As he started reading the first oplan, Wilson saw that this next mission was going to involve special operations aircraft and troops. That meant the majority of the actions on their end would be to monitor the message traffic between the strategic mission commander at Fort Meade and the forward operating base (FOB) that would launch the actual mission, at least until it became time for the part on the ground to begin. Then the computer would kick in, generating the simulated message traffic. For the people back at Fort Meade, the whole operation looked realistic and continuous from start to finish.
Wilson looked up. "Are we going to offset the aircraft and the team involved?" An offset meant sending aircraft and troops on a mission similar to the one in the oplan but in a local training area rather than the target country.
Meng looked up briefly from his work. "No. Once the team gives its briefback, we go to the computer exclusively. The offset didn't work well in the Bear Sim with Special Forces. The computer can do a much better job than the offset. Besides, we're not testing the team. We're testing the people in Tunnel 3." Meng turned back to his work.
The setup was complicated and Wilson didn't appreciate having inadequate time to get everything going. He glanced at Meng hunched over his tables. Wilson considered Meng a weird genius. There was no doubting the man's ability at programming. He could accurately portray a mission from start to finish to the strategic mission commander and staff in the Tunnel, using the oplans, simulated mission, and feedback from the employed element. But the man had the personality of a rock. He wasn't friendly with anyone on the staff and usually ran the actual Strams exercise by himself once it started, sleeping in his office in the Tunnel for the duration of the mission. It irritated Wilson to have Meng hanging around looking over his shoulder during his shift. Meng slept less than four hours out of every twenty-four, which meant that he was constantly around. Wilson wasn't sure whether it was because Meng didn't trust anyone or simply because he had nothing else to do. An aging photo of a young Chinese woman and a small boy sat on Meng's desk, but Wilson had never heard him make any reference to a family. He wished that the old man had someone waiting at home.
Wilson gathered up the mass of papers and stuffed them into his carrying case to lock in the safe. He didn't have any more time to ponder the idiosyncrasies of Doctor Meng. He wanted to go home and relax for a little while before having to start split shift again.
Captain Mitchell slammed down the phone. "Goddamn support pukes." Sergeant Major Hooker looked up from his desk. "What's the matter, sir?"
Mitchell pointed at the phone. "I hate those damn things. All I ever get is bad news over them. First the helicopter pilots decide not to fly, and now the transportation battalion tells me that the backup truck didn't go out to the ground pickup point this morning. The driver didn't get up on time."
The sergeant major picked up his phone. "Let me handle this, sir." He punched in a few numbers and waited while the traditionally faulty phone service tried to figure out where the connection was to be made. Mitchell got up from his desk and wandered over to the sergeant major's to listen in. Mitchell enjoyed watching Hooker in action.
Hooker stood only five feet two inches tall. Mitchell had always meant to look in the regulations to see if Special Forces had a height requirement, but he had never gotten around to it. Hooker was well known throughout the Pacific special operations community. When Mitchell first arrived in this assignment more than eighteen months ago, he had been told many stories about the diminutive DET-K sergeant major. Since moving up to the headquarters shed to be the DET-K operations officer, Mitchell had grown to really enjoy working with Hooker. He'd also started to believe many of the stories he'd been told about the man.
Hooker didn't tell war stories like a lot of the older NCOs did. When the sergeant major talked about his experiences, it was usually for the purpose of making a point or educating those around him. He had a lot of stories. Hooker had been around Special Forces for twenty-eight years, twenty-three of them in the Far East.
Mitchell was a contrast physically to the squat sergeant major. Eight inches taller and fair haired, Mitchell had the build of a lean, longdistance runner. This was his first tour of duty in this part of the world. He had nine years in the army, the first three with the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas. Mitchell had then volunteered for Special Forces training. He'd wanted more challenge than riding around in the back of an armored personnel carrier through the Kansas countryside. Special Forces had given him that. The six-month Special Forces Qualification Course (Q course) had introduced him to a new type of warfare and a new type of soldier. The NCOs who taught the Q course had impressed Mitchell from the start with their overall professionalism and depth of expertise in unconventional warfare. The tactics taught at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School made a lot more sense to Mitchell than those he'd learned at the infantry school at Fort Benning.
The course at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, had also introduced him to something more than a new part of the army. He'd met his wife there.
During a practical exercise in rescuing downed pilots and moving them through a resistance network, Mitchell's student team had picked up a female helicopter pilot. Mitchell's first impression of the slender, five-foot-six, dark-haired pilot was not favorable. He was the serious type; she, on the other hand, made a joke of everything. At first he took her jabs personally. After being forced to stay together in a safe house for almost thirty-six hours, however, his opinion of Capt. Jean Long had slowly undergone a transformation. He realized that her teasing wasn't meant to belittle him. It was simply her way of dealing with the world. She laughed at the stupidity built into the exercise and at the other ridiculous things life brought her way, and she didn't really care if other people disapproved of her attitude.
By the time he was ready to pass her on to the next link of the escape network, they had formed the basis of a friendship. Four months later they were married. Mitchell had never thought he'd tie the knot that quickly, but he had never regretted it. Life had certainly been an adventure since he'd met Jean Long.
Mitchell's musings were interrupted by Hooker's roar into the phone. "Sergeant, this is Sergeant Major Hooker. You got ten minutes to kick that driver in the ass and get him over here to my compound. I want to look into his beady little eyeballs before he goes to pick up my people. I got troops standing ass deep in a shit-filled rice paddy waiting on that yo-yo. You read me loud and clear, Sergeant?"
Hooker slammed down the phone without waiting for an answer. He smiled at Mitchell. "Sir, you just have to know how to talk to these people. NCOs don't understand all those fine manners and etiquette they taught you at West Point. You have to master the firm but gentle art of persuasion in a manner similar to mine."
Mitchell laughed. Hooker was a master of persuasion, but he didn't know much about being gentle. "Hey, Sergeant Major, tell the colonel I'm out with the deuce and a half. I'll go with the driver to make sure he gets to the right spot."
Hooker nodded. "All right. Better you than me facing down Dave Riley anyway. He's going to want an explanation for both the helicopter's no-show and the truck being late. Since your wife is one of them-there whirlybird drivers, you might be able to explain it better than me. By the way, are you going up or is she coming down here this weekend?"
Mitchell replied while grabbing his map and beret. "I'm going to take the train up there. Already got tickets on the 4:20. When I talked to her last night on the phone she said she's got to work again tomorrow. Got two birds she has to test-fly. If she finishes them today she might have the afternoon off tomorrow. We should have all day Sunday together."