Traffic Citation

Thanks, Frank G.

Frank was the commander of a helicopter unit that supported the combat troops in Viet Nam. Among the helicopters in the unit were the Chinooks. They are the large banana shaped birds with rotors on both ends of the aircraft. They are used to transport troops, equipment and ammunition.

Now for the story:

Frank was in his office one day when a couple of MP's (Military Police) came in. They wanted to know who the pilot was of a Chinook flying over a specific site at a specific time. That probably wouldn't be too difficult to discern, if one had the time. Prior to expending the time and energy, Frank wanted to know what the story was.

The MP's said that a Chinook had blown over one of their 3/4 ton trucks with its rotor blast at that site and time. Because there was a "traffic" accident they had to issue a citation to the pilot for his part in it. Say what? Frank told them it would be nearly impossible to find the pilot. Since he was the commander, they should just issue the citation in his name and he would take care of it. The MP's did and left. The MP's hadn't cleared the are and Frank was in the air. He flew to the location of the Provost Marshal (PM) who had the responsibility for the area and the MP's.

He and the PM had a good working relationship. He asked Frank, "What was up?" Frank told him and asked him if he could fix it. The PM said no problem. It was news to him that a Chinook had such power. They both laughed heartily and agreed that there was no way such a thing could happen.

A few days later, Frank got a call from the PM. Apparently, the MP's had a vehicle accident through their own misdeeds and were trying to get out of trouble. The PM took appropriate action and Frank's dubious citation disappeared.