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The
Military Provost Staff Corps (
MPSC) was the
corpsA corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
of the
British ArmyThe 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...
which ran its
military prisonA military prison is a prison operated by the military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, enemy combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members of the military found guilty of a serious crime...
s. As the
Military Provost Staff (MPS), the corps is now administratively part of the
Adjutant General's CorpsThe 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...
. It also provides operational support and technical advice for
Prisoner of WarA prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
handling during conflicts and monitors PoWs in custody. It is based at the Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC) in
ColchesterColchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
,
EssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
.
The
Military Prison Staff Corps was formed in 1901 under Army Order 241. It was redesignated the Military Provost Staff Corps in 1906. It became part of the Adjutant General's Corps (AGC) on 6 April 1992, forming the Provost Branch along with the
Royal Military PoliceThe 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...
. It retains a separate identity within the AGC, however, keeping its
cap badgeA cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as well as uniformed civilian groups such as the Boy...
and other symbols.
The MPS does not recruit directly from civilian life, but only accepts applications from soldiers already serving in the Army. All its members hold a minimum rank of
SergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
.
On Tuesday 13 January 2009 the MPS was presented a new
Tactical recognition flash100px|thumb|Red and blue tactical recognition flash of the [[Royal Artillery]].A Tactical Recognition Flash is a coloured patch worn on the arm of combat clothing by members of the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force to distinguish their Regiment or Corps in the absence of a cap badge. It...
by the Provost Marshal.
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