Out of the Ashes by Couch Dick & Galdorisi George

Author:Couch, Dick & Galdorisi, George [Couch, Dick & Galdorisi, George]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, Mystery, Adventure, War, Suspense
ISBN: 9781250026828
Goodreads: 18926876
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: 2014-06-04T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Op-Center Headquarters, Fort Belvoir North, Fairfax County, Virginia

(March 16, 0815 Eastern Daylight Time)

Richard Middleton entered Chase Williams’s office for the early morning meeting wondering if there was a crisis brewing. Williams typically scheduled meetings well in advance and had a smooth, relatively predictable battle rhythm under way at Op-Center. Middleton had opened up his e-mail queue when he arrived at work that morning and found an e-mail from Williams asking to see him ASAP.

“Mornin’, boss. You wanted to see me?”

“Sure, Rich, come in.”

Middleton sat down, searching Williams’s face for clues. There were none. “Anything wrong?”

“No, and I didn’t mean to shake you up with an impromptu meeting, but I have been thinking about our conversation several days ago, the one where we discussed our support for the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group. You were wondering how we might support them more, given your observations about the potential for another terror-for-hire attack here at home.”

“I’m glad you have, boss. The president’s given you a pretty broad mandate and now that we’ve got our Geek Tank cranked up I think we have a unique and valuable capability. I give Roger and his folks all the credit.”

As he sipped his coffee, Chase Williams thought about the relationship Op-Center had evolved with the FBI and the Critical Incident Response Group, the CIRG.

Op-Center’s relationship with their JSOC unit was one of direct operational control. This was something all concerned were comfortable with given Chase Williams’s extensive operational background as well as the military backgrounds of many of his core Op-Center staff. Williams could order his JSOC unit downrange and count on complete freedom of action.

Their relationship with the FBI CIRG was quite different, and there were strong reasons for that structure.

Americans were well accustomed to U.S. special operations forces working overseas in a covert manner and with the CIA operating in a covert, or even clandestine, manner. However, most U.S. citizens had a completely different attitude regarding what happened on American soil.

Having domestic forces under the full control of a shadowy agency such as Op-Center, no matter how well intentioned those leading Op-Center were, was not something most Americans were ready to support. Even if those actions would be designed to save American lives, that kind of freedom of action was something that moved well beyond the comfort level of most Americans.

So the Memorandum of Understanding, the MOU, between Op-Center, the White House, the Justice Department, and the FBI was crafted with great care. Boiled down to its essential elements, it stipulated that Op-Center would provide any intelligence it gained on international terrorists who could pose a domestic threat, as well as intelligence on any purely domestic threats, to the FBI Critical Incident Response Group. This notification would be made at the staff level and also by the Op-Center director directly to the attorney general or the FBI director. They, and only they, would direct the FBI CIRG to take action on American soil.

Middleton was worried this was not the most effective approach and he said so.

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