Death Before Dawn by M. L. Strong

Author:M. L. Strong [Strong, M. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-29T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The Pentagon–Washington, D.C.

The on-duty Pentagon logistics officer absentmindedly sipped the slightly warm cup of bad coffee. The major placed the weathered cup, bearing the Joint Chief of Staff ’s symbol, back in its normal resting place on the stained desk. The collection of old coffee stains served as mute testimony to the monastic life led by thousands of military functionaries.

These duty-bound gatherers and distributors of information performed their thankless routine far from the view of an unaware and disinterested public. The major was doing his time deep in the heart of the nation’s five-sided military headquarters, only eight months left on his two-year assignment. But he couldn’t complain, it was a better posting than many of his peers around the world.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff deployment order 102.1B was a marvel of simplicity and directness. The inch-thick stack of commands would communicate the orders of America’s highest military leaders to every corner of the globe. If the plan required assistance from any service, any unit, any supply depot, the order would make sure they understood their role in helping make the operation a success. This particular order was special to the major. He and a hand-picked team of mid-level officers from several branches of service, worked on it day and night for two weeks. While the timeline was tight, the major felt proud of their work. Now it was up to the designated units to execute.

In keeping with tradition, JCS Order 102.1B had a proper code name, Operation Sparrow Hawk. The name was the major’s idea and he was stunned when the brass agreed to use the name. His teenage son was interested in birds. Especially predators. The sparrow hawk was a small, yet ruthless, and effective, hunting bird. His son had been working on a school paper when the major began developing the JCS mission order. The lightning strike envisioned in the mission order reminded him of the aggressive little predator.

Operation Sparrow Hawk called for maintaining a low profile in the expected theater of operations during the preparatory phase. The element of surprise was an advantage they needed to make the plan work as envisioned. The U.S. would work vigorously behind the veil of normalcy in the Mediterranean Sea to stage all the military forces required to conduct a quick action in Egypt close enough to move fast. Smaller combat and combat support elements were in place in the theater of operations that would form the backbone of the Americans’ first-strike capability.

Other U.S. follow-on forces—from England, Spain, and Italy—would be used along with selected airflow support out of Germany. While talks were still ongoing, it did not appear that the NATO nations were going to offer anything by way of help except permission to deploy U.S. military forces from existing NATO bases. The joint staff planners were directed to create their plan assuming unilateral U.S. operations.

The designated Army Special Forces—or SF as they were called—and Navy Special Warfare units assigned to Sparrow Hawk were going to rotate into the Eastern Mediterranean under the cover of regularly scheduled NATO interoperability exercises.

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