Read Online Vietnam II: A War Novel Episode 2 (V2) by C.R. Ryder - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: C.R. Ryder
Ads: Link
lesson from all of this was that too many aircraft would excessively complicate air planning. The lessons learned were already being briefed at the morning standup. We would not make the same mistake when and if we moved north.
The Tomahawk was not included in the operational planning at all. The Navy planners had no faith in it. I saw all these things being demilled and dumped in a military boneyard somewhere after this thing was over.
Still they were planning on using the beast. That was clear from the extensive mapping that took place during the buildup. Unlike a ballistic missile, the Tomahawks required a full flight plan like an airplane to reach a target. So the Defense Mapping Agency spent the time from the beginning of the embargo to the first week of January working 24-hour days producing digital maps of Vietnam. The missile relied on terrain mapping. It was a limitation of the weapon. The Tomahawk required every target area to be comprehensively mapped from space. Without that prior research, the Tomahawks could not be used at all.
Staff Sergeant Gerald Zachary
Combat Arms
Andersen AFB, Guam
We arrived in Guam just in time to miss Christmas with our families. I am not complaining. There were so many soldiers, airmen and marines on Okinawa the entire island was in danger of sinking into the sea. We had it good on Guam. We were on American soil. There were American stores and fast food right outside the gate. We were all bunked on the gym floor in the Andersen Air Force Base fitness center.
There were worse places to be.
The 16 January deadline was for the folks back home. It was not for us. I mean we are already here ready to go. It’s not like waiting until after Christmas let us be home with our families. The press would have everyone thinking the entire armed forces were enjoying their last days at home over the holidays. The truth was that who was going to fight was already in place.
It was all for the taxpayers and voters. That way they could enjoy their Christmas and maybe get in a little after Christmas shopping in before the bullets started flying. The economy depended on Christmas. A fact I never understood until after 911.
The chow hall at Andersen did not messing around. If you walked in there with flip flops on and they kicked you out. If you walked in there with your PT gear on and you’re sweaty and they kicked you out. I watched these little islander ladies kick out full bird Colonels before.
The President and some of the Joint Chiefs were working the chow line on Christmas Day. It was a big public affairs campaign, but it meant good food for us and maybe a chance to be on television. They had things backwards, probably because the DVs were doing the serving, and you started with the cranberry sauce and worked your way up to the turkey.
They had a NCO food services guy working the knife on the turkey. I wondered if the Secret Service had to vet the guy with that big a knife right next to the most powerful man in the world. Probably not. I suppose you’ve got to trust somebody sometime.
Anyway the President was working the mashed potatoes. He slung the chow like he’d been doing it all his life. He even put a little dent in the top of the potatoes before he put the gravy on.
You can’t teach that.
Major Wesley Clinton
B-52 Aircraft Commander
Andersen AFB, Guam
“Ladies and gentlemen our business is killing and business is good!”
That’s how the general started his brief. It got us pumped up.
The entire room cheered.
“I won’t lie to you about what we’re up against. This is going to be the hardest fight of your life.” He said.
Okay I’m listening.
“Look to the man sitting on either side of you.” When we saw that he was serious we all did so. Maybe we were going to hug it out next. “One of you will be dead when this whole thing is over.”
What the fuck?
I looked
The Tomahawk was not included in the operational planning at all. The Navy planners had no faith in it. I saw all these things being demilled and dumped in a military boneyard somewhere after this thing was over.
Still they were planning on using the beast. That was clear from the extensive mapping that took place during the buildup. Unlike a ballistic missile, the Tomahawks required a full flight plan like an airplane to reach a target. So the Defense Mapping Agency spent the time from the beginning of the embargo to the first week of January working 24-hour days producing digital maps of Vietnam. The missile relied on terrain mapping. It was a limitation of the weapon. The Tomahawk required every target area to be comprehensively mapped from space. Without that prior research, the Tomahawks could not be used at all.
Staff Sergeant Gerald Zachary
Combat Arms
Andersen AFB, Guam
We arrived in Guam just in time to miss Christmas with our families. I am not complaining. There were so many soldiers, airmen and marines on Okinawa the entire island was in danger of sinking into the sea. We had it good on Guam. We were on American soil. There were American stores and fast food right outside the gate. We were all bunked on the gym floor in the Andersen Air Force Base fitness center.
There were worse places to be.
The 16 January deadline was for the folks back home. It was not for us. I mean we are already here ready to go. It’s not like waiting until after Christmas let us be home with our families. The press would have everyone thinking the entire armed forces were enjoying their last days at home over the holidays. The truth was that who was going to fight was already in place.
It was all for the taxpayers and voters. That way they could enjoy their Christmas and maybe get in a little after Christmas shopping in before the bullets started flying. The economy depended on Christmas. A fact I never understood until after 911.
The chow hall at Andersen did not messing around. If you walked in there with flip flops on and they kicked you out. If you walked in there with your PT gear on and you’re sweaty and they kicked you out. I watched these little islander ladies kick out full bird Colonels before.
The President and some of the Joint Chiefs were working the chow line on Christmas Day. It was a big public affairs campaign, but it meant good food for us and maybe a chance to be on television. They had things backwards, probably because the DVs were doing the serving, and you started with the cranberry sauce and worked your way up to the turkey.
They had a NCO food services guy working the knife on the turkey. I wondered if the Secret Service had to vet the guy with that big a knife right next to the most powerful man in the world. Probably not. I suppose you’ve got to trust somebody sometime.
Anyway the President was working the mashed potatoes. He slung the chow like he’d been doing it all his life. He even put a little dent in the top of the potatoes before he put the gravy on.
You can’t teach that.
Major Wesley Clinton
B-52 Aircraft Commander
Andersen AFB, Guam
“Ladies and gentlemen our business is killing and business is good!”
That’s how the general started his brief. It got us pumped up.
The entire room cheered.
“I won’t lie to you about what we’re up against. This is going to be the hardest fight of your life.” He said.
Okay I’m listening.
“Look to the man sitting on either side of you.” When we saw that he was serious we all did so. Maybe we were going to hug it out next. “One of you will be dead when this whole thing is over.”
What the fuck?
I looked
Similar Books
