Fort George G. Meade: The First 100 Years

236 THE FIRST 100 YEARS
With a Panamanian Defense Forces engineer building
500 yards from the school, McCullough says they
felt relatively secure. From her position at the school
McCullough coordinated other activities, which had been
assigned to the company.
“Before H hour (when the invasion started) went down,
we had the responsibility to secure Mr. Manfredo, the
U.S. Designee for the Panama Canal commissioner,” says
McCullough. “We had to pick him up from his quarters
and bring him and his family to Fort Clayton.”
“The soldiers were professional in carrying out their
duties. That is why there were no serious injuries,” says
McCullough. “The women soldiers were soldiers doing
their jobs. This will always be the case as long as congress
lets us.”
“Everyone was scared to some degree, but because they
were trained and knew what their job was they performed
well. I think that goes for anyone – male or female.”
The captain says her time in Panama made her think
of a story she had read about Vietnam. It mentioned
that during the fighting, surviving came down to taking
care of each other. The battles were fought for the units’
survival, rather than for the love of country.”
“I think there was a lot of taking care of each other
in Panama,” says McCullough. “Making sure each other
were alright.”
According to McCullough, before the invasion started
the soldiers were tired of the incidents happening around
them and wanted to do something instead of just sitting
around.
"The Panamanian action confirmed this feeling,”
recalled McCullough. “The feeling was that it was time to
make (Gen. Manuel) Noriega go, even if it took this kind
of action.”
Once the initial fighting ended, the unit’s roadblocks
changed to checkpoints as the MPs gathered weapons
and checked the identification of passing individuals.
According to McCullough, the U.S. offered to pay $150
for weapons turned in to them. The soldiers at the road
blocks collected the weapons from Panamanians and gave
them a receipt which they could cash in.
“One gentleman pulled up in a V 300, a Panamanian
armored personnel carrier, with a 50-caliber machingun
mounted on it.” said McCullough. “Seeing the V 300
coming down the road gave our soldiers a start.”
The troops had to deal with a lot of people giving them
tips on where Noriega was. Most of them were not taken
seriously, but McCullough believes one individual knew
what he was talking about.
“One of Noriega’s bodyguards turned himself in at
one of the checkpoints, with possible information on
Noriega’s whereabouts,” says McCullough. “I felt the
soldiers responded very well in the way they treated him.”
When McCullough returned to Fort Meade Jan. 1,
Noriega was still holed up in the Vatican Embassy.
When she turned on the radio and heard Noriega had
turned himself in to U.S. government officials on Jan. 3,
McCullough says, “it was a happy time.”
Arriving home at Fort Meade McCullough says she
found out who the real heroes of the battle were – the
spouses and family members of the soldiers fighting.
“The spouses could only expect the worst,” says
McCullough. “For the first 24 hours (of the invasion) no
one was able to call home. The spouses had family calling
them to find out things and they didn’t know what was
going on.”
According to McCullough, the situation was harder on
the spouses because they didn’t know what was going
on in Panama, while the soldiers could find out within a
couple of minutes if everyone in the unit was okay.
McCullough said, the action she saw in Panama has
reinforced what she thinks the Army is and what will
make it better.
“In the military you have to realize you are not necessarily
number one, but the team is,” said McCullough. “The
military is a great place to be but you have to make up
your mind there are sacrifices you will have to make.
“I see soldiers coming in the Army today who are not
willing to make the sacrifices. They don’t stick around
long. The ones who make sacrifices and work as a team
will last. They will make an Army better in the end.”
***
(Pg. 234) Operation Just Cause. American troops invaded
Panama on December 20, 1989. (Right) Capt. Mary B.
McCullough led the 988th Military Police Company in a fire
fight.
(Left) The brief but bloody invasion was launched to oust
Presedent Manuel Noriega. Noriega died May 29, 2017 in a
Panamanian hospital.