The Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS) is a service responsible for maintaining security at British Armed Forces

British Armed Forces

The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...

 sites in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It is one of three parts of the Adjutant General's Corps

Adjutant General's Corps

The Adjutant General's Corps is a corps in the British Army responsible for many of its general administrative services. As of 2002, the AGC had a staff of 7,000 people...

 Provost Branch (the other two parts being the Royal Military Police

Royal Military Police

The Royal Military Police is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK, and whilst service personnel are deployed overseas on operations and exercises.Members of the RMP are generally known as...

 and the Military Provost Staff

Military Provost Staff Corps

The Military Provost Staff Corps was the corps of the British Army which ran its military prisons. As the Military Provost Staff , the corps is now administratively part of the Adjutant General's Corps. It also provides operational support and technical advice for Prisoner of War handling during...

). The whole Provost branch is the responsibility of the Provost Marshal who is a Brigadier from the Royal Military Police

Royal Military Police

The Royal Military Police is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK, and whilst service personnel are deployed overseas on operations and exercises.Members of the RMP are generally known as...

.

The MPGS was formed in the wake of structural changes (Strategic Defence Review

Strategic Defence Review

The Strategic Defence Review was a British policy document produced by the Labour Government that came to power in 1997. Then Secretary of State for Defence, George Robertson, set out the initial defence policy of the new government, with a series of key decisions designed to enhance the United...

) of the Armed Forces and the increased threat of terrorism

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

.

The aim of the MPGS is to rationalise guarding arrangements at sites where service personnel normally live and work. The MPGS replaces previously civilian held duties with armed soldiers. The MPGS often works with the civilian (and unarmed) Ministry of Defence Guard Service

Ministry of Defence Guard Service

The Ministry of Defence Guard Service is part of the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency, and provides British Ministry of Defence establishments with unarmed security guard and patrol services....

 (MGS).

Due to defence cuts in 2009 and the reduced threat against service establishments in the UK the MPGS's role and recruitment was frozen.

Operational role

The MPGS's duties include:

• Controlling entry and exit access to a site
• Managing control room operations and dealing with visitors
• Patrolling site perimeters and taking necessary action to preserve perimeter security

To join the MPGS, applicants must have served for at least three years on a previous engagement in any arm or service, including the Royal Naval Reserve

Royal Naval Reserve

The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...

, Royal Marines Reserve

Royal Marines Reserve

The role of the Royal Marines Reserve of the United Kingdom is to support the regular Royal Marines in times of war or national crisis. The RMR consists of some 600-1000 trained ranks distributed among the five RMR Centres within the UK...

, Territorial Army, Royal Auxiliary Air Force

Royal Auxiliary Air Force

The Royal Auxiliary Air Force , originally the Auxiliary Air Force , is the voluntary active duty reserve element of the Royal Air Force, providing a primary reinforcement capability for the regular service...

 and must have completed that service within six years of application to the MPGS, unless they have relevant service in the Police or HM Prison Service since leaving the armed forces.
To join you have to re-enlist into the Regular British Army on a Local Service Engagement, 3 year contracts.
There are 26 Police Constabularies that currently have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
with the Military Provost Guard Service in respect of the legal authority for carrying firearms on UK roads.

Locations

Tri-Service

• Chicksands
  RAF Chicksands
  RAF Chicksands was a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, which closed in 1997 when responsibility for the camp was taken over by the British Army Intelligence Corps...
  
  
• DMRC Headley Court
• Welbeck DSFC

Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

• Whale Island
  Whale Island
  Whale Island is the name of several islands, including:* Whale Island, Canada* Whale Island, New Zealand* Whale Island, United Kingdom* Whale Island, an island in the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia...
  
  , HMS Excellent
• Horsea Island
  Horsea Island
  Horsea Island was an island located off the northern shore of Portsmouth Harbour; gradually subsumed by reclamation, it is now connected to the mainland...
  
  , HMS Excellent
• Portsmouth
• HMS Sultan, Hampshire
• RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk)
• RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron)
• Stonehouse
  Stonehouse, Plymouth
  East Stonehouse is one of three towns that were amalgamated into modern-day Plymouth. West Stonehouse was a village that is within the current Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall...
  
  
• Dartmouth
  Britannia Royal Naval College
  Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...
  
  
• Raleigh
  HMS Raleigh (shore establishment)
  HMS Raleigh is the modern-day basic training facility of the Royal Navy at Torpoint, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is spread over several square miles, and has damage control simulators and fire-fighting training facilities...
  
  

Royal Marines

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

• RM Condor, Arbroath
  RM Condor
  RM Condor is a large Royal Marines base located near Arbroath in East Angus, Scotland. The base has been home to 45 Commando, which is part of 3 Commando Brigade, since 1971, although it was first constructed as a Fleet Air Arm base in 1938, when it was known as HMS Condor...
  
  
• Bickleigh Barracks near Plymouth
  Plymouth
  Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
  
  
• Commando Training Centre, Lympstone
  Commando Training Centre Royal Marines
  Commando Training Centre Royal Marines is the principal military training centre for the Royal Marines of the British Armed Forces. It is situated near the village of Lympstone, between the city of Exeter, and the town of Exmouth in Devon...
  
  
• Royal Marines Base,Chivenor
  Royal Marines Base Chivenor
  Royal Marines Base Chivenor is a British military base used primarily by the Royal Marines. It is situated on the northern shore of the Taw estuary, adjacent to the South West Coast Path, on the north coast of Devon, England....
  
  
• Royal Marines Poole
  Royal Marines Poole
  Royal Marines Poole is a British naval base in Poole, England and is the centre for the Royal Marines and Royal Navy amphibious and riverine activities.-History:...
  
  

British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

• Bulford
  Bulford Camp
  Bulford Camp is a military camp on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England.The modern day Bulford Camp is two camps separated by Marlborough Road. The camp on the eastern side contains Picton Barracks housing the headquarters of 3rd Division and Kiwi Barracks houses the 4th Battalion The Rifles...
  
  
• Royal Citadel, Plymouth
  Royal Citadel, Plymouth
  The Royal Citadel in Plymouth, Devon, England, was built in the late 1660s to the design of Sir Bernard de Gomme. It is at the eastern end of Plymouth Hoe overlooking Plymouth Sound, and encompasses the site of the earlier fort that had been built in the time of Sir Francis Drake.During the Dutch...
  
  
• Edinburgh
  Edinburgh
  Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
  
  
• Catterick Garrison
  Catterick Garrison
  Catterick Garrison is a major Army base located in Northern England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world with a population of around 12,000, plus a large temporary population of soldiers, and is larger than its older neighbour...
  
  
• Strensall
  Strensall
  Strensall is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Foss north of York and north-east of Haxby. Prior to 1996 it had been part of the Ryedale district. It covers an area of 2,908 acres....
  
  
• Harrogate
  Harrogate
  Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...
  
  
• DST Leconfield
• Chilwell
  Chilwell
  Chilwell is a residential suburb of Greater Nottingham, in the Borough of Broxtowe of Nottinghamshire, west of Nottingham city. Until 1974 it was part of Beeston and Stapleford Urban District, having been in Stapleford Rural District until 1935.-History:...
  
  
• Donnington
  Donnington
  Donnington may refer to:*Donnington, Berkshire**Donnington Castle*Donnington, Gloucestershire*Donnington, Herefordshire*Donnington, Oxfordshire**Donnington Bridge*Donnington, Shropshire, in the parish of Wroxeter and Uppington...
  
  
• Lichfield
  Lichfield
  Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
  
  
• Bramcote
  Bramcote
  Bramcote is a settlement in the Broxtowe district of Nottinghamshire, about five miles west of Nottingham. It was a separate village but is now a suburb of Greater Nottingham. Originally one of the main roads between the cities of Nottingham and Derby passed through the village centre...
  
  
• Kineton
  Kineton
  Kineton is a village and civil parish on the River Dene in south-eastern Warwickshire, England. The village is part of Stratford-on-Avon district, and in the 2001 census it had a population of 2,278....
  
  
• Bassingbourn
• Wimbish
  Wimbish
  Wimbish is a village and civil parish within Uttlesford, in Essex, England.The first recorded mention of the village was in 1042, when it was referred to as Winebisc. It was subsequently referred to as Wimbeis in the Domesday Book....
  
  
• South Cerney
  South Cerney
  South Cerney is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, 3 miles south of Cirencester and close to the border with Wiltshire. It had a population of 3,074 according to the 2001 census...
  
  
• Shrivenham
  Shrivenham
  Shrivenham is a large village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, close to the boundary with Wiltshire. It is in the Vale of White Horse, between Swindon and Faringdon. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Character:Shrivenham features many...
  
  
• Didcot
  Didcot
  Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...
  
  
• Hermitage
  Hermitage, Berkshire
  Hermitage is a village and civil parish, near to Newbury, in the English county of Berkshire.-Location and communications:The civil parish is made up of a number of settlements: Hermitage village, Little Hungerford and Wellhouse, in 2003 these consisted of some 1,154 people in 444 houses, although...
  
  
• Arborfield
  Arborfield
  Arborfield is a village in Berkshire about south-east of Reading, about west of Wokingham, and about west of the sister village of Arborfield Cross The village is on the A327 road linking Reading...
  
  
• Sandhurst
  Sandhurst
  Sandhurst is a small town and civil parish in England of 7,966 homes and 20,803 inhabitants , primarily domiciliary in nature with a few light industries...
  
  
• Mytchett
• Kneller Hall
  Kneller Hall
  Kneller Hall is a stately home in the Twickenham area of west London, and takes its name from Sir Godfrey Kneller, court painter to British monarchs from Charles II to George I...
  
  
• Brawdy
  Brawdy
  Brawdy is a village and parish in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales.- Location :Brawdy is situated at the northeast corner of St Brides Bay. The southern half of the parish is in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park...
  
  
• Worthy Down
• ATR Winchester
• ATC Pirbright
• Upavon
  Upavon
  Upavon is a rural village in the English County of Wiltshire, England. As its name suggests, it is on the upper portions of the River Avon which runs from the north to the south through the village. It is situated about south of Pewsey, about southeast of the market town of Devizes, and about ...
  
  
• Colerne
  Colerne
  Colerne is a village and civil parish in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, midway between Bath and Chippenham in Wiltshire, England. It has an elevated position above sea level and overlooks the Box Valley to the south...
  
  
• Warminster
  Warminster
  Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36, and near Frome and Westbury. It has a population of about 17,000. The River Were runs through the town and can be seen running through the middle of the town park. The Minster Church of St Denys sits on the River Were...
  
  
• Netheravon
  Netheravon
  Netheravon is a village and civil parish on the River Avon, about north of the town of Amesbury in Wiltshire.-Notable people:The writer Frank Sawyer , although born in Bulford, spent most of his life in Netheravon as river keeper River Avon and died on the banks of the river near the parish church...
  
  
• Wilton
  Wilton
  - England :*Wilton, Cumbria, a place in the county of Cumbria*Wilton, Herefordshire, a village in south Herefordshire*Wilton, North Yorkshire, a place in the county of North Yorkshire*Wilton, Redcar and Cleveland, a place in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland...
  
  
• Middle Wallop
  Middle Wallop
  Middle Wallop is the local name given to an area between the two Parishes of Over Wallop and Nether Wallop in Hampshire, England. As it does not have its own parish technically it does not exist, however road signs and maps make reference to the location and have done so since the 18th century,...
  
  
• Blandford
• Bovington
• Norton Manor
• Chatham
  Chatham, Medway
  Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...
  
  

Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

• RAF Spadeadam
  RAF Spadeadam
  RAF Spadeadam is a Royal Air Force station in Cumbria, England close to the border with Northumberland. It is the home of the 9000 acre Electronic Warfare Tactics Range, making it the largest RAF base in the United Kingdom.-History:...
  
  
• RAF Boulmer
  RAF Boulmer
  RAF Boulmer is a Royal Air Force station near Alnwick in Northumberland and is currently home to Aerospace Surveillance and Control System Force Command, Control and Reporting Centre Boulmer, the School of Aerospace Battle Management, No...
  
  
• RAF Linton-on-Ouse
  RAF Linton-on-Ouse
  RAF Linton-on-Ouse is a Royal Air Force station at Linton-on-Ouse near York in Yorkshire, England. It is currently a major flying training centre, one of the RAF's busiest airfields...
  
  
• RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey
• RAF Scampton
  RAF Scampton
  Royal Air Force Station Scampton is a Royal Air Force station situated north of Lincoln in England, near the village of Scampton, on the site of an old First World War landing field.-First World War:...
  
  
• RAF Digby
  RAF Digby
  RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station which, since March 2005, has been operated by the Ministry of Defence's Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Intelligence Collection Group. Formerly a training and fighter airfield, it is currently a tri-service military signals installation located...
  
  
• RAF Cranwell
  RAF Cranwell
  RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. It is currently commanded by Group Captain Dave Waddington...
  
  
• RAF Valley
  RAF Valley
  RAF Valley is a Royal Air Force station on the island of Anglesey, Wales, and which is also used as Anglesey Airport. It provides fast-jet training using the BAE Hawk and provides training for aircrew working with Search and Rescue. Unofficially the motto for RAF Valley is 'One Valley, Training...
  
  
• RAF Shawbury
  RAF Shawbury
  RAF Shawbury is a Royal Air Force station by the village of Shawbury near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.The station at Shawbury was first used for military flying training in 1917 by the Royal Flying Corps, but it was returned to agricultural use in 1920. In 1938 it was reactivated as a training...
  
  
• Brampton
  RAF Brampton
  RAF Brampton is a Royal Air Force station near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. Formerly the home of RAF Support Command, it now houses several elements of Defence Equipment & Support , which itself was a result of a merger between the Defence Logistics Organisation and the Defence Procurement Agency...
  
  /RAF Wyton
  RAF Wyton
  RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England.In terms of organisation RAF Wyton is now part of the combined station RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow, a merger of Wyton with two previously separate bases, RAF Brampton and RAF Henlow. Wyton is the largest of the three. It...
  
  
• RAF Henlow
  RAF Henlow
  RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the RAF Signals Museum and 616 Volunteer Gliding Squadron.- History :...
  
  
• RAF Honington
  RAF Honington
  RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. Although used as a bomber station during the Second World War, RAF Honington is now the RAF Regiment depot and home to the Joint CBRN Regiment.-RAF use:...
  
  
• RAF Halton
  RAF Halton
  RAF Halton is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom, located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire.HRH The Duchess of Cornwall is the Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Halton.-History:...
  
  
• RAF High Wycombe
  RAF High Wycombe
  RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. Its purpose is to serve the needs of the RAF Air Command, situated on the site. It is also the headquarters of the European Air Group...
  
  
• RAF Uxbridge
  RAF Uxbridge
  RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force station in Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon. Its grounds covered originally belonging to the Hillingdon House estate, which was purchased by the British Government in 1915, three years before the founding of the RAF...
  
  
• RAF Northolt
  RAF Northolt
  RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station situated in South Ruislip, east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights...
  
  
• RAF Innsworth
  RAF Innsworth
  Imjin Barracks in Gloucestershire became the home of the Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in 2010.The Barracks were named after the Battle of Imjin because of the connection with the Gloucestershire Regiment which formed part of the United Nations contingent in the Korean War, and was...
  
  
• RAF St Mawgan
• RAF Wittering
  RAF Wittering
  RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire is the nearest town, the runways of RAF Wittering cross the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire....
  
  
• RAF Northolt
  RAF Northolt
  RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station situated in South Ruislip, east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights...
  
  
• RAF Brize Norton
  RAF Brize Norton
  RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the settlements of Brize Norton, Carterton and Witney....
  
  
• RAF Halton
  RAF Halton
  RAF Halton is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom, located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire.HRH The Duchess of Cornwall is the Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Halton.-History:...