“No sir. We mean in our armed forces, including the reserves. We were 100 % correct in the last briefing that if we put our ground forces in the middle of what appears to be the opening movements of World War III we can expect to lose half within ninety days, unless something changes,” said the Chairman grimly.
“Our bombing campaign hasn’t worked as expected then?” he asked.
“Mister President, it is working, but with the additional militaries jumping in, we are making slower progress than we had originally projected. This is due to us being challenged in the air. We are being successful, but it is taking longer and it is more complicated. However, our heavy bombers will begin to become involved late tonight. That will signal start of the first of the two shock and awe campaigns we discussed.
“As you recall the first is an opening salvo and the second, larger one, is meant to get them to surrender. I would like to make one change and send our Apache Helicopter forces over. We have some in the region, but I want to get everything we have over there fast. We want to position them in Israel to handle enemy armor if they manage get in and avoid our other air assets. Adding them to the battle will help a great deal. These helicopters are pure tank killers.
“I remember from when I was on active duty,” The President said.
“The challenge, Mr. President, is that if Israel falls we could lose all of them. We would have none left in inventory anywhere in the world should we need them,” said General Jackson.
“General, if I understood all of the previous briefings on this subject, if Israel falls they will invade either Europe or here in the near future. Neither of those are good things. Let’s move those helicopters as soon as possible. How the hell did our ground forces get into this depleted state?” the President asked. He was now pacing the room as the discussion continued.
“Mister President, it’s a combination of things. The lengthy global war on terror has left our combat troops, for lack of a better description, tired. The troops have been deployed into combat zones so often that they are in need of rest and retraining. Additionally, this type of combat is not what we are geared up for any longer. We are set up to fight insurgents. We have to rest, re-equip, and re-train all areas of our combat arms soldiers. Even if we hadn’t been nuked in Detroit, taking out our ground vehicle manufacturing capability, we would still have trouble if this scale conventional War had broken out,” Chairman Jackson summarized.
“So all we have to do is re-train, re-equip, and refocus our soldiers. All of this while the Middle East is falling apart, while our own economy still hasn’t figured out what is going on since the nuclear attack, and the Legislative Branch is pissed off at me because they all want to be VP, and I now have to increase evacuation zones in two US cities, while figuring out what can be done to resuscitate our shipping infrastructure,” summarized the President.
“Basically Mr. President you have it about right,” said the Chief of Staff.
The President thought for a minute. He had a series of problems now, none of which he saw an immediate solution to. Even these trusted advisors had no obvious path forward that led to the desired endgame. He didn’t want to let Israel fall. That had to be the right place to start.
He stopped pacing and said, “General, first thing first. I want to see a revised aerial assault plan that gets every single asset we have anywhere that is airworthy flying in that direction. I don’t care if you have to re-activate the recently retired F-117s. Anything that can drop a bomb or launch a missile, get it over there now and involved as quickly as possible. It will leave us vulnerable, but we have to end this now, if we can. Look into the “retirement” bases for aircraft as well. Have inspectors go over those to determine if there are any that can be brought up to speed and airworthiness in a reasonable timeframe. I don’t care if they are jets or helicopters. Ideally, if we could find some serviceable A-10’s, get those moving as well.
“I want our missile submarines over there, from wherever in the world they are. If we leave other things unprotected for the moment, that’s ok. I want them armed so that they can hit additional targets far inland if need be. Then call whatever defense contractor or contractors that make our missiles and bombs. Tell them to prepare to work some serious overtime. We will need more quickly. Lester, get with the leadership in the House and the Senate and be sure we can pay for it. We don’t want to have that fight drag out right now. Let’s tell them they support this or else. I am not sure what the or else is but we can figure that out later.”
He paused for a minute, “Then, Mr. Secretary, I want to see a plan designed to get our military back in shape. It doesn’t have to be fixed overnight, as we already have a few irons in the fire, but I want to get that started as well. No more waiting until tomorrow. Get that assigned to someone you trust. Finally, I am going to get some folks from the automotive industry in here and see about rebuilding our ground vehicle capabilities. I would like both of you to be in that meeting. Any questions?”
“No, Mr. President,” they said almost in unison.
The President’s personal aid handed him a note. Scott looked up sighed and said, “Well another bit of good news, the Iranians just released a picture and the name of the scientist we grabbed. We can’t deny that we have him. That would just be a waste of time. Let’s get a release ready about our POW. Tell the young Captain who was here for dinner last night that he now has another problem. He, and he alone, was photographed by a dashboard camera on one of their police cars. He was in full camouflage, but they have a computerized version that takes the camo paint off. According to this note there is no mistaking it is him.
“Not to change the subject but I will. Israel must stand. We will figure out a way to keep them alive. Thank you Gentlemen, now go, and get to work,” the President instructed.
After they left the room the President looked at his Chief of Staff, “Les, we still have no Vice President.”
“Yes, Mister President, that is true. That meeting is on the books for this afternoon,” he said looking at his copy of the President’s Daily Schedule.
“Get me Captain Banner on the phone. I want to give him the news on his face being out there personally. Also, if he meets all the Constitutional requirements, I want to just send his name over to the Hill to be the VP. Skip the damn meeting this afternoon. Now that he has been ousted for what happened in Iran he will become an overnight hero, a national figure, or at the very least well known. As a result he will no longer be able to continue in his current job, sad to say. His men seem to love him, that sort of leadership is what you really want to see.
Maybe we just promote the lad all the way up. I want talk to him about this personally. Otherwise he will never believe what we are going to do to him. Get him to bring that lovely young lady with him. Perhaps a very private dinner is in order over in the residence. There is just no room at any point on my schedule to drag out this process. We need a VP I can delegate some of the military rebuilding tasks to. He would be an ideal choice for that given his rank and operational experience. No one in professional politics will handle the rebuilding like an operator. Plus, it might mean an easier confirmation if I don’t pluck someone out that makes others wonder why it wasn’t them. This alleviates the jealousy that will almost assuredly enter any other confirmation.”
AP NEWS FLASH: The White House Press Secretary stated that the War effort is continuing, and going as well as can be expected. However, more countries in the Middle East are mobilizing for War. In the daily briefing the White House hinted that an announcement on a Vice Presidential nominee would occur very soon. No word on who it may be, however speculation is centering around one of several Governors who have been seen coming and going from the White House in recent days. Iranian press agencies have released pictures of the American who led what they are calling the “kill squad” responsible for killing sixty civilians in that country.