Fool Me Once, Never Twice

The Assignment It was a nice warm afternoon in Asmara. Not the stifling heat that was a usual August day. It was a nice day to ride around Asmara and the various Kagnew Station facilities. I was working the afternoon shift this month on my usual activity of traffic enforcement and accident investigation. Not bad duty. No domestic disturbance calls, shoplifters or any of the other types of calls that no cop likes. I liked working traffic. Most of it was self initiated activities and each wreck brought a little something different to the table, no matter how minor might be the occurrence. I had been on duty just about 2 hours when the radio called me a couple of minutes after 4:00 P.M., “Unit 28, this is Observer”. Not the voice of the radio operator or even the Desk Sergeant, but that of Staff Sergeant Jack Fisher, the Patrol Supervisor. Sergeant Fisher was not the sort of leader that would snatch the radio from his subordinates. When he called you it meant business. What could it be? A major wreck, no the radio operator would handle something like that. Not a paperwork error, I hadn’t turned in anything so far. I had written two tickets and investigated one wreck where an Air Force Major’s wife backed into an Army vehicle in the Post Office parking lot. Yep, that’s what it was. I had not given her a ticket, but when I told her she would be responsible for the damage to the Army vehicle she acted like I had singled her out. She proceeded to tell me it was just an accident and that she had really not done anything wrong. I reminded her the truck was properly parked and she had damaged it. I broke off the conversation as soon as possible, telling her to report the matter to her husband. Yea, it had to be her. I just hate complaints. I responded, “Observer this is 28, just outside Track A Back Gate”. Sergeant Fisher’s “Return To Station” cut through the car like a knife. I felt a serious chewing as I rogered the call and turned to drive to the MP Station. Sergeant Fisher was what one would call and old solider and a hard-core leader. He was a WW II and Korean War veteran, a Military Policeman all the way. The story was that as a young MP he had written a speeding ticket to General Patton’s driver as the general “caught fire” in the back seat of the car. It must be true because on the wall in his barracks room was a framed letter from Patton that just simply thanked Fisher for his observance and dedication to duty. I did a good job for Sergeant Fisher and as a Vietnam vet I held a spot that nobody else in his squad had. Several times at briefing he had made reference to combat MPs and he always looked at me at those times. I had never been on his bad side and was hoping that this was not the day. I pulled up and parked in front of the MP station and looked in the window. There was Sergeant Fisher looking through his blue tint glasses at me. He looked like he just could not wait for me to come inside. In I went and right off the top he asks what happened out there. I handed him my tickets and the accident report as I started the story about the Air Force wife. Nope, that’s not what it was. He stated, “The Provost Marshal wants to see you ASAP. I don’t know what it is, Green, but I hope, it’s not bad news”.