When both men were seated, Wilford started. "Your new duty position calls for a lieutenant colonel. One of the first things we need to do is see that you get frocked. You won't get a light colonel's pay, but it will make your job a hell of a lot easier. Egyptians take their rank seriously."
Leaning over, Wilford flipped the intercom. "Debbie, could you scare up some coffee for the major and me?"
The sergeant responded with a short "On the way," neglecting to add a "sir." Dixon waited for Wilford to correct her. When he flipped the intercom off without doing so, Dixon began to deduct points from the imaginary score card that he had already opened on his new boss.
Wilford continued to take the lead in the conversation, asking Dixon if his flight had been on time and his hotel accommodations were satisfactory. Dixon, his guard up, simply responded to Wilford's questions with a short, perfunctory "Yes, sir" or "Everything is fine, sir" or "No, sir, no problems, sir." When the sergeant came in, she handed both men a cup of coffee and left, closing the door behind her.
For several moments both men sat in silence, taking short sips of their coffee and eyeing each other. Wilford's scrutiny made Dixon noticeably uncomfortable, especially since Wilford's stare always came back to the ribbons on Dixon's chest — or, more correctly, the top ribbon. Above all the other multicolored ribbons, almost all of which were standard for a man with as much time in the Army as Dixon had, sat a simple light-blue ribbon randomly speckled with tiny white stars. In his entire twenty-two-year career, Wilford had seen only two other men wearing that ribbon, both of whom had earned it in Vietnam. As much as he wanted to avoid doing so, Wilford could not help staring at the light-blue ribbon, which represented the Congressional Medal of Honor. Dixon had been awarded that medal for his actions at Hajjiabad, the day he had assumed command of the task force after his colonel had been killed.
Feeling uncomfortable and wanting to get on with the business at hand, Dixon broke the silence. "Sir, I was told in Washington that you would provide me with all the details of my duties once I arrived."
Wilford, intently staring at the ribbon, was caught off guard by Dixon's question. He blinked, looked Dixon in the eye, and paused for a moment before answering. "Yes, I have no doubt they told you that. Tell me, Major, how much do you know about Egypt?"
Dixon looked down into his cup of coffee. "Well, sir, to tell you the truth, not a whole hell of a lot — only what I could get out of the area study book and a couple of travel guides and books. There wasn't enough time, or so I was told, to send me to all the neat courses I needed to fully learn about the country and its people. I didn't even know how to say 'thank you' to the bellboy for carrying my luggage up to my room yesterday."
Wilford thought about that for a moment. "I should have figured as much. Exactly what were you told concerning your duties?"
"I was told that I would be the chief of staff of the 2nd U.S. Corps (Forward) and that you would provide me with all the necessary details. Since I had so little time to get my affairs in order, and everyone at 3rd Army who was connected with this project was on temporary duty someplace, I decided to wait until I arrived to get a full briefing, from the man who was actually in charge. Which brings me to the next point. Who exactly, sir, will I be attached to and report to?"
Again Wilford hesitated for a moment before speaking, considering his answer. "That, Major, is difficult to answer. The 2nd Corps (Forward) belongs to the 3rd Army. As such, there are certain reports that you will be required to submit directly to 3rd Army with information copies to me: In areas concerning in-country activities, exercise planning, and most operations, you report to me with information copies to 3rd Army. For certain, selected operations, you report to me only."
Without thinking, Dixon quipped, "Well, that certainly clears that up."
Ignoring Dixon's remark, Wilford droned on. "We are about to complete the prepositioning of equipment in Egypt for use by U.S. forces in an emergency. Up until now, no country in the region has allowed the United States to establish a permanent presence. Whenever we have conducted exercises here, we have had to bring everything we needed for the exercise and take it away when we were finished. As you know, that is a very expensive way of doing business."
Dixon was tempted to feign surprise at the last comment but decided against it. No sense, he thought, in completely pissing off the old bird.
"Furthermore, in a real emergency, our ability to move everything we need into the area is, at best, still questionable, despite the buildup in the nation's sea and airlift capability. Unfortunately, too many people walked away from the Iranian conflict with the wrong lessons."
For a moment Dixon's mind went blank. It always did when someone referred to the war in Iran as a "conflict." Like a knee-jerk reaction, Dixon thought to himself, It was a fucking war, you asshole.
Pushing dark thoughts out of mind, Dixon listened to Wilford's continuing dialogue. "The whole project is a shoestring operation, officially labeled as a means of saving money by leaving a division set of equipment in place for the units coming over here as part of the Bright Star series of exercises. We, and the Egyptians, have been working hard to convince everyone that this is nothing more than a cheap way of running those exercises. The 2nd Corps (Forward), part of that operation, is a planning headquarters with minimum manning, much like the 9th Corps in Japan. It will have the responsibility for the administration and inspection of the equipment and ammunition storage sites here in Egypt as well as planning and coordinating all U.S. ground operations in the Middle East."
Dixon interrupted. "How successful, sir, have we been in selling that line to the other Arab states and the Russians?"
"Not very, I'm afraid. Our friends in DLA tell us that the Soviets have been working on a similar training and deployment exercise to counter our Bright Star series. They call it Winter Tempest. To date, they haven't done anything beyond planning and opening discussions with Libya, Iraq, and Syria. But that is not important, at least not to you. What is important is the fact that we now have a viable presence on the ground here and can do something with very little notice."
"What heavy units are tagged for deployment to this part of the world?"
"As with all contingencies, Major Dixon, that depends on exactly what the situation is and what's happening in the rest of the world. If the Rapid Deployment Force is uncommitted, besides the 17th Airborne and the 11th Air Assault Divisions, the 52nd Infantry Division (Mechanized) comes here. If the 52nd is busy somewhere else, the 16th Armored Division is the next in line."
Dixon thought about that for a moment. The 52nd Mechanized Division had been badly mauled in Iran. In a one-on-one fight with a Soviet motorized rifle division, the 52nd had come off second-best. Its defeat resulted in the loss of most of the oil fields in southwestern Iran. On the other hand, the 16th Armored Division, though a proud Unit, had not seen combat since World War II. Putting those thoughts to the side for the moment, Dixon continued. "By being here, if something happens — that puts us right in the middle of it, whether or not we want to be part of it. I mean, it's kind of like a marriage, for better and for worse."
Leaning back in his chair, Wilford hesitated for a moment before continuing. "That, Major, is very perceptive, and unfortunately true. We are, after all, dealing with a region that is not noted for its stability. In Egypt alone the Russians have been in and out twice in the last twenty-five years and we have almost been out once. During that same period there have been two major wars with Israel and a minor border conflict with Libya."
The word "conflict" again provoked a reaction in Dixon's mind. I wonder if the Egyptian tankers and commandos considered what they did in 1977 as minor, he thought.