Ford was busy with U.S. European Command business and then transitioned back to flying when she went through the application process, so he continued to have no idea of her true occupation. Ford thought she is employed at the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, on Pennsylvania Ave in Washington, DC. Or was it the World Bank? This position explained her frequent moves throughout the globe.
“Good, good, Emily. How are you?” Ford replied, not wanting to lay into the accident details just yet.
“Very good. We are just getting ready for a meeting with my team. May I please call you back?” Emily asked, looking at the cubicles and seeing Mark and Robert giving her the hang up the phone signal with their hands and laughing.
“Well, uh, I just wanted to let you know there was something at work today. You may see it on the news,” Ford shared. “A fire. One of the Air Base snowplows was plowing the runways on the tarmac where the jets were. And, um… one of them hit us in the right wing before we started it up for our flight this morning.”
“My goodness. Are you okay? Was there any damage?”
“Actually, yes. Wait, no, I am fine. And so is the crew. But, yeah, it created an entire fire and a jet was lost. An explosion. No one hurt though.”
“Wow. Wow. I’m so sorry this happened. But happy to hear that everyone is okay. How were you involved?”
“I’m okay… um, look, maybe we talk later about it?”
“Of course. Gotta run. I’m so happy you’re all right. Talk later. I love you.”
“Okay, talk later. See you Friday night,” as Ford pressed the red button on his smart phone to hang up the phone.
It was not lost on Emily that he didn’t reply back with “I love you, too.” She sat in her seat while her team was walking off towards a small meeting room they had in their office section. Emily glanced over at a framed photo of the two of them on the beach from earlier in the year, sitting on a blanket and smiling. She didn’t think much of his reply, considering the fire he was just in, but she did find it peculiar.
Two black Chevy Suburbans were already parked in front of the DIA Headquarters entrance and waiting for Deputy Calvin Burns to come down stairs for his trip to the Hart Building on the Hill. Outfitted with up-armored plates, anti-flat tires, bulletproof tinted windows, and a roof rack of antennas for complex communications gear, the mini motorcade was near ready for anything. At a minimum, the low profile vehicles presented a high visibility image because of the way the drivers followed each other so closely. In a city that prided itself on titles and statuses, arriving to a Committee Hearing on Capitol Hill via a Personal Protective Detail was the only way to do Washington, DC business.
The Deputy entered the second vehicle via the backseat, and others were seated waiting on him. Up front were two males in suits, armed with Sig Sauer P228 pistols and M-4 rifles as Personal Protective Detail members, and in the rear was his Executive Assistant, Jason Cohen. Jason was armed with a thin, three-ring binder, and a Blackberry.
“Good afternoon, sir. In the binder you’ll see tabs of the topics expected to be covered later today. In the front is your opening statement, followed by the first tab. That’s the DIA Budget with regards to MIPR… and the second tab is NIPR,” Jason shared.
The United States intelligence budget consisted of all the funding for the 16 agencies of the United States Intelligence Community, including DIA. The DIA fit into one of the intelligence budget’s two components, the National Intelligence Program (NIPR) and the Military Intelligence Program (MIPR). Before the DIA can spend any money on intelligence, the cash had to be authorized and appropriated by committees in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
“Okay, thank you, Jason. Any questions from the PSM’s that have come up since we talked the other day? How about the Committee Members?”
“No, sir. I called over there to the Professional Staff Members earlier this morning and nothing was passed. Good to go, sir. Should be a no brainer. Ah, just as a courtesy reminder, this is an open session today.”
The PSM’s, or Professional Staff Members, were powerful and influential staff officers that worked directly for the Chairmen of Committees. When they spoke, people listened, and it was often assumed that they always had the ear of the Committee members. It was an indication of where the power was in that the Deputy was asking about the Staff, and not the Members themselves.
Jason led the Deputy to the holding room off the floor of the Committee Room, where there were seats and couches, in addition to bathrooms, tiny meeting rooms, and light refreshments. Sometimes the Committee Members would come in and stop to discuss private matters, or to even rehearse questions and answers for the public record. It was a delicate dance while in the Committee Room, and very much a theater show, where the public might think the answers were off the cuff. When the cameras were on, it was show time. No Members visited Calvin Burns this morning.
A young, pretty college girl, most likely from the George Washington University Capitol Hill Internship Program just a few blocks away, entered the holding room and opened the door slightly. “Okay, sir, we’re ready,” she said with a mid-western accent, opening her arm and palm, showing the Deputy where the witness tables were located.
The Deputy walked in the large room with cathedral ceilings, shook hands with the few Members present, and sat down at his long witness table. Jason put his prepared opening statement in front of his seat. Jason then sat down directly behind him, and was fully ready to pass up answers to questions via handwritten note as he had for so many of these proceedings. His back-up to get instant answers to unknown questions during a proceeding was to send a note using his Blackberry to a DIA member back at Headquarters.
Behind the large desk that dominated the room from wall to wall was where the Senators sat, facing the witness table, and had in front of them briefing books, notebooks, handwritten notes, and an on/off button for their personal microphone. Sometimes each Senator would stop briefly with a member of their staff to chat about an upcoming vote, a recent phone call, or even an update on a world event. This morning, though, it was different for Senator Tim Ricks, the Committee Chairman.
Senator Ricks thrived on stirring the hornet’s nest because he knew any publicity was good publicity. And if Senator Ricks’ staff got a hold of potential or controversial information, he wanted to know about it. After all, this was politics, and he wanted to know so he could use that information to his advantage. So when his staffer, Jessica, reported in to him as she had been trained in the ways of Washington with a potential DIA Auditorium issue, the Senator was most pleased. “Thank you, Jessica. I’ll bring it up for sure,” he told her, smiling deviously, giving her a little wink.
The Chairman opened the hearing up with the usual protocol of the Senate and this Committee. Nearly all of the Members of the Committee were present half way through the opening statement, but that was not always the case. Usually, the Members came in late, and left early, only present to ask their one or two questions to the witness on camera, then depart.
“Ahh, Mr. Burns, go ahead with your opening statement,” the Chairman directed.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and ladies and gentlemen of the Committee. It is with great honor that I appear before you this afternoon to represent the great men and women of our civilian workforce, in addition to our thousands of professionals in our U.S. Armed Forces. I am here this morning to discuss the upcoming Defense Intelligence Agency Fiscal Year Budget Request. The Department of Defense released today the MIP appropriated top line budget for the Fiscal Year. The total MIP budget, which included both the base budget and Overseas Contingency Operations appropriations, was $16.8 billion. The Department determined that releasing this top line figure does not jeopardize any classified activities within the MIP. No other MIP budget figures or program details will be released, as they remain classified for national security reasons…” the Deputy spoke into the microphone, continuing on for a few more minutes.