John Ringo - Islands of Rage and Hope

“No, sir,” the colonel said. “Shortly before my time.”

“It was, from all reports, an absolute cluster fuck,” Smith said. “But the U.S. military learned from it. So was much of the Aussie response to the Indonesian quake, which I was in on. But we learned from it. The point is that the U.S. military got so good that it was expected to be able to perform any mission, anywhere, under any circumstances, and get it right, first time, every time. Which, surprisingly enough it was able to for some values of ‘right.’ An example is the essentially ‘green’ units in the first and second invasions of Iraq who performed like veterans . Do you know how historically insane that is, Colonel?”

“Yes, sir, I do,” Colonel Hamilton said. “I read a paper on it from CGSC and had to agree with the conclusions.”

“Which was the amount and reality of training,” Smith said. “I think we read the same paper. The problem being, we no longer have the luxury that the DOD did to do that amount and reality of training. We don’t even have blanks much less MILES gear, Simunitions, AirSoft, entire bases like Polk devoted solely to as realistic training as possible, et cetera. And we don’t have the months that it takes or the people to do the training. We may occasionally get the false impression that things are going well. One look at a satellite map tells a different story. The entire world is bleeding every moment of every day. We have word that there are some other groups, similar if less organized and still out of contact, doing something similar in other areas. But they are smaller and, as noted, disorganized and not in contact. They also don’t have our resources and aren’t close enough—they’re in the Pacific—to get to them to help. We cannot afford six months of training to get your Marines to the elite level of pre-Plague Marine infantry. Even if we could do so with a group that is mostly composed of ‘fobbit’ MOS’s. I don’t think anyone questions the ability, in this world and our missions, of my daughter in terms of lethality and ability…”

“No, sir,” Hamilton said.

“But she wouldn’t have stood a chance in Marine Infantry Officer Course,” Steve said. “I take it you agree with that as well?”

“Yes, sir,” Hamilton said, shrugging. “Sorry, sir, but as good as Lieutenant Smith is—”

“She is both thirteen and female,” Smith said. “She might have made it through entry qual, with some training and if she was fully grown. I doubt she’d make it all the way through the course. No woman had prior to the Plague. I know how tough it was. Nonetheless, she has shown her ability to lead and fight in this environment.”

“Agreed, sir,” Hamilton said. “She is even…flexible, sir. She reacted extremely well to the change of mission to a night attack and sweep. Her…methods raised some question of favoritism towards the Marines who were from the Iwo Jima …”

“Official questions?” Smith asked.

“Unofficial, sir,” Hamilton said. “And I stomped on them. The lieutenant’s methods were mostly proven by the results, sir. The Marines from Guantanamo were under-trained for this mission and it showed. I’m considering a change to the TOE based upon it.”

“If I may, sir,” Gunny Sands said. “Let me have them for a week and then we’ll look at it, sir.”

“Agreed, Gunny,” Hamilton said. “A Marine officer should not show any weakness, but I can honestly say I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’ll get ’em dialed in, sir,” Sands said.

“I needed him to organize the helo unit,” Smith said, shrugging. “It was necessary, then. But Januscheitis has it well in hand at this point. Another example of critical personnel. At this point the gunny would have to be caught with a dead boy in his bed.”

“That ain’t gonna be an issue, sir,” Gunny Sands said, grinning. “I’ll get ’em dialed in,” he repeated.

“The point to this discussion is that, much as with the vaccine production and beginning clearance of the continents, we simply have to do the best with what we have,” Steve said. “And we have to accept that perfection is simply going to be unobtainable. So we maximize what we have , both in terms of materials and personnel. Which means that the competent people we have are always going to find themselves having to do more and more. And one aspect of that is, sometimes, selection .

“Gunny, this is not disrespect to the Marine Corps. In any group of people there are those who are better at some jobs and less so at others. I threw every Marine I had into the breach from the time we found Hooch to now because I had to. I still would prefer to. Clearance is the number one issue after finding the materials for a vaccine. But if any of them are determined to be either truly incompetent at clearance or just too difficult to get trained to do it…we’ll find somewhere they can help. And I’m not just discussing Decker and Condrey. If they cannot be trusted to keep their damned finger off the trigger, after reasonably sufficient training, I do not want them trying to clear liners. In the distant past the infantry was the place you put your incompetents. That is not the case in Wolf Squadron’s Marines. The clearance personnel will be our best . That’s an order.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” Gunny Sands said.

“That goes for NCOs as well,” Steve said. “I can’t imagine a Marine NCO who is truly incompetent at battle, but if any of them cannot handle battle management…we’ll find somewhere for them. That does include Staff Sergeant Decker.”

“We’ve been…managing the staff sergeant, sir,” Hamilton said. “For example, he’s excellent at ensuring all sterile protocols are followed with the astronauts.”

“Do you have to keep to this harbor while the astronauts recover?”

“Not really, sir,” Hamilton said. “We can float with them as cargo.”

“We just added an island to your operation,” Steve said.

“Which one, sir?” Hamilton asked.

“Sint Eustatius,” Smith said. “It’s on the list after you check Saba. And we’ll need Sint Eustatius as clear as this one.”

“The oil storage point,” Hamilton said.

“You noticed,” Steve said. “Yes. When you’re approaching it, we’ll send down a POL and security team to secure it and get it into operation. Probably permanently, or at least as long as the materials hold out.”

“It’s primarily unprocessed crude, though,” Hamilton said. “Isn’t it, sir?”

“No,” Steve said. “Yes, by volume. But there are also supplies of diesel, aviation, gas and even bunker C. Assuming the stuff hasn’t leaked or something. And large stores, larger than Gitmo. At last report, which was pre-Plague. There are two other facilities like it in the Caribbean but that is the only one in the Leeward Islands and the largest on the smallest island. So securing it is important. It’s going to be a long time before we’re pumping crude again, much less refining it.”

“Yes, sir,” Hamilton said, making a note.

“We’ll punch the team down on the Pit Stop when you get to Saba,” Steve said. “And that covers all the major issues. I suppose I should go talk to our visitors…”

“Hello,” Steve said, looking through the plexiglass and using the external mike. “I’m Captain Smith, U.S. Navy and acting Atlantic Fleet Commander. Hope my people are treating you folks well?”

“Just fine, sir,” Commander Daniels said, sitting up in his chair. “Better than we’d had any reason to expect, sir. Really appreciate the hospitality.”