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Service Details |
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Service Status
USA Retired
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Final Rank
Lieutenant Colonel
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Last Service Branch
Military Police Corps
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Last MOS
31A-Military Police Officer
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Last MOS Group
Military Police
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Primary Unit
2010-2011, US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A)
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Previously Held MOS's
31D-Criminal Investigation
31C-Correctional
54A-Operations Plans Training Officer
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Service Years
1982 - 2002
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What are you doing now:
I retired from the Army on May 1st, 2002 and was sworn in as a civilian Police Chief in the same ceremony.
Served two years as a Chief of Police at Austin Peay State University outside FT Campbell, then 5 years with Wackenhut Services Inc--the last 4 as Chief of Security Police, Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral.
The smoke cleared, the family got sorted out, and I had a chance to get back into the fight, with the support of my bride who is still a great "Army wife."
Spent 2009 as Country Program Manager, MPRI's Law Enforcement Professionals in Iraq, then with the 101st and my son (4/10th Mtn) heading there--took the same position in Afghanistan from 2010-2011.
After 24 out of 27 months in Iraq and Afghanistan, I headed back to Ellen, the townhouse in Satellite Beach, and some time out on our boat for some extended trips including Key West.
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Other Comments:
Grateful to have packed so much into a 20-year career and despite that short time, I am the only MP Officer in history that commanded an MP Station, a combat support MP Company, a CID Crime Lab, a Confinement Facility, and a Battalion (Provisional).
Thank God for the leaders I had (three in the MP Hall of Fame); the NCO's I served with (three who became Regimental Command Sergeant Major); and--especially--thank God for our soldiers. Just from my 108th MP Co command alone--My former XO became a Brigade Commander, my PFC-driver became a Lieutenant Colonel, and one of my PFC / M60 Gunners is became the Regimental Chief Warrant Officer of the MP Corps.
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1982-1985, 31A, Military Police Company, Army Garrison Military District of Washington (MDW)
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1985-1986, 31A, 2nd Military Police Company, 2nd Infantry Division
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1986-1989, 31A, 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne)
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1987-1989, 31A, 108th Military Police Company
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1989-1990, 31D, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (Staff)
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1990-1993, 31D, Criminal Investigation Laboratory (USACIL-Pacific)
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1993-1994, 54A, 14th Military Police Brigade
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1994-1996, 31A, HHD, 95th Military Police Battalion
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1995-1996, 31C, 9th Military Police Detachment, 95th Military Police Battalion
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1996-1998, 54A, Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Office of Secretary of Defense (SECDEF)
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1997-1997, 54A, Academics Department (Staff) Armed Forces Staff College
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1998-2002, 54A, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
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2000-2002, 31A, 101st Military Police Company
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2009-2010, Multi-National Force Iraq (MNF-I)
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2010-2011, US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A)
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Reflections on LTC Provost's
US Army Service
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PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE ARMY.
I wanted to be a soldier since my earliest memories, that was challenged only by my desire for a law enforcement career. When I found out I could have both, there was no decision left to make.
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WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHERE DID YOU GO TO BASIC TRAINING AND WHAT UNITS, BASES OR SQUADRONS WERE YOU ASSIGNED TO? WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING?
Military Police, although I floated back and forth between "garrison" and "tactical" assignments. During the time these two roles competed with my career focus--upon reflection it made me better at both.
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IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN ANY MILITARY OPERATIONS, INCLUDING COMBAT, HUMANITARIAN AND PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS, PLEASE DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH MADE A LASTING IMPACT ON YOU AND, IF LIFE-CHANGING, IN WHAT WAY?
Although I was always "there" in field units as far-forward as you could be, including contingency operations: Korean DMZ, pre-invasion Panama, etc, I was never officially in a combat zone until returning to work as a contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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FROM YOUR ENTIRE MILITARY SERVICE, DESCRIBE ANY MEMORIES YOU STILL REFLECT BACK ON TO THIS DAY.
Being in the right time and right place in those units, with great leaders, where the "magic" occured, units that were both functioning at full capacity and were like extended family: The 503 MP Battalion (Airborne), 95th MP Battalion in Germany, and most of all--my four years in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
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WHAT PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF FROM YOUR MILITARY CAREER?
Not yet, although I've been honored to serve alongside many true heroes.
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OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES YOU RECEIVED, OR OTHER MEMORABILIA, WHICH ONE IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
Among the few most meaningful are unit awards, with the exception of the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award. It was the most meaningful because the Army flew my wife with me from Japan to the Pentagon to receive the award.
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WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
COL (Ret) Mike Sullivan, still my mentor to this day, who stated to a young impressionable Captain, "Short of War, nothing is more important than your family. When you need to be with them, there will be no questions asked."
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CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR SERVICE, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FUNNY AT THE TIME, BUT STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?
SFC John Tellez and I went to visit a nostalgic former nuke site at Fischbach, Germany during a field operation in 1994, got accidentally locked inside, had to cut our way out the back, unknowingly entered France in a tactical vehicle with weapons, flew through a border checkpoint, and re-entered Germany to rejoin the field exercise. To this day, the wire-cutters are in a glass display case at my house with the label, "The keys to Bitsche, France."
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WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?
I became a civilian Chief of Police, then went to work for Wackenhut Services as contracted Chief of Police at Kennedy Space Center from 2005-2008. In 2009, I got asked to run the MPRI Law Enforcement Professional Program in Iraq. I am doing the same job here in Afghanistan in 2010-2011.
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WHAT MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIPS?
101st Airborne Division Association, MP Regimental Association, and the Eastern Kentucky University Alumni Association, which has always had a robust ROTC program and has many active TWS members.
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IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER? WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT YOUR TIME IN THE SERVICE?
The great units and leaders have spoiled me, and I am still coming to terms with the fact that no post-retirement career or profession will ever have the same values, ethics, and honor that I found in the best Army units. That said, I have become more patient, but I do not compromise those learned values for anything or anybody.
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BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE ARMY?
Legacy is everything. You are influencing more people and making a bigger difference in the Army and individual lives, than you are currently aware of. Serve every day, and go out with your head held high.
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IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.
 | | Together We Served and Veteran Community |
TWS has been a great link to both former friends and soldiers, and a way to stay connected to the Army and those still serving. DB 8/18/2016
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