220th Military Police Brigade The 220th Military Police Brigade is a military police brigade of the United States Army , headquartered in Gaithersburg , Maryland . It is an Active Component / Reserve Component formation of the U . S . Army Reserve . First activated in 1959 , the brigade was a part of the reserves for the first 40 years of its existence , and never participated in any conflicts or wars of the 20th century . Its headquarters moved around several places until coming to Gaithersburg in 1970 , where it has remained ever since . The brigade was activated into the active duty force for one year from early 2003 until early 2004 to participate in the initial invasion and occupation of Iraq , Operation Iraqi Freedom . After this deployment , the brigade was again placed in reserve and has since commanded units in readiness exercises for other large U . S . combat formations preparing to deploy in support of U . S . operations worldwide . Organization . The 220th Military Police Brigade is headquartered at the Major General Benjamin L . Hunton Memorial United States Army Reserve Center at 8791 Snouffer School Road in Gaithersburg , Maryland , which also serves as the headquarters of the U . S . Army Reserve Legal Command . As a reserve unit , the formation is not in existence on a permanent basis , but is instead only called upon when needed . The brigade ' s Headquarters and Headquarters Company is located in Gaithersburg , and it commands two other reserve military police battalion s . These are the 336th Military Police Battalion and the 400th Military Police Battalion . The brigade commands numerous smaller company sized reserve military police units throughout the country . These units deploy to foreign theaters of operations with the brigade when it is called upon , and they also deploy to various installations throughout the United States when needed for participation in training and readiness exercises . History . The unit was first constituted on 3 April 1959 in the Army Reserve as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment , 220th Military Police Group before being activated on 25 May of that year in Washington , D . C . . On 23 July 1960 , the location of the group ' s headquarters was changed to Rockville , Maryland . The group remained in the reserves throughout the Vietnam War , and was never called upon to serve in the Vietnam theater of operations , as active duty military police groups were already being organized in the theater and additional , reserve commands were not needed . As such , the group received no campaign participation credit for the conflict . Ten years later , on 17 April 1970 , the location of the group headquarters was again changed to Gaithersburg , Maryland where it is presently located . It received a shoulder sleeve insignia on 24 July 1972 and a distinctive unit insignia on 27 September 1972 . The group was reorganized and redesignated on 10 December 1971 as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment , 220th Military Police Brigade , allowing it to command a larger number of military police units . On 16 April 1980 the brigade ' s command element was again reorganized as Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 220th Military Police Brigade . Prior to the Iraq War , the brigade remained on reserve status , prepared to deploy if needed , but it was never called upon for any contingency operations or conflicts , as other active duty military police commands , primarily the 16th Military Police Brigade , were called upon to be deployed instead . By 1999 , after 40 years of existence , the brigade had yet to be deployed to a foreign theater of operations or participate in any conflicts or contingencies . The brigade saw only a single activation into active duty service , at the start of the Iraq War . It was ordered into active military service on 10 February 2003 at Gaithersburg , Maryland as part of the U . S . Military ' s mobilization in preparation for Operation Iraqi Freedom . Some 13 , 800 reserve component Military Police were called into active duty for the invasion , including the Headquarters of the 220th as well as the 800th Military Police Brigade . Overall , over 57 , 000 reserve and national guard troops were called into active duty service for the invasion . The brigade assumed command of other reserve and national guard military police units during the operation , including company sized units from Virginia , New York , Illinois , Kansas and Texas The brigade was , in turn , subordinate to the 377th Theater Support Command . During its tour , the Brigade suffered five casualties ; three soldiers killed in combat , and two soldiers killed in vehicle accidents . The brigade served in Iraq for a year before returning to the United States in early 2004 . It was relieved from active military service on 21 April 2004 and reverted to reserve status once again . The brigade is an " AC / RC " ( Active Component / Reserve Component ) formation . Since 2005 , the brigade has provided detachment and company sized units to active duty combat brigades for use in exercises at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk , Louisiana . These exercises were highly varied in nature , and primarily aimed at training those units for future deployment to Iraq . One such unit was the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team , which the brigade provided several company sized units to during their training exercises . Honors . Unit decorations . The brigade has never received a unit decoration from the United States military .