Dale Brown - Act of War

“That’s five percent a month!” Collins exclaimed. “It can’t be done!”

“It can and it must, for the sake of our nation,” Chamberlain said. “If we don’t get volunteers, we should consider drafting citizens to do it—not drafting citizens to go in the military, but drafting them to serve their country to help in the war on terror. High school graduates and everyone between the ages of eighteen and thirty will be required to do at least one year of paid government work in a field of their choice, and will then be required to work at least four weeks per year until age sixty…”

“Where in the world is this idea coming from, Chamberlain?” Collins retorted.

“Israel has been doing a similar program for decades, and it is highly successful,” Chamberlain said. “The United States could be under siege like Israel if we don’t act.

“I’m proposing a straight volunteer program right now, but I also propose we ramp up the volunteer program so we can increase our manpower by one hundred percent within the next fifteen to twenty-four months,” Chamberlain went on. “I suggest we offer Americorps or G.I. Bill–like incentives for volunteers: credits for home loan programs, tuition rebates, discount Medicare cards, job training opportunities, tax deductions for volunteer expenses, even tax cuts if necessary.

“I also propose bringing home each and every Reserve Force soldier from overseas duty and putting them to work on domestic security tasks,” Chamberlain said. “The National Guard and Reserves were always meant to be there to help protect the American people on American soil, not helping the active-duty troops fight overseas. We should increase pay for the Reserve Forces and strengthen the laws that protect their civilian jobs while they’re away on Reserve duties, even if it means the government pays their salaries for the jobs that were lost.”

“This is insane, Mr. President!” Collins said as she read her copy of the draft. “None of this has been staffed. We won’t be able to address the most basic questions—how much this will cost, who will be accepted, who will be rejected, who will oversee the program, and a million other questions! Legal hasn’t even been alerted that you were going to recommend any of this. We’re not going to get the media and the American people all hot and bothered with this idea and then find it’s not legal or constitutional. You can’t expect the President to make a speech about this tonight without doing the staff work first!”

“Mr. President, I’ve already got my staff doing the basic legal research,” Chamberlain said. “They’ll have their results to me this afternoon in plenty of time to brief you before your speech to the American people at nine P.M. So far there’s nothing we can’t address. The union or civil service status of the volunteers and draftees is a prime concern, but that’s not a barricade. Vicki is overreacting, and as usual she’s erring on the side of extreme caution, which is precisely what we don’t need at this time. What we need is bold, decisive, determined action.”

The President looked over at Collins, who was silently reading the edited speech, shaking her head, a grim expression on her face. “Victoria?”

“I can’t even begin to list the holes in this proposal, Mr. President,” she responded. “Who will assume legal responsibility for the volunteers? How do we work this program into the departments’ budgets? How do we handle information and operational security issues…?”

“That’s all flak, Mr. President,” Chamberlain said. “It’s details. My staff hasn’t uncovered any major glitches in the idea so far. Once the department and congressional staffs jump on this I’m sure they’ll uncover problems, but I’m also sure there won’t be anything that can’t be solved. More important, sir, it shows you doing something positive and proactive. Extreme times call for extreme measures.”

The President finished reading the speech, thought about it for a few moments, then nodded. “Victoria, give this to Communications and have them polish it up and put it out to the staff. I want comments and changes forwarded by four P.M. this afternoon.”

“Do you want the press and Congress to get a whiff?”

“Yes,” the President replied immediately. “The more eyes looking at this proposal, the better. Might as well have as many folks as possible vet this idea—might save our staffs a lot of legwork.”

“Do you want this idea to come from the White House or the office of the national security adviser?” Collins asked. “Since you haven’t had time to think about it, it might be better to give credit for the proposal to Mr. Chamberlain at first.”

“His office and mine are the same,” the President said. “I’ll give credit but take responsibility for the proposal. It’s a good idea, Robert. Thank you.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Chamberlain said.

“Try to give us more of a heads-up next time, but with this Kingman City crisis, everyone is on the run.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

Collins shot Chamberlain an evil glare as she departed the Oval Office. The President read the edited speech over once more, then commented, “I see you scheduled yourself to view some kind of demonstration over at Andrews Air Force Base. What else are you working on, Robert?”

“A demonstration of that manned robotic exoskeleton technology that did that rescue out at Kingman City at Andrews Air Force Base this morning,” Chamberlain replied. “I’m going to propose that we build a unit of those things and put them to work hunting down terrorists.”

“Sounds good.”

“I’m also going to propose that we build a joint task force—the military and the FBI, working together, to hunt down terrorists,” Chamberlain went on. “I want this task force to have the mobility and lethality of a special-ops unit, the striking power of a Marine expeditionary unit, and the legal and investigative capability of the FBI; it should be able to operate worldwide.”

“You don’t believe in thinking small or forming a consensus with your fellow advisers, do you, Robert?” the President commented with a chuckle. “All right, you’re authorized to put together such a task force under the National Security Council’s authority and discretionary budget. Don’t have them do a thing without my express written authorization—they can form, organize, and train together, but they can’t do anything in the field yet. You’re in for an uphill battle on this volunteer program idea, and even more of a turf war over this joint civil-military task force idea. But if anyone can get these programs approved, it’s you.”

“Thank you, Mr. President.”

“Who are you going to propose to lead this joint task force?”

“My aide, Army Command Sergeant Major Raymond Jefferson.”

“Not an officer?”

“Jefferson is the best of the best in special-operations fieldwork, Mr. President,” Chamberlain said. “He’s led both Ranger and Delta Force teams in missions all around the world for almost twenty years. He’s tough, he’s got lots of special-ops experience, and he’s itching to get out of Washington and back into the real world.”

“Who will command?”

“I picked an intelligence agent from the FBI, and I thought of using the officer that developed that manned robot contraption as a cocommander. I’ll meet with both of them this morning at the demonstration.”

“Putting the FBI and the military together like this will be like mixing gasoline and air: Do it right and it produces horsepower; do it wrong, and it…”

“Creates a big explosion. I know, sir,” Chamberlain said. “I’ll make it work.”

“Keep me advised, Robert. And thanks for the hard work.”