Written by: COL Jonathan Bennett, 290th Military Police Brigade
Provided by: LTC Dante Orlando Brown, 200th Military Police Command
On April 12, 2023, senior leaders from the Office of the Provost Marshal General (OPMG), 200th Military Police Command, and 290th Military Police Brigade had the opportunity to observe a demonstration of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Urban Reconnaissance through Supervised Autonomy (URSA) program and consider potential uses for Military Police missions.
DARPA developed the program to enable autonomous systems operated and supervised by U.S. ground forces to detect hostile forces and establish positive identification of combatants before U.S. troops encounter them.
Military Police leaders observed the technology demonstration to consider the value of using this type of technology in MP missions such as detention operations, area security, and force protection.
Observing were MG Cary “Joe” Cowan, Jr., Commanding General, 200th MP Command, BG Matt Metzel, Deputy Commanding General, 200th MP Command, COL Shannon Lucas, Deputy Provost Marshal General, and COL Jonathan Bennett, Commander, 290th MP Brigade.
The team was highly impressed with the capabilities and potential. Military Police leaders are continuing discussions with DARPA on the possibility of integrating URSA into a future training exercises in order to test it further in specific mission contexts.
