Wednesday, May 23, 2007

The Lagerburg Mounted Police (Reitendes FeldJagerKorps)

The roots of military police in the Lagerburg Army can be traced back to the Reitendes Feldjagerkorps (RFJK) of Friedrich II. Upon accession to the newly-created Duchy, Albrecht borrowed from the Prussian model to create his own police and security force. In contrast to the Prussian regiment, however, the Lagerburg RFJK was trained and employed for civil law enforcement duties as well.
The Duke made use of the most recent advances in the sciences and law in order to create a model organization. He established an academy in Felsenfall for the training of recruits; basic literacy, physical fitness and prior education were prerequisites for admission. As indicated by the nature of training, a heavy emphasis was placed on law enforcement and criminal justice. Subjects taught in the RFJK academy were:
Criminal police methods
Correspondence training
General & special police powers
Criminal, forestry, fishery, industrial and waterway codes
Passport and identification duties
Folk culture
Wound treatment
Weapons drill & marksmanship
Scouting & reporting duties
Horsemanship
Self-defense techniques
(It may be noted that much of the training would eventually be brought together to create an Olympic sporting event, the Pentathlon.) The rank structure reflected the mainly police duties of the organization. The commander of the force held dual titles of Chief Magistrate and Colonel, each used when appropriate. In peacetime the duties of the Reitendes FeldJagerKorps (RFJK) were to enforce and administer civil law; during general emergencies troopers were tasked to conduct reconnaissance, control military traffic, carry important messages, and protect members of the ducal family.
As members of the RFJK rose through the ranks, their roles and assignments likewise changed. In peacetime, rank and file troopers were employed as police officers or constables assigned to towns and cities in the Duchy, and officers held positions as circuit judges. When the Duchy went to war, the RFJK would muster at Felsenfall to be organized as the senior regiment of light cavalry. Later a battalion of Feldjagerkorps zu Fuss, was raised to supplement the RFJK.

3 comments:

Bluebear Jeff said...

Greetings and welcome to the land of Blog.

I read your post on OSW and if you want to join the group blog "Emperor vs Elector", you need to send me your email address . . . then I can get an invitation sent to you.

My email is . . . bluebear@uniserve.com

The concept for the blog is more-or-less spelled out in the sub-title. Take a look if you like:

http://emperor-elector.blogspot.com/


-- Jeff of Saxe-Bearstein

Auston Jeff Butler said...

Military histories of our states, armies and units are to me a very fun aspect of the hobby. I enjoyed reading this one.

MurdocK said...

WOW your military police get real training!

I thought most provost training consisted of: drinking others under the table (so that you can 'press' them into service), riding horse (while drunk as a skunk), drinking with your fellow provost (and not being the first one under the table), using a baton in-stead of the sharp edge of a sword to 'punish' deserters, drinking (for its own sake), recognizing all members of the royal household that are in active service (so that you knew when to really be on 'display'), drinking in high-society situations (what most others would call "moderation"), parade-ground presentation (while drunk as a skunk); and of course drinking and singing after all important dinner functions.