HISTORY OF THE
118th MILITARY POLICE BATTALION,
RHODE ISLAND ARMY NATIONAL GUARD
Pre-World War Two
On January 20th, 1926 the 1st Battalion, 118th Engineers of the Rhode Island National Guard was constitued as an element of the 43d Division.
The new unit was organized and Federally recognized on December 8th, 1926 with headquarters at the Cranston Street Armory in Providence.
On March 1st, 1929 the 118th was expanded to form the 118th Engineer Regiment.
World War Two
American Defense Service Medal and 43rd Division Patch
The 118th Engineer Regiment was inducted into Federal service on February 24th, 1941 at home stations when the 43d Division was mobilized for service in the Second World War. Although the United States was not yet formally at war President Roosevelt began to mobilize National Guard troops in 1940.
American Campaign Medal
The 118th Engineer Regiment was broken up on February 19th, 1942 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as the 118th Engineer Battalion, an element of the 43d Infantry Division, and the 2d Battalion, 177th Engineers.
After February 19th, 1942 the above units underwent changes as follows:
On April 1st, 1942 the 118th Engineer Battalion was redesignated as the 118th Engineer Combat Battalion.
The 2d Battalion, 177th Engineers, was reorganized and redesignated August 1st, 1942 as the 2d Battalion, 177th Engineer General Service Regiment. It was disbanded 15 November 1944 at Anchorage, Alaska and reconstituted 8 May 1945 in the Rhode Island National Guard as the 2d Battalion, 177th Engineer General Service Regiment.
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Initially assigned to Camp Blanding, Florida, the 43rd Division later trained at Camp Shelby, Mississippi and Ft. Ord, California. From Ft. Ord the Division embarked on ships for the South Pacific. The Division less the 172d Regimental Combat team, consisting of the 172d Infantry Regiment, the 103d Field Artillery Battalion and elements of Ordnance, Engineer Medical and Signal Units, closed in New Zealand in October, 1942.
During the Second World War, the 118th served on Guadacanal, the Northern Solomon Islands, New Guinea and in the Philippines. It was awarded the arrowhead device for its participation in the invasions of the islands of the Northern Solomons and Luzon in the Philippines, a Meritorious Unit Commendation and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. These distinctions make the 118th the most highly decorated unit in the Rhode Island National Guard.
World War Two Victory Medal
The 118th was inactivated on October 26th, 1945 at Camp Stoneman, California.
Post World War Two
The 118th Engineer Combat Battalion was disbanded (less Companies D and E) on 2 July 1946; Companies D and E concurrently redesignated as Companies B and A, 118th Engineer Combat Battalion, respectively
118th Engineer Combat Battalion reorganized and Federally recognized 15 October 1946 with its headquarters at the Cranston Street Armory in Providence.
Korean War Era
National Defense Service Medal
Ordered into active Federal service 5 September 1950 at home stations. The 118th was sent to Germany with the rest of the 43d Division to replace active Army units which were sent to Korea.
(118th Engineer Combat Battalion [NGUS] organized and Federally recognized 8 October 1952 with Headquarters at Providence; redesignated 1 April 1953 as the 118th Engineer Battalion [NGUS])
Redesignated 5 June 1953 as the 118th Engineer Battalion.
Released 15 June 1954 from active Federal service and reverted to state control; Federal recognition concurrently withdrawn from the 118th Engineer Battalion (NGUS).
1954 - Present
The 118th was relieved from assignment to the 43d Infantry Division upon the disbanding of the division on March 18th, 1963.
On May 1st, 1968 the 118th Engineer Battalion was converted and redesignated as the 118th Military Police Battalion. This reflected the turmoil of the Vietnam era when the National Guard was often mobilized to quell civil disturbances. Fortunately, the 118th was never called upon for this type of duty.
The battalion broken up on 1 March 1972 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as follows:
Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 118th Military Police Battalion
(Companies A, B, C, and D as the 1111th Military Police Company, 243d Signal Platoon, 119th Military Police Company, and Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 243d Engineer Battalion, respectively - hereafter separate lineages).
Humanitarian Service Medal
On February 6th, 1978 the Great Blizzard of '78 hit Rhode Island. All units of the 118th were activated to assist in the emergency. The 118th made sure that relief supplies went where they were needed and helped maintain order following the greatest disaster to hit the state since the 1938 Hurricane. As a recognition for their service all Rhode Island National Guardsmen were awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal and a special badge, officially called a pendant, to wear on their dress uniforms.
In the late 1980's the Headquarters Detachment of the 118th along with the 119th MP Company moved from their long time homes in the Cranston Street Armory in Providence to the Warwick Armory in Warwick.
Operation Desert Storm
Southwest Asia Service Medal, 14th MP Brigade Patch and 1st Infantry Division Patch
HHD 118th MP Battalion was ordered into active Federal service on November 21st, 1990 to support Operation Desert Storm. After initial deployment training and evaluation at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. The 118th MP Bn flew out of Westover Air Force Base and arrived in Saudi Arabia on January 6th, arriving just before the outbreak of Operation Desert Storm on the 16th. The 118th was a subordinate unit of the 14th MP Brigade which provided MP support for VII Corps. The 118th was involved with EPW operations as an attachment to the 1st Infantry Division during the ground campaign in late February 1991.
Although both the 115th and 119th MP Companies of the Rhode Island National Guard were activated for service during the Gulf War neither was assigned to the Headquarters of the 118th as a subordinate unit. Instead the 118th provided command and control to other reserve component units from different states. This demonstrated the flexibility of both the 118th and the Total Army concept of employing reserve components.
The 118th was awarded its second Meritorious Unit Commedation for its outstanding service in Operation Desert Storm.
The 118th was released from active service on May 18th, 1991 and reverted to state control. Because of the 118th's association with both the 14th MP Brigade and the 1st Infantry Division, members of the 118th who served during Operation Desert Storm are entitled the wear either patch on the right shoulder of their uniforms.
On February 7th, 2003 the 118th MP Battalion, along with the 115th and 119th MP Companies, was mobilized for service in Iraq. The battalion left for Fort Drum, New York on February 12th and flew to Kuwait on April 2nd.
After spending a few weeks at Camp Arifjan staging base in Kuwait, the battlion moved to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) about 10 miles west of Baghdad.
At BIAP the battalion established Camp Cavallaro and assumed command and control of the 119th, 270th and 1166th MP Companies. (The 115th MP Company was detached to the 211th MP Battalion and later was redeployed to Kuwait.) The 118th's higher headquarters until February 2004 was the 220th MP Brigade when it was superceded by the 16th MP Brigade (Airborne) from Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The battalion oversaw a variety of missions including customs inspection, main supply route patrols, convoy escorts and tactical human intelligence.
The 118th re-deployed to Kuwait in mid-March 2004 and was released from active duty in April.
Members of HHD, 118th MP Battalion who deployed to Iraq were entitled to the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Armed Forces Service Medal with Mobilization "M" device.
Appendix:
Campaign Participation Credit Note - Each campaign listed has a corresponding streamer displayed on the the 118th's Unit Colors.
World War II
Guadalcanal
New Guinea
Northern Solomons (with arrowhead)
Luzon (with arrowhead)
Southwest Asia
Defense of Saudi ArabiaLiberation and Defense of Kuwait
Cease-Fire
Unit Decorations
Meritorious Unit Commendation, Streamer embroidered PACIFIC THEATER
Meritorious Unit Commendation, Streamer embroidered SOUTHWEST ASIA
Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Streamer embroidered 17 OCTOBER 1944 TO 4 JULY 1945