Aircraft Commander Captain Dai Jian and copilot Captain Chung Kang were still at the bar drinking traditional glasses of sake, staying the night at the Shengjie Hotel at the Xi’an Xianyang International Airport. They were able to pull out their personal phones and laugh at the general’s reaction from afar.
It has been said that sake, the alcohol-based rice wine, has been around since before recorded history. Popular in Japan, China, and Okinawa, sake was produced by the parallel fermentation of rice. The rice was polished to remove the proteins and oils from the outside of the rice grain, leaving behind the starch. This polished rice was air dried until it had absorbed enough moisture, preventing cracking when later placed in water. A few more steps perfected over thousands of years, and an enjoyable beverage was made.
Chung raised his clear glass of traditional sake to Dai. “To Chen, the biggest asshole general in all of China.” They then clinked glasses and downed the sake together.
“Is what you’re asking… if I am faithful to my wife?” Calvin asked, answering Michelle’s question.
“Exactly. Like, if you got a chick on the side. Or some other dirt, like you’re a raging drinker, or, … have been stealing money. At night you’re bombed and bellied up at the MGM Casino over in National Harbor. Inappropriate pictures. Percs or hillbilly heroin. You know the list.” Michelle went ahead and said it, then after what seemed like an eternity, threw on a dose of respect at the end. “Sir.”
“What’s Percs and hillbilly heroin?” asked Calvin, somewhat naïvely.
“Percocet and oxycodone. Opiates. Largest medical problem in America. Big problem.”
Calvin knew she was the right person for this job, and was curious if questions like this would come up. There was no way a senior executive would even think of asking him these questions, especially with her in-your-face tone and attitude. Calvin liked it, though. All business and barely a filter. Michelle had guts the size of Pittsburgh. She’s got balls, Calvin thought. I’ve got to get out more. Percs?
“I assure you, Michelle, no drugs. I have been faithful to my wife, rarely drink, and have a clean slate. There should be nothing out there except maybe some disgruntled employees who have been fired over the years. For good reason. Clearance interviews are always clean, too,” Calvin answered.
“OK, Mr. Burns. I’ll do it. I’ll come see you every other day, unless it’s hot, then I’ll see you right away. Good?”
“Perfect. Thank you.”
Michelle turned and left the room, and Jason came in. “Pop-up on the schedule. Mark and his team, along with the China Military Team, are prepared to brief you in fifteen minutes in their conference room. You’re OK with that?”
“Yes, yes, that’s fine. Let’s get going then,” Calvin replied.
Jason walked with the deputy through the hallways, saying hello to a variety of employees he knew. It was like walking with a small-town mayor because he knew so many employees by name and genuinely liked them. And in turn, the team liked him. He never had to use the word morale, but rather just talked with people to see how they were doing. Genuine concern for others was what he shared with his organization teammates. Now, three decades later, he could be in one of the top leadership positions in the Department of Defense.
The China Military Team had just arrived to the conference room, their slides already parked on the shared drive and ready for the brief. Mark’s team did their introductions to the two briefers, and vice versa.
Attending today from the China Military Team were Paul Daily, a senior executive, and a GS-15, Martha O’Connor. They were both civilians, both previously stationed overseas at embassies and consulates in the Far East, Asia, and Europe. In addition, they completed joint tours as students in the Foreign Service School at Arlington, and Paul over at the Eisenhower School at National Defense University. While Martha was a graduate of the Defense Language Institute and studied Chinese, Paul learned his Chinese and Thai while stationed abroad. They were intimately familiar with the structure and status of China’s military, which is what Calvin was interested in. They were DIA’s best.
Everyone stood straighter upon his arrival in the cramped room, with one empty seat on the side of the table left open for Mr. Burns.
“Hello, everybody. Hello. Please take your seats. Thank you.”
“Hello, sir,” the room replied back.
Calvin went over and shook everyone’s hand to make it personal. He also called out everyone by name, a special touch he often used to make the other person feel important.
Mark said quietly to Calvin when they shook hands, “Sir, Jason told us the good news. Fantastic. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” he quietly whispered back. “Let’s talk.”
Paul cleared his throat and jumped right into the brief. “Good morning, sir, and welcome to this morning’s brief on the Chinese military. My name is Paul and…” He went through his introduction.
This guy is pretty smooth, Ford immediately thought and shot a glance and a smirk to Emily. He nodded with approval. She shot a wink back at him, then looked down at the ground so she wouldn’t laugh.
Martha began her portion. “Good morning. Good to see you again. The purpose of this morning’s brief is to give you a current overview and status of the Chinese military forces. The briefing was compiled from a variety of sources, including open source.”
She’s good, too, Ford said to himself. Where do they find this talent?
“Nice to see both of you again, thank you,” Calvin acknowledged. “Paul, I know Eisenhower School. Go Tigers!”
Paul nodded. “Yes, sir, go Tigers. As you may recall, we have always felt it is difficult to fully grasp China’s military structure and strategy without us first considering the Chinese attitude and their culture of warfare. This is very thought provoking from afar because their overall media system is completely controlled by the state. Even Google is blocked out. The end result is that the items we see are not always valid, but they do give some insight into facilities, equipment, capabilities, photographs of weapons systems, and their parades, as examples. More on that during the brief.”
The DIA team was impressed with both subject matter experts and gravitated toward Paul. His briefing style was one of authority, but not the in-your-face kind. It was more like an esteemed college professor with a casual style that helped inform the students, not ridicule them for skipping a reading. They liked him, and their body language was a big indicator that they were paying attention.
“This slide depicts a simple chart that shows how the US might view Chinese aggression, and the right side of the slide shows how the Chinese might view our US aggression. You can see that the Chinese view it as one item. The cyber portion is the same during wartime and peacetime. You know it as cyber stealing, or cyber espionage.”
Mr. Burns raised his hand up and pointed. “The same?”
“Yes, sir. They steal our secrets and information, as well as from other countries and companies, because… well, because… they can. Simple.” Paul had his arms folded for a moment, then raised his hand to gesture. “Yes, yes, sir. Because we estimate them to now have a population of 1.3 billion, they have the manpower to do a lot of things. That is four times the population of the United States. China has over 2.3 million on active duty, with an additional 1.1 million as reservists.”