I was in charge of a NATO Multi-National Forces swap out one time in the Sinai Peninsula. This Army Coronel was causing me all kinds of headaches, basically flexing his full bird wings. It got so bad that I was going to cancel their entire airlift and make them take busses into Cairo and fly out on commercial aircraft.
The Executive Officer talked me out of it and we came to an understanding without the Colonel participation.
I didn’t know it at the time, but the Army Customs Inspector was reporting all of the problems to Fort Bragg who in turn was reporting to the UN. When these problems reached the UN, they sent out a guy in a three piece suit and several bodyguards to access the situation. Apparently they had problems with this Colonel before. The UN guy said if I had any more problems with him, to call him directly and he’s fix the problem.
Talk about an attitude readjustment in the Coronel. All of a sudden he was my best buddy and couldn’t do enough for me. Heard later that he was reassigned and never got another command assignment after that deployment. Imagine that.