Headquartered at Camp Humphreys in Korea, the 94th Military Police Battalion is the only U.S. Army MP battalion in the country and is also the largest forward-deployed MP battalion in the Army. Nicknamed the “Polar Bear” battalion, the 94th’s 400 personnel provide law enforcement, criminal investigation, close protection, military working dog, and traffic-accident investigation services on a daily basis.
Constituted as HQ and HQ Detachment, 94th Military Police Battalion on 8 June 1945 and activated on 13 June 1945 in France, the unit did not take part in any World War II campaigns and was inactivated in France on 25 February 1946. It was allotted to the Regular Army in October 1950 and activated in Korea on 30 October 1950. Roughly three-and-a-half years later, it was inactivated after having served in eight Korean War campaigns and earning two Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citations. It was reactivated on 24 June 1959 in Germany and served there until inactivation on 21 June 1976. Two decades later, on 16 April 1996, it was activated once again in Korea, where it still serves as of Summer 2023.
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The 94th Military Police Battalion Distinctive Unit Insignia, also called a unit crest or a DUI, was approved on 6 May 1966. “WHEN IN NEED,” the unit motto, is featured on the base of the insignia, which is dominated by a bear—hailed in Korean legends as being transformed into the woman that was the mother of the Korean people—wearing a red-and-blue taeguk pendant, the familiar emblem of the nation; these two items represent the unit’s two ROK Presidential Unit Citations. The flag with long streamer held by the bear is a German banner called a “schwenkel” and is charged with a black cross taken from the arms of the city of Bonn, an allusion to the 1959 reactivation of the Battalion in Germany.
Distinctive Unit Insignias are worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e),
"Beret" and
"Garrison Cap," respectively.