- "Sorry gentlemen, this whole area is closed for weapons testing for the next 24 hours. That includes all on-base personnel."
- ―Sergeant Wycroft[src]
MP Sergeant Jimmy Wycroft was a US soldier stationed at the perimeter of Hangar 51.
As a teenager, Wycroft had worked in his father's garage in Muncie, Indiana, and was familiar with American cars.
By 1957, Wycroft had been based in the desert for five years. One day that year, when the base went on 24-hour lockdown due to nearby weapons testing, Wycroft, who hated the desert, was left in charge of four men, including Corporal Higgins and Private Mitchell, at the front gate to keep out unauthorized personnel.
Watching a 1932 Ford roadster race against the lead car of an Army convoy, Wycroft bet on the roadster, while Higgins bet on the Army vehicle. Knowing the roadster's engine, Wycroft won the bet and collected Higgins' money.
As the Army convoy arrived at the gates, Wycroft and the other MPs left the guard station to approach the front car. Leaning in to the passenger side of the lead car, he let the guests know about the lockdown. After one of his men saluted "Colonel Truman", walking from another vehicle, Wycroft began to repeat the orders regarding the base closure. However it turned out the "Truman" and all of his men were Soviets in disguise, and they gunned down Wycroft and his men, and dragged their bodies away from the guard house.
Behind the Scenes
Wycroft, identified as MP Sergeant in the credits, was played by Robert Baker in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The "Air Police" armband identifies him and his men as members of the US Air Force's Air Police.
Wycroft's character is named in the film novelization. In the comic adaptation, Wycroft and the other MPs wear different uniforms and round helmets, perhaps similar to Army MP uniforms instead of the Air Force's Air Police uniforms.