 At Oberammergau, Germany, the military police train their overseas highway patrolmen. A traffic school candidate first is personally interviewed by military police officer. Then, a tough test to qualify for this exceptional core of highway policeman diplomats. These picked men must be well built, at least 5'8", and with an IQ of 110. There's a five weeks course in military police work with the accent on service. There's another two weeks intensive study of traffic problems. A typical traffic area has been laid out at the school and the trainees get on the spot experience in duty at intersections, accident investigation and general traffic work. Their instruction is intensive, for their beat will be the entire US occupied zone. Finally comes the certificate of graduation. The men are now qualified to carry out the motto of the highway patrol. Service, prevention, enforcement. The first days patrol duty. Their unique resards are their badge of authority. Work starts with the military inspection. The eyes of Europe will be on these men. They represent America. Equipment is also inspected. Each patrol car carries tools and supplies to give service to save German as well as American lives and property. This highway patrol is indeed not only a law enforcement agency. Each man is a graduate in advanced first aid. Instituted in 1948, the patrol has cared for thousands of accident victims. Since it took over, the traffic death rate has dropped from four times higher than that on American highways to much lower than America's. The patrol has put out fires in homes, returned lost or stolen children to their parents. To the German people, the highway patrolmen are American ambassadors of goodwill. Motorcycles roam the country byways. Jeeps patrol the narrow village streets. Down this same road where only a few years ago, American tanks roared in to blast the final retreat of Hitler's army. Today, a police car overtakes a suspicious looking vehicle. As one patrolman goes forward, the other remains on guard. This can be a stolen jeep, a criminal driver. But it's just a careless soldier who's about to lose his spare gas can. And, Mac, that tail light can stand cleaning. Every five-eighths of a mile on these German superhighways, or autobahns, that link every major city, there is a handy telephone used by the patrolman or by civilians in an emergency. It is a direct line to the German autobahn stations, which are spaced at 50 mile intervals. Emergency reports and orders constantly flow back and forth on these peculiar looking telephones. The routine of the patrol is similar to that of highway police in America. More often than not, they are aiding a stalled motorist rather than handing out traffic tickets. Often, a German state police officer accompanies the American patrolmen on their rounds. In this highway patrol, there are more than 300 roving patrol cars in addition to motorcycles and jeeps. Sometimes, orders call a sudden halt in traffic. A VIP is being escorted through in a hurry. Again, it's only a Bavarian breeze that knocked over a highway sign. A few of these patrolmen are veterans of the World War II fighting along these same roads. Most of them, however, are younger men who entered the military police after the war and qualified for traffic control duty. Now, the radio network brings an ambulance to the scene of an accident. The highway patrol takes charge, smoothly, expertly, whether it's an injured German civilian or soldier. Here is a mission of mercy. Russian propagandists are branding our occupation forces as imperialist oppressors of the German people. While to the German people, these patrolmen look like friends in need. The detailed accident reports are made out. This scene could be on any American highway. Now, at military police headquarters, a stolen truck is reported. Attention all cars. Descriptions of truck and driver are given. Several miles away in the outskirts of the city, a patrol car picks up the message and moves out on the alert. When a crime involves a German civilian, it is customary to take a German police officer along on the case. Reports keep coming in on the patrol car radio. The truck has been seen heading this way. Be careful, this man may be armed. Out on the highway, a truck that fits the description. Here's the hazardous part of police work. You can't tell what may happen. But this time it's only a small, scratching and biting thief who chose to run. You wonder what sort of come along hold the German police would use on a bald-headed prisoner. But seriously, whether it's law enforcement, traffic control, or first aid, it's part of the service American soldiers are freely giving in the cause of international understanding. Brigadier General William H. Maglin, Provost Marshal, U.S. Army, Europe, states it this way. The motto of the Military Police Highway Patrol is service, prevention, and enforcement. Ever since November of 1948, when the first highway patrol car rolled on the German roads, the members of the patrol have zealously observed this motto. The numerous acts of assistance to motorists in distress, both German and American, their courteous warnings and safe driving examples, and their impartial enforcement has done much to promote German-American relations.