Scope and Contents

The collection consists of one copy of Up-Close & Personal by Robert C. Bogison. The book is Bogison's memoir of his time serving with Company B "Bushwhackers" 720th Military Police Battalion.

Biographical / Historical

Robert Bogison was born in Pontiac, Michigan to an Austrian immigrant mother and a first-generation Armenian who had served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Pacific Theater in World War II. A change in his father's employment took the family to Granada Hills, CA. Bogison graduated from Granada Hills High School in 1966. In early January 1968, Bogison enlisted in the U.S. Army to become a Military Policeman. He did his basic training at Fort Ord, CA followed by Military Police School at Fort Gordon, GA. His first duty station was the Correctional Training Facility at Fort Riley, KS, where he was assigned to rehabilitate incorrigible soldiers.

In July 1969, Bogison shipped out to the 284th Military Police Company headquartered at the Long Binh jail compound. Four months later, he transferred to Company B "Bushwhackers" 720th Military Police Battalion to be a squad leader. After Company B was disbanded in July 1970, Bogison spent his final 40 days in-country at a U.S. Marine Corps firebase near Da Nang. He returned to the U.S. in September 1970.

Following his military service, Bogison studied at California State University, graduating with a BA in Sociology and a minor in History in 1973. His wife Lorraine encouraged him to pursue a law enforcement career and in 1977, he joined the Reno, NV Police Department. He held various law enforcement positions with the Reno Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department over a 20 year career, until he was medically retired in 2004 due to job-related injuries. Bogison now lives in Bozeman, MT with his wife and has two grown children.