Nate looked into the faces of each of the men in slow succession. He wanted to make certain they understood the White House’s unspoken objective communicated to him directly by General Dekker.
‘Very well,’ Nate said — turning to Reed. ‘I understand you’ve got a briefing for me before we move on to the deployment plans.’
The young major strode to a large wall map depicting half the earth centered on the Pacific Ocean. When Reed spoke, he spoke to Clark. ‘The U.S. Army of the Pacific has an area of responsibility extending from the east coast of Africa to the west coast of the Americas and from pole to pole. That 100-million-square-mile AOR contains more than fifty nations and more than half the earth’s population, which makes USARPAC the largest of the unified commands. Within that AOR also are the seven largest armed forces on Earth with over ten million ground troops under arms.’
Reed’s pointer fell squarely on the People’s Republic of China. Although his eyes remained on Clark, the pointer’s placement clearly wasn’t accidental.
‘USARPAC fills the ground role of U.S. Pacific Command, whose commander-in-chief is Admiral Furguson. Our major subordinate command is U.S. Army, Japan, whose operational arm is IX Corps headquartered in Camp Zama, Japan. USAID’s 10th and 17th Area Support Groups at Torii Station, Okinawa and Zama also provide logistical support to Korea by serving as managers of theater war reserve stocks. The two ASGs will constitute primary support for our deployment into Siberia.’
‘Who’s on the ground in Siberia now?’ Clark asked — unable to wait patiently.
Reed had no need to resort to notes. ‘Elements of the Military Traffic Management Command are in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, and the 45th Support Group out of Pearl has a transportation company at the port of Vanin further up the Russian coast. Advance teams from the 1106th Signal Brigade and the 500th Military Intelligence Brigade are going into Khabarovsk today for command, control and intell.’
‘What security do those men have?’ Clark asked.
‘They’re carrying personal weapons at all times and have orders not to stray from areas secured by Russian military support teams. We also have units from the Law Enforcement Command going in tomorrow to provide military police combat support and installation law enforcement. They could muster company-sized MP units if necessary to respond to local situations.’
‘When do the first combat troops go in?’
‘In about seven days,’ Reed replied.
‘Make that two days,’ Clark said, and his officers scribbled notes. ‘I know this is officially a host-country operation, but I want a contingency plan in place if we have to provide our own security. Let’s not forget that the Russian Army in European Russia split and is engaged in a very hot civil war right now.’
‘Might I suggest, General Clark,’ his head of USARPAC Operations said, ‘that we accelerate the insertion of the 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group out of Okinawa.’ He looked across the table at the commander of the 4th Special Operations Support Command, who nodded once.
‘USARPAC’s standing major combat formations,’ Reed continued, ‘consist of the 25th Light Infantry Division and 29th Infantry Brigade (Separate) here in Hawaii. The 25th ‘Tropic Lightning’ Division is the theater’s rapid-deployment force. It will begin rotating battalions north to Forts Richardson and Wainwright for acclimatization training, which will be supported by the U.S. Army Garrison, Alaska. It and the 29th Infantry Brigade are designated as theater reserve. For deployment to Siberia we will receive the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum. We’re also moving the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry (Airborne) to Zama in Japan. They’re USARPAC’s only unit with true forced entry capabilities. USARPAC has initiated its force reconstitution plan. We’ll augment our combat strength through mobilization of designated reserves. The U.S. Army Readiness Group, Pacific, and IX Corps (Reinforcement) have given action orders to the Alaska National Guard’s 207th Infantry Group (Scout), and the 731st and 368th Military Police Companies — which are ARNG and USAR units, respectively, based on Guam. We’ve also called up the 29th Infantry Brigade’s USAR round-out battalion based here in Hawaii — the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry.’
‘The “Go For Broke” Battalion,’ Clark said, drawing smiles from the men who knew their Army history. ‘What about Stateside reserves?’
‘Only the 205th Infantry Brigade (Light) has been called up so far, sir,’ Reed said. There were frowns from many of the senior officers. ‘The Two-Oh-Five is from the Minnesota National Guard and therefore has good cold-weather skills. They’re the round-out brigade for the 25th. But we’ve also talked — informally — to the commanders of the 73rd Infantry Brigade of the Ohio National Guard, which would go to Alaska Command, and the 844th Engineer Battalion of the Tennessee Army Reserve. They’ve pledged to increase their pace of training — again on an informal, voluntary basis. We’ve also called up personnel assigned to the staffs of Tripler Army Medical Center here in Hawaii, and Bassett Army Hospital up in Alaska… just in case, sir. We’ve done it quietly.’
Clark nodded once. Reed moved on to the next map. Although as large as the map of the USARPAC area of responsibility, it depicted only the Russian Pacific coast to the east and
Mongolia to the west. To the north was the endless wilderness of the Siberian plains. To the south — the People’s Republic of China.
‘Under the terms of the Russian Army’s invitation, the United Nations Forces, Russia, or “UNRUSFOR”,’ he said — pronouncing the acronym as one word — ‘may operate no further west than Chita, Siberia, and no further north than the Lena River. By similar invitations, German, French and British forces will secure and maintain the Trans-Siberian Railway to the west of Chita all the way to the European rail grid. All European forces will deploy by rail directly from Europe and will come under UNRUSFOR command at Chita. All U.S. forces will arrive by air or by sea at Russian Pacific ports and will be under UNRUSFOR operational command upon debarkation.’
Reed’s pointer slapped the map. It landed on the Chinese border. ‘The principal geographic features in the UNRUSFOR theater of operations are the Amur River and the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The Amur — which the Chinese call the “River of the Black Dragon” — is the border between Russia and China and flows west-to-east. Sovereignty over the Amur River basin has historically been contested… militarily.’ Reed and most of the other officers looked at Clark, who nodded. ‘The Amur River,’ Reed continued, ‘is the principal north-eastern waterway on the Asian continent. It turns north at Khabarovsk and empties into the Sea of Okhotsk. It broadens in some places into what is almost an inland sea. In other areas, it snakes through steep gorges and spreads fingers out through cuts in very rough terrain. The Amur joins the Ussuri River at Khabarovsk, where the Russian Far East Army Command will make room for UNRUSFOR’s headquarters. The Ussuri runs south-to-north and forms the border between Russia’s Maritime Provinces and China. At the southern tip of the Maritime Provinces is the only year-round port — Vladivostok. Further north, the port of Vanin will be available to us till it freezes over for the winter in November.’