[RNajarian]

No . . . not as a tourist, but the stories I could tell having been deployed there.

One of the more memorable stories from my visit was when a female member of our security forces was out on the town. Escorted by other male SF members they were visiting local souks (bazaars.) She was wearing a hijab but her pants were short exposing her ankles.

An officer of the “fashion police” in his late sixties saw this offense and without warning whacked her on the ankle with a cane.

This 24 year old combat trained member of our security forces reacted immediately grabbing the “fashion police” officer by the lapels and began pounding him into a nearby wall.

Her friends, realizing the gravity of the situation, grabbed her ran to their vehicle and immediately proceeded back to Riyadh AFB. One of the guys involved was wise enough to call to their First Sergeant en route to tell him what happened. The First Sergeant was wise enough to immediately tell the SF Commander, who in turn called the Wing Commander. The Wing Commander then called Operations to see if any flights were leaving within the hour. There was and the female security officer was immediately placed on the flight manifest.

The SF commander then called the SF personnel en route to Riyadh and told them to take the young lady DIRECTLY to Operations where she will be placed on the first available aircraft out of Saudi Arabia. They were instructed NOT to stop at billeting or anywhere else, but to go directly to Operations.

Within less than an hour of the incident the young lady was “wheels up” on a C130H leaving Saudi Arabia.

Not long after that Saudi officials arrived at the American ECP to try and locate and arrest the female SF member. Since the US does not have a Status of Forces agreement with the Saudis we would have been compelled to turn the young lady over for local law enforcement proceedings.

They were allowed on base and the Wing Commander told them she has already left the country for disciplinary action.

The Saudis, somewhat surprised by the quick action on the part of the Americans, realized that this was a fight they didn’t want to pursue and left empty handed.

If I remember correctly she received a Letter of Counseling and reassigned to somewhere in Europe.

Moral of the Story . . . Wear socks while in Saudi Arabia - especially if you are a woman.