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They may be patrolling ambush-prone trails through the Iraqi desert or tracking terrorists in Kosovo, but the U.S. Army's military police say they still can't seem to shake stereotypes about their work.

"Because of the movies, there will always be this image of MPs as the guys who come into a bar with clubs swinging and somebody shouting, 'The MPs are coming,' as an illegal crap game breaks up and soldiers scoot out the back door," says Maj. Eric Nikolai, a military police officer with V Corps.

In garrisons in the United States and abroad, military policemen and women do issue speeding tickets, investigate on-base crimes and break up the occasional bar brawl. That all changes during times of conflict.

"We take care of the bad guys in the rear," says Maj. Rob Dillon, operations officer of the 709th Military Police Battalion.

In today's conflicts, there are growing numbers who fall into that category terrorists, paramilitary groups, freelance snipers, suicide bombers and behind-the-lines special forces units.

During the rapid advance on Baghdad, U.S. combat troops bypassed not only regular Iraqi military units but also hardcore supporters of President Saddam Hussein who sneaked out of urban areas to threaten vital supply convoys from Kuwait to the front-line troops. Behind-the-lines insecurity persists.

"Just because you've swept forward doesn't mean they won't come back. That's where we come in. We are the credible combat force in the rear area," said Dillon, of Yorktown, Va. "You may not win a war in the rear, but you could lose it there."

The 709th, formed during World War II and now based in Germany, exchanged its garrison patrol cars for Humvees armed with machine guns and rapid-fire grenade launchers and for "Guardian" armored security vehicles, which appear to have made a successful battlefield debut in Iraq.

Once deployed in conflict, the basic MP unit is a three-soldier team a driver, a gunner and a team leader trained in operating independently and in what the acronym-enamored military calls IPC, interpersonal communication skills.

Missions range from escorting convoys, sweeping insecure areas, operating roadblocks and handling prisoners of war to gathering intelligence through good, old fashioned detective work. MPs often cooperate with military intelligence, civil affairs and Special Forces units.

When the war ends, and after many combat units have returned home, MPs expect to be working alongside remnants of the local police and legal system.

"We'll deal more with the local population, and so I think they will see us differently from the other troops, less of an enemy," said Nikolai, of Cripple Creek, Colo.

Hoping to impose law and order in southern Iraq, unmask regime holdouts and their weapons, and win some hearts and minds, the 709th is working with a dozen tribal leaders along the Euphrates River between the cities of Nasiriyah and Samawah.

The unit is trying to channel some basic aid to the impoverished, rural area in exchange for cooperation from the local leaders, empowering them to rule their domains until a new civil authority can be installed.

"We have a lot of firepower and a low signature," Dillon said.

In many post-Cold War conflicts when lines between the military and civilians are blurred, it's often more effective and politically palatable to send in some MPs rather than an armored brigade, he said.

The military police force which has roots in the American Revolution and officially became an army branch in World War II has recently been dispatched to Afghanistan, Bosnia, the Gulf War, Kosovo, Haiti, Panama and Somalia.

With the United States increasingly casting itself in the role of world policeman, MPs say they don't expect to be spending a lot of time rounding up drunks and speedy drivers.

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