Fort George G. Meade: The First 100 Years
You may know Fort George G. Meade as a cyber and intelligence hub, but did you know that the installation used to be the home of Army Tank School after World War I? Or that it housed an internment camp at the start of World War II for primarily German-American and Italian-American citizens and foreign nationals? Learn more about the fascinating history of the third largest Army base in the U.S. in terms of number of workforce in this book.
You may know Fort George G. Meade as a cyber and intelligence hub, but did you know that the installation used to be the home of Army Tank School after World War I? Or that it housed an internment camp at the start of World War II for primarily German-American and Italian-American citizens and foreign nationals? Learn more about the fascinating history of the third largest Army base in the U.S. in terms of number of workforce in this book.
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Women Under Fire<br />
In 1998, American troops invaded Panama in an effort to<br />
oust President Manuel Noriega. On Jan. 20, 1990 Capt.<br />
Linda L. Bray led 30 members of her 988th Military Police<br />
Company on a mission to take a kennel in which guard dogs<br />
were being held. At the time, military intelligence thought the<br />
kennel was undefended, but Bray and her MPs soon learned<br />
it was ‘heavily defended’ by Panamanian Defense Forces.<br />
A few days after Bray and her soldiers attacked the kennel,<br />
she was credited by DOD officials as being the first woman to<br />
lead troops into battle while in command.<br />
However, at the same time Bray was leading her troops,<br />
<strong>Fort</strong> <strong>Meade</strong>’s Capt. Mary B. McCullough, commander of the<br />
209th Military Police Company, 519th MP Battalion, was<br />
leading her troops as they manned three roadblocks between<br />
Panama City and the American military bases. From around<br />
1 a.m. on Dec. 20 and for the next 72 hours, McCullough and<br />
her troops came under periodic sniper fire and returned fire.<br />
So which one was really the first? <strong>The</strong> below feature story<br />
was printed in the <strong>Fort</strong> <strong>Meade</strong> Soundoff after McCullough<br />
returned to base. You be the judge.<br />
Commander Return From Panama<br />
As the turmoil in Panama slows to a simmer and<br />
troops from the 209th Military Police Company, 519th<br />
MP Battalion, continue their peacekeeping mission in<br />
the newly liberated country, their former commander<br />
returned to <strong>Fort</strong> <strong>Meade</strong> with a view from the secondary<br />
line of combat.<br />
Capt. Mary B. McCullough, came back early from<br />
Panama to pursue her master's degree in criminal justice<br />
at <strong>George</strong> Washington University, as part of the Army’s<br />
Degree Completion Program.<br />
In Panama on Jan. 1, McCullough’s command of the<br />
209th ironically ended where it began a year and a half<br />
ago when the unit was on another augmentation exercise<br />
there.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 209th deployed Dec. 9 and 10 on a regular rotation<br />
deployment to Panama. McCullough says when the<br />
company got there they “hit the road running” because<br />
of the enhanced security.<br />
McCullough says when the unit arrived in Panama she<br />
was briefed on contingency plans so that if anything<br />
happened, she would know her “part of the pie.”<br />
THE EIGHTIES AND NINETIES<br />
By Jeff Troth, SoundOff!<br />
"On the night of Dec. 16, when the four Marine officers<br />
were stopped at the Panamanian checkpoint and the one<br />
officer was killed and the other one was injured we were<br />
placed on alert," says McCullough<br />
<strong>The</strong> company remained on alert until 3 a.m. when they<br />
were given orders to stand down and be ready to go again<br />
at 5:30 a.m. According to McCullough, the soldiers got<br />
very little sleep that night.<br />
“On the 19th of December I was briefed by my battalion<br />
commander that at 0<strong>100</strong> hours on the 20th operational<br />
plans would be put into effect,” said McCullough. “So we<br />
started making preparations at the time.<br />
“We had one platoon placed under the operational<br />
control of the 1/508th, the airborne unit that was<br />
responsible for securing <strong>Fort</strong> Amador, a joint American/<br />
Panamanian installation,” said McCullough. “I didn’t have<br />
control of that platoon. As fighting goes they probably<br />
received the most intense action.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> remainder of the troops were responsible for<br />
establishing three road blocks at intersections which led<br />
from Panama City and gave access to U.S. installations.<br />
One of the unit’s road blocks was located on the outskirts<br />
of the city.<br />
<strong>The</strong> road block received sniper fire for the next three<br />
days. If the soldiers were able to locate the person firing<br />
at them they returned fire. Besides the snipers, MPs<br />
also received gunfire from passing cars. According to<br />
McCullough, the soldiers worked 12-hour shifts, which<br />
easily turned into 16 hours.<br />
“As the commander, my job was to make sure people<br />
were where they were supposed to be, doing what they<br />
were supposed to be doing,” says McCullough. “I would<br />
say for the next 72 hours no one got more than two hours<br />
sleep at any one time.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> company was located at a junior high school<br />
about a mile outside the rear gate of <strong>Fort</strong> Clayton.<br />
While positioned at the school McCullough says the unit<br />
soon found out how friendly the community was. Both<br />
Panamanian and American families in the area dropped<br />
off sodas and sometimes even meals to MPs on guard<br />
duty.<br />
235
Change language