211th Military Police Battalion The 211th Military Police Battalion ( " First Corps of Cadets " ) is a unit of the Massachusetts Army National Guard . Its Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment is descended from the First Corps of Cadets , initially formed in 1741 . Its motto is Monstrat Viam – " It Points the Way . " While it has served in five wars , the sub - unit ' s primary contribution to Massachusetts and to the United States was as an officer - producing institution for new regiments from the Revolutionary War through World War II . The inter - war years . The First Corps of Cadets was reorganized on 27 July 1921 as the 1st Separate Infantry Battalion . This was a temporary designation until the Massachusetts National Guard received its allotment of units . With this reorganization the Corps was no longer part of the 26th " Yankee " Division . In March 1922 , the Corps became the 211th Machinegun Battalion , Coast Artillery Corps but in May 1923 was reorganized again as the 2nd Battalion , 211st Artillery , Coast Artillery Corps and was federally recognized in April 1924 . The Corps was reorganized again as a two - battalion regiment in June 1926 as the 211th Coast Artillery Regiment . The 211th was actually an antiaircraft artillery regiment but assigned to the Coast Artillery which had the mission of providing both coast and antiaircraft artillery units . With the Corps ’ new mission of antiaircraft artillery , it turned its attention toward recruiting and training for its federal mission . No longer was the Corps an exclusive social organization . Intelligent , educated young men were invited to join . Unlike other National Guard units however , prospective recruits had to be sponsored by a current member and were interviewed by a special committee before final acceptance in the Corps . Not all applicants were accepted . Drill pay was turned in to the unit fund to support the Armory and the many social , athletic and ceremonial activities of the Corps . The Corps reorganized its regimental band , which played at the monthly dances . Drill and ceremonies were still an important part of the Corps ' activities . A regimental parade was held every month and the Corps was reviewed by the governor on the Common each year . The only dress uniform was the Army issue Class A olive drab uniform with a choke collar , later changed to a roll collar with tie . In April 1929 the Corps returned to its prewar full dress uniform ; however , only enough uniforms for the band , regimental color guard and a 100 man marching unit could be purchased due to the expense . Drills were held once a week . Annual training was 15 days ; initially summer camps were held at coast artillery installations such as Fort Wright and Fort Terry , then at Camp Edmands , Hingham and Camp Edwards . Massachusetts . The Corps was noted for its esprit de corps and spit and polish . The Corps ' drill team competed in national drill competitions in full dress uniform . Athletics were very important and the Corps ' teams attracted some of Boston ' s finest athletes . The 211th fielded baseball , football , track , pistol and rifle teams as well as a platoon of boxers . The biggest football game of the year was between the 211th and the 101st Engineers and was played at Harvard Stadium . World War II . The 211th went to three weeks of annual training at Plattsburgh Barracks , NY in the summer of 1940 . There was a great deal of discussion that President Roosevelt had decided to mobilize the entire National Guard for one year of intensive training . The Corps was told that it would be one of the first units to mobilize . On 16 September the 211th Coast Artillery Regiment ( AA ) , under the command of COL . Stuart G . Hall , entered federal service at the Cadet Armory . The 211th was organized with the 1st battalion as a gun battalion equipped with three - inch antiaircraft guns while Battery A was the searchlight battery . The 2nd Battalion was equipped with . 50 caliber machineguns and 37 - mm guns . Total assigned were 51 officers , one warrant officer , and 1 , 280 enlisted men . The Corps left Boston for Camp Edwards on 19 September . While at Camp Edwards , the 211th slept in tents , as contractors were busy building hundreds of new barracks . The Corps ' stay was only temporary and in late October the regiment changed station to Camp Hulen , Texas , which became one of the Army ' s primary antiaircraft artillery training centers . With the Corps in federal service , the Veteran Association organized a State Guard unit for state service . The First Motor Squadron began organizing in October 1940 and was accepted as a unit of the Massachusetts State Guard in February 1941 . Unit personnel drilled on a weekly basis and attended annual training each summer . The First Motor Squadron was ordered into active state service several times during the war and was inactivated in October 1946 . The 211th was alerted for overseas movement to the Pacific in the fall of 1941 . However , the bombing of Pearl Harbor resulted in the cancellation of the 211th ' s movement orders to the Pacific ; instead the regiment received orders to immediately move to San Francisco which was changed to Vallejo , California . The 211th left Camp Hulen on 9 – 10 December by train and arrived in Vallejo on the 14th . Under threat of a possible Japanese air attack , the 211th occupied hastily - built battery positions to provide 24 - hour air defense for Mare Island Naval Shipyard and Hamilton Field . In June 1942 the 1st Battalion was issued 90mm guns . A new 3rd Battalion was activated to provide searchlight support . The Corps ' strength was over 1 , 500 men . Because the 211th was performing an important stateside mission , it was destined to remain in the U . S . during World War II . In August 1943 , the regiment was reorganized to consist of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery , 211th Antiaircraft Artillery Group ; the 1st Battalion was redesignated as the 772nd Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion ; the 2rd Battalion was redesignated as the 747th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion ; the 3rd Battalion , was redesignated as the 324th Antiaircraft Artillery Searchlight Battalion ; and the regimental band was redesignated as the 491st Army Service Forces Band . By this time in the war , hundreds of Cadets had either been commissioned after attending Officer Candidate School or had been reassigned as cadre for new antiaircraft battalions . The First Corps of Cadets lived up to its name by providing the leadership for new wartime units . Former Cadets served in every theater of the war . The 21lth Group and the 772nd and 747th Battalions continued to defend vital installations and provide replacements for overseas service . On a sad note , COL Hall , who had commanded the Corps since 1937 and the 211th Group , died in a plane crash in May 1944 . The 211th and its elements were deactivated in 1944 and 1945 . The 324th served in Alaska and was deactivated in 1944 . Loss and return to its roots . The Corps was quick to reorganize after its World War II service ; in order to keep its identity and history , it decided to organize as a separate battalion . Massachusetts was allotted a separate cavalry squadron and the Corps reorganized as the 211th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron and was federally recognized on 7 November 1946 . In January 1949 , the designation changed again . The 26th Infantry Division was short its organic tank battalion , so the Corps was reorganized and redesignated as the 126th Tank Battalion . During the next 47 years , the Corps would have to be redesignated and converted to another branch in order to remain in the National Guard force structure . In another major reorganization of the Massachusetts National Guard , in 1959 the Corps reorganized as the 1st Battle Group ( later the 1st Battalion ) , 220th Infantry . After 59 years , the Corps returned to its traditional infantry mission but could not reclaim its traditional federal number of 211 since the 211th Infantry was assigned to the Florida National Guard . With the 1959 reorganization , only Headquarters Company and Company A were left in the Cadet Armory ; B was in Newton ; C and D were in Waltham and E and Support were in Cambridge . In 1964 , Headquarters Company , 1st Battalion , 220th Infantry , the only remaining element of the Corps in the Cadet Armory , moved to Cambridge . The Veteran Association was forced to sell the Armory . This was a serious blow that had a major negative effect on the Corps ; the Cadet Armory with its museum and displays was a showcase of the history and traditions of the First Corps of Cadets . The Veteran Association purchased a townhouse at 227 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston and moved the museum there . However , despite the 220th Infantry located in Cambridge and Somerville , the physical separation from the museum and the veterans resulted in no loss of regimental pride , identity and esprit . However , in April 1975 , after the end of the war in Vietnam and as part of the Army ' s general reorganization , the 220th Infantry was deemed no longer needed and it ' s elements were broken up and most of its men became proud members of the 182nd Infantry and remained part of the 26th Yankee Division . At the last minute , officials of the Adjutant General ' s Office realized that they had to save the lineage of the First Corps of Cadets . With the concurrence of the Army ' s Chief of Military History the state consolidated elements of the 220th Infantry with the 126th Signal Battalion . The 126th had been organized in 1959 from existing Artillery units . While the intent to save the history of the First Corps of Cadets was admirable the shotgun marriage with the 126th Signal Battalion was not initially happy . It was not until the late 1980s that the battalion began wearing the historic Corps insignia and began to take part in the traditional activities of the Corps . In 1991 the 126th Signal Battalion was identified as being excess to the needs of the Army when the Army decided to deactivate the 26th Infantry Division . While the Yankee Division deactivated in September 1993 , the 126th managed to hang on until 1996 . From 1993 to 1996 the VAFCC worked with the Adjutant General to insure that there would be a place for the Corps in the new force structure of the Massachusetts National Guard . After serving as infantry , engineers , antiaircraft artillery , cavalry , armor , infantry again and signal the Corps became a battalion of military police . In early 1996 , it was decided that the 126th Signal Battalion would consolidate with the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment , 685th Military Police Battalion in Newton . The new organization became Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment , 211th Military Police Battalion ( First Corps of Cadets ) . The Corps ' traditional federal number 211 was restored On 26 July 1996 , a formal military parade was held on the Newton Town Green . LTC Richard Spicer was presented with the colors of the 211th along with the Bowdoin sword signifying his assumption of command of the First Corps of Cadets . The 211th ' s new mission as a military police battalion in command and control of the 747th , 772nd , and 972nd Military Police Companies retain the esprit , history and tradition of the First Corps of Cadets . The men and women of the 211th Military Police Battalion proudly wear the Corps ' distinctive unit insignia inscribed with the motto Monstrat Viam " It Points the Way . " Activation to federal duty in the War on Terrorism . On 11 September 2001 after the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City members of the 211th MP Battalion , the Active Unit of the First Corps of Cadets , reported to their respective armories without waiting for formal notification from the governor of the state of Massachusetts or a formal state of emergency being declared by federal authorities . Within hours the unit was activated to state duty to provide security at Logan International Airport . Currently elements of the 211th MP Battalion are on active duty serving overseas , and in various stateside locations . The 211th ' s new mission as a military police battalion in command and control of the 747th , 772nd , 972nd and other Military Police Companies retain the esprit , history and tradition of the First Corps of Cadets . The men and women of the 211th Military Police Battalion proudly wear the Corps ' distinctive unit insignia inscribed with the motto Monstrat Viam " It Points the Way . " Heraldry . The heraldic items approved for the 211th Military Police Battalion ( First Corps of Cadets ) consists of a coat of arms and a distinctive unit insignia . Coat of arms The coat of arms consists of a blue shield which represents the infantry origin of the Corps , a yellow botonny cross which represents the Civil War service of the 45th Massachusetts Infantry as part of the XVIII Corps in the upper left is the six - pointed star insignia of the Corps , the pine tree signifies service in the Revolutionary War , the red and white stripe signifies the service of the Corps in World War I as the 101st Engineers . The coat of arms was approved by the War Department on 19 October 1922 . For its distinctive unit insignia the Corps adopted an insignia that it had been using on its colors , buttons and belt buckles since 1786 and possibly earlier . The insignia is a variation of that worn by the Coldstream Guards of the British Army . It is based on the star of the Order of the Garter , which King William III authorized for use on the colors of the Coldstream Guards in 1696 . The Corps ' insignia is a red cross on a yellow disc , with a blue garter belt bearing the motto and date Monstrat Viam 1741 resting on a gold six - pointed star . Why the First Corps of Cadets adopted this insignia is open to speculation . One theory is that since the Cadets served as the bodyguard to the royal governor of Massachusetts , it guarded the king ' s personal representative , and was , in effect , the household guard of Massachusetts . The Cadets wore a uniform similar to that worn by the Coldstream Guards and then adopted the insignia from the Guards ' colors as it own . The First Corps of Cadets ' first distinctive unit insignia , based on its coat of arms , was approved for the 211th Coast Artillery in 1923 and was worn until 1944 . It was one of the few units in the Army to have its designation on a scroll around the insignia " Two Hundred Eleventh First Corps Cadets Mass . N . G . Artillery . " When the Corps was redesignated as cavalry , it was no longer appropriate to wear this insignia . Lieutenant Colonel Richard C . Storey , the commander in 1948 , requested Department of the Army approval for the Cadets to wear its traditional insignia as its distinctive unit insignia . Someone in the unit designed the insignia and had a sample made . The Army approved it in 1950 . As the 126th Tank Battalion , the Cadets began wearing the insignia on its uniforms the same year . Colors . The colors of the 211th Military Police Battalion Corps are of a standard issue Military Police battalion color , which is green with yellow fringe . In the body of the eagle is the coat of arms below which is the motto Monstrat Viam . Above the eagle is the crest of the Massachusetts National Guard , which is the arm of Myles Standish holding a sword . The colors are currently authorized 21 campaign streamers for service in the Revolutionary War , Civil War , and World Wars I and II . Also authorized is the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation streamer . For parades , the 211th also carries a color consisting of its distinctive insignia on a white field . History of the 772nd Military Police Company . Cohannet Train Band Organized in 1638 as the Cohannet Train Band , Plymouth Colony Militia , the 772nd Military Police Company is the oldest company - sized unit in the Army National Guard . In 1639 when Taunton was incorporated , the unit became the Taunton Train Band . This was the first of many redesignations in the 772nd ' s history . Company history The company was assigned to the Plymouth Regiment in 1658 and later the 3rd Regiment , Bristol County Brigade . The company responded to the alarm for Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775 they did not see any fighting but probably took part in the siege of Boston . The Taunton militia took part in two campaigns against the British ; in New York in 1776 and in Rhode Island in 1777 . As Captain Reed ' s Company , the unit was in federal service in September 1814 as a guard against British attack during the War of 1812 . By 1831 , the company had changed from obligatory service under federal and state militia laws to volunteer service as a light infantry company . For the first time , unit personnel were fully armed , equipped , uniformed and drilled on a regular basis whereas before individual militiamen provided their own weapons and equipment . In 1842 the company became Company C , 2nd Battalion of Light Infantry and in 1855 it became Company C , 4th Regiment . The 772nd Military Police Company is one of only nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812 . The 4th was called into federal service twice during the Civil War ; for three months in 1861 , fighting in the Battle of Big Bethel , Va . ; and for nine months from Sept . 1862 to August 1863 , taking part in the siege of Port Hudson , La . Reorganized after the war as Company F , 3rd Regiment , the unit was converted to coastal artillery in 1897 . During World War I , the Taunton unit served as the 24th Company , Coast Defenses of Boston . In 1920 the unit converted to field artillery as Battery F , 101st Field Artillery . The battery was ordered into federal service in January 1941 when the 26th Infantry Division began intensive training prior to World War II at Camp Edwards . Redesignated again as Battery C , 212th Armored Field Artillery Battalion , the Taunton unit , as part of the 6th Armored Division , fought in Europe . It took part in campaigns in France , Belgium and Germany as part of General Patton ' s Third Army . The battery reorganized in 1947 and was redesignated in 1955 as Battery B , 126th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion and in 1959 as Battery B , 2nd Battalion , 211th Artillery . It rejoined the 101st Field Artillery in 1963 . In December 1967 the unit received its current designation as the 772nd Military Police Company . It also consolidated with the Attleboro unit which as , Company I , 101st Infantry , was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for gallantry in action at Lorraine , France . In 1990 the 772nd absorbed personnel from the 747th MP Company and HHD , 685th MP Battalion . On 7 January 1991 the 772nd was ordered into federal service for duty in the Gulf War . It provided reconnaissance and security for main supply routes . The 772nd was released on 14 May 1991 . In 1995 , the 772nd changed station to Brockton after being stationed in Taunton for 357 years . The current location of the 772nd Military Police Company has moved back to Taunton . In 2002 the 772nd Military Police Company was deployed in support of operation enduring Freedom in Bagram and Kabul Afghanistan providing base security . In 2009 the 772MP Co was deployed to Al Kut , Iraq where they spent the year training the local police forces and assisted in Military operations . From 30 March 2010 to 4 April 2010 , the guard members of the 772nd responded to local flooding in Operation Rising Water . Also , the 772nd was responded to a state - wide activation in response to Hurricane Earl on 3 September 2010 . They returned home safely on 4 September 2010 . History of the 972nd Military Police Company . The 972nd was originally organized in April 1917 as a battery of field artillery in Gloucester . The unit served as Battery A , 102d Field Artillery , 26th Division in World War I earning six campaign honors . Battery A entered federal service again in January 1941 prior to World War II . During the war it was redesignated as Battery A , 211th Field Artillery Battalion , assigned to the 26th Division Artillery . The battery earned three campaign honors for action in France , Belgium and Germany . In 1947 the battery was reorganized and in 1959 received its old designation back as Battery A , 2nd Battalion , 1O2nd Artillery . In 1974 the unit changed station to Lexington . In April 1975 the unit received its present designation , 972nd MP Company , when it converted to military police . The 972nd moved to Newton in 1980 . The 972nd entered federal service in November 1990 for duty in the Gulf War . For its service , it was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation and three campaign honors . The 972nd was released in May 1991 . In October 1994 , the 972nd changed station to Melrose . History of the 747th Military Police Company . The 747th is the newest element of the 211th . It was constituted in 1995 in Southbridge and federally recognized in 1997 . The 747th has deployed twice in support of the Global War on Terror . In 2003 the 747 MP CO was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . In 2009 the 747 was again called to Federal Service this time in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom . The 747 was in charge of Police Transition Teams across the Al - Anbar Province with Squads of the 747 Training and Mentoring District Leaders in Fallujah , Anah , Al Qiam , Rutbah , Hit , Haditha , Rawah , and Haqqlaniya .