MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- The Depot Provost Marshal's Office will begin a command transition with MCAS Beaufort PMO Oct. 1, as the two law enforcement commands combine into a single unit in order to extract maximum effectiveness out of their existing manpower.
The new command arrangement will name MCAS Beaufort's PMO as the parent
command, and the Depot's PMO will be a subordinate element of that command.
The single command plan has been in development for years, said Maj. Robert A. O'Day, Depot provost marshal, but it will take a full year to reach completion because many of the minute details must still be worked out.
"Our planning is pretty far along," said O'day. "Both commands are doing a great job, but there are still a few little things that will be fixed by Oct. 1, 2004."
Once those details are ironed out, those involved believe the change will benefit both bases.
"This will put more military policemen out on the street doing the job they are supposed to be doing," said Gunnery Sgt. Daryl B. Harris, the services chief for PMO, who added that many Marine Corps installations will undergo similar changes, including MCB Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River, who will also combine their PMO units.
As for how the changes will affect the Depot's PMO services, O'Day believes Depot personnel will be pleasantly surprised with the lack of change.
"Marines who are living and working on Parris Island will see no reduction in services," said O'Day. "We don't want people to have to drive all the way over to the Air Station to take care of something as simple as a driving decal."
O'Day explained that although there will be a reduction in the number of PMO personnel stationed on the Depot, the Marine billets scheduled to be eliminated will remain administrative in nature, which will actually afford the provost marshal to get more military police on the streets.
Civilians will fill many of those emptied administrative roles, added O'Day, but, even with the personnel changes, the future need of PMO augmentees is still undecided.
The combination of commands is not the only scheduled change for the Depot's PMO office. PMO, along with the Fire Department and the Emergency Medical Services, is scheduled to move into a brand new facility in the Fall of 2004, located across from the 3rd RTBn. Messhall.