Well Warrior Liz will not leave me alone. If you think she is determined in the story, its nothing
compared to living with her. "Disclaimer: The characters of "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, WB, and UPN. They are not mine and no infringement is intended."
And thanks to Mary Mary again for the new banner!
“So, you think this will get through?
“The Navy is supporting it and cutting out one MEF will save a lot. So I think we can get this done.”
“You are not all that put out with losing an MEF?”
“Brutally speaking it was not needed. One for each area is enough in this day and age. One At Hawaii and one at Diego Garcia really will be enough. We have enough left in the states that can be sent by Aircraft elsewhere. Diego Garcia and Hawaii really does all we need. Bottom line is that having one on the gulf or Atlantic coast is just not logical anymore. And this way we keep the troops in the US until they are needed. Frankly that is why the Marines in Hawaii will go to Diego Garcia and the ones in the states go to Hawaii to pick up their ships if need be. The big dustups that the Marines might get into for the foreseeable future are all closer this way to our assets where they will be.”
“So you do not see anything in Europe or South America that you need to worry about?”
“Nothing that the Army will not be all over first. Europe has always been solely army, and SA will now be. As regards Africa, not likely we ever go there in a big way with anything. The Middle East and everything there in that area is easily reached by the ships at Diego Garcia.”
“Unless the Suez canal is closed.”
“So what?”
“OK, I guess it does make sense.”
“Korea, China, Southwest Asia is the most likely big problems in the future. We are better placed to respond to all of that in this plan. In the old days everything in the Pacific or touching it was supposed to be the Marines responsibility anyway. Europe only got added during the cold war to beef up the North. Temporary thing.”
“OK. So that is how you are pushing this?”
“Did not have to push. Makes sense once it is explained. Not like the Army is interested anyway. As far as they are concerned only Korea is of interest to them. And there they have no problem sharing with us. Now moving from Okinawa to Hawaii will increase the response time for Korea significantly; so we are looking to keep the ships at Okinawa and just fly the personnel in.”
“Hawaii is expensive.”
“On Honolulu it is; not so at MCBH. We will have to expand that a fair amount but we have the room.”
“The other part is going to make noise.”
“Sure it will. But the case has been made and it is a good one. The mess with the F-35 B strengthens our hand.”
“Just what is happening there?”
“We are going with the minimal buy; in other words no more than the 120 B’s we are about to get.”
“And THAT is why you want the Super Apache’s.”
“The big squawk about helicopters was not the speed; that was always just diversion. Marines operate at short ranges; so the kind of speed a jet gives is just not that big a deal. The real key has been loiter time. And until the Super Apache Loiter time for an attack helicopter was not enough. It can hang around with a full combat load for 5 hours. THAT is the critical factor. Add to that the fact that it can also carry a combination of AMRAMM and SIDEWINDER so that it can pretty will defend itself; and the tests that we have run show that a Super Apache just hovering above the ground is virtually impossible for airborne radar to find. Even the AWACs has trouble if it stays below 30 feet. So they can ambush incoming fighters let alone bombers. So as far as protecting themselves and others they can get it done. Sure the Apache cannot carry bombs but realistically that is not a big factor anymore. Those new guided 2.75’s are also going to come in handy.”
“I heard that they got Doberman to try them out and she loved them.”
“Yeah. There were 42 separate targets and 42 rockets and she hit 38 of the targets and the others were near misses. And she did it in 60 seconds.”
“I had not heard it was that good.”
“One has to step back and remember just how good she is. So the odds are most of the other pilots will not do that well. But still it was something to see. The 2.75 carries a nice warhead. And they can tailor the mix in so many different ways. The Super Apache was built with that capability in mind; so it is just a matter of quick installation to use them. Bottom line is that the Super Apache can give us all the real ground support we need, take care of itself and the area it is in, and is going to be a lot cheaper than the F-35B. Really by now half the price.”
“And they work.”
“And they work NOW better than the F35B NOW and frankly probably in the futures.”
The call to test the new guided 2.75’s was a bit of a surprise but Liz did not mind. The Super Apache had been built with that system in mind; and when in 2014 it began to get fielded it was just a matter of time before the SOAR’s would get them. She was curious about it; all too often contractors made extravagant claims that upon testing tended to shrivel. But the capability to hit targets accurately with the 2.75’s was very attractive. What had been the holdup was how the targeting system would work. Infrared was just too easily fooled, spoofed or confused; even with the most modern types. Laser guided meant keeping the designator on the target which means stationary for the platform which is not advisable in a combat area. Radar guide means locking in which takes time no matter what. Then someone had mentioned how small TV cameras and transmitters had gotten. From what Liz gathered, that is when things really took off. The ability to lock the camera on the target then fire was what got it done. Her helmet targeting system allowed her to put the cross hairs on the target and it would lock on immediately. She then can choose which warhead to use if she wanted. HE, Fragmentation, HEAT, WP. Or if she is unitary loaded just keep firing. She was rather proud of her score considering she only had one training mission before doing it for the show.
She had had her Apache loaded on the C-17, took her crew and copilot, and had gone to Aberdeen where she had one day to get ready and the next to fire. So she was quite pleased with herself. Only a month after the Pakistan operation it was still hard for her to go anywhere without being recognized in Uniform. And even on the bases it was not comfortable. The release of the transcripts and more to the point the audio parts had really fixated interest on her.
“Liz, maybe you should sort of step back and listen without putting yourself there. Try and listen like it is someone else. Then you might get the idea why it gets to so many. You are so cool; calm, matter of fact. Like someone talking about the weather happening somewhere else. You are directing an operation to prevent nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists; and at the moment some might be in that bunker trying to set one off. No one would know that listening to you.”
That had come from Maria when she had talked to her not long after.
Unknown to her, most of her close friends had thought the same. In a strange sort of coincidence the Posse and Crew had ended up around Nashville in their post military lives. So naturally they got together at least once a month. Only a week after it got out they had gathered Shelby Park. While it was not all that warm, it was warmer than usual at almost 60 and sunny, so it was a nice day for the first week in Feburary. The Crew were pilots for a tourist company, while most of the rest of them were working for a defense contractor who was working on advanced body armor and had hired a number of combat veterans to help figure it out. Needless to say the main topic of conversation was the event.
“I have known Liz for years yet hearing her like that in combat was just surreal. So cool; calm, almost matter of fact even though she might be looking at the opening event of WW3.” This from Ruth.
Ellen sighed. “What you heard is what we heard during our time with her. Like someone ordering a pizza to go.”
Jesse nodded. “I would have been surprised if she had been any other way.”
“When she gave the orders to open fire-just like a wife telling a husband to take out the garbage.” This from Susan.
“I keep wondering what she is going to do to top something; then this happens.” From Vicki.
“I guess one should say how is she going to top this but I better keep quiet; she probably will.” Came from Ellen.
Liz was glad to know that they were going to start getting the new guided 2.75” rockets; they could come in very handy. But she had an idea something else was going on; there had been a number of Navy and Marine corps highups there. So she asked Jim to sniff around.
A week later he came in to see her. She could tell he was bursting.
“OK, Jim, before you pop, let it out.”
“You asked me to find out why all the squids and jarheads were interested in that 2.75 demonstration. You are right that it was not important enough for them to be there. Just got word from someone I know pretty well; they were much more interested in seeing you and the Super Apache perform then just the rockets. That ties in with something else I heard; that the Marines are willing to drop one of their MEF’s.”
That made Liz’s eyebrows go right up. For years the Marines had fought tooth and nail to keep all three MEF’s. For them to just give one up was very interesting. Even with the cuts in the budget that had not been something that was pushed hard enough to go through. For them to voluntarily give it up meant they were trading it for something else.
Jim went on. “They are going to stand down the MEF that was based out of North Carolina. Okinawa will go to Hawaii. Pendleton will go to Diego Garcia. Basically they think they do not need one on the East coast or for Europe; and it makes sense from the long view. And they really do not mind downsizing some; they can spread it over a period of years and do it by attrition. But one problem they have had was the whole F-35B mess.”
Liz winced. The F-35B was supposed to be the VTOL and STOL version of the F-35; Liz had always wondered why anyone thought that was a good idea. They should have just upgraded the Harrier instead of wasting all that money trying to make the F-35 do everything. The F-35A was the successor to the F-16; and the F-35B was to be the successor to the Harrier. The F-35C was supposed to be the successor to the F-18. No one was really surprised at all the problems that came up. The Marines had got 120 of the 340 F-35B’s but were not going to get the rest under the current budget crunch and frankly did not want them. So they were going to keep them; but would be using them to replace their F-18’s. Not the Harriers as originally thought. This tied in with their wish to fully separate themselves from needing the Fleet Carriers around at all. The F-35B’s could operate from any good sized ship technically; though realistically not due to the support requirements. That was when the light dawned; what they wanted to use to replace the Harriers. She looked at Jim who was grinning.
“So they are now after Super Apache’s to take the place of the Harriers.”
“Makes sense. We can hang around longer then the Harriers can and need less overall maintenance. Smaller logistical footprint. And we are cheaper then more F-35B’s by almost half. We cannot drop bombs but they really do not need that and admit it; they want accurate close up support. Nothing is better than a Super Apache at that. Now with the guided 2.75’s we can really get it done. They will still use their AH-1Z’s for direct support to each battalion; but we can do so much more. And with our capability to use both Sidewinders and AMMRAMS, we have a significant air to air capability. You heard about those exercises?”
Liz nodded. Putting Super Apache’s low above the ground at under 30 feet meant that even AWACS could not spot them; let alone airborne radar in a regular fighter. So you could stay in the weeds and ambush an incoming attack before they even knew they were being targeted. So there was nothing outside of dropping bombs that the Super Apache could not do that the Harriers did. They were nowhere near as fast but realistically what did that matter for Marines?
“So more Super Apache’s are going to be built.”
“Looks that way. They will save billions letting that MEF go; so they can put it into the Super Apache’s.”
SOCOM was getting this from a somewhat higher source.
“This has been kicked around for a while. They have kept the various subcontractors going on a slow basis for spare parts; they actually have enough to build about 30 more right now. So they can get the 96 they want for the two MEF’s; giving them two of their squadrons (each squadron is like one of our battalions) for each MEF. But I can bet you know where this is going.”
“They will want the SOAR to train them.”
“The Marines have very specifically requested Colonel Parker to train them.”
“I guess one should not be surprised.”
“This has been in the works for about a year.”
“Hmm. Just about the time that people began to recognize what a Super Apache could do.”
“Since it came to my attention about the same time, you can bet they were talking to each other about if for months before that.”
“So they are going to want to detach Colonel Parker for that.”
“Cannot fault their logic. She also made a name for herself as training officer for the 160th. They are still trying to find someone good as she was two years later.”
SOCOM winced a little at that. He had indeed been forced to relieve the 160th commander; and one of the problems had been that he was not pushing training like he should have been. Though to be fair, finding a training officer as good as Parker had proven to be very difficult indeed. They were still using her plans but the extra gift she had for getting them done no one had been able to duplicate. Luckily he had been able to keep his previous Aviation chief there and they were training us a new commander that looked promising. But the training officer had been more difficult to replace. As a matter of fact his Aviation chief had had a meeting with him just the day before.
“So how goes the slumming?”
“Funny. Frankly being back in command of a unit sounded better before I did it. Forgot about all the BS you have to put up with. And the paperwork. On the other hand it beats sitting behind a desk just worrying about the next meeting.”
“How is the training situation?”
There was a very definite pause there. “Not bad.”
SOCOM looked at him and just waited.
“OK. Not great at all. Barely adequate. No matter who I seem to try, no one has the gift she had. She really trained everyone up to a degree I did not realize.”
“She is that much better?”
“Yes.”
Remembering the conversation SOCOM looked at the Chairman.
“They still miss her there as a trainer as well. Still has not been adequately replaced.”
“Amazing. But then she is as gifted a pilot as she is a leader; so maybe it is not so surprising. But to be that good at training as well is extremely rare.”
“It all adds up when you look at it. She is superb at rebuilding units or remaking them; so being a great training officer is no surprise; she has the combat experience to go with the gift of being able to understand what it takes to get people ready for combat. And that is rare as we are finding out.”
“So you are going to have to detach her for a time.”
SOCOM was thinking furiously on this. He looked at the Chairman.
“But we have no one to take her place at the 161st. Her XO is strictly admin.”
The Chairman nodded. “And there is the rub. I was going to point that out but I wanted to be sure I was right. We definitely need to start thinking about her replacement anyway; she is going right up the ladder now. Command School then her star; and there is going to be a knife fight for her services.”
SOCOM sighed. “Those positions are just about the toughest around to fill as they are truly unique. I admit I did not realize it until the last year or so.”
“Which is another reason the Alternate Promotion board is gaining steadily in importance. Basically positions like those are not going to really be filled by normal officers. You need the unique and the maverick for those areas; the very things that over the last 20 years the regular military has tried to stamp out using all the cookie cutter requirements for promotion. Which is coming back to bite their asses big time. Hardly a week goes by without someone in the media or congress or the like talking about the nameless faceless so called leaders of our military.”
SOCOM mused. “We have been very lucky here in SOCOM because we are insulated from all that.”
“Because until USCOCOM was created you were small potatoes; not worth worrying about. You saw over the last 20 years that once they recognized how much influence was coming here they tried to start horning in.”
“True. It was only because we got the support of presidents and SECDEFS plus congress that we resisted straight legs being sent here to command positions. It was a very slick deal that got through congress that made it a requirement to have had Special Forces or Special Operations experience to be a SOCOM commander.”
“I can still remember when someone pointed that out as regards trying to slip one in back in 2008 and it was pointed out that it was not allowed. The impact on the cookie cutters was fun to see. Not even a deputy is allowed.”
SOCOM grinned at that then sobered. “Still does not help my problem; I cannot have her gone from her command for 6 months; even if she is here in Campbell that does not let her keep an eye on her command; or keep it tight and ready. Sure she can fly back quickly but that is nowhere near good enough. We do NOT have anyone that is ready to backstop her.”
The Chairman nodded. “I thought not. So obviously the answer is to send the Marines there. They would like to train over water anyway.”
“That would make it kind of crowded. Though I guess they could manage one Squadron at a time.”
“That might work. Send the 160th Apache’s over there to train as well. They need it from what I hear.”
SOCOM winced again. It had been just over a year and a half since Parker had stopped training the 160th; and their edge had dulled significantly. Just how significantly had been demonstrated just a month ago when they had been put through a no notice inspection and had been sent up to maneuver and fire at moving targets. They had not failed, but it had not been a good performance. Which was another reason his acting chief had not been happy about things.
Not long after the chairman left SOCOM decided to visit Campbell. He found the acting Chief going over performance evaluations. Since he had not told anyone he was coming it was not surprising people were scrambling as he came through the door.
“Sir. I take it something is going on?”
He nodded and closed the door of the office behind him. Then filled him in on the situation. The SOCOM Aviation Chief and acting commander, 160th SOAR sighed.
“Got to give the Marines credit for being smart. As slick a piece of horse trading as I have seen for a while. No doubt they will have the clout to have Parker detached TDY to train them; which leaves us really with a short load. Jim Harkness is a very good admin man but there is no way he can lead them in combat.”
“The Chairman has suggested they send one Squadron at a time to her to train. It will be a tight fit but possible.”
He relaxed at that. “OK, now I can get off the chair and take the noose off of my neck.”
SOCOM grinned. “Thought that would help. But he did mention how the Super Apache’s of the 160th did not look so good. I guess it is not surprising the word got out.”
“Yeah. If anything was needed to ram home the need to have a top training officer that did it. And it is my fault since I am in command.”
“You have only been there 3 months; and have been busy trying to get a permanent replacement. So don’t beat yourself up too much.”
He looked at SOCOM and nodded. “Thanks, Boss. But that does not help my problem; because unless I am very wrong and I do not think I am, the rest of the Regiment might not be in much better shape.”
SOCOM was not that surprised. “Well we have a real problem. The only officer that we both know can shape things up as they need to be cannot be taken away from her current command. Yet we badly need the Regiment back to where it belongs. We have been very lucky in the last year; outside of some of the Little Birds we have not deployed anyone. And the training exercises have been too vanilla as we now know.”
“Well then we are going to have to rotate everyone through Scotland then. One month with her will shape up any unit if it is any good.”
“And if it is not then you have a bigger problem than just not the right training.”
“True. Well let’s pull her over here to talk to her. Any idea when the Marines are going to start standing up their first Squadron?”
“The contractor has the parts to make at least 30 of them but it will take at least a couple months to do that; then probably 4 or so a month after that.”
“So a year and a half. The Marines train their aviators pretty hard; not as hard as we do but not far off.”
“So we need to talk to Colonel Parker.”
Liz looked at Jim. “Have no idea what this is about. But I bet part of it has to do with what you found out. The upcoming training exercises with the Pols and Austrians are going to be pretty much what we did last year. So nothing new there. So you just have to follow the pattern.”
“We are getting requests for another big one sometime this summer.”
“Well I can talk to SOCOM about that; our training budget is fine for everything else we are planning but not a big one like that. The Spanish want us over for another one soon as well; plus the Italians. Just glad that they sent the 101st over to Kuwait for three months; that will take care of the middle east.”
The 101st Aviation Brigade (part of it) had been sent to Kuwait to help train up the Gulf allies; since this was working with regular forces it had been decided that regular brigades would do fine. That was no problem for Liz; they had more than they wanted or needed already in that area of operations. The Pakistani’s had requested a mission; and there was a chance they would get pulled in to do a mission with India as well, even though that was the 160th’s area. Being even handed with the Indians had become of greater importance over the last few years; considering how much they had worked with the Pakistani’s on things.
The Group Captain had been promoted to Air Vice Marshal, but was basically doing the same job. He was very good at it and unlike the US Military if the UK found someone doing a job very well they tended to leave him alone. He was now more than ever becoming the defacto first contact for any training missions with any other country no matter what the service due to his extensive contacts.
He was once again getting pushed for more training missions; the defense budget was still very tight; and not likely to ease much for at least another year. The demise of the EU and the Euro had actually helped the UK; they were in much better shape to whether the storm. Things were still sorting themselves out but the dire predictions of the Euro fanatics had proven as pretty much everything else they had ever predicted wrong. The countries of Europe actually were doing better than anyone had thought. The austere budgets had made a big difference; the cutting of bureaucrats and the slackers had invigorated industry; the onerous burden the Brussels machine had inflicted on them was gone. But it would take a few years to really become prosperous; though now that seemed much more likely. The Defense budget was not going to be cut anymore, which was a victory; but it would not expand all that much for at least another year. So units needed training but had no money. A problem all over western Europe except for France and Germany; the kicking out of the unemployed immigrants had eased the burden in France considerably; and the new young President was showing a real gift for getting things done. The retirement age had been brought up to 65; and the workweek was back to 40. The shock of the events of the previous year had awakened the old fighting spirit of France that had been dormant far too long. And Germany had brought the Mark back to become one of the strongest currencies in the World. Eastern Europe had done quite well; not being formally part of the Euro zone had definitely worked to their advantage and they were all doing better than Western Europe.
The three weak sisters; Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium were still recovering slowly. They had gone down the rabbit hole of cradle to grave farther than any other countries and they paid the highest price for that. Portugal was ok, Spain was improving; Italy had seemed to turn the corner. Austria and Switzerland had also been more or less immune. Finland and Sweden and Norway were lagging but doing better.
The new Air Vice Marshal looked at his aide. “I take it that the requests are increasing?”
“Yes, sir. Everyone is looking for another big exercise to point for.”
“Well there is not money in the budget for this year; but I have gotten solid word that we will be in better shape next year.”
“Well then, what about this year?”
The Air Vice Marshal sighed. “I will have to see what I can do.”
He was reluctant to contact Colonel Parker; she had done more than her share to help last year. Virtually every regiment in the British Army had trained with her; that had been very helpful indeed. But he was very well aware that they could not keep putting off training. That could have deadly consequences in combat; and despite what many seemed to think the world had not become peaceful over night. True it was calmer now than it had been in over 20 years, but only a Pollyanna thought it would continue. He was virtually certain that something would come up before long somewhere. Russia was starting to wake up after its bloodbath with its Mafia; and some of the former Russian republics were not the most stable. Iran was seemingly forever a worry. One could not forget Korea either. China was just now emerging from its massive disaster of the collapse of the Three Gorges Dam; and it was now having to spend more than ever to get pollution under control. But it was just a matter of time before it began to flex its muscles again. So this respite would not last long. The UK military had to be ready to shoulder its share of the burden. But they could not do that if they were not ready. Then he was unexpectedly called into a meeting with the Defense Secretary.
“Air Vice Marshal, we have just been informed of some major changes in the US Marines and that some of the effects of that will come this way. They are sacrificing one of their MEF’s to gain something else. 4 full squadrons of Super Apache’s. They intend to have them trained with your friend Colonel Parker in Scotland. They are coming over for a meeting tomorrow.”
Liz got into DC only one hour after her 0800 departure according to the clock; but then when your flight only takes 6 hours and the time change gives back 5 that is what happens. She was lucky in that she was able to catch some sleep anyway. The fact that this meeting was in the Pentagon not with SOCOM at Campbell told her that it was something out of the ordinary; and that her meeting with SOCOM would almost certainly be just the first one. She went right from Andrews to the Pentagon and met SOCOM in his office there at 1000. Another hint had been that she was wearing class A’s. Which meant big brass time. She deliberately wore her BDU’s then changed just before going to his office.
The ceremony in Scotland scheduled for May for the 161st to get a Presidential Unit Citation and her to get her second DSC was going to be a very large affair and Liz was not looking forward to it. Her ribbons were going to get more additions. She had to admit it looked pretty impressive. So she was thinking when she went in the office SOCOM had when he was at the Pentagon. She was ushered right in and sat in front of his desk.
“I am willing to bet you have no idea why you are here.”
Liz grinned. “If rumors have anything true to them, it has to be about me training the Marines to fly the Super Apache they are gunning for.”
“That is only part of it. There is a lot more besides that. What have you heard about the Marines?”
“They are looking to dump their Harriers and replace them with Super Apache’s; two of their squadrons which are the same as our battalions for each of the two MEF’s they want to keep; they are sacrificing their third MEF to get them.”
SOCOM nodded, not really surprised. “SO you pretty much guessed you would be designated as the training officer for them?”
Liz sighed. “That is what I figured. I was just worried about six months away from my command.”
“Well the good news is that you are not going to them, they are coming to you one squadron at a time. The first one will be standing up in June. They have the parts to assemble the necessary number and will have them up and going in April. That is when they will probably start heading your way. The Marines started picking and choosing the pilots then stopped. Guess what?”
“You have got to be kidding?”
“Nope. You get to do it. Basically you get to run them through the mill first and then decide which ones are good enough then train them.”
Liz blinked and then shook her head. “This is bizarre.”
SOCOM then got serious. “No it is not. You are by far the most respected Apache Driver, let alone Super Apache driver around. It is just common sense on their part. But that is not all of it either.”
Liz sighed and waited for the rest of the load to fall on her.
“You might not be aware that only a few weeks ago the acting 160th commander threw a no notice exercise at the Apache Battalion. They did not do well.”
Liz shrugged. “So they come as well.”
He grinned evilly. “That is still not all of it.”
Liz closed her eyes the opened them. “What else is there?”
“The entire 160th will be coming over a battalion at a time to train. Since they have been unable to come up with a training officer good enough, you will be doing it all.”
“shit.”
One hour Later Liz followed SOCOM and the Aviation cum 160th chief who had just arrived to the main briefing room of the Secretary of Defense. Liz went to sit beside SOCOM with the Aviation Chief on her other side. The rest of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came in then all rose when SECDEF walked in. As they all took their seats Liz noticed that she was the only one in the room under the rank of general sitting at the table. All the aides and such were on chairs behind their chiefs.
SECDEF looked around and nodded. “Good. Everyone is here. This special meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will now come to order. Chairman, you may proceed.”
“Yes Sir. To be brief, major changes were just approved by agreement with Congress and the White House. The Marines will be sacrificing a MEF; the one in Okinawa will be going to Hawaii; their ships will remain at Okinawa; that agreement was just reached with Japan. The California stationed MEF will go to Diego Garcia. The North Carolina MEF will be stood down. Attrition will take care of the excess personnel in two years. Those officers not needed will also be let go. The Marines have requested that the SAH-64 Super Apache be substituted for the F-35B originally meant to replace the Harrier. That has been approved. They will get 96; the price will be half of what the same number of F-35B’s would have cost. The savings from the stand down of the MEF will cover all costs of these changes. Including the extra construction needed in Hawaii and in Diego Garcia.”
Liz looked around the room. She wondered why a meeting was needed for this.
“Due to some problems with the 160th, the originally designated training of the Marine Super Apache Squadrons will now be the responsibility of the 161st . Also the fleet units operating with the Super Apache’s will also train with them there. An agreement to temporarily station them at Glasgow during the approximate year and a half it will take to train all units has been reached with the UK MOD. They will also train with units of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. Plus other units of the British Army. When we had our meeting with the MOD, they made a counter proposal when we informed them of our training plans. And after some discussion it was agreed to. This is the result.”
Liz did not move as she considered the situation. Well she was not going to have to ask for more funds to train with the Brits; it was coming anyway. Along with just about the rest of the world. No one could not say she was going to be busy.
“That concludes the meeting. I would ask that SOCOM, the Commandant and the Chief of Naval Operations join me in my office.”
The Aviation Chief and Liz followed SOCOM as he went to the SECDEF’s office just down the hall. There was a meeting room just off of his office that they sat in. Liz was a little curious; she had only been in the Pentagon once before and never in the rarified atmosphere of the SECDEF’s part.
He sat down and looked around.
“I wanted to make sure that there were no high level questions. This was very quickly arranged. Even by Colonel Parker’s standards.”
This got smiles all around; Liz was used to needling about the Cyprus exercise.
“Admiral Williams, since we wish to move quickly, what ships are you looking at using for these training exercises?”
“All 8 of the WASP class; and both America Class. We will be spreading out the Apache’s so that we have half a squadron aboard every active ship. Sir, it has been discussed that the Super Apache squadrons be reduced from 24 to 12; that would allow one Squadron per ship.”
SECDEF looked at the Commandant. “Your views, General Sampson?”
“Our aviation people are flexible about squadron size; and it does make sense. I see no reason we cannot go that route.”
“How many ships at a time?”
“Sir we would prefer to go two at a time.”
“That should work.”
He then looked at SOCOM.
“I assume you filled Colonel Parker in on this?”
“Yes sir.”
He then looked at the Commandant.
“The proposal as regards the pilots was a little out of the ordinary, General.”
“Sir, it makes sense. This is an extremely sophisticated helicopter; much more than the latest Huey. I have no doubt that some will have trouble making the transition. We want to be up and running for at least one MEF in less than a year. The Harriers are just plain worn out; operational percentage is hovering at 75% despite all we can do. We do not have the time to bring the pilots along slowly. I have no doubt from her previous record that Colonel Parker can quickly weed them out. It is not like we do not have the volunteers; we already have two for each slot and more will come.” He looked at Liz.
“Colonel, every pilot you get will have at least one year operational experience. No new nuggets. So if they cannot cut the mustard cut them.”
Liz nodded. “Yes sir. My decision will be final?”
“Absolutely.”
“I should have them capable in 90 days for each squadron- if you go for the 12 per squadron.”
The other people in the room blinked at that. SOCOM looked at Liz. “You already have a training plan in mind?”
“Yes sir. I got information about this possibility about this a week ago; and began working on a plan. Figuring that the Marines would be using their Wasp and America Classes, I took a look at their specs. Knowing that the Marines wanted not only close ground support but an anti-air capability, I will use our own training program for that. We will give them at least 30 days flying before they will attempt any ship operations. We will be doing a fair amount of that over the water anyway; I believe 30 days will be enough for them to get used to flying from a ship; it will not be like regular carrier operations with catapults and hook wires. Much simpler. It will be good trying them in the waters of the Irish sea; it will be calm most of the time; when they get more experience we can take them north for tougher waters. I hope that their ground crews will be brought in soon; they can learn from mine then learn to do it on ships. Their graduation exercises will be to go up against my Apache’s. I see no reason that 90 days cannot get it done with already experienced pilots.”
Everyone in the room was impressed by this. SECDEF slowly nodded
“Very well then. No one here will argue with that kind of timeline. The word from the assembly plant is that they will have the first 24 ready to go this coming month; so they can be sent straight to Scotland.” He looked at the Commandant.
“How soon can you have the first batch of pilot candidates there?”
“I see no reason we cannot have them there at the same time.”
SECDEF looked at the Navy CNO. “That would mean that early in April they would need the first ships there.”
“Sir, as long as the ports are ready the ships will be there.”
“I see I will have to have a word with the MOD. I doubt they expected us to move this fast.” He looked at the rest of them. “Well this went faster than I expected. But that is good. Any questions or comments?” Liz raised her hand. “Yes Colonel?”
She looked at the Commandant. “Sir, I would ask that all prospective pilots first pick up copies of the manual on the Apache; and can bone up on the flight systems and the cockpit. I want them familiar with that end of it when they arrive; I intend to have them up each personally to try them out before I approve them for further training.”
The Commandant raised his eyebrows. “You intend to make it sink or swim?”
“Not quite sir; but I will be riding with them. I can usually tell pretty quickly if someone is going to make it or not.”
“Then it will be as you requested.”
They left the building and got in the limo to head to Andrews. Liz had requested they send her right back the same day. In the Limo the Aviation chief looked at Liz.
“We did not want to air our dirty laundry there though I am pretty sure it was known at that level. The Apache Battalion almost failed a no notice. I will be sending them to you in the next week for a month’s refresher training. You might as well know that each Battalion of the 160th will be coming to you for a refresher over the next 4 months.”
Liz sighed. “Why not? Everyone else in the world is coming.”