She was an MP. MPs come in two flavors at Patch. There were the regular gate-guard-patrol-ticket-writing-club-clearing-thief-arresting flavor who did whatever regular MPs do. The other flavor were the gunslingers attached to the DCINC's (Deputy Commander-in-Chief) protection detail. They were a different breed altogether. Civilian clothes, concealed weapons, fast cars, and all working on a good "glare" to present to the non-MP world. I knew all of those guys very well; we worked together at least weekly, if not more often, ensuring that the boss and all his visitors were protected. Sometimes, for special occasions, the latter flavor would be augmented with the former. But for the most part, they were two separate species.

Patch houses the highest level US command in Europe, Headquarters United States European Command (HQ USEUCOM). There are more general officers and civilian equivalents there than anywhere else in Europe. But the majority of the base is just like any other, filled with the young soldiers who provide all the support and supply that feeds the headquarters...they just have to salute more often. And since they are like soldiers everywhere else, they need a club to drink in, a theater to make too much noise in, a pizza place to hang around in, and a PX to spend too much money in. And they notice the pretty girl soldiers who share in the population with them. So the slender blonde MP drew a lot of attention, not that she was the only pretty girl at Patch...just the only pretty girl at Patch who carried a gun and a badge. There was always a lot of speculation about her MP abilities and some indication that her brother MPs were protective of her and wouldn't allow her to participate in any of the rougher aspects of her assignments. The speculation ended the night she became a legend.

A rowdy bunch of GIs had moved from the club to the barracks. By two in the morning you could hear their hooting and hollering all over post. We could even hear the ruckus from the housing area. As is usually the case when the rowdies consume enough alcohol, fights started breaking out. Then the fights just sort of merged together until there was one big fight and the MPs were called in. They answered the call and about half a dozen of them charged into the barracks to break up the thirty or so combatants inside. Those may seem lopsided odds to you, but most of the time just showing up disolves most of the bubbles, leaving only a few hard cases to deal with. On this evening, the slender blonde was among the MPs. When they got inside and blew their whistles, most of the fighting died down leaving just the belligerant, noisy, wobbly few who had no sense at all. One of these was a huge denizen of the gym, arms like stovepipes and a brain like a walnut. He continued to make threats to the MPs who were explaining to him that he was about to be taken to the lockup when he zeroed in on the blonde. He laughed at her and threatened to break her nose if she tried to take him in. That was all she needed; she took out her cuffs and ordered him to turn around and put his hands on his head. That was all HE needed. Before anyone could react, he unleashed a straight right that not only broke her nose, it literally exploded it into a bloody spray. She was knocked straight back off her feet and slid a little on the polished floor. There was instant silence...the everyone-is-holding-their-breath kind of silence. Before her shocked brother MPs could react, she started yelling and cussing as she stood up off the floor. So she wasn't as dead as everyone had thought she must be. No, she was alive and she was mad. As the other MPs started for the big fellow who hit her, she screamed them away from him. She drew her nightstick and charged into her assailant like a whirling dervish. Putting up his arms in defense only produced a broken wrist as she batted, poked, slashed and wailed. She went after his knees, elbows, shoulders, middle, and took especial pride at the "crowd-pleaser" she laid across his nose. When she invited him to present his arms behind his back to be handcuffed together, he didn't even complain about the broken wrist. He was attitudinally adjusted.

I think she was reprimanded for excessive force, but that may have been just a rumor the MPs started to keep anyone from checking it out. She did have a couple weeks of light duty; her bosses felt she wouldn't be effective with that huge bandage on her face, the racoon-like black eyes, and all the swelling around her eyes and forehead. I think it would have been more intimidating, but that's just me. In any case, they did a great job of putting her nose back together and in a couple of months you could hardly tell it had happened. The fella who hit her did a little time for assault and some other charges, including, I am sure, being stupid beyond the call. I don't remember ever seeing him again:  he probably got discharged.