STORY BEHIND THE PLAQUE
Service Reflections of CW3 Robert Cox Jr., U.S. Army (1958-1980)

I grew up in a family with a rich military history. My great great grandfather fought in the Civil War but never came home and is presumed dead. My grandfather Anderson was a soldier in WWI and served in France. Five uncles on both sides of the family served in WWII, three in the Army, 1 in the Navy and 1 in the Marine Corps. Two of these uncles made careers in the Air Force that continued from WWII through the Vietnam War. My father served three years in the Army from 1936 into 1939 and then again from 1944 into 1946.

As a youngster, I relished all the war stories and was old enough to keep up with all the news about the Korean War. My friends and I were always playing with toy soldiers and fighting our own wars. At an early age, I started with Cub Scouts then Boy Scouts and loved wearing the uniforms and going to all the Scout Camps. Later I joined the Cadet Division of the Civil Air Patrol keeping a fascination with things military. Perhaps it was a foregone conclusion that I would be in the military, but what branch?

One of the adult members of the Civil Air Patrol was a Texas Highway Patrolman and I became very interested in pursuing law enforcement. By this time I was becoming a senior in high school but you had to be 21 years old to apply to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The military draft was in effect at this time and I determined that the US Army had an excellent Military Police Corps. My plan was then to join the Army after school and spend three years in the Military Police to prepare me for civilian law enforcement and not have to worry about being drafted later to interfere with my goal.

A few months before high school graduation, I visited the US Army Recruiter in my hometown. As a volunteer, I could have three choices of military duty. When I informed the recruiter that I wanted the Military Police, he was very skeptical. You see I was 5′ 10″ tall, 28-inch waist, and 130 pounds (soaking wet). He did not waste any time informing me that I would never be accepted into the MP’s and did all he could to steer me in another direction. He finally relented and all three choices were “Military Police”.

At the end of basic training around mid-August, 1958, I was delighted to get orders to Military Police School. I gained weight and inches but was disappointed to be awarded a “Security Guard” MOS. My first assignment after MP school was to a Military Police Battalion in Korea. The security guard company was full so I was assigned to a regular MP Company. After six months of MP duty, my MOS was changed to Military Police. Boy, was I happy!

I fell in love with the Army and MP duty. My original plan to stay only three years was changed when I married my wife in 1960. We needed money so I took a “short discharge” and re-enlisted for three more years. I was assigned to Germany in 1961 and later paid for my wife and young son to come to Germany. Two factors came into play that sealed my career. One was that I had to pay for her transportation home with now two sons and a need to change my career path, therefore, I re-enlisted for six years at the appropriate time.

Rank in the MP’s was hard to come by past E-4. I was given the opportunity to attend the 7th Army NCO Academy. I met many of my former friends from basic training at the academy; several of them were already E-5 having been assigned to “combat Arms Units”. Some received on the spot promotion to E-6 at the academy graduation, and here I was still an E-4.

My First Sergeant was well aware of my disappointment after NCO Academy. He informed me that the Provost Marshal needed Military Police Investigators to work with CID, I jumped at the chance. I took to investigations work like a duck to water. With encouragement from influential CID personnel, I applied for CID School and was accepted. Normally a soldier had to be at least an E-5 to be accepted but I had some very good letters from several ranking CID Warrant Officers I had been working with.

I was promoted to E-5 after OJT at my first CID assignment and promoted about every 18 months afterward up to E-7. It was then I learned that at that time CID had no E-8 or E-9 positions (that changed later) so I applied for Warrant Officer. Upon appointment as WO1 in September 1970, I was assigned to CID Headquarters in the Washington D.C. area. My CID career continued until I retired after 22 years as a CW3. I often thought I should have stayed for 30 years but I did want to pursue another law enforcement career and could probably still do that at age 40. My military career was very satisfying.

After the Army, I became a Special Agent with the National Insurance Crime Bureau. This was another very satisfying career and I owe my training in the US Army for this opportunity.

None of my military assignments were in a combat area. My tour in Germany was during the “cold war” and although there were tensions along the DMZ in Korea, my three tours of duty there were without significant incident.

I was amazed at how South Korea recovered after the Korean War. My first tour was in 1958, not that long after the war, in the Inchon area. There was still a lot of damage and the people were struggling to recover. My second tour was in 1966 near the DMZ. In trips to the Seoul area it was easy to see how much progress was being made and a much happier people.

My final tour was 1974 and the progress was truly amazing. I am so proud of the help our United States gave Korea to get them back on their feet; a striking contrast to North Korea.

During my military career, I never found myself in a situation where I felt in danger. There were some stressful situations during those years. In 1958, going to Korea on a troop ship, we were in a stormy night out. The ship rocked and rolled, high wind and heavy rain. I was on guard duty top side and was taking shelter in a storage locker with the hatch propped open. One moment I was looking at the sky and the next moment looking at the rolling waves.

Many other times while flying commercial and military aircraft, we went through storms, some violent, that made me anxious. I don’t do storms on the sea or in the air very well!

I have so many fond memories of all my tours of duty, but probably the best memories are from the time I spent at CID headquarters in Washington. For about two years I was assigned to the Protective Services Division (PSD). We had teams of agents that provided personal protection for the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Army, Army Chief of Staff and others that might be designated, we referred to these as principals. Protective teams usually consisted of two agents that “leap frogged” ahead of each other to the various designations of the itinerary to set up security in advance of the principal.

This tour of duty was the best of the best! The advance teams were basically two agents and always the same two agents for consistency, my partner was a senior CW3 and I had been promoted to CW2. (Protective Agents had to be at least CW2 and we all were trained by the Secret Service in Washington). I traveled all over the world on protective missions: all fifty states, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Vietnam, Okinawa, Guam, Australia, New Zealand, and Venezuela.

Finding the least favorite assignment is like choosing the worst of the best! I supposed the least favorite would have to be the unaccompanied tours to Korea and being away from family, but all military people have to endure that during a career. The only other time might be the first year as a WO1 at CID HQ. I was detailed to the Army Executive Corridor at the Pentagon. We had a small closet size room to monitor intruder alarms during the duty day for the Secretary of the Army and the Army Chief of Staff. The Pentagon was open to the public in those days and from time to time someone might walk past the receptionist. We would have to respond to an alert. There were four of us there from 0600 to about 2200 (open to close of those offices). This was a very boring duty and so glad to go over to the PSD to travel duties.

I would have to say the memories that impacted me the most came from all those travels in PSD and deep friendship with my PSD partner. We worked together so well in planning and executing our missions. It was like we could read each other to make sure every detail was covered from route planning to coordination with all the police agencies, military intelligence, local commanders and explosive ordnance personnel.

I am very proud of a successful career over 22 years, from Private to Warrant Officer in US Army Law Enforcement. There were many letters from law enforcement officials and commanders over the years, but best of all were personal letters and autographed photographs from the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Army and Army Chief of Staff thanking me for the service of keeping them safe during the PSD missions.

I am proud of having been awarded the Army Commendation Medal twice; 19 May 1970 and 23 July 1974. Also the Meritorious Service Medal on 14 August 1980.

I am proud of having been part of an elite, handpicked group of about fifteen CID Agents, chosen for this duty in 1971 into 1973.

Back in 1962, I was really disappointed with the progression of military rank in the Military Police, having been an E-4 since 1959, and apparently little hope promotion anytime soon even after NCO Academy.

Things were looking up when I was accepted into CID School and subsequent assignment to the CID unit at Ft Benning, GA in 1964. Finally, after a promotion to E-5, I was awarded CID Credentials and Badge which set the tone for the rest of my career and the career after military retirement. Upon my retirement from the Army, I was awarded my CID credential marked as “Retired” and a CID badge marked as “retired”. This has to be the most significant award received.

There are many individuals that had positive impacts on me during my time in the military but there are two that come to mind. When I was first assigned to Military Police Investigations after attending the NCO Academy, I worked with and was trained by CW4 Andre Fehr with CID in Mannheim, Germany. He was a hard man but very fair and expected your best. He taught me many valuable lessons in investigations and gave me a glowing letter for my CID application. As I understand it, his letter and letters from other CID personnel clinched my acceptance to the CID School. I was only an E4 when you had to be an E5 for CID.

The other individual was my Personal Security Division (PSD) partner CW3 Emory Austin. He and I traveled on PSD missions all over the world for two years while assigned to CID Headquarters. I was new to PSD and he was a seasoned member. He taught me all I know about personal security and setting up security missions.

CID was a small organization overall, compared to other military units so the agents had close contact with the other agents. Just a few names will have to do.

CW4 Andre Fehr trained me for getting into CID from the MP Corps and one I remember the most.

CW3 J.O. Yerby was my first supervisor after CID school at Ft Benning, GA and I have kept up with him over the years. After my retirement, (he was already retired), he hired me as a Special Agent with the National Insurance Crime Bureau and was my supervisor then.

CW3 Don Keller and I served together at Ft. Sam Houston, TX, I was the Operations Officer and he was one of my Team Chiefs. Don was a very competent investigator and was given some of the more sensitive investigations. Don recruited me into TWS.

CW3 Tom Casey was another super investigator and was my partner at Ft Sam Houston before I went to Operations Officer. Tom and I solved a very sensitive high dollar aggravated arson case at the base BOQ. Tom and I keep in touch and I recruited him into TWS.

I was working in the Protective Services with my partner CW3 Emory Austin. We had a security mission with Secretary of The Army. In this particular mission, we had to split up. I went to Athens, Greece and he went to another location but would join back with me in Athens before the arrival of Secretary of the Army. It was a short mission, one day no overnight. Emory and I stayed in constant phone contact. As part of the mission in Athens, I rented a Mercedes for the “chase car”. The day before Sec Army arrived in Athens, and the day I was to pick up Emory at the airport, the windshield wipers failed on the Mercedes so I had to get them fixed at the rental facility.

Since I had to get Emory at the airport, the agency would give me a car to go get Emory. I spotted a bright yellow VW bug and asked for that. Emory was expecting me to pick him up in the Mercedes chase car. I chuckled to myself all the way to the airport.

When I met Emory at the gate I explained the problem with the chase car and said I had to get the only replacement they had. When I pulled up in front of the baggage area to get him, in that ugly VW, I thought he was going to have a heart attack! I had to calm him down and explain it was only a joke and we were going to get our Mercedes for the mission. He was mad but laughed about it later.

After retiring from the Army, I got a call from an old CID friend, J.O. Yerby. He was the Supervisor for the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) working in the Houston, TX area. I was needed to cover the south Texas area out of San Antonio, TX. I spent the next 23 years as a Special Agent for NICB, most of that covering northwest Texas out of Fort Worth, TX.

I spent two years as the NICB Agent assigned to the Specialized Crime Unit at the Dallas County DA Office working on the Insurance Fraud Task Force where we successfully prosecuted over 200 persons involved in organized insurance fraud rings.

After retiring from NICB in 2003, I stayed retired except for volunteer work and American Legion activity.

I am a member of the Criminal Investigation Division Agents Association (CIDAA) and keep up with activities through membership.

I am a member of The American Legion and hold officer positions as needed. This keeps me up on veteran activities. I have been a Post Commander twice, Post Adjutant eight times, Division Adjutant three times and District Judge Advocate.

Devotion to duty is paramount! I was taught from an early age that when you have a job to do you complete that job to the best of your ability. Back when I was 13 & 14 years old I had a paper route on a bicycle; rain, shine, ice or cold (kinda like the mailman I guess). My parents made sure I got the job done and only took me in the car when my bike was broken. That is the attitude I had entering the military. I think that is why the Army appealed to me so much.

Military service continued to enforce the discipline required to be successful and be the best at what you do. The US Army CID “Do What Has To Be Done” meant a lot and has carried over into my second career in NICB and personal life.

I would advise persons recently joining the Army to take advantage of your opportunities to make the best of yourself. Respect officers and noncoms over you for the experience they have. Always do the best you can and learn from each experience.

If the Army is not for you as a career, that’s fine! Do your time and move on in life. If you find the Army a good career, strive to be the best at what you do and wear your uniform with pride.

When I was introduced to TWS and saw what others were posting, it sparked me to pull out all the “stuff” from my Army days and organize my scrapbook.

The memories flooded my mind and I even wrote articles from my memories for the retired CID Agents newsletter and magazine. Sometimes the names escape me but the faces are there as I recall the places I served. At my age, many of my old friends have passed on.

Thank you TWS for the good work you do.