as bad with the deployment status you would be in the states more.