Provost Parade is the magazine for the RAF Police, also called the RAF Provost Branch. Is the military police branch of the British Royal Air Force. It was formed on 1 April 1918, when the RAF was formed from the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). It is responsible for policing the RAF and its installations.
Members of the RAFP are distinguished by their white-topped caps (giving rise to their nickname of Snowdrops), which they have worn since 1945, and black/red/black flashes worn below their rank slides, known as 'Mars Bars'. Unlike their Army colleagues in the Royal Military Police, they do not wear a distinctive red beret when wearing camouflaged uniform, although they do wear the same red 'MP' flashes on the
Provost Parade is produced biannually
sleeve of their uniforms.
There is a detachment of RAFP on most RAF stations. Usually it is a flight, commanded by a Flying Officer or Flight Lieutenant, with either a Flight Sergeant or Sergeant as Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO) RAFP (sometimes referred to as the "Sheriff").
Larger stations may have a Security Squadron, with a Squadron Leader in command as Officer Commanding (OC) Security, who is also responsible for the general security of the station. The squadron generally also includes RAF Regiment detachments.
The RAFP also fulfills the RAF's counter-intelligence role, similar to that carried out by the British Army Intelligence Corps.
