History The 212TH MP Company was constituted on Jan. 1, 1942, and activated on May 15, 1942, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Between May 15, 1942, and Feb. 19, 2010, it was activated and inactivated eight times. Between 1950 and 1953, the unit was allotted to the regular Army where it served honorably in the Republic of Korea earning the Republic of Korea Presidential Company Citation. After the Korean conflict, the unit was relocated to Japan and was inactivated on June 24, 1958. The unit then activated on April 15, 1960, in Italy before being inactivated August 16, 1965. On Jan. 10, 1966, the unit was reactivated to provide K9 support in the republic of Vietnam. Prior to being inactivated on Nov. 8, 1972, the unit was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation for its actions in Vietnam. On Oct. 21, 1977, the unit was activated in Wuerzburg, Germany, and settled in Kitzingen, Germany, where it performed Military Police Combat support in Support of V CORPS. The unit deployed to Southwest Asia on Dec. 4, 1990, in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, during the Gulf War, the unit performed Internment and Resettlement Operations in Kuwait and Iraq. Since Dec. 29, 1995, the unit has deployed to various Baltic Regions including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Macedonia, and Albania. The unit returned June 15, 2000, from Kosovo after supporting Task Force Hawk and Task Force Falcon. The unit deployed to Poland in support of Operation Victory Strike from Sept. 13, 2001, until Oct. 20, 2001. The unit then deployed to Kosovo from Nov. 25, 2002, until July 18, 2003, in support of Operation Joint Guardian from March 2008 until May 2009, the unit deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The unit was then inactivated in Germany on Feb. 4, 2010. Feb. 19, 2010, marks the activation and restationing of the 212TH MP Company at Fort Bliss, Texas.
On 23 June 1951 Jacob Malik, Deputy Foreign Minister of the U.S.S.R., made a statement in a recorded broadcast in New York implying Chinese and North Korean willingness to discuss armistice terms to end the Korean War. When Communist China indicated that it also desired peace, President Truman authorized General Ridgway to arrange for an armistice conference with the North Korean commander. Both aides agreed to begin negotiations at Kaesong on 10 July 1951. The chief delegate for the U.N. at the conference was Vice Admiral C. Turner Joy. The enemy delegation was led by Lt. Gen. Nam Il.
It was agreed at the first meeting that military operations would continue until an armistice agreement was signed. However, neither aide was willing to start any large-scale offensive while peace talks were in progress. U.N. military action in this period was limited to combat patrolling, artillery and air bombardment, and the repulsing of enemy attacks.
In August of 1951 the strength of all U.N. ground forces under Eighth Army command totaled 549,224. This included 248,320 U.S. ground troops, Army and Marines, 268,320 in the ROK Army, and 32,874 in the ground units of the seventeen other United Nations.
Truce negotiations were broken off by the Communists on 22 August. Van Fleet then launched a series of limited-objective attacks to improve the Eighth Army's defensive positions. The U.S. X and ROK I Corps in east-central Korea fought for terrain objectives five to seven miles above Line KANSAS, among them Bloody and Heartbreak Ridges, to drive enemy forces from positions that favored an attack on Line KANSAS. By the last week in October these objectives had been secured.
Along the western portion of the front, action in September was characterized by local attacks, counterattacks, and combat patrols. By 12 October five divisions of the I Corps had advanced the front three to four miles to a new Line JAMESTOWN to protect the Ch'orwon-Seoul railroad. The IX Corps followed with aggressive patrolling toward Kumsong. On 21 October it seized the commanding heights just south of the city.
On 25 October armistice negotiations were resumed at the new site of Panmunjom.
