The Suburban pulled through the security check point in front of the White House, and he was startled out of his sea of swirling thoughts.
“Dad, this is so cool!” exclaimed Tyrone, his youngest son.
General Bennet remembered the first time he had seen 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. — it was pretty awe-inspiring.
“I’m excited to share your first White House trip with you, son,” he said with a smile.
Once they made it through the security checks to the inside of the building, Bennet’s family was brought around the facility with a very comprehensive tour. Finally, they ended up in the Oval Office. At that point, even his sixteen-year-old son, Elijah, who was rarely impressed by anything, was basically awestruck.
“Dad, you just earned me some serious points with the girls at school,” he commented.
“Glad I could help,” Bennet answered with a smirk.
“Dad, Dad, can I sit in the President’s chair and get Mom to take a picture?” he asked.
Just then, President Gates walked in.
“Sure,” Gates answered, smiling.
“Mr. President, it’s an honor to meet you, Sir,” said Tyrone in awe.
“It’s an honor to meet you, too, Tyrone,” he responded cheerfully. He greeted the whole family with handshakes and kissed Stacy Bennet on the cheek. Then he posed with Tyrone at the desk, pretending to hand him an important document, as if Bennet’s son were the President and not the other way around.
“It’s just so surreal watching the President interact so naturally with my family,” thought General Bennet. Gates happily did selfies with Elijah and his thirteen-year-old, Isaac, as well.
The SecDef walked over to Bennet. He leaned in. “I’ll bet you’re wondering what in the heck is going on, aren’t you?” he asked with a crooked smile.
“Um, yeah, I think you could say that,” he responded, not sure what else to say.
“We are shifting to your theater,” Secretary Castle explained. “You’ve been in charge of operations in Korea — and by the way, the President has been impressed with your work there — but we need a new commander to take over as overall commander of Asia. The President asked me to nominate you.”
General Bennet didn’t respond. He was a bit stunned.
“You’re going to be given your fifth star,” said the SecDef, half punching him in the shoulder. “You’re going to be only the seventh person in American military history to be a five-star general, and the first of African-American decent. If I weren’t the Secretary of Defense and your boss, I’d be really jealous of you right now.”
A White House photographer came in and took some official photographs of Bennet’s family with the President before his wife and sons were escorted to an anteroom and asked to wait while Gates spoke with Bennet privately.
The room was suddenly quiet with just the four of them there: the President, his Chief of Staff, the Secretary of Defense, and General Bennet. They all took a seat.
“General Bennet, I’m sure the SecDef here gave you a little heads-up as to why you are here,” said Gates.
Bennet nodded.
“I’ve been supremely impressed with your ability to handle what’s been thrown at you,” the President continued. “You’ve had to liaise and coordinate with the Japanese and South Korean governments, something that I know has not been easy, considering the two countries’ past histories. With your assistance, these two nations are fighting side-by-side to defeat the Russians and the Chinese. You helped orchestrate the defeat of the North Korean regime, and you held things together against all odds while our focus had been on Europe.”
Bennet held up his hand, ready to protest and say something about it being a “team effort,” but the President spoke before he could object.
“I don’t know that many other people who could have handled that the way you did, General Bennet. Therefore, I am going to promote you to be America’s seventh five-star general, and you will become the Pacific theater supreme commander. All US and Allied forces will now be under your command.” The President paused for effect before he continued. “I’m hereby ordering you to defeat the People’s Republic of China and the Eastern Alliance. You’re charged with liberating the Philippines and Taiwan in addition to your objectives in the Russian Far East and the Koreas. Do you accept this promotion and position?” he asked.
Bennet didn’t skip a beat. “Absolutely, I accept, Mr. President. It’s been an honor to serve under you as our Commander-in-Chief. I won’t let you or the country down, Sir. Of that you can be assured.”
“Excellent,” responded the President. “Be warned, though, Bennet, I hold my commanders to a high standard, and I never hesitate to replace commanders that are not up to the task. I expect you to hold that same stance with your own command. I want you to think about who you need to promote or move to a different position and utilize your people to the best of their abilities.”
“Yes, Sir,” said Bennet, already mulling over how he would form up his new command.
“As you know, I’m not a military man,” conceded Gates. “That’s why I have Castle, and now you, to implement the execution of this war. Remember, we need to apply maximum pressure on the Chinese at all times. I know you wanted to keep General Cutter’s Marines in the Russian Far East, but right now, we need his Marines in the South Pacific. I need you to do whatever is necessary to make sure he’s successful in liberating the Philippines and Taiwan.”
The President paused for a moment, clearly giving some thought as to what to say next. “Cutter’s success is your success, and his failure is your failure as well. You two need to work together on this. He’s a good commander — use him and his skill set to meet your goals. Understood?” he asked, in a tone that was more of a warning.
General Bennet smiled. “I understand, Mr. President. I see you’ve heard of the rivalry between me and General Cutter. We have had a bit of a competition between us, to be sure, but we are also good friends.” He thought about his eldest son, Isaiah, who had joined the Marines against his advice. Cutter had moved him to be his aide as a personal favor; it wouldn’t keep him entirely out of danger, but he wouldn’t be an infantry platoon commander on the front lines, either. Bennet definitely owed him one. “The two of us will win Asia for you, Mr. President. You can count on that,” he asserted.
“Excellent,” replied Gates, clearly relieved by the response he had received. “Then I believe we have a press announcement to make, and my wife has arranged for a special dinner for all of us — well, Jim and his wife, Liam Greeson and his better half, and our families.” He smiled and stood up. The other men followed suit.
When General Bennet entered the room to reunite with his family, he found his sons chatting excitedly with the President’s son, Connor Gates. They were all comparing notes about their favorite computer games.
He walked over to his wife and chuckled. “I guess we can catch up now,” he joked.
South Korea
General Bennet had enjoyed his whirlwind trip to D.C. and the time with his family, but the task at hand had quickly called him back to the reality of war. It was time to get down to the brass tacks of destroying the Eastern Alliance.
He spent most of the long flight on his way back thinking of how he was going to form up his army and who he was going to promote. Bennet contemplated for some time and then came to the obvious conclusion that he needed to promote his three corps commanders: Lieutenant General Tony Wilde, Lieutenant General Jacob LaFine, and Major General Amy Cooper.
Amy Cooper was probably the most obvious choice for a promotion, and not just because she was the first woman to command a combat arms corps during the war. It was no accident that she had become a general to begin with. She had served valiantly as an attack helicopter pilot during the first year of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and then during the invasion of Iraq, she had become a battalion commander of an attack helicopter unit. Her unit had single-handedly destroyed an Iraqi Republican Guard tank unit that was on its way to attack her US brothers-in-arms. She had gone on to serve two more tours in Iraq. In 2006, she’d gained a bit of notoriety when one of her wingmen had been shot down and she’d landed her helicopter, somehow managing to strap the pilot and copilot of the downed chopper onto the wings of her helicopter, saving them from certain death. It wasn’t long after that that she’d received her first general’s star and completed her obligatory tour at the Pentagon.