“So we like the Ukraine better than Russia — nothing earth-shattering about that idea,” Jamieson said. “But what’s going to come of it? What’s the chance of a war between Russia and the Ukraine — and U.S. military intervention?”
Pierce nodded thoughtfully, then shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Russia has made it clear that they consider ethnic unrest and foreign military influence in the former Soviet republics a major threat to their sovereignty. They have pledged to use every means at their disposal, including nuclear battlefield weapons, to protect Russians living in the former republics and to secure their borders. Now, they haven’t made any threats or done anything to suggest they’re ready to start a full-scale war, but Velichko has made his intentions plain. There’s obviously a power struggle going on between the civilian and military leaders in Russia, and it has yet to run its course.
“So,” he continued, “what if war does break out? The Ukraine has a pretty potent military force, even with all the downsizing and civilian conversion they’ve been doing, but of course they couldn’t stand up for long against Russia, and everyone knows it. Despite their differences, the Ukraine and Russia are still tied pretty closely together economically, socially, diplomatically, politically, every which way — and no one thinks that the Ukraine wants a war.
“But now we got three U.S. warships making a port call in Odessa this week — they call it a goodwill visit, although the timing of this whole visit creates anything but goodwill in the area — and the balance-of-power shift those ships create could push someone over the edge. Russia has repeatedly warned the U.S. about getting involved in the crisis.”
“The President’s an asshole,” Mark Fogelman interjected. For once, Rebecca had to agree with him. “Didn’t he realize how dangerous and how provocative that can be?”
“Like Russia sending Bear and Backfire bombers into Cuba again?” Tobias interjected. “It looks like a lot of government leaders around the world are being pretty stupid. But the President had to do something.”
“Yeah. Twist the tiger’s tail,” Fogelman said in disgust. “Piss off the Russkies so they have to respond.”
With all the concern and agitation Colonel Hembree seemed to be expressing that morning, Rebecca wanted to know if the crisis in Europe had anything to do with Hembree’s near-manic emphasis on readiness, but she put that question on her mind’s back burner as Pierce began describing yet another potential world crisis.
“The point of all this malarkey,” Major Pierce said in conclusion, “is that there are lots of other forces alive and strong in the world right now, not just the United States, and they have their own plans for the New World Order. We are most certainly the strongest superpower in the world, but that is mostly in terms of military size and industrial potential, and even that is shrinking. If we go at it, we might very well go at it alone.”
A fairly ominous picture, Furness thought, from a man usually upbeat. She made a point of intercepting him as he was heading out the door after completing his briefing: “Hey, Tom, you giving up on the human race, or what?”
“Uh, no, Becky. No, nothing like that,” Pierce said. “The Wing King is really concerned about events between Ukraine and Russia. He wants situation briefings every morning and every couple hours, which means I’m in here by five A.M. every day. He wants the worst case, too, and I’ve been inundated by some pretty serious stuff lately.”
“Are you concerned about us deploying or something, Tom? I’ve had this feeling lately. Everyone’s uptight, but no one’s coming clean. Has the General been getting any messages, any directives?”
“Whoa, whoa, Becky, you’re asking the wrong dude. I know nothing, nnnothssing,” Pierce replied, imitating Sergeant Shultz of Hogan’s Heroes fame to emphasize the last part of his too-emphatic denial. “I just report the news, not make it. Talk to the Wing King yourself — he might just tell you. Gotta go. See ya.” He gave her a mind-blowing smile and quickly departed.
Well, the last thing she needed to do, Furness thought, was to meet with the wing commander and talk about world problems, especially after the day she was having. Better to wait until nearer the end of Hell Week, after a few good flights and a no-writeup inspection before trying to get any information from the brass.
But … the feeling of uneasiness persisted. It was a feeling, Rebecca Furness realized, that both excited and frightened her. She tried to shake it out of her head and walked on.
SIXTEEN
After the latest intelligence briefings had concluded, the squadron members reported back to the squadron, where the next day’s ATO, or Air Tasking Order, was just being posted. The Air Tasking Order was the unit’s game plan, detailing the location and mission of every aircraft involved in an operation. The usual plan was for Alpha Flight aircrews to launch as soon as possible, with the first six aircraft that were ready to go. Bravo Flight would follow in the next six aircraft, but they would accomplish a strike or reconnaissance mission first, then recover at the “deployment” base. Charlie Flight in the last six planes could do either role, but, because they had the least-experienced crews, was usually tasked to bring more weapons and spare parts for the other planes.
The other units within the Fifth Air Battle Force, the composite-force unit headquartered at Plattsburgh, would contribute to the week-long exercise as well, although, except for the 336th Air Refueling Squadron’s KC-135 tankers, none of the other squadrons were based at Plattsburgh. The F-16 C- and D-model multirole fighters from the 134th Fighter Squadron at Burlington Airport, which had long-range interceptor, tactical air superiority, precision bombing, and close-air support versions of the single-engine fighter, would play a dual role in this operation: some would act as escorts for the bombers, while others would play enemy fighters and try to hunt down the bombers while they made their bomb runs. The Wing also used C-130E Hercules transports of the 328th Airlift Squadron based at Niagara Falls International Airport, C-141 Starlifter transports from the 756th Airlift Squadron in Maryland, and C-5A Galaxy transports from the 337th Airlift Squadron in Massachusetts, to practice loading deployment equipment. Sometimes they also practiced joint deployments with A-10 Thunderbolt attack squadrons and even Navy and Marine Corps Reserve units, practicing the important task of joint air operations.
All this was known as the “surge,” the most important aspect of the unit’s mission — the ability to get a combat tasking order, deploy in the fastest way possible, set up shop at another location, strike targets in just a few short hours after notification, then conduct continuous strike and tactical reconnaissance operations with only the bare essentials until the rest of the Wing arrived. With the drastic downsizing of the U.S. military and the reliance on Reserve forces for national defense, rapidly mobilizing, deploying, and operating inactive combat units was more important than ever.
Lieutenant Colonel Hembree, Lieutenant Colonel Katz, and the Wing Operations staff had already broken down the Air Tasking Order when they arrived back at the squadron building. In the staff meeting that began a few minutes later, Hembree laid out the plan. “Ben Jamieson’s flight is already headed out to the aircraft,” he began. “So far the first six airframes look pretty good — they should be ‘deploying’ by sundown. The new MG jumped the gun and started generating bombers and tankers early, but the General obviously likes his ideas, so we’re ahead of the game this morning.