503rd Military Police Battalion Photographs, CLDW 107

The 503D Military Police Battalion Airborne Photographs collection contains ground-view and aerial-view photographs of soldiers in various stages of paratrooper training exercises. The photographs are primarily taken in the air and show many paratroopers jumping from planes at the same time. Some photographs show a ground-view of many paratroopers jumping from the planes, paratroopers in mid-descent, or once they have landed on the ground. Some of the photographs show a clear image of the canopy of parachutes, the soldiers' uniforms, and the equipment that soldiers had during the jumping exercises. There are also several aerial-view photographs that show a clear image of the planes that paratroopers are jumping from and show various stages of the canopies open or nearly open. Many of the images in this collection are black and white. There are two color photographs: one image (likely taken at Pope Airfield) of three stationary planes, and one image of an unidentified paratrooper with uniform and equipment standing in front of a plane labeled "U.S. Air Force 136". This collection is a useful visual resource for researching paratrooper training exercises, the planes that the paratroopers jumped from, and the types of parachutes that paratroopers used at the Salerno Drop Zone in 1958.

The 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne), currently written as the 503D Military Police Battalion (Airborne), is a battalion of the 16th Military Police Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps of the United States Army. The 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne) was established on February 27, 1922 as the 303rd Military Police Battalion of the Organized Reserves, located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. On January 1, 1938, the 303rd Military Police Battalion was inactivated and removed from the Organized Reserves and reassigned to the Regular Army. The name of the battalion became the 503rd Military Police Battalion on June 1, 1940.

The 503rd Military Police Battalion was first activated on February 1, 1943 at Camp Maxey, Texas. They then served at Camp Kilmer (NJ) and overseas in World War II, where it earned its first Meritorious Unit Commendation for service in Normandy. From 1946 - 1949, the battalion went through a series of being activated and inactivated. The 503rd Military Police Battalion was then reactivated at Fort Bragg (NC) on February 16, 1949 to provide professional law enforcement support to the community and to train military police. The 503rd Military Police Battalion then served in many overseas missions and earned additional Meritorious Unit Commendation awards. In May 1965, the battalion was deployed to the Dominican Republic to support the peacekeeping force there (the mission was called 'Operation Power Pack), resulting in earning its second Meritorious Unit Commendation. In May 1990, the name of the battalion became the 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne).

The 503D was deployed to Saudi Arabia on August 27, 1990 for 'Operation Desert Shield' and 'Operation Desert Storm' to conduct combat operations to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The battalion was awarded a third Meritorious Unit Commendation for service in both missions. In September 1994, the battalion and around 25,000 were deployed to Haiti to give military police support in 'Operation Uphold Democracy', which was ultimately a success. The 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne) returned to Fort Bragg in November 1994. When the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001, the 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne) deployed to the Military District of Washington to help protect the Pentagon. In total, the battalion has earned 5 Meritorious Unit Commendation awards. The 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne) is still active today at Fort Bragg and is distinguished as the only Airborne Military Police Battalion in the United States Army.

The 503D Military Police Battalion Airborne Photographs collection contains ground-view and aerial-view photographs of soldiers in various stages of paratrooper training exercises. The photographs are primarily taken in the air and show many paratroopers jumping from planes at the same time. Some photographs show a ground-view of many paratroopers jumping from the planes, paratroopers in mid-descent, or once they have landed on the ground. Some of the photographs show a clear image of the canopy of parachutes, the soldiers' uniforms, and the equipment that soldiers had during the jumping exercises. There are also several aerial-view photographs that show a clear image of the planes that paratroopers are jumping from and show various stages of the canopies open or nearly open. Many of the images in this collection are black and white. There are two color photographs: one image (likely taken at Pope Airfield) of three stationary planes, and one image of an unidentified paratrooper with uniform and equipment standing in front of a plane labeled "U.S. Air Force 136".

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• •  Photographs
  Photographs

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