Chapter 1

Recently retired Chief Warrant Officer Mark Raymond was lying in bed this morning staring at the ceiling thinking it was good to be back home with his parents. It was yesterday that Mark showed up unannounced at his parent’s home which was located in a Chicago western suburb surprising them. He had just retired after twenty-one years of active duty with the US Army. He knew it was the right time for him to retire and enjoy civilian life.

A smile came to his face as he remembered that it was twenty-plus years ago that he was lying in this same bed staring at the ceiling wondering if he had made the right decision in enlisting in the Army. Mark had majored in criminal justice in college. He enjoyed the subject matter and wanted to have a career in law enforcement. At the same time, he also wanted to travel and see the world. He came to the conclusion that he could do both of those things if he joined the Army.

The Army recruiter on campus told Mark that his enlisting in the Army wouldn’t guarantee Mark would become a special agent with the Criminal Investigation Department, CID.

Mark would need to qualify for that position which required that he successfully complete a leadership course and successfully pass some tests. If unsuccessful, Mark would probably become an enlisted MP. As it turned out, Mark having a college degree qualified him to take the required tests. He passed the tests and completed the Basic Officer Leadership Course at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. He continued his stay at Fort Leonard Wood, with him attending the CID Special Agent Course. It was an interesting and challenging sixteen weeks of criminal law and investigation schooling. At the end of the course, Mark graduated and was a certified CID agent.

His first field assignment was at Fort Hood, Texas, and that was followed by an assignment to Camp Casey, South Korea. His duty tours encompassed Iraq, Fort Knox, Germany, and Afghanistan, with his last assignment being at Fort Riley, Kansas. Between Iraq and the Fort Knox tours, he was back at Fort Leonard Wood for the Advance Warrant Officer Course.

Mark enjoyed doing the investigative duties as a CID agent. Investigation of illegal drugs encompassed about one-third of his time, but there were burglaries, felonies, and other criminal activity that he was involved in investigating. He liked doing this type of work since he was continuously learning and honing his skills as an investigator.

Toward the end of his career, he was involved in training new agents in the field which he found to be rewarding. There was a slight problem in his doing that because, at the same time, he was somewhat tied down to a desk processing paperwork which reduced the time he could spend with new agents in the field.

While his expertise in doing investigations progressed, so did his rank. He was promoted to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer, a CW4. That was the rank he held when he put in the papers to retire.

While he was involved in doing formal investigations and training, every so often he would get involved in what he would call doing an informal investigation. One example of that was when he was at his desk and received a phone call from Captain Doreen Higgins, a charge nurse at the military hospital who said she was asking for help.

Doreen said one of her nurses, Second Lieutenant Marci Sanders was being sexually harassed by Doctor Harvey Casper. Marci did not want to get involved in pressing formal charges against this Major, she just wanted him to stop. Doreen asked if Mark could help in doing this

Mark met with Marci and had to admit the Major had good taste in women. Marci was a very attractive young lady. After she told him what the Major was saying to her, Mark told her at this time, it was a “He said, She said,” situation. He requested that when she was in contact with the Major to put her cellphone in record mode and record what the Major was saying to her.

It was a week later that Mark met with Marci and she played for him what the Major had said to her. Mark recorded the Major’s comments on his cellphone.

The following day Mark walked into the Major’s office and asked the nurse to tell the Major that Mark needed to speak with him. The nurse came back saying that the Major said he was busy seeing patients and that Mark needed to make an appointment.

Mark’s friendliness vanished as he walked into an examination room after a patient left and flashed his credentials at the Major saying in a not-so-friendly voice, “Make time now Major. I need to speak with you about a situation that could affect your military career.”

In the Major’s office, Mark had a conversation with the Major telling him what he was saying to Marci needed to stop.

“I was only teasing her, I wasn’t harassing her. I would never do that,” said the Major.

Mark played the recording of the Major’s comments Marci had recorded.

“I don’t think that when you say you want to show her the pleasures of making love with a real man would consider just teasing, but I could be wrong. If you continue to act this way, we can get a second opinion from your wife and your Commanding Officer and see if they think this is teasing.

“You are fortunate in that Marci does not want to press charges, she only wants you to stop talking to her this way. So it stops here and now. If I ever hear that you are still doing this, or if in any way you do or say something that affects Marci, I will play this tape to who I said I would, and I will file charges against you for sexual harassment. Do we understand each other!”

The Major nodded his head and said he understood.

Walking out of the Major’s office, Mark had a good feeling that he had helped someone, and this should put an end to that problem. Helping someone was always the rewarding part of doing his job.

Mark received a phone from Captain Higgins two weeks later. She told Mark that the Major had stopped making comments to Marci and that Marci was a much happier person. Doreen said that the Major had just received orders for Camp Casey in South Korea, which was a one-year tour of duty. This was considered to be a hardship tour since spouses were not authorized to accompany the soldier on this assignment. The people she said she knew who had been assigned to Camp Casey did not enjoy doing a tour of duty there.

Mark knew he could second that opinion on doing a tour of duty there from his personal experience. He now was pleased to hear the news that the Major had been transferred to Camp Casey. Even though that country had come a long way from the war, which technically was still going on, doing a tour of duty there was not a choice assignment.