Final Days of America Narrative: Chapter 5 *Untitled* Part I

                                                            Chapter Five

“NAOC-Alternate is seventy minutes from touchdown at Andrews, Mr. Secretary,” General Coleman reported from Omaha. “Communications with the VC-25 are down. The flight crew reported further issues with some of the avionics ten minutes ago and informed the NMCC they were shutting down.”

“Yeah, we were informed. General, will the E-4 have any issues landing? I doubt the tower there is operational. The same goes for support facilities. How will they refuel?”

“Landing without a tower or guidance from the ground will be tricky, but they can do it. And their turnaround will be fast. The aircraft will be on the ground for about twenty minutes. As far as refueling goes, that will take place when they are airborne. There are a pair of KC-135s heading east right now. They’ll rendezvous with the E-4 over western Pennsylvania. On that subject, one is also heading your way now too.”

“Very well, General. Out.”

McAlister clicked off the speaker phone and went back to the latest situation report he’d been reading before the call. Things were heating up in the Persian Gulf area. The commander of the Fifth fleet had his forces postured to meet any threat but except for the activity around the Lincoln group, the Gulf was quiet. That was not going to last long.

Same story in the Pacific. Right now there was minimal activity around North Korea. At least from what PACOM was telling him. That, McAlister was also sure of, would not be the case for much longer either.

McAlister looked over at the Air Force officer standing quietly at the head of the table. “Major, please have the communications officer get in contact with our embassy in Israel. It’s time to talk to the Israelis.”

“Yes, sir.”

The time had come for McAlister to lay down the groundwork for the Speaker of the House after he was sworn in. In the past sixty minutes, NAOC had become an international switchboard. Leaders from a half dozen allied nations had called. Right now, there was a vacuum growing out there. America’s allies…and more importantly, her enemies had no information on what was happening inside of the US. Her allies probably could not get in touch with their embassies in Washington, the whereabouts and condition of the President was unknown to them and there was no word out of the rest of the government.

McAlister needed to speak to the leaders of some of those nations sooner instead of later. Israel was at the top of the list. If he knew the Israelis, they were very nervous right now. Prime Minister David Meier (no relation to Golda) probably believed his worst nightmare was coming to life; Iran, their golem. McAlister knew the current prime minister well. Until recently he had been the Israeli minister of defense.

The connection didn’t take long to establish. SecDef had Warner join him in the conference room when the call came through. He put it on the speaker.

“Prime Minister Meier. Good afternoon.”

“Secretary McAlister,” Meier’s voice was calm and flat. “What is happening?”

“You are undoubtedly aware that my country has endured an attack.” The connection was bounced off a satellite, causing a two second delay.

“I am aware of some details. Iran.” A statement, not a question.

“And North Korea,” McAlister added. “The Iranians launched five missiles—Shahab 7s. The North Koreans followed less than a minute later with four of their own. I was at Strategic Command in Omaha when it took place.”

“North Korea?” Meier sounded confused. McAlister assumed the Mossad had missed that. “I’m sorry for interrupting. Continue please.”

“Our missile defenses intercepted all of the North Korean missiles and three Iranian birds. NORAD was preparing one last volley of ground-based interceptors when the remaining pair detonated on the edge of space. The EMP effects have disrupted communications on the East Coast and farther inland.”

The Israeli responded with what almost sounded like a gasp, and the fell silent. Twenty seconds of silence followed. McAlister couldn’t even hear anyone in the background.

“How bad is it, Chris?” The PM asked heavily.

“We don’t know. Everything west of around Columbus, Ohio seems to be functioning normally. East of there it is the opposite. We have contact with the Pentagon and are coordinating through them. Have you been in touch with your embassy or the consulate in New York?”

“No. We are trying, but nothing is going through. Where is the President?” Now came the moment of truth.

“A plane is on the way to Andrews Air Force Base right now to pick up a group of senior government officials who are there waiting. The Speaker of the House is among them. Everything is in chaos; we are having a difficult time ascertaining the location of the Vice President. If she cannot be found, the Speaker will assume the duties of acting president until the Vice is located.”

“And the President?”

“He is dead. Along with the Secretary of State. Marine One crashed on its way to Andrews from Camp David.”

“I see. What is your plan?”

“To re-form the government as fast as possible.”

“I meant about Iran.”

“It’s coming, Mr. Prime Minister,” McAlister assured in a smooth voice. “We need some time to collect ourselves, but we will answer Iran and North Korea soon enough,”

“The IDF is on alert. We are readying our aircraft right now. We expect to be in the air within three hours.”

“Prime Minister, I advise you to hold back. There are no signs of movement against your country by Iran.”

“We’re next, Chris.”

“Maybe,” SecDef admitted. “But Iran is not going to have the opportunity for a ‘next time.’ The United States was attacked. We will respond to this.”

“But when? You can imagine the mood here right now.”

McAlister chuckled. “You should see what I’m dealing with. I am asking you to keep your forces in a defensive posture for now. Iran is after us. Mr. Prime Minister, for nearly seventy years the United States has stood by your country through thick and thin. Today, we are calling in a favor. Remain defensive.”  Thirty seconds of silence followed.

“I will do this. But rest assured if we detect one launch from Iran towards our country, I am turning my air force and special weapons loose on them.”

“That’s fair. I will be back in touch in an hour. Goodbye.” Izzo clicked the phone off and looked up. “That went better than I expected,” he sighed.

“If we screw up or wait too long, the Israelis are going to do the job for us,” Warner observed. “We can’t afford to let that happen. General Coleman was entirely correct with what he said earlier.”

McAlister sighed and rubbed his temples. “First, we need a new commander-in-chief. That takes precedence. Afterwards, you and I will go to work.”

Saturday August 17, 2024

10:48 AM

The first reports from Guam and the Western Pacific are coming in. There has been a significant disruption of communications due to both Chinese and our own EW efforts. The information is limited, but its clear that there have been multiple instances of contact between US and Chinese air and sea forces since 9 AM local time.

11:37 AM

Missile Warning has been declared for Guam. Andersen AFB and the naval base at Apra Harbor.

1:09 PM

The largest naval battle of the 21^st Century, and the heaviest since Midway, is going on west of Guam and the Northern Marianas. Air-naval battle, actually. Reports are still sketchy but from what we’re receiving here in Denver the following is certain: There are heavy ship and aircraft losses on both sides but the Chinese landing attempts on Guam and Saipan have been defeated. Two Chinese carriers have been confirmed sunk, however, on the flip side Reagan took three hits and damage control efforts are not keeping up with the fires. Heavy damage to Andersen AFB but the base is still operational.

2:00 PM

Unconfirmed reports of Chinese attacks on merchant vessels carrying relief and recovery supplies to US ports.

2:29 PM

NORAD is declaring a missile threat conference.

2:34 PM

Missile Warning for Honolulu. The VH-60s are touching down outside now. We’re headed to NAOC.

Detection Part I

(Scene Introduction: This scene comes from the narrative section of FDOA, which will be posted in early summer. The scene takes place at Offutt AFB at 3:15 PM CDT on the afternoon of 13 September, 2022. Present are the Secretary of Defense Christopher McAllister, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Anthony Werner, USAF and General Ron Coleman, USAF, the commander of US Strategic Command.)

High above the Indian Ocean in geosynchronous orbit a SBIRS (Space Based Infra-Red System) satellite’s infra-red sensors detected activity in western Iran. Deployed and positioned solely to detect ballistic missile launches from Asia, this particular SBIRS satellite formed the first link in the ballistic missile detection warning chain. The satellite’s powerful sensors picked up and classified one heat source emanating from Western Iran. Within ten seconds that number was pushed up to four. All coming from the same general area, all appearing to be ballistic missiles.

The SBIRS system link went directly to North American Air Defense Command in Colorado Springs. The senior controller in the command center at Petersen was a thirty-four year old Air Force major. He’d just returned to his console after double checking the duty roster for the remainder of the week when the event warning alarm went off. His eyes went to the high definition monitor built into his console and he absorbed the information. Next, he dialed the duty officer.

“Colonel, I have an event.”

At Offutt, the afternoon was drawing to a close. A lunch with the STRATCOM senior staff was set for 4 PM, then McAllister and Werner would fly back to Washington. SecDef was feeling relaxed as the talk shifted to lighter topics. General Coleman was talking about his daughter’s initial reaction upon moving to Omaha and how rocky the adjustment had been for her and Coleman’s other children. McAllister was sympathetic. During his time in the service his wife and two children had endured the same thing.

The black phone on the conference room table rang. Coleman took the call and SecDef turned to Werner and commented quietly that he hoped the temperate weather would follow them back east. The Chairman was about to reply when the general hung up the phone and rose abruptly.

“Come with me to the GOC please, gentlemen,” he said and headed for the door.

The Global Operations Center was a short walk away. Coleman led his superiors into the dimly lit operations center. McAllister noted immediately that the amount of activity had increased from earlier. The duty officer, an air force colonel, was waiting at the door.

            “General, SBIRS picked up four probable launch events in southwest Asia just under three minutes ago. JSPOC confirms the events and the initial assessment is ballistic missiles.”

            “Where in Southwest Asia?” Coleman asked.

            “Western Iran, sir.”

            Uh-oh. .McAllister felt an icy ball materialize in his stomach at the answer. He mentally reviewed the latest intelligence reports concerning Iran and could not remember any mention of upcoming missile tests. He commanded himself to keep calm and let the men and women here do their jobs. On the large high definition screens placed at the front of the command center, the data from the SBIRS satellites was displayed on the main panel, with a host of other information that McAllister could not figure out..

            “Any sign of a malfunction on the bird?” Coleman wanted to know.

            “No, General. The satellite is at one hundred percent reliability.”

            Werner, who was standing just in front of SecDef turned around. “Israel?” He inquired. McAllister was about to answer when klaxon alarms started blaring across the GOC.

            “Second event. Northeast Asia.” A controller at the main console alerted.

            “Where exactly?” Coleman snapped to no one in particular, but received an answer instantly.

            “North Korea.”

Data from the satellites was now being fed into four separate command and control sites along with an additional six sensor and radar locations. It was being shared between Offutt, NORAD and JSPOC at Vandenberg AFB in California. A Missile Display Conference was underway. Coleman donned a headset and started a conference call with General Ike Bagley, the dual commander of Northern Command and NORAD. Together, the generals, along with other senior officers, reviewed the constant influx of data, trying to determine if the danger was real or the result of a malfunctioning satellite or computer.

McAllister watched the activity on the screens. He was little more than an observer at this early stage of the drama playing out around him. In his mind a flurry of questions and thoughts were brewing. Eventually, they needed to be addressed, but now was not the time. First a clear picture had to be painted of what was happening. Werner was in the same fix, ironic as it seemed. The Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were reduced to observer status.  The military they oversaw was working to determine if the country was under attack, and neither man had anything to contribute for now.

 Israel had to be the Iranian target. But what about the North Koreans? The timing was too convenient. Was this the beginning of a coordinated test staged as an act of defiance against the world? Or was it something more ominous such as an attack against Israel and Japan or the United States? As much as he wanted to, McAllister could not discount the possibility. For every piece of intelligence the US had on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, there was always a piece missing. Estimates placed the Iranians able to field a ballistic missile that could reach Europe and the United states at seventy percent by 2025. This was up from an earlier estimate that put the chance of Iran having a missile with such capability by 2020 at thirty percent. Expounding on the possibility of these being Iranian ICBMs, it still appeared unlikely to be the case here. How could they have managed to build silos without it being detected by US satellites? Unless they were using transport erector launchers, his mind reminded him. Percentages and estimates aside, the data on the display in Omaha showed the reality of the moment and it was simple. Four Iranian and three North Korean missiles were in the air. They had targets selected somewhere.

“We’ll know for certain where the projected impact points are in just under two minutes. Definitely not Israel. These are multi-stage rockets.” Coleman said, assuredly. Now the Cobra Dane and Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar sites were tracking the inbounds. The computers at NORAD and here continued to be fed a constant stream of data. “Right now, it’s fifty-fifty. Europe or North America. The North Korean birds are coming in this direction without a doubt.” He turned to SecDef and Chairman. “Sirs, in light of that, I am dispensing with the threat assessment conference and declaring a missile warning conference. The alert aircraft will be postured immediately. NAOC here and Looking Glass down at Tinker. Next, I will contact the President.”

             “Get them up, General,” McAllister ordered. Werner concurred.

Less than a quarter mile away klaxon alarms erupted in the alert facility of the 1^st Airborne Command Control Squadron adjacent to the flight line. The sixty-five men and women who made up the battle staff and crew of the National Airborne Operations Center were scrambling to their aircraft; an E-4B sitting less than fifty yards away on the ramp. A similar scene was being played out four hundred and seventy miles to the south at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma where the crew of the Looking Glass airborne command post was responding to their waiting E-6B Mercury.

Time began moving faster now. In such emergencies, every government agency and service branch has its own continuity of operations plan. For the Defense Department it began with the evacuation of the President and senior government leaders from Washington DC. McAllister ordered Werner to contact the Pentagon and start the ball rolling there. The National Military Command Center there would serve as the primary communications node. From there, calls would begin going out to the military units and government agencies responsible for moving government officials to secure locations outside of the capital. The President was at Camp David that afternoon with the SecState. Marine One was there and would serve as their transportation. Soon after the orders went out, other helicopters located at Andrews and Quantico would start spooling up and head into Washington DC to whisk cabinet members, the Vice President and select others to safety.

While this was going on, General Coleman received an initial report from NORAD on the projected impact points. Without a moment to spare, he the lifted the yellow phone on the desk. (Author’s note. The content of the following dialogue between the president and other members has been transcribed accurately. The source is the digital recording from STRATCOM HQ for that day. )

 “Mr. President, this is General Coleman in Omaha. General Werner and Secretary McAllister are with me at the present time. We have a situation, sir.”