goof - MPs carrying S+W .38 revolvers?

It actually took a few years for the Beretta to work it's way into the system. I was in the Army from 1986-2000. In the late Eighties I was issued a Colt 1911A1 (I was a crewman in an M1 Abrams tank) and I recall seeing the MP's at Fort Lewis, Washington carrying 1911's.

Part of the reason why it took so long was that there were issues with the slides seperating when being fired. That problem was later determined to be due to the very hot 9mm load that the SEALs and other units were using (basically a +P+ loading). Beretta reinforced the frame and solved that problem. But some powerful congressmen and senators who were unhappy with a non-American pistol being selected also got a second round of tests ordered in the late eighties which slowed things down as well.

It really wasn't until 89/91 that the Beretta had replaced the 1911 throughout the regular Army. In the Army Reserves and National Guard it wasn't until the mid-90's that all the units had Berettas.

Having said all that you're right about the MP's not carrying revolvers. The Air Force SP's (Security Police i.e. Military Police) were issued both the S&W Model 15 and the Ruger Police Six (that model was purchased by the DOD in the late Seventies), but as far as I know the Army MP's always carried the 1911A1 Government. Only the CID carried the S&W Model 10 snubnose revolver.

When I went through Army Military Police school in 2001, I remember the instructor talking about this during training on the M9. He said that before the M9 came into the system, male MPs carried the M1911A1 .45 automatic, and female MPs carried the .38 revolver. Might have to do some digging and confirm that.