Harold Haynes, the Chief Executive Officer and President of the Boeing Airplane Company, was a bit surprised to see that the military visitor he was expecting was showing up in a civilian suit, rather than in uniform. Nonetheless, he came forward to shake hands with him after his visitor was introduced by his secretary into his executive office.
‘’Major General Harding? I am Harold Haynes, CEO and President of the Boeing Airplane Company. As you requested in your call of yesterday, I have my head aircraft designer, Daniel Jacobs, here with me for this meeting.’
‘’Pleased to meet you.’ replied John Harding while pressing Haynes’ hand. He then exchanged a handshake with Daniel Jacobs before looking back at Haynes.
319
‘’Pardon me if I came in civilian clothes rather than in uniform, but the business I wanted to discuss with you concerns a classified aircraft program which the Pentagon wants to stay discrete about. Coming in my Air Force uniform would have inevitably attracted some attention.’
‘’I understand, General Harding. Let’s move to my coffee corner, so that we could discuss more at ease.’
‘’With pleasure.’
Once the three men were sitting around the low round table in one corner of Haynes’ vast office, the latter looked at Harding with curiosity.
‘’So, what is it that prompts the Pentagon to act in such a discrete manner, General?’
‘’A classified program that was just decided on by the Pentagon to initiate the design and eventual production of a new military transport aircraft meant to replace in service the highly successful Hiller PELICAN, which is now approaching its sixteenth year in service and has fought in the Caucasus, in Somalia and in Afghanistan.’
The mention of the Hiller PELICAN made Haynes’ smile fade on his face. His company had competed against Hiller when the Marine Corps had requested a VTOL tactical transport able to operate from aircraft carriers and from other Navy ships. Unfortunately, at least for Boeing, Haynes’ company’s design had been simply crushed by the Hiller design, which had then become the Hiller PELICAN, with 226 of them then procured by the Marine Corps and the Navy, on top of the over 300 other PELICANs of the civilian variant which now served all around the World. That had been a most juicy contract which Boeing had seen slip between its fingers. He was about to say something when Harding added something while opening his locked attaché case.
‘’Oh, I forgot to say that this classified program, named the ‘Tri-Service Tactical Assault Transport’, or T.S.T.A.T. in short, will not only replace eventually the PELICANs used by the Navy and Marine Corps but will also replace most of the medium and heavy transport helicopters used by the Army and the Air Force. We are thus looking at a potential of upwards of a thousand or more aircraft to be produced in multiple variants.’
Haynes, like his chief designer, was left with his mouth opened wide on hearing that number.
‘’A thousand plus aircraft to be produced? For all of our military services? What prompted such a major request from the Pentagon, General?’
320
Harding appeared most sober when he answered Haynes.
‘’Basically, the late realization that we had been wrong about many operational and strategic assumptions concerning our required capacity for air tactical transport, and this for many years already. Let me explain. At first, when the Navy and Marine Corps stated their needs for a heavy VTOL armed transport able to operate from ships, a statement that eventually led to the acquisition in service of the Hiller PELICAN, neither the Army nor the Air Force showed interest in the PELICAN, reasoning that they already had a large paratrooper force in service, along with hundreds of tactical transport aircraft ready to carry those paratroopers around the World and to deliver them via paradrop on the battlefield. Well, our campaign against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, nearly five years ago, showed us the error of our ways. Basically, the Navy and Marine Corps PELICANS, plus the late minute addition of a single, rented Hiller SKYTRUCK, proved ideal in that theater by bringing in at the vertical troops, supplies and vehicles, and this anywhere and in every possible conditions. In contrast, our Air Force transport aircraft, along with our Army transport helicopters, proved insufficient or even inadequate to fill the tactical requirements of our Army troops in Afghanistan. Most of our Air Force aircraft were unable to land vertically, forcing our troops to use existing airports, which were often at quite a distance from their intended destinations, while our helicopters proved to have too limited a payload capacity and were also of too short a range to properly cover the whole country. The Afghanistan campaign also revealed something that the Army and the Pentagon had been in denial about for decades: that parachuting a mass of men on the battlefield has become tantamount to a suicide operation due to the existence of modern air defense surface-to-air missile systems. It also showed us that, even if those paratroopers arrived intact on the ground, they were afterwards no more than a slow, foot-slogging force with inadequate heavy firepower and a very limited capacity to carry its own supplies. It was a hard pill to swallow for our paratroop leaders but the sad truth is that the days of mass parachute drops are over, unless you are ready to accept the possibility of a mass butchery in the air if we tried a large paradrop operation against a top tier opponent.’
Haynes and Jacobs exchanged shocked looks before the former looked back at Harding.
‘’Then, you could simply procure more PELICANs and SKYTRUCKs, or their equivalent, in order to adequately service our airborne units, no?’
321
‘’In theory, yes, but there is one big problem with that: the PELICAN does not have an intercontinental range. It is perfect as a tactical transport but it is no strategic transport. As for the SKYTRUCK, it has lots of range but it is a very large aircraft, which would make it very vulnerable to ground fire and missile fire. We thus need something else, something even more performant than the PELICAN while being as tactically agile and compact as it is. After some very hot debates at the Pentagon, we have arrived at a consensus about the desired capabilities of such a PELICAN replacement aircraft. Here is a copy of that list of capabilities requirements. It is yours to keep, so that you could study it and determine if your company would be interested in competing in this program.
If you do decide to compete, then you will need to be ready to share production with other companies, which would then pay you a license to produce your design. In view of the numbers required and of the urgency of this program, we just can’t allow ourselves to wait ten or more years before receiving an adequate number of aircraft. This clause, by the way, will apply to all the companies which will compete on this program.’
‘’And how many companies have indicated to date that they want to compete, General?’ asked Jacobs, making Harding shake his head.
‘’None to date, for the good reason that I have barely started my tour of American aircraft manufacturers and that no company has had time yet to decide if they wanted to compete or not in this program.’
‘’And what companies have you listed on your tour, General?’ asked Haynes.
‘’You are only the second company I have visited to date, Mister Haynes, with Sikorsky being the first one I visited. Next, I will pay visits in turn to Hiller, Lockheed, Bell-Textron, Convair, Grumman, Northrop and Douglas. To be frank, I expect most of those companies to pass on this program, as our list of requirements is a very demanding one.’
Taking the document handed to him by Harding, Haynes then started reading it, with Jacobs reading it over his shoulder. Jacobs, like Haynes, nearly choked after only a few seconds of reading.
‘’A payload capacity of twenty tons or more? Able to fit in an aircraft carrier’s hangar? Subsonic, with intercontinental range? Fully VTOL-capable? But these requirements are in my opinion about impossible to fulfill, General.’
‘’They are indeed very tough, but that is the kind of finished product we need for our troops, Mister Haynes. The Pentagon is ready to wait for another three weeks, to see who will take this challenge, thus don’t give up too quickly about participating or not
322
in this program. If you decide to participate, then the Pentagon would be ready to finance at least partly the design and development of your prototype. Well, with this said, I believe that I must go and continue on my tour of our aircraft manufacturers.’
The three men got up and exchanged handshakes before Harding left. Haynes and Jacobs then reread carefully the list of requirements for the Tri-Service Tactical Assault Transport program. Jacobs, a very competent engineer and aircraft designer, slowly shook his head at the end of his lecture.
‘’Christ! This is a nearly impossible project. I suspect that even Ingrid Dows, at Hiller, will find this a hard pill to swallow.’
13:34 (Seattle Time)
Ingrid’s office, design department
Hiller aircraft production plant, William R. Fairchild International Airport Port Angeles, State of Washington
‘’Welcome to Hiller, General Harding. What can we do for you today?’ asked Ingrid while shaking Harding’s hand.
‘’A miracle, General.’ replied Harding while making a malicious smile. Ingrid then smiled as well, getting into his game.
‘’Aah, a miracle... We at Hiller normally ask for an extra week to do one.’
Both of them laughed briefly before Ingrid pointed to three sofas surrounding a low coffee table.
‘’Please, let’s sit, so that we could be comfortable while discussing.’
Once both of them were sitting, Ingrid flashed a warm smile to Harding, who couldn’t help think how beautiful and youthful-looking she was, despite her age of 82.
‘’So, to what do I owe your visit, General Harding?’
‘’To a new, classified acquisition project decided on by the Pentagon, General.’
‘’Please, simply call me ‘Ingrid’. May I call you ‘John’?’
‘’Absolutely, Ingrid. First off, I must tell you that this acquisition project, called
‘T.S.T.A.T., for Tri-Service Tactical Assault Transport, is being offered to all our major aircraft manufacturers, so that they all can have a fair shot at deciding if they want to compete in it. I must also tell you that the list of requirements for this project is quite severe: you could find it prohibitively difficult to achieve its goals.’
Instead of looking discouraged, Ingrid smiled even more widely to Harding.
323
‘’Try me, John!’
‘’Very well, Ingrid. Here is a copy of the list of requirements for this new project.
It is yours to keep, by the way.’’
‘’Thanks!’
As Ingrid started reading the short document, Harding basically repeated to her what he had said to Haynes at the Boeing Company and to Eugene Buckley at Sikorsky Helicopters. Ingrid listened to him while reading, then nodded her head when he was finished.
‘’I am happy that the Pentagon has finally seen the light about this business of paradrop operations after all these years. The time for such operations is long gone, in view of the ever-expanding surface-to-air missile defenses which exist around the World.
So, what will happen to our airborne premier units, the 82nd and the 101st Divisions?’
‘’That is still being debated at the Pentagon, quite hotly I must add. The prevailing idea is to turn them into airmobile units, with adequate allotments of heavy support weapons and transport vehicles for them. However, all this will come to naught if we can’t produce a suitable VTOL transport aircraft for them. As you must realize, if such an aircraft can be designed and built, then we will need well over a thousand of them...quickly. This means that production will have to be shared between a number of aircraft manufacturers, with licensing agreements to go with it. In the case of Hiller, I know that you already have your hands full with producing your SKYTRUCK VTOL
transport, A-24 SHARK attack aircraft and TRAN-SONIC airliner, so producing any plane design you could come up with will most probably mean splitting the effort between you and at least two other manufacturers.’
Ingrid’s expression was sober as she nodded her head to that.
‘’I fully realize that, John, and would have nothing against that. We at Hiller are ambitious but not greedy and I personally realize that winning contracts for our recent new planes have seriously hurt a number of our competitors, notably Sikorsky and Bell-Textron. Those are two good companies worth keeping around and I would be most happy to share production with them.’
Harding himself nodded, pleased to hear that from her.
‘’Good! So, do you think that Hiller would be willing to compete in this program?’
‘’I do!’
She then surprised Harding by getting up from her sofa while speaking to him.
324
‘’Before we discuss this further, I would like to show you something, John. Could you please follow me.’
‘’Uh, sure!’
Getting up as well from his sofa, an intrigued Harding followed Ingrid out of her office, then crossed the large design drafting section and entered an elevator cabin with her. As the cabin started going down, Ingrid spoke to him in a calm voice.
‘’We are now going to my prototype construction hall: I have something there to show you.’
Realizing that she would probably not reveal in advance what he was going to see, Harding didn’t ask her about it and kept silent as they exited the elevator cabin and walked down a short hallway before passing a steel door equipped with a security access pass system. Ingrid used a magnetic card she wore from a chain around her neck and unlocked the door, then opened it for Harding.
‘’Our more recent prototype projects pushed us into boosting the security around our prototype workshop: industrial espionage has become such a widespread pest.’
‘’I believe you on that, Ingrid.’
Both of them then stepped inside a large hall full of aircraft construction jigs, tools and aircraft parts and where the noise of working tools was nearly constant. Harding froze on the spot on seeing a large metallic mass occupying the center of the workshop’s floor space.
‘’What is this, Ingrid? It looks like one of your PELICANs but in a bit bigger size.’
‘’You are close to the truth, John. This is the prototype for a project I have been working on for over two years already. It is now about 65 percent complete but is still missing its engines. This is the prototype of the Hiller STORK, which I designed as a worthy successor to my PELICAN VTOL medium transport aircraft. Like the PELICAN, the STORK will be made in many variants, depending on the demands for these variants. This initial prototype is being built as a basic, unarmed carrier-borne transport variant, but I already have drawn design plans for an armed tactical assault transport, the STORMER, and for a variant meant for the role of shipborne maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft, to be called the SEAGULL. Would you like to tour it, John?’
‘’Hell, yeah!’ could only answer Harding, whose mind was now working in overdrive. As he closely followed Ingrid, who was now walking towards the unfinished
325
prototype, Harding asked her a question he had to ask, in view of the stakes in the T.S.T.A.T. project.
‘’Please excuse me for asking this, Ingrid, but how could you end up designing and producing such a new aircraft if you didn’t know beforehand about our T.S.T.A.T.
project? This may attract a lot of suspicious questions at the Pentagon.’
Ingrid scoffed at those words while continuing to walk.
‘’You can tell your bosses at the Pentagon that they should get to know me better than this, John. Did they believe that, after I designed such successful VTOL transport aircraft as my PELICAN and SKYTRUCK, I would not eventually design new aircraft in order to eventually succeed them on our production lines at Hiller? If anything, the near-debacle I witnessed in Afghanistan concerning our tactical air transport capability pushed me into thinking about what kind of new aircraft could be designed to correct that situation. My PELICAN is still an excellent tactical assault transport aircraft but, unfortunately, only the Navy and the Marine Corps adopted it when I started producing it.
The Air Force insisted that its present fleet of medium and heavy cargo aircraft was sufficient for our needs. However, our Afghanistan campaign quickly blew big holes into that assumption. In turn, the Army deferred to the Air Force and stuck to its fleet of transport helicopters and to using the Air Force cargo planes to transport its paratroopers. Yes, they did buy a number of my new SKYTRUCK after we withdrew from Afghanistan, but the SKYTRUCK is a big, unarmed aircraft and is too vulnerable to enemy ground fire to properly supplement my PELICAN on the battlefield. So, I decided to design by myself the STORK as a successor to the PELICAN, and this some four years ago. At first, I kept my work strictly to the level of private musings but, with the approval of Jeff Hiller, I actively started working on the STORK design some two years ago. We started building this prototype at a slow rate some five months ago and should complete it in about two months. The STORK will actually be meant to serve as much or more as a civilian transport than as a military aircraft.’
Ingrid stopped once some three meters to one side of the STORK prototype and started describing it to Harding, who could only listen and stare in fascination at the aircraft while she spoke.
‘’As you can see, the STORK design is following the same basic formula as all the VTOL machines produced to date by Hiller under my supervision. It is a pure flying wing design shaped like an aircraft wing section and with engines mounted on pivot points on two sides. In the case of the STORK, I adopted a supercritical wing profile
326
section in order to obtain as high a subsonic top speed for it as possible. I also rearranged its internal configuration compared to my PELICAN, in order to simplify its construction and to allow larger payloads to be carried inside it. It will be powered by two large high-bypass turbofan engines instead of by the four turboshaft engines and shrouded propellers used in my previous VTOL designs. However, it will be as agile and flexible as my PELICAN and will have as well a much longer range than my PELICAN, on top of being faster. Its military variants will be fitted with a probe-and-drogue air refueling system, something which will allow it to achieve trans-Pacific range.’
‘’What about its payload capacity, Ingrid?’ asked Harding, his heart beating faster.
‘’Let me show you.’ simply said Ingrid before starting to climb a ramp attached to one side of the prototype and lowered to the ground. Harding followed her up the ramp, to end inside the unfinished prototype. He now stood in a long, large and high-ceiling cargo hold oriented along the aircraft centerline. Ingrid then spoke further while sweeping one hand around.
‘’You are now in the cargo hold of the STORK. Its internal dimensions are thirteen meters-long, six meters-wide and three meters-high at its highest point, large enough to accommodate most of the vehicles and weapons systems in the Army’s inventory. However, its maximum payload capacity of thirty metric tons will not allow it to carry a main battle tank. That last task is more suited to my SKYTRUCK.’
Harding looked at her with a mix of disbelief and shock.
‘’A maximum payload of thirty tons? And it can land and take off at the vertical with such a heavy load?’
‘’Of course! It was designed for just that. The range will diminish according to how heavy its actual payload will be but my STORK should be able to cover over 6,500
kilometers while carrying twenty tons. If it uses air refueling, then it will be able to deploy such a payload across intercontinental distances while landing and delivering it at the vertical. Once folded up, my STORK will be able to fit inside an aircraft carrier’s hangar and on aircraft elevators, like my PELICAN can. The Marine Corps and the Navy should love my STORK.’
Harding then looked at Ingrid with undisguised admiration and wonder.
‘’Ingrid, you are true magician when it comes to aircraft design. This STORK
design of yours is simply incredible.’
327
‘’Thanks! Before you go, I will give you a copy on USB drive of my initial design for the STORK, so that you could show it to the service chiefs at the Pentagon.
However, this design is classified as a Hiller Corporation confidential document. It is not to be shown or even discussed with representatives or lobbyists from other aircraft manufacturing companies. As well, it is not to be discussed or shown to politicians in the Congress: that place is like a sieve in terms of confidentiality.’
‘’I will keep this strictly to the service chiefs, Ingrid. You have my word on this.’
‘’Excellent! I should be able to start flight-testing this prototype in about three months or earlier and I will keep you informed about the results. Do you have a business card with a phone number where I can join you?’
‘’Of course!’ said Harding while fishing for his wallet. ‘’It also has my unclassified email address at the Pentagon on it. Just alert me via email or telephone and I will then come here at a run. God, I never imagined that I would find something like this here today.’
‘’Welcome to the Hiller Miracle Factory, John.’ replied a smiling Ingrid.
328
CHAPTER 23 – A NEW MIDDLE EAST SHIT PIT
19:49 (GMT)
Sunday, September 07, 2008 ‘C’
Weightlifting room, Lower Deck, cruiser U.S.S. MONTANA 230 nautical miles west of the Strait of Gibraltar Atlantic Ocean
329
Greta Visby was exercising hard and sweating in the well-equipped weightlifting room of the U.S.S. MONTANA, pumping up and
down a pair of small dumbbells, when a navy junior officer came to her, apparently in a hurry.
‘’Maam, the skipper has called an urgent
command meeting in the C.I.C.’s conference room, to be started in twenty minutes.’
‘’Twenty minutes?! Hell, I better hurry up then. Tell Captain Eldridge that I will be there in fifteen minutes.’
‘’Yes maam!’
Putting back her pair of dumbbells on their support rack, Greta then nearly ran to the women’s locker room, to the disappointment of the men who had been discreetly admiring her body while exercising. Once in the locker room, Greta quickly undressed, then went to one of the shower stalls, where she stepped under a lukewarm water spray.
She however stayed there only for a few seconds, just enough to wash off the worst of the sweat covering her body, then summarily dried herself with her towel and returned to her locker, where she put back on her combat uniform. Less than six minutes after entering the female locker room, Greta was running out of the gymnasium and heading forward towards the command conference room, her gym bag held by one hand. She actually entered the conference room fourteen minutes after being advised that she was being summoned. There, she found most of the senior officers of the cruiser already sitting around the long table and waiting for Captain Eldridge. Sitting next to Charles Benson, she whispered a question to him.
‘’What’s up? Did we receive some new intelligence about the situation in the Middle East?’
‘’Uh, sort of.’ answered the young intelligence officer. ‘’We still have received precious little from Washington but we just saw some alarming flash news on open television news channels.’
‘’Television news channels?’ said a surprised Greta. Before Benson could reply to that, Captain Eldridge entered the room, prompting those present to quickly get up at attention. Eldridge went to the seat reserved for him and looked around the table, checking who was in.
330
‘’At ease, people! Please sit down.’
Once they were all sitting, Eldridge spoke in a calm but most sober tone to the assembled officers.
‘’I called this urgent command meeting on the strength of some very alarming televised news reports out of Lebanon. Basically, only one hour ago, BBC News, CNN
and the French TF1 channels simultaneously started broadcasting images and reports showing that some kind of coup was being conducted in Lebanon against the government there. Those reports also showed huge crowds of agitated, pro-Islamic rioters massed around the gates of our embassy in Beirut. One alarming thing about those protesters was that the Lebanese soldiers ordinarily posted at the embassy gates were conspicuously absent, having either being pulled away or having fled their posts. A number of Islamist speakers spouting anti-American slogans were present in front of the gates and were encouraging the crowd to attack the embassy and capture or kill our embassy staff. Lieutenant Benson, while reviewing the tapes of those televised reports, did identify one of those Islamist speakers as being a known ex-member of the Taliban leadership who escaped capture in Afghanistan some five years ago. Also recognized on one of those reports was a Saudi cleric who is known to have condoned the actions of Al Qaeda against us and who advocates for the destruction of Israel. In turn, a number of armed Islamic militiamen were also present, protecting those speakers and encouraging the crowd into attacking our embassy. As for the Lebanese government, some furious fighting is being reported around the presidential palace and at a number of Lebanese government facilities. To resume all this, it seems that the Lebanese government is in danger of falling under a popular uprising led by known Islamist extremists, ex-Taliban members and even some Saudi clerics. Our embassy in Beirut is apparently being besieged by crowds of rioters and in imminent danger of being assaulted.’
‘’And what is Washington saying about this, sir?’ asked Lieutenant-Commander Patrick Russel, the ship’s weapons officer. Eldridge made a sour expression that said a lot to Greta.
‘’Up to now, nothing! It seems that Washington has been taken completely by surprise by this. However, on the strength of those televised reports, I have ordered that this ship go to maximum speed and rush towards the Eastern Mediterranean, so that we could quickly be in position to act if need be.’
331
Greta nodded her head to that, pleased by the sense of initiative demonstrated by Eldridge: she had seen too many senior officers sit and do nothing when faced with a developing situation, on the excuse that they had not received instructions or directives from the upper command echelons. Eldridge then looked directly at Greta while pointing an index at her.
‘’Captain Visby, I want us to be ready to react as quickly as possible to any future attack against our embassy in Beirut, including by being prepared to conduct an air assault and evacuation operation in Lebanon. While we are still waiting for directives from Washington about this situation, you are to prepare quickly your marines for such an airborne operation and to be on standby for launch at a moment’s notice. Be prepared to face both rioters and armed Islamic extremists while evacuating our embassy personnel and their dependents from Beirut.’
‘’I will include riot munitions in my troops’ allotment of ammunition, sir.’
‘’Good! Lieutenant Goodman, have four PELICAN A assault transport fueled up and armed for a combat mission as quickly as possible, then move them to our open flight deck, ready for quick launch. Lieutenant Benson, issue detailed maps of Beirut and of Lebanon to our marines and to our aviators. Commander Russel, start compiling a list of possible targets in and around Beirut for our long-range bombardment missiles.
I will review that list as soon as it will be ready. In the meantime, I will advise the Pentagon that we are rushing eastward in order to be ready to react to any situation in and around Lebanon. That’s it, people. Let’s get moving!’
The officers around the table then quickly got up on their feet and filed out of the conference room. On her way out, Greta was accosted by Captain Eldridge, who spoke to her in a low voice.
‘’Captain Visby, you have plenty of combat experience against armed Islamic extremists. I expect you to use your best judgment once in Beirut in order to gauge the true intentions of those assholes and to be ready to counter their moves. Feel free to fully use your personal initiative in this matter: I will in turn back you to the fullest of my authority.’
‘’Thank you, sir! Me and my marines will do our best to protect our citizens in Lebanon.’
‘’I know you will, Captain.’
332
On that, Eldridge walked out of the conference room, leaving Greta free to run back to the quarters area of her marine company, where she dropped off her gym bag in her cabin before switching on the P.A. system dedicated to this section of the ship.
‘’Attention, all marines. I want the platoon leaders and their senior NCOs to come to my cabin at the double for an urgent orders group. In the meantime, all the marines are to get ready for possible combat operations. The marines quartermaster section is to prepare to distribute a full load of ammunition and two days of field rations to our marines and will include riot control rifle grenades on top of dual-purpose rifle grenades as part of the ammunition allotment. That’s all for the moment. Let’s get moving, marines.’
With that said, Greta then went to prepare her own individual combat kit, adding to it her ankle holster for her compact 9 mm pistol and another ankle holster holding a commando knife and two spare magazines for her 9 mm pistol. Thinking about it for a second, she then replaced her commando knife with the spring-loaded Russian Spetsnaz projecting knife she had bought while in Somalia, years ago, reasoning that it could possibly come handy in Beirut.
Her platoon leaders and their senior sergeants, plus Master Sergeant Vincent
‘Mafioso’ Gambino, were soon assembled in her cabin, where she repeated the information given to her by Captain Eldridge, along with his orders to be prepared for a sudden combat operation. She then looked around soberly at her subalterns.
‘’People, this may result in either no action being taken on our part or in a flash order to fly out for combat operations in Beirut. We will soon get maps of Beirut and Lebanon from the intelligence section; at which time we will study them in order to prepare for any possibility. In the meantime, get our marines to the quartermaster’s section, so that they could get their ammunition and field rations. Make sure that our marines have their gas masks and that those are operational: we may need them once in Beirut. I want you back here in two hours, with everybody ready to fly off at a moment’s notice. This may well turn into the proverbial ‘hurry up and wait’ but we must be ready for anything. Dismissed!’
As her subalterns dispersed to go alert their marines, Greta ran to the quartermaster’s section dedicated to her marine force, where she grabbed some ammunition and field rations before returning to her cabin, where she loaded her rifle
333
and pistol magazines and pocketed rifle grenades and hand grenades in the various pockets of her armored vest. She was just finished doing that when a Navy petty officer leading a group of sailors carrying large, flat and heavy boxes presented himself to her, saluting her.
‘’Captain, we are bringing you the maps of Beirut and Lebanon that Lieutenant Benson assigned to your marines. Where do you want them?’
‘’Let’s bring them to my company’s operations center, P.O.. I will lead you there.’
Greta then left her cabin and walked a mere fourteen meters before arriving at the compartment used as her marine command post, where she pointed to the large map table occupying the center of the room.
‘’You may drop your boxes of maps on that table, P.O. Thanks for bringing them to me.’
‘’My pleasure, maam! Alright, you heard her, men: drop your boxes on that table over there, then return to your other duties.’
Once the sailors were gone, Greta opened the map boxes to see what they contained and was quickly satisfied by what she saw. As a perennial hotspot in the Middle East, Beirut and Lebanon were areas well covered by American intelligence imagery assets, with the consequent maps and photographic products being regularly kept up to date. She was pleased in particular by the fact that Lieutenant Benson had added to the maps a number of copies of an intelligence guide booklet on Lebanon, which listed some basic data and facts concerning the country, along with information on the various armed groups and militias present in and around Lebanon. Grabbing one of the booklets for herself, she then selected one copy each of the different maps she had received and started cutting and plastifying them before folding them so that they could fit in her cargo pockets. Once that was done, she started splitting the maps into separate piles to be distributed to her sub-units. Twenty minutes later, she greeted her subalterns in the command post, where she distributed the maps to them, along with the extra copies of the intelligence booklet. All the while, the television screens in her command post were left on, tuned to the CNN and BBC news channels. As she was doing her distribution, a breaking news report on the BBC channel made her and her subaltern stop and listen to it. A large crowd of angry rioters were shown trying to crash open the main gate of the American embassy compound, with the small security marine
334
contingent of the embassy reacting by firing a few riot gas grenades in the crowd. Greta felt dread on seeing how numerous and excited the rioters were.
‘’This is going to end badly, and soon. We may have to react quickly to this situation. Prepare your maps quickly and distribute them to our squad and fire team leaders, then stand by for further instructions.’
As her subalterns were preparing their maps for field use, Greta used the ship’s internal telephone system to contact Captain Eldridge, who was on the cruiser’s navigation bridge when she connected with him.
‘’Captain Eldridge!’
‘’Sir, this is Captain Visby, in the marines’ operations center. We just saw on the BBC channel that a large crowd of rioters were assaulting the main gate of our embassy in Beirut. Our embassy security contingent was firing riot gas grenades to keep them back but, in my opinion, they won’t be able to hold those rioters for very long. Have you received any instructions from Washington about this crisis, sir?’
When Eldridge answered her, she could clearly distinguish some serious level of frustration in his tone.
‘’Up to now, it has been total radio silence from the Pentagon on this, Captain Visby. I am afraid that our embassy will be overwhelmed by those rioters well before Washington takes some firm decisions about what to do about this.’
There was then a pause of a few seconds before Eldridge spoke further, having apparently taken a difficult decision.
‘’Fuck it! I am not going to sit idly by while our illustrious leaders in Washington try to decide what to do. When could your marines be ready to fly out for Beirut?’
‘’Give me another thirty minutes and I will then be ready to embark my marines in our PELICANs, sir.’
‘’Then, do so, Captain! Your mission will be to secure our embassy in Beirut and to protect our staff and citizens there. If you decide that our people there need to be evacuated in order to ensure their safety, then pack them in your PELICANs and fly them out of that shit pit. I may not have the green light from the Pentagon for such an initiative but I will be damned if I would simply watch our people in Beirut being massacred while doing nothing.’
Greta nodded to herself on hearing those words, with Eldridge gaining extra respect from her for his hard decision.
335
‘’You know, sir, this reminds me of another historical situation when a military commander also had to take an initiative without the prior approval of his superiors. In 1940, the Norwegian officer in charge of a coastal fort defending the Oslofjord had to face an invading fleet of German warships in what was later named the Battle of Drøbak Sound. That officer, who was in charge of an old coastal fortress called the Oscarsborg Fortress, had only a few officers and NCOs to lead a force of raw, untrained recruits and had no instructions about what to do if faced with an attacker, as Norway was then still officially neutral in World War 2. His guns and torpedo battery were also old weapons and he was now faced with a German fleet led by the modern heavy cruiser BLÜCHER.
When he gave the order to fire, a subaltern objected that they had not received the authorization to fire in anger without first firing warning shots. That commander then replied, quote, ‘’Either I will be decorated or I will be court-martialed. Fire!’ , unquote. His forty-year-old torpedoes hit and sank the BLÜCHER, forcing the German fleet to retreat, thus giving time for the Norwegian king to be evacuated to Great Britain.’
Eldridge had a chuckle on hearing that story.
‘’I love that guy. I will have to read about this battle later, once we are out of this crisis. I will now tell Lieutenant Goodman to be ready to fly off as soon as your marines will be aboard her PELICANs. Good luck in advance on your mission, Captain Visby.’’
‘’Thank you, sir.’’ replied Greta before putting down her telephone receiver and shouting instructions at her subalterns. ‘’BE READY TO BRING YOUR MARINES UP TO
THE FLIGHT DECK AS SOON AS YOU ARE READY. WE ARE FLYING TO BEIRUT TO
SECURE AND PROTECT OUR EMBASSY THERE.’’
A concert of approving exclamations greeted her words at once, with her subalterns then quickly finishing to prepare their maps before going to collect their troops.
Less than half an hour later, Greta was leading her marines up to the open flight deck of the cruiser, where four Hiller PELICAN A assault transports were already waiting on the dark deck, ready to go. There, she was met by Captain Eldridge and by Lieutenant Charles Benson, with the former greeting her near the lead aircraft.
‘’Captain Visby, we are still waiting for instructions from Washington but your mission is still on. Lieutenant Benson took the initiative to call by cell phone our embassy in Beirut and was able to talk with our ambassador. Ambassador Kearny said that his situation is getting quite difficult and that rioters have started to climb over the perimeter fence, forcing his marines to retreat inside the embassy and to barricade the doors. He was most happy to hear that we were going to send marines to his rescue. While we are still near the Strait of
336
Gibraltar and are about to enter the Mediterranean, I had external fuel tanks mounted on our PELICANs, so that they would have sufficient range to get to Lebanon and then go land at our base of Incirlik, in Turkey.’’
‘’That sounds fine to me, sir. We are ready to go.’’
‘’Then, good luck to you and your marines, Captain Visby.’’ said Eldridge, who shook hands with her before she went up the aft cargo ramp of the lead PELICAN with the marines of her First Rifle Platoon and her company command section. Retreating with Benson to the opened doors of the vast aircraft hangar of his cruiser, Eldridge watched on as the four VTOL transport aircraft started their turboshaft engines in a concert of ear-splitting whines, then lifted off the flight deck, soon disappearing into the night sky, their navigational lights kept off.
‘’May God be with them.’’ said softly Eldridge before returning inside his cruiser.
03:36 (Eastern Mediterranean Time)
Monday, September 08, 2008 ‘C’
