"Security detail sees big picture."
January 1997

CAMP DEMI — Soldiers awaiting the convoy’s departure readied equipment, ribbed one another, and composed lyrics in the chill of the mid-morning sun. Their mission requires these soldiers to bond as a cohesive team — to rely on and trust every member to perform his job if threatening situations arise. These military policemen serve as the personal security detail for 720th Military Police Battalion commander LTC Chris Frels.

"This group is much tighter than my last platoon," said SPC Jason Farrell, from Santa Rosa, California Farrell joined the team in early December, serving as a HMMWV gunner. "We take our jobs seriously."

"You have to get along so you can work together better. After all, we are providing security for the battalion commander," Frels’ driver SPC Gerald Adcock, from Nolanville, Texas, said, acknowledging the importance of the detail’s mission.

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"We travel almost every day except Sundays, which we try and use as a maintenance and soldier sustainment day," said B team leader SGT Bruce MacWhorter. "She (Frels) likes to visit the troops at other locations and she also meets regularly with city mayors and council members." Several MPs said they enjoy the assignment because it gives them the opportunity to leave the base camp more often and meet local people. "We don’t do the same daily routine," said squad leader SSG Mitchell Smith, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "Working the PSD helps break up the days and makes them go by faster. Some may say the job is dull, but I get to see the big picture involving the factions — which I wouldn’t get if I were doing something else."

Frels selected the soldiers just prior to the battalion’s arrival in Bosnia-Herzegovina, following their training at Hohenfels, Germany. Several squads rotated as her PSD during the 10-day training period before she selected the squad from the 411th Military Police Company.

"She (Frels) is a down-to-earth person," said Adcock who has logged more than 7,000 miles while in Bosnia-Herzegovina. "She is the only lieutenant colonel I know that would get out of the vehicle to help take off tire chains. But she also lets us know when we are out of line. She is strict but fair."

Threats to the commander’s security from outside the detail’s influence are always a major concern for the group. MacWhorter said the squad hasn’t experienced any real threatening situations. The closest they came to a tense moment was when they confiscated 12 illegally-held rifles from municipal police. However, as security for the battalion commander, the group could — at any time — find themselves in a hostile environment.

They also face internal challenges trying to keep up with an independent commander such as Frels, who occasionally ventures away from the security detail. "We get bent out of shape when she goes out on her own," Schoolcraft said. "It’s hard to tell somebody of higher rank what to do, but she allows us to do that,” said Rodgers, explaining the efforts squad members must take in protecting Frels. If a threatening situation occurs, security personnel have a clear vision of their responsibility. Adcock said, "It’s our job to get her out of the direction of fire — her safety comes first."

Article, Security detail sees big picture, The Talon, by SFC Brian Kappmeyer, 350th Military Public Affairs Detachment, Friday, 17 January 1997, page 4.