The Gun Fighters of VFA-152 flew the single-seat FA-18E Super Hornet, the Rhino, and Olive had been in command for one month. Married with a pre-school daughter, Olive was a no-nonsense leader with a solid reputation and plenty of combat experience in Southwest Asia. All of Wilson’s squadron COs, with one notable exception, had combat experience over Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan as the United States entered its third straight decade of combat in the Middle East.
“Commander Teel, sir,” Olive answered as she struggled to wake up.
“Olive, CAG. We’ve got tasking from Pac Fleet. Do you know what happened in the SCS?”
“No, sir,” she replied, fearful of Wilson’s ominous tone.
“The Chinese attacked USS Cape Esperance last night with chem/bio weapons. Hundreds dead. It’s all over TV. We are spooling up and getting underway aboard Hanna on Tuesday.” Wilson paused to allow Olive to absorb the incredible news.
“Pass the word to your people and get a day/night bounce period on your pilots. Expect to load your trucks tomorrow, and put your people on airlifts Monday afternoon. How many jets do you have?”
“Eight, sir,” Olive answered, controlling her emotions, a mixture of excitement and dread at leaving her small child and husband. The thousands of military personnel who would get this news in the coming hours would experience similar feelings upon learning of this no-notice deployment.
“We’re gonna try to get you four more… we deploy for WESTPAC in three days. We don’t know for how long, and we don’t know what to expect when we get there. Call me anytime, and I’ll check back with you later today.”
“Yes, sir,” Olive answered, still reeling, but with a job to do, one of tens of thousands in the Pacific Fleet who had to put their weekend plans — and perhaps their plans for the next year — on hold.
As Admiral Clark and the rest of Indo-Pacific Command — plus the Pentagon, plus the Defense Ministries of China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Great Britain, Russia, New Zealand and even India — struggled to get their arms around this grave military development in the South China Sea, the news media were a power they each had to control to shape the message to their ends. Some would even use it as a weapon as tensions skyrocketed.
As they proved so often, the media were a slippery force, which moved at lightning speed in unpredictable directions.
The Pentagon reported last night that the crew of an American battleship in Chinese-claimed waters was stricken with an unknown illness that caused it to maneuver in a way that has elevated tensions in a troubled region of the world.
USS Cape Esperance, a ship carrying deadly Aegis long-range guided-missiles, was transiting through disputed Chinese waters when it suddenly veered off course. A Pentagon spokesman claims the crew was exposed to a biologic phenomenon of unknown origin, and sources claim the ship was near the Philippine Islands when the incident occurred. While the Pentagon claims the danger to the crew is serious, there is no word yet on the number of affected sailors.
As word on expected loss of life trickled in, the British tabloid press led with this headline:
Philippines to Uncle Sam: We Told You to Stay Away!
Headlines in most Asian media outlets were similar:
American Death Ship — Toll High on Dangerous Sea
At 9 am in Washington, fewer than nine hours after the incident occurred, the Secretary of Defense met with reporters in the jammed Pentagon briefing room. By then, millions of Americans knew a serious incident involving an American warship had occurred in the South China Sea. Most were glued to their TV screens to hear SECDEF’s report. Tens of millions of Americans did not yet know, and tens of millions more knew, but did not care.
The Secretary stepped to the podium, adjusted his reading glasses, and read a prepared statement:
“Ladies and gentlemen, last night at around midnight here and mid-afternoon in the South China Sea, the Aegis guided-missile cruiser USS Cape Esperance experienced a chemical event of unknown origin while transiting north through the international waters in the South China Sea, approximately 240 miles west of Manila, Philippines. The ship was on an approved freedom-of-navigation transit of the South China Sea and acting in accordance with maritime law. We have received word of heavy loss of life. Cape Esperance is under her own power and moving out of the South China Sea toward friendly forces who will render assistance. Cape Esperance is a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser built in Pascagoula, Mississippi, commissioned in 1996, and home-ported in San Diego, California. It features the Aegis radar fire control system and is capable of dealing with air, surface, and sub-surface threats.
“We are still receiving and evaluating reports from Admiral Howard Clark, Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, and today at noon I will receive a video teleconference briefing from him with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in attendance. The President and I have conferred twice in the past eight hours and we have both been in touch with the Secretary of State, and I have spoken with Admiral Clark. At the present time we are still evaluating what happened and why, but, first and foremost, we are in the process of identifying those lost or injured, and notifying their families, which all of you know takes time. I will now take questions.”
The room exploded in a flurry of shouts and raised hands, and the Secretary recognized a familiar and friendly Pentagon correspondent.
“Mister Secretary, what was our ship doing at the time it was hit?”
“It was on an approved freedom-of-navigation transit of the South China Sea to maintain international maritime rules and norms, it…”
“Sir, approved? By whom?”
“Well, when we transit the South China Sea in this manner, we coordinate with the State Department and, in this case, China, which lays claim, as does the Philippines, to the waters Cape Esperance was in at the time of the incident. This transit is more difficult because the economic and national boundaries of the South China Sea are disputed by six countries, plus Taiwan.” Another reporter jumped in.
“Mister Secretary, how close did our ship get to Chinese territory?” SECDEF peered over his glasses at the young man.
“It was not ‘close’ to any land, and over 500 miles from the Chinese mainland. It was in the vicinity of Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by China, but it is a shoal, underwater; there is nothing there on which to base a claim and, even if there were, waters beyond the established international norm of 12 miles are recognized as international waters.” Another hand shot up.
“Mister Secretary, given the tensions in the South China Sea, is it the right thing for American warships to be there? Does that not provoke conflict?” SECDEF couldn’t wait to answer.
“It is absolutely the right thing to be there — or anywhere we want outside 12 miles of the shore of any sovereign nation — at any time. Next question.”
A woman in front raised her hand. “Mister Secretary, how many of the crew are women, and are there reports of female deaths?”
After glancing at a Navy three-star admiral standing off to the side, the Secretary answered. “Approximately 15 percent of the crew is female. Next.”