A Legacy of Honor

The 49th Military Police Brigade was federally recognized in the California Army National Guard on 1 July 1924 as Headquarters 2nd Battalion, 159th Infantry, and element of the 40th Infantry Division, AT.   

On 3 March 1941, the 159th was inducted into federal service.  The 159th was relieved from assignment to the 40th Infantry Division on 29 October 1941 and reassigned to the 7th Infantry Division.   

During its federal service in World War II, the unit’s campaign credits included the Aleutian Islands and the European, African-Middle Easter Theater of Operations.  The unit was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 6 November 1945.   

The Unit again was federally recognized as a National Guard unit in October 1948, ad Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 2nd Battalion, 159th infantry, an element of the 49th Infantry division.  Through several reorganizations from 1950 to 1976, the unit grew in importance due to is support of both national and state level missions.  In January 1968, Alameda, California is where it remained.   

On 1 February 1976, the unit was reorganized and redesignated Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD), 49th Military Police Brigade, with three Military Police Battalions, as well as an Infantry Battalion, a Personnel Services Company and an Army Band Assigned to it.  In January of 1978, the infantry battalion was replaced by the 579th Engineer Battalion.   

After realignment of nonorganic units on 1 February 1985, the 49th Personnel Service Company the 159th Army Band and the 579th Engineer Battalion were transferred from the Brigade. The Military Police Brigade was restructured into three subordinate battalions: The 49th Military Police Battalion in Walnut Creek, the 143 Military Police Battalion in San Mateo, and the 185th Military Police Battalion in Pittsburg.  These battalions include units spread from the San Francisco Bay Area (Northern California) to Camp Roberts (Southern California).   

The 49th Military Police Brigades recent history has remained illustrious as its past. It has activated to assist in nearly every major disaster or civil disturbance in California. In 1992 the 49th MP Brigade activated with a multitude of other military formations to assist in the resolving of the Rodney King riots. In 2005 it would deploy to Iraq. It would have its largest activation since 1992 in 2017 when it would be sent to assist with the 2017 wildfires that ravaged the state. The 49th would go on to engage in a sizeable amount of other civil support activations, the most recent and memorable being in 2020 for the devastating paradise fires and the COVID 19 response. More recently, the 49th MP Brigade assisted in the emergency response to the devastating  palisade’s fires in LA. that ravaged 23,448 acres.