3/25th MILITARY POLICE COMPANY
MULTI-NATIONAL FORCES AND OBSERVERS (MFO)
SINAI ~ 1991-1992

TIMOTHY R. WESTFALL

I was with 3rd Platoon, 25th MP Company out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. We were tasked to go to MFO (Multi-National Forces and Observers) in the Sinai right after Desert Storm and stayed there for about 9 months. One of our duties was to help with securing the main gate. It was usually two MPs (during the day) and one at night. The rest of the guys were 11B (Infantry) types, with a Sergeant or Staff Sergeant in charge of them. The MPs were in charge of the overall operation since we were the physical security experts. 

On Christmas Eve/Day 1991, I was working the gate by myself and I had an 11H (TOW Missile Gunner) with me, his Sergeant, and another one up in the tower, manning an M-60. It was about 2 am, and I was about to get off shift. My relief was at the station screwing off watching "The Grinch" on AFN (Armed Forces Network). About this time, we all observed a civilian vehicle drive down the driveway heading towards us. The vehicle then veered off towards the south onto a side road that went around the camp, and head for the beach area along the Red Sea. I called my Squad Leader/Desk Sergeant and told him what was going on. He said that he would send the patrol down there ASAP to relieve me; then, since I was senior, I was to take the other guy down there and check it out. I gave him a "Roger, out" and began to wait. 

About five minutes later the same car reappeared along the road heading back towards the drive way. As it was pulling onto the driveway, the driver lost control (because he was going way too fast) and hit the barrier. The vehicle slowly started to roll towards the gate and then come to a stop.....at the same time, I heard the guy in the tower lock and load the 60. I started to walk towards the car and radio in what I saw was going on to my Desk Sergeant. The patrol must have heard the radio traffic, because I could hear the roar of their engine and see the reflection of the overhead blue lights. I slowly proceeded towards the civilian vehicle. The occupants got out (one male and one female) and started speaking to each other in German. 

As this was going on, the 11H sergeant at the gate got scared and called "FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, RED HOT, MAIN GATE" over his radio. That was the phrase for "shit hitting the fan, we need help ASAP!" We had a platoon size element of grunts in a secure area next to the station that were the reaction force for stuff like this. I continued to walk towards them speaking in German that I was with the US Military Police, and that I wanted to know what was going on here. The responding patrol heard the "FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, RED HOT, MAIN GATE" call on their other frequency and hit the siren for some damn reason. As they were coming to the gate area, the Germans looked up, saw the lights and apparently heard the siren as well, looked at me then started to 'sprint' across the desert towards the tourist village about three klicks away. I went after them and tackled the male. The passenger in the MP patrol leaped from the vehicle and chased the female down. We cuffed both of them, patted them down, and drug them back to the patrol vehicle. They had only made it about 50 meters or so. 

The funny part looking back on that was the other MP (Specialist Budzinski) had never moved that fast in his entire military career! He was kind of overweight and was a horrible runner. It was one of those things that we got a chuckle out of later on. Anyway, we searched the civilian vehicle and then called the Dutch MPs and our Arabic translator to get a hold of the Egyptian Police. To make a long story short, it seems as though the Germans were drunk and had decided to go to the beach and get it on. They didn't have a car so they stole the one that they were in from in front of their hotel! When they got to the beach the male couldn't "get it up" so the female got pissed. Then they decided to head back to their hotel when the idiot wrecked. 

The Egyptian Police took their passports and gave them 24 hours to come up with $5000.00 in repair money for the barricades and vehicle and another $2000.00 in fine money before they could leave the country or they were headed to jail. Which we later heard they got the money and flew the country. All of us involved ended up getting ARCOMs (Army Commendation Medals) from the MFO Task Force Commander... once he had heard about it. No one had bothered to call him up and he didn't know about it until staff call the next morning. He was really pissed. Luckily, he didn't blame us for not calling him. He told his staff that we must have been busy with all the action going on, and our Lieutenant and the CID (Criminal Investigations Division) agent with us backed us a 100%. The Quick Reaction Force never showed up. Since it was Christmas, they had turned down their radio. They thought that there would be no drills and that nothing would happen on Christmas Eve/Day. The Task Force Commander ended up relieving their First Lieutenant and the Platoon Sergeant in charge of the Quick Reaction Force that night!! And he ended up blaming them for not calling him to tell him what was going on!