Thinking for a minute and then examining the map further, Admiral Lomas had to agree with that assessment as well. It appeared that the Chinese were going to gobble up some of their neighbors, knowing full well that the Americans were powerless to stop them for the time being, with the Russian war raging on. It angered him to realize how impotent the US had become. There was a time when the US had the ability to fight two major armed conflicts at the same time; those days appeared to be gone.
Admiral Lomas’ strike group continued on to Okinawa, linking up with the Reagan strike group and providing a power deterrent against a Chinese incursion towards Japan and more than enough of a force to keep the North Koreans in check. If they needed to, they could shift further south and support Taiwan, but that would leave South Korea and Japan essentially on their own, and China knew that as well.
New Commander, New Strategy
Admiral Peter Meyers had taken over as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs following the dismissal of General Joe Hillman. Of course, he did not agree with this decision, but he understood why the President had made it. The United States had been caught completely off guard by the sudden turn of events in Ukraine, which had now led to a full-scale war between NATO and the Russian Federation. The fact that most of the intelligence community and the military underestimated the Russians’ resolve to go to war over Ukraine was a supreme miscalculation. Thus far, that tragic decision had led to some disastrous defeats.
The siege of Kiev with nearly 9,000 NATO forces trapped in the city was a media nightmare. Then, China annexed Mongolia and two weeks later, invaded the countries of Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar. When it was discovered that several members of Congress and dozens of senior government officials had been caught leaking highly classified intelligence, some of which was used directly against US and NATO Forces, the President was left with no other move than to come down hard on the leakers and try to right the war before defeatism set in. Admiral Meyer’s first priority was making sure the warfighters had everything they needed to win this war that America now found itself in. His first order of business was to assess the losses and then determine how quickly they could replace them.
Today’s White House meeting was going to involve a morning meet with the National Security Advisor and the President to obtain permission to acquire the needed equipment, and gain authorization for a full mobilization of the military’s strategic reserves. He also wanted to push for a draft to quickly bolster the size of the US military. He knew this would be controversial, but he was also not sure how else they could fill the ranks of the military as quickly as they needed to. The war with Russia could quickly turn into a war with North Korea and China at any moment, so time was not on their side.
It was turning into a beautiful autumn morning as his driver stopped their vehicle right in front of the side entrance to the White House. “I was going to retire at the end of the year… it looks like I’m going to have to put that off for a few more years now,” bemoaned Admiral Meyer to himself.
Meyer cleared security quickly and began to make his way to McMillan’s office; he wanted to go over a few things with him first before he briefed the President. As he approached his office, he saw him getting up and heading out the door to greet him. “Good morning, Admiral. You ready for today’s meeting?” he asked jovially as he led the way down to the Oval Office. This was Admiral Meyer’s second visit to see the President since taking over as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (CJC). He had only been appointed to be the CJC three days ago, so it had been a whirlwind getting caught up on everything that was going on.
Prior to being appointed to take over as the Chairman, Meyer had been in charge of the Navy’s procurement program, which he had concluded was a complete mess. It was one of the reasons he had planned on retiring; he was just tired of the bureaucracy and how mismanaged the procurement process had become. He had tried on numerous occasions to improve it, but was met with stiff resistance from various members of Congress and the lifelong bureaucrats who resided at the Department of Defense. He missed serving in the Fleet. He loved the smell of JP8 as it wafted across the bridge from the flight deck of a carrier.
Suddenly, Admiral Meyer was jolted from his reminiscent thoughts. “Are you ready for the meeting?” asked Tom McMillan, the National Security Advisor (NSA), as he shook Meyer’s hand.
“I’m ready. I’ve spent the last two days reviewing the combat losses and mission requirements being sent to our office. It’s been a mind-numbing experience, but I believe I’m prepared to start making recommendations. Then again, I’m not 100 % sure how the boss is going to take them,” Meyer explained, realizing as he spoke that he did not know the President very well.
“Just be honest and direct with your assessment,” assured McMillan. “The President doesn’t like BS, and he can smell it a mile away. He’s very direct and to the point, which makes him pretty easy to work with. If you see Saunders or Rosenblatt in the room, be careful-not that they will gun for you, but they hold a lot of sway. Sometimes you almost have to win them over before you can win the boss over. They are smart, good guys, but sometimes their agendas are not always the same as the President’s agenda,” McMillan offered as they approached the outer door to the Oval Office.
Admiral Meyer nodded. He appreciated the insight into the office politics since he was so new in his position.
The President’s secretary waved them on in and held the door open for them. As they walked into the room, they immediately saw the President’s Chief of Staff, Saunders, and Rosenblatt sitting on the couch waiting for them, along with the Secretary of Defense, Jim Castle. They all stood up and gave the obligatory greetings before getting down to business.
The President opened the meeting, saying, “I know we’ve kind of thrown you into the deep end of the pool having to take over for General Hillman, but I need to know where we stand with the war, and what needs to happen to win it.”
“The NSA was right, the President likes to get right to it,” Meyer thought. The admiral scooted over and took his seat on the couch next to the SecDef. “Mr. President, I’ll be blunt. The war is not going well right now, and if it keeps on its current track, we are going to lose. I have some recommendations. In my military opinion, I believe these actions are needed to turn things around and win this fight,” Admiral Meyer said, not holding anything back.
The SecDef gave an affirmative nod. The two of them had talked late into the evening the night before about what Meyer was going to propose at this meeting. Castle was fully on board and would back him up.
Rosenblatt, the President’s advisor, seemed a bit taken aback that so much had been apparently missed under General Hillman’s leadership.
The President leaned forward in his chair, and looked the Admiral in the eye, “That’s why I placed you in charge. I don’t want any fluff and nonsense. I want to know what you need to win, and I don’t mean in a few years. You and I know the American public will only support a war for a finite amount of time before they will lose patience with it. We need to win this fight quick.”
Nodding in agreement, the Admiral continued, “I agree, Mr. President. The first order of business is that I need your permission to activate the military’s strategic arms reserve. All the branches of the military have a strategic reserve of aircraft, tanks, ships, etc. that we keep in dry storage in case of a national emergency. With the equipment losses we’ve sustained in Europe, and may potentially sustain in Asia, we need to get that equipment out of storage and brought up to full readiness immediately.” As he spoke he began handing out several documents, which listed some of the critical equipment each service needed pulled online.