Pentagon Situation Room, Sub-level D, 2300 hr Zulu/1800 hr EST

In the sub-level sanctuary thousands of miles away an Army communications corporal received the SATCOM message instantly.

"Copy BEARCAT, bombs away, SILVERDOME out," the young female corporal responded.  The information was quickly relayed through her section officer to the operations staff, then to the War Room Commanding Officer.  Various sections relayed data this way to the CO. Commander Valentine Franklin, former F-14 driver, mid thirties, athletic African-American.

He ran his multi-million-dollar Situation Room like a well-oiled machine; the personnel he hand picked for the various positions.  High stress was the norm around here.  During normal days, the Situation Room was staffed with minimum personnel needed for updates of Armed Forces movements around the globe.  When situations around the world arose Commander Franklin and his team would step into high gear compiling information from across the globe and from every alphabet soup agency in the government to keep the J2, Joint Chiefs of Staff's Intelligence Office, need deep in timely situation reports.

Since the beginning of the current crisis he could he ran his staff in to the ground evident by the empty coffee cups, soda cans, and micro-wave able food carton strewn all over the place.  Cleaning services were halted the moment a crisis began.  A reporter once did a story that you could tell what the government thought was a crisis situation regardless to the outward appearances was to query every takeout joint surrounding key government facilities.  During Panama, the Gulf War, and Somalia takeout orders skyrocketed at the commencement of the crisis, a clear giveaway those different government services were staying in.  Since then a large self-serve cafeteria, mostly microwave meals and fresh fruits, was install next to the Situation Room for its personnel as to not tip anyone off when crises began.

The Commander watched the Situation Board letting all the data flood his mind.  Where once Intelligence personnel with croupier sticks plotted movement using sand table models and a plotting table with miniature replications of military assets.  Now all that was done with the use of the SITUATION BOARD.  A dedicated super computer tasked with combining data from different sources, from satellites to direct inputs from Situation Room personnel displayed on a flat screen television, a scaled down model the size of a pool table and various desktop computers.  Information about weather, Naval movements, troop movements, and any data queried showed up on the Situation Board.

The main entrance opened and in walked a sternly demander older man, tall and fit, his weathered skin did not reveal his age of seventy-two.  Retired Lieutenant General Horacio Claques looked the spitting image of Charleton Heston in the Shwarzenegger movie True Lies, including the patch over the left eye.  Chomping on his unlit trademark cigar the general handed his overcoat to a private who had rushed over.  Feeling the overly air-conditioned, he quickly decided against taking off his tuxedo jacket.  The room was a buzz with activity masking his entrance.  The general made his way over to the commander.

" Good-evening commander," the general said.  Realizing the general's presence the commander motioned his staff away.

" Good-evening to you General Claques.  I hope the Inaugural Ball was to your liking."

General Claque never liked the DC elite.  His boss, the Director of Central Intelligence, Robert Brinkman, asked him to attend.  The invitation was one where you couldn’t say no.  He stayed at the Ball the obligatory time required and prepared to leave only to have his wife throw a monkey wrench into his plan.  She reveled at these events; she had given up so much through out his career that in situations where he could please her he always did.  After a while, he compromised and left her to hobnob in his place having his driver return once he was dropped off.   

The General cut the pleasantries and cut to the chase.  “ Sitrep.”  A sergeant moved to light his cigar; he waved him off.  He would get an earful for leaving his wife alone, he sure didn’t want her to smell the cigar smoke on him and her get riled up even more.

            Commander Franklin motioned to the Situation Board.  “SHORTSTOP and BATBOY are have disembarked and will be on the ground in a few.”  Quickly the general’s hand shot up and motioned him to stop.  “Give it to me in English son.  I don’t have enough brain cells left to remember all those goddamn call-signs Colonel Murphy came up with.”

The commander began again.  “ SEAL TEAM SIX Gold and Blue and one of your operatives have disembarked the plane and will be on the ground shortly.”  He moved to another location.  “ The Rangers and the 101st Pathfinder are on the ground at FIRSTBASE waiting for the rest of the 101^st and DELTA to land.”  He pointed to another part of the display.  FORCE RECON has THIRDBASE secured and is awaiting ANGLICO.  General Claques looked the Situation Board over listening to the updates.

            This Op was the first time SOCOM; Special Operations Command was lead architect on the planning and coordinating of Operation DESERT WIND.  Southern Command would be over all command.  The plan was three fold first Operation STOLEN BASES.  This op had two separate rescue attempts.  ANGLICO would attempt a rescue on a hotel where the UN inspectors were being held.  UN inspectors had been given a locator beacon hidden inside pagers to be activated in situations as this one.  One was activated.  The CIA confirmed the twenty-four hostages were there.  The hotel was within a mile of the airport and twelve miles of Selama a small city.  An Army Special Forces a.k.a. GREEN BERET team was inserted near the hotel to get live updates and intelligence to ANGLICO. ANGLICO and a contingent from the 24^th MEU/SOC would seize the hotel and the surrounding area with ANGLICO conducting the rescue. Super Cobras would provide Close Air Support while Harriers would be on standby if needed. The second rescue would be conducted by DELTA and Army Rangers and backed up by a Task Force of Apaches and the new Comanche attack/scout choppers from the 101^st. Their assignment was to rescue the crew of an American EF-111 Raven reconnaissance aircraft that was being held at an Iraqi base. Four days prior the Raven was on a recon mission when it developed mechanical difficulties, while trying to return to base in Turkey the where hit by a SAM. The crew safely ejected only to be captured once on the ground. A quick thinking team from National Imagrey Mapping Agency tasked an available satellite to follow the crew to where they were now held. Another GREEN BERET team was inserted into the area and from camouflaged hide sites around the base would give intelligence reports.

                        The second operation STOLEN DREAMS was the exfiltration of CIA assets and their dependents.  The CIA had well agents in Iraq, some were generals, and others were politicians and everyday people. During this current situation these agents asked to be taken away from Iraq. It seemed that Saddam was conducting a purge of his military and political party prior to the coup. He expanded it to the civilian population. Saddam had a keen sense he knew this was coming; no one knew why he couldn’t stop this one in time as he’d stopped the ones before. In the event that he won this round these twelve agents and twenty-eight family members did not want to be around to see his wrath.  Elements of SEAL TEAM SIX and two operatives from SOAG entered Iraq a week before. They had contacted all the agents and initiated the extraction process. Another operative of SOAG would meet the inserted team and the remaining elements of SEAL TEAM SIX to assure their departure.

            There was two ways to look at this situation. One was that the US was risking soldiers and equipment for traitors to their country. Second when word spread around the world about the risks the US were willing to endure for their intelligence assets, it would give US Intelligence officers credibility they’d not have had in along time when it came to recruiting new marks. The intelligence gathering efforts in Iraq, just coming to bare fruit after ten year, would be hampered for the long term.     

            The third Op STEEL HAMMER had a defensive and/or an offensive makeup. The defensive portion had Naval and Airforce warplanes, during extraction of American elements on the ground, striking key targets making the ground element departure easier. The offensive portion, if implemented by the President, would target the core infrastructure of Iraq making it totally useless, everything short of nuclear would be utilized.

            B2 Stealth Bombers and F117 Stealth Fighters were a major part of that plan, it would the first time that B2’s be used in combat. Gen. Claques opinioned against such a plan, but the President wanted a contingency in case something happened to the UN inspectors, or if everything went to hell. He wanted a message to be sent about his willingness to defend the UN Peacekeeping Forces around the globe and of the new President   

            Commander Franklin stopped speaking as an update was received. “ANGLICO is in route to FIRST BASE,” he continued. “101^st is inbound for landing the should be on the ground twenty minutes.” Commander Franklin saw the door open and three-guest walk in. General Randolph Walker, Commander In Chief Southern Command, CINC-SOUTHCOM, General Michael Simmons, CINC-SOCOM, and Major General Stanley Xavier CO of the XVIII Airborne Corps, he controlled about forty percent of the divisional strength in the USA.

“All STEEL HAMMER flights are on station awaiting signal to commence BLUNT FORCE, defensive attack, or BLUNT IMPACT, offensive attack. At 0200 HR GMT if the ground forces were not departing BLUNT IMPACT would commence automatically”

The staffs of the Generals attended to them and filled them in on all the intel relating to their commands then the overall sitrep.