[Ron Wood]

I don't think it would be a Military Police unit in the sense that we usually associate with MPs. I think of MPs as garrison police having authority over military personnel, and civilians within a military jurisdiction. The Gendarmarie to me was more like a rural constabulary with government sanction that ranged beyond military bases, a sort of paramilitary organization with general police powers. This is just a guess based on the term "gendarmarie" and the connotation it carries. Somebody that knows what they are talking about please step in here and stop me if I am dead wrong.