Military Police

“Serve as the law enforcement and force protection arm of the Marine Corps. Military Police conduct patrols, investigations, and security operations while developing law enforcement skills directly applicable to civilian police careers, federal law enforcement, and investigative agencies.”

You are going to write a lot of incident reports. The base gate is your beat and the population you're policing is specifically the demographic — young, male, underpaid, newly unconstrained by home oversight — that generates the most incident reports per capita of any group in America. You will deal with drunk and disorderly, domestic calls, DUIs, barracks thefts, and the occasional incident serious enough to involve NCIS. The MP company on a Marine base handles everything civilian police handle on a small city. The investigative track (CID/NCIS liaison work) is more interesting. Deployments for MPs involve detainee operations, internment, and force protection missions that are distinct from garrison work in ways that are operationally significant. The law enforcement certification is real. The college credit equivalency helps. Civilian PD and federal agencies actively recruit military police and the transition is well-worn. NCIS and FBI are realistic targets for high performers who do the work.