A stipulation set by the armistice agreement was that both the Communist and UNC sides police their respective sections of the DMZ with “civil police,” not to exceed 1,000 in the zone at any one time across the entire front. With further allocation of police personnel to army and I Corps units, the number of 1st Marine Division police on duty within the DMZ at any one time was originally set at 50. Since no civilian police were available to either side, requirements were modified so that a specially designated military unit, in lieu of civil police, could be employed and the original quota enlarged if this became feasible.
Due to the delicate political aspect of the DMZ as well as the non-repatriated POWs in the custody of Indian forces, security measures were of utmost importance. The Marine division activated a new unit, the 1st Provisional Demilitarized Zone Police Company at 0800 on 4 September. The new unit, charged with maintaining security throughout the 1st Marine Division sector, became operational three days later. Commanding officer was Captain Samuel G. Goich, formerly of F/2/7. Each regiment from the division furnished 25 enlisted men and 1 officer to form the company, including standby personnel. On 21 September, the DMZ Police Company was attached to the 5th Marines. Police Company personnel were required to have had at least three months’ Korean service, a General Classification Test score of at least 95, a minimum height of 5 feet 10 inches, and were “selected for physical stature and mental capacity required in coping with the delicate situation existing within the Demilitarized Zone.”[670] The average DMZ company member was said to know “map-reading on an officer level, first aid, radio, and understand the fine print of the cease-fire agreement like a striped-trouser diplomat.”[671]
[670] 1stMarDiv ComdD, Sep 53, p. 2.
[671] Sarokin, “DMZ Marines,” p. 23.
The mission of the Marine provisional police company as set up by the truce agreement was to furnish military police escort for special personnel visiting the DMZ and to apprehend truce violators or enemy line crossers. Visitors who rated a military escort were members of MAC, Joint Observer Teams, Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission personnel,[672] NNSC inspection teams or agency assistants, or other VIPs authorized to enter the UN half by the Military Armistice Commission.
[672] The Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission supervised all phases of implementation of the armistice. It consisted of the Secretariat and 20 neutral nations inspection teams staffed by personnel from Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.
Six Marine DMZ military policemen, each armed with a .45 caliber pistol and M-1 rifle, accompanied UN joint observer teams to the demarcation line, midpoint between enemy and friendly boundaries, but did not cross the MDL. I Corps orders directed that military police were to be “responsible for the safety of the United Nations members of the team and, when meetings are held south of the demarcation line, they will be responsible for the safety of the CCF members of the team as well.”[673]
[673] 1stMarDiv G-3 Jnl, dtd 1 Aug 53, msg CG I U.S. Corps to addees, dtd 31 Jul 53.
Major tasks performed by the 104-man company operating within the 2,000-yard wide, 28-mile-long zone were:
To maintain surveillance over civilians within the UN half of the DMZ;