“Yes, ma’am,” Walker said.
* * *
“Ma’am,” the mate said on the way over to the liner. The inflatable was a 25' Brig Eagle center console. It had the name ‘Anarchy’ written on the side in flowing script. “Since I’m here, mind if I go try to find Batari?”
“The cook?” Sophia said. “No time like the present. We could definitely use a full-time cook.”
“I shall endeavor to provide, ma’am,” Walker said. “When should I pick you up?”
“They’ll radio the boat,” Sophia said. “Should be at least two hours. Probably more. You’ll know when all the other boats start flocking around.”
The floating dock of the Boadicea was crowded with boats. It took some time to get the Lieutenant to the dock.
“Be available in two hours, max,” Sophia said.
“Roger, ma’am,” Walker replied. “I’ll wait for some of this to clear down to board.”
“See you in a few,” Sophia said.
* * *
The meeting was in the theater and there was a seating chart. The Flotilla and division commanders were down front and the boat captains were to the rear, port, organized by boat names, alphabetically. The Marine contingent was starboard along with engineering and support. She found her seat and chuckled. Each of the seats had a yellow pad, clipboard and a pen on them. Just in case the attendees forgot they’d need to take notes.
She sat down and looked at the skipper next to her. He was an older guy she didn’t know. There were getting to be more and more people she didn’t know which was encouraging.
“Lieutenant Sophia Smith,” she said, offering her hand. “Bella Senorita.”
“James Dave Back,” the captain said, shaking her hand. “Bare Naked.”
“I hope that’s the name of your boat and not a Freudian slip,” Sophia said, chuckling.
“I was told it had become tradition not to rename your boat,” Back said. “So, yes, boat name.”
“That’s probably my fault,” Sophia said. “At least in part. I used that as an excuse to keep the name ‘No Tan Lines’ on my second boat.”
“Second?” Back said.
“I’m on my third,” Sophia said. “The first was a thirty-five and they retired it. Then I had a mechanical out-and-away on the lines and there was this sweet ninety-footer just aching for a new crew… ”
“Wait,” Back said. “Smith? Seawolf Smith?”
“Don’t let my sister’s stories fool you,” Sophia said. “She liiies.”
“Quiet down,” Isham said. “Time to get this started… ” He paused as the murmur of conversation continued.
“AT EASE!” Gunny Sands boomed.
“Thank you, Gunnery Sergeant,” Isham said. “Welcome to the first full captain’s meeting of the Wolf Squadron, my name, in case you don’t know me, is Lieutenant Commander Jack Isham. I’m the Squadron Chief of Staff. A small smattering of applause is welcome since I got promoted this morning.”
“Oh, he’s going to be insufferable for the next couple of weeks,” Sophia said, clapping politely.
“Know him?” Back asked.
“Loathe him,” Sophia said, smiling. “Capable. Real ass.”
“There are a series of promotions to announce before we begin since they affect the management of the upcoming crossing,” Isham said. “Hold your applause on these, we have to get through this meeting as quickly as possible. Chen, Zachary, Lieutenant Commander, USNR. That’s a permanent position, Zack, approved by the NCCC. Not frocked as the Navy says. Garman, Charles, Lieutenant Commander, USNR. Kuzma, Robert, Lieutenant Commander, USCG. Volpe, Michael, Captain, USMC. Paris, Elizabeth, Lieutenant, USNR… ”
Sophia knew all of them and wanted to applaud every one. She found herself trying not to cry.
“You okay?” Back asked.
“These are all great people,” Sophia said, sniffling. “Just… great people. I’m so happy for the… ”
“Smith, Sophia, Ensign, USNR… ”
“What?” Sophia said.
“Oh, HELL yeah!” a voice shouted. This time, there was a applause.
“I thought… ” Sophia said, sliding down in her chair. “I thought they were going to wait.”
“No time, people!” Isham said, holding up his hands. “Besides, there’s only one more to go… ”
He waited for the buzz to die down then looked at his list. Sophia knew he was trying not to growl. And why.
“Smith, Faith Marie, Second Lieutenant, USMC.”
“And now the reason for the promotions, besides being well deserved,” Isham said when the cheering had died. He brought up a power-point slide. “This is the overall manning of the Squadron. As of this morning, we have seven ships and sixty-three auxiliary craft which is what the smaller motor yachts are now being called. Since that means that Lieutenant Commander Chen, for example, was handling twenty-seven boats in his ‘Flotilla,’ that has now been changed to a Wing. There will be three Flotillas in Wing Alpha… ”
Sophia automatically looked for her name in the chart and found it: Commander, Division 7, Flotilla Four.
“Oh… shit.”
* * *
“Flotilla Four,” Isham said. “North wing. You are entirely response boats. The primary search vessels will be submarines. Each Division will be assigned to one sub, spread out so as to act as a secondary search group. Each boat will have at least one Navy clearance specialist and the Division command boat will have a Marine clearance team as well. Captain Volpe will be in overall charge of your Marines. You’ll change subs during rotation. Stay back from the subs. Two reasons. One, we don’t want them getting contaminated. Two, their radar turns out to be about as powerful as their sonar. They said something about ‘having kids with two heads’ if you got too close. They’ll be scanning by periscope and radar but they’ll only have about ten to twenty miles on visual, depending. You need to maintain a good watch at all times… ”
* * *
“There will be not a pass in review but a group photo taken prior to leaving harbor. Uniform is NavCam, MarPat or work blues, for Navy, Marines or Coast Guard, respectively and as to civilians, you can wear the usual riot of colors… ”
* * *
“Last item,” Isham said. “Awards. By orders of the Joint Chiefs, who had to remind our glorious commander that there were such things, award recommendations were circulated among the officers of the Squadron. These were reviewed at Squadron level. Some were either increased or decreased. I’m given to understand that in the past, virtually any award recommendation was automatically down-graded. That’s not what happened. We don’t know how the JCS made their decisions but most stood. Some were upgraded. None were downgraded.”
There was a bit of a buzz at that, mostly from the professionals explaining the concept to the newbies.
“We’ve all been here a long time and because of the number of actions that have taken place, there is a stack, literally, of these to go through. So quiet down. Two additional notes. The NCCC, being a civilian, can give purely civilian awards. Several civilian are up for awards as well… ”
“Is there a bump in pay?” someone shouted.
“Ah, there is why some people stay civilians,” Isham said. “And no. Second item. The Congress of the United States has to approve new awards other than campaign ribbons. The DoD can on its own create new skills badges. The difference is a designated skill versus a particular action. One notable skill badge, so I am told, is the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. The Marines don’t generally have many skill badges. You’re a Marine, that’s your skill. Take it or leave it. In this case, there have been two new skill badges created by the current JCS with the approval of the NCCC which are available cross-service.
“The first is the Sea Savior Badge. That is primarily for small boats who do at sea rescues. The badge is in three levels of award, Basic, Senior and Master Savior. The levels are based upon how many people came across the transom of small boat crewed or captained by an individual from another boat. Persons picked up from land do not in most cases count. There is a silver civilian award and a gold military award. Prior civilian experience accrues so if you’re a member of the military who did at-sea rescue prior to joining the military, your ‘points’ accrue to your military badge. The badge design is a cross surrounded by a life-saving ring. Senior has a star on top. Master is a star and wreath.