The vehicles of the US Military Police guarding the Spanish naval base in Rota

@DefAviation ES 3·29·2023 · 6:03 0

The Rota Naval Station, in Spain, is a joint base used by the Spanish Navy and the United States Armed Forces.

This is how the US military honors its flag in Rota in its only annual hoist
The colorful Spanish detail of the caps of the destroyer USS Carney of the US Navy

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the US presence in that base, since it has its origin in the Madrid Pacts of 1953. What many people do not know is that the Navy The US has its own Security Department at that base, which performs Military Police functions, mainly surveillance, although it is also trained in anti-terrorist operations, in the face of possible attacks on the base. The US thus contributes to maintaining security at this joint base.

That American Military Police has its own vehicles, with registration plates similar to the Spanish ones but with their own code, so that they can circulate inside that enormous base, but not outside it. Searching the US Department of Defense DVIDS website and National Archives of that country I have found some interesting photos about the vehicles that the American Military Police in Rota have used to over the years. Click on each photo if you want to see it enlarged.

A photo from March 1992: members of the American Military Police from Rota, in Woodland camouflage BDU uniforms, together with two members of the Spanish Naval Police. The American Military Police in Rota are from the US Navy. The Spanish Naval Police is part of the Marine Infantry. Behind the soldiers we see a pickup belonging to the American Military Police (with a license plate like the Spanish one, but with its own code) and a Nissan Patrol belonging to the Spanish Naval Police.

A photo from 1994. A US Navy military policeman poses for the camera pointing his shotgun and accompanied by his guard dog. If I'm not mistaken, the car is a Peugeot 505 Break from the 80s, probably bought in Spain. The emblem on the door reads "Securidad - Base Naval de Rota", in Spanish. As you can see, the license plate code, completely numeric, does not seem to be related to what we can see in other photos.

A photo from September 2016. An Opel Combo C van of the American Military Police in Rota during a demonstration with one of the dogs it uses for surveillance tasks.

A photo from June 2018. Members of the American Military Police in Rota with simulated Beretta M-82 pistols during training.

Another photo from the same exercise in 2018. Currently, the cars used by the US Navy Security Department in Rota bear the sign "Military Police" in white letters on a blue stripe.

In this photo we better see the type of cars used by the American Military Police in Rota: a second generation Ford Focus and second restyling (left) and a fourth generation Ford Focus Sedan strong>, probably just released (it came on the market in the same year that this photo was taken, 2018).

Currently, the American military police officers in Rota wear NWU Type III uniforms with AOR2 camouflage, which are the regulations for duty uniforms in the US Navy.

It must be said that US sailors not only help monitor the Rota Naval Station by land, but also by sea. Here we see a US sailor patrolling in a boat around the naval station in August 2007. Of course, the Spanish Navy also participates in this work.