Sgt Garrett aptly wrote:
To see LTC Tichenor approaching, you felt impending doom
I could see him coming with those words. I was sort of his appointed favorite officer at A Btry, as I had determined to learn all I could about HAWK and became technically proficient, with the help of the NCO's like SgT. Deutsch and Patrick, even Rad Campbell, & Spec 4 Lyle Welch, a tough little guy.
My first meeting was not so happy. It was my first duty officer assignment at Ft. Bliss. The sergeant was very unhappy, deeply in debt. That night, he told me his troubles and offered to sell me his chromed .45 auto for $20. I wish I had bought it. Later, we had a big hullabaloo at the PX nearby. I left the sergeant and went to see the problem.
A woman had been caught stealing and was trapped between the inner and outer doors of the PX. I held the outer door shut and another Sgt held the inner one. She went hysterical and was clawing the screens. Finally the MP's came.
The next morning the C.O. arrived to check on the incident. After review, he told me to wait. Then LTC Tichenor scowled at me and asked me when I had last shaved. I had not slept the entire night and had shaved with a Sunbeam electric shaver around 3 am. He told me to do a better job next time. Later in Wurzburg, he once surprised me shaving with the Sunbeam, powered by one of our 45 kw generators.
"Got enough electricity, O'Keeffe?"
LTC Tichenor and I once put together a plan to put Assault Unit on top of a building in Berlin. This was a pet project of his. We determined that the radars would have great access to East German activity. The main problem was the generators. I thought they would shake the building apart and he partially agreed, but did not like any negative vibes. Of course, I pointed out, they would blow the building out from under us if a war started. Typical LTC Tichenor response:
"Yeah, but by then, we will have fired all our missiles."
