Flags
over Fontainebleau
By HOWARD K FINCHER (United States Air Force)
Office of Public Information, H.Q., A.A.F.C.E.
Not so long ago the idea of an international police force was reserved for
the world of fiction.
Today it borders on fact.
Proof lies in the 99.9 acre
triangle landscaped out of the historic Fontainebleau forest. Here trim military
police -- wearing six different uniforms and speaking three languages - keep
an incessant watch in and around the multi-winged stucco buildings that house
Europe's best aerial minds this side of the Iron Curtain.
This is
the new headquarters of Allied Air Forces central Europe (A.F.F.C.E.) commanded
by General Lauris Norstad. At his fingertips are every jet fighter plane and
pilot in the continental air defences growing up under Supreme Headquarters
Allied Powers in Europe (SHAPE)
Its
security police, drawn from AAFCE's six nations, are close to the fictional
concept of an international police force in their unified - if less spectacular
- effort toward a common goal : internal security.
Their
commander at this North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) nerve centre is red
haired, ruddy faced Squadron Leader J A Smith, RAF, from Blair Atholl, Scotland. He is a veteran
of 19 years in military and civil police service.
Smith
is quick to agree on the international flavour of his crew. It is composed of
hand-picked security police from his own Royal Air Force, the air forces of the
United States, Canada and The Netherlands, and a detachment of French gendarmes.
But he is apt to chuckle if
their operation is compared with to fanciful deeds attributed to a world police
organisation in fiction.
"Our
work isn't nearly so exciting" he'll tell you. "Police work seldom
is. Most of it here is routine security measures. The job doesn't much variety
to our lads, many of them specialists in investigation and other technical
aspects of crime detection."
"But
you can't minimise its importance" he cautions. "Internal security in
peacetime can have a vital bearing on external security in wartime. It may be a
dull business, but it is a deadly serious business.
At the
three AAFCE gates open to traffic, and the two entrances to the main
headquarters building, they deal politely but firmly every day with streams of
visiting military and civilian dignitaries as well a the headquarters working
population.
Using
the two official tongues of AAFCE - English and French -the policemen maintain
rigid control of entry points. At night they check offices for open filing
cabinet and other security violations. They initiate background investigations
of every civilian and military man who comes to work here. And they enforce
discipline among its national support groups both in the military realm and in
relations with civilian authorities.
They are responsible too for
countless little military niceties that air police traditionally inherit, such
as flag ceremonies and guards of honour.
When
former General of the Army Dwight D Eisenhower and General Norstad
simultaneously took command of SHAPE and AAFCE respectively on April 2nd 1951,
Sgt. McDougall and two other RAF
Policemen were in charge of
security at the old Western Union (UNIAIR) headquarters in the Palace of
Fontainebleau.
Aides
by a detachment of French gendarmes, McDougall and hi companions had set up
shop in the Cour Henri Quatre building of the palace. Their main job was
escorting V.I.Ps. to the numerous conferences held in the old palace -- talks
that ultimately were to spawn AAFCE.
Allied Air Forces
headquarters was established in the Ailes de Princes section of the palace, and
McDougall's men were joined by a handful of USAF Air Police.
In
addition to their security work, they were charged with responsibility in a
matter completely divorced from military policing but on the Allies felt
deserved special attention. That was the protection of the priceless relics of
Napoleonic history inherent in the famous palace.
Among
them were the table on which Napoleon signed his abdication in 1814, the
forecourt where he addressed his Old Guard before going into exile, the hat he
wore when he escaped from the Isle of Elba, and the room where he tried to take
his own life.
As the
passing months saw the skeletal frame of AAFCE and its subordinate field
commands, the 2nd and 4th Allied Tactical Air Forces, fleshed out with tangible
power, so did the AAFCE security police flourish and expand.
From an
undermanned collection of national air police units - responsible to their
federal governments only -- they grew to a well disciplined, smartly heeled
police force consolidated under Smith's supervision.
On July
19th 1952 - little more than 15 months after its inception -- AAFCE moved into
its present £3,500,000 physical plant, 40 structures which by their scope and
complexity magnified enormously the task of internal security.
Fortunately Smith's
organisation was by then beginning to ladle off its share of inflowing
personnel.
"The
headquarters was getting to be pretty big business by then" remembers
McDougall. "In contrast to my Western Union days, we didn't have to rely
on a dozen RAF policemen and French gendarmes. Today we have almost 70 trained
men - 25 of the RAF boys."
How well they have done the
job is apparent in their spotless record : no major security breach and few
flagrant incidents of any kind.
Recently the entire RAF
complement got an indirect pat on the back for their job here when Sgt
McDougall was awarded the bi-annual RAF Police Citation for outstanding
service.
McDougall's mates never got
to see his award. Big "Mac" completed his tour of duty here and returned
to his home in Balbeggie, Perth, Scotland to await reassignment.
Meanwhile
the AAFCE police continue to grow, unhampered by a peculiar kind of manpower
problem that plagues other sections of the headquarters. Many sections are
overstocked with USAF and RAF personnel because its other members simply
haven't got the men. Not so Smith's security police. They are approaching
authorised strength without losing their international flavour.
"Personnel quotas in
NATO are divided among the 14 nations of its subordinate military commands by
fixed manpower formulas based on the size of each member's contribution"
Smith explains.
"In that way we ensure
a truly international defence team at headquarters level as well as in the
field."
Because of that formula Smith
has the makings of an international police force that 20 years ago was considered
as impossible as a single minded European defence family such as NATO.