Spread Too Thin?

All Rights Reserved © 2003 by Girad Clacy

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

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Contents

Introduction

C H A P T E R 1

C H A P T E R 2

C H A P T E R 3

C H A P T E R 4

C H A P T E R 5

C H A P T E R 6

C H A P T E R 7

C H A P T E R 8

C H A P T E R 9

C H A P T E R IO

C H A P T E R 11

C H A P T E R 13

C H A P T E R 14

C H A P T E R 15

C H A P T E R I6

About the Author

This book is dedicated to the United States Navy’s Silent Service members. In the Silent Service, you are what keep the world from destroying itself. The entire civilian population thanks you profusely every day that we are able to greet the morning sun.

The Silent Service provides a first strike capability and a DETERRENT to other countries. Beware, the United States may be lurking off your coast with a deadly cargo to unload if the call comes in. We as civilians sleep underneath the very blanket of freedom that the Silent Service provides. Keep up the good work now and into the future.

Introduction

When writing this book, I have used some acronyms that may or may not make sense to the reader. If you are the lay person or someone who has never been in the military or around military personnel, I have provided a list of the acronyms that I have used and what they stand for. This should help the reader understand what is going on and whom I am referring to at that time.

CINCLANTFLT—Commander-in-chief Atlantic Fleet Forces

CINCPACFLT—Commander-in-chief Pacific Fleet Forces

SACPACFLT—Supreme Allied Commander, Pacific Fleet Forces

COMSUBLANT—Commander Submarine Forces Atlantic Fleet

SACLANT—Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic Fleet Forces

COMSUBPACFLT—Commander, Submarine Forces Pacific Fleet

J.C.S.—Joint Chiefs of Staff

COMNAVSUBBASEPEARL—Commander Naval Submarine Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

COMNAVSUPCENTPEARL—Commander, Naval Supply Center Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

COMNAVWPSTATIONPEARL—Commander Naval Weapons Station, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

CNO—Chief of Naval Operations

CWO—Chief Warrant Officer

CHENG—Chief Engineering Officer

MPA—Main Propulsion Assistant

Linebacker—The position an attack submarine takes to defend itself and the pro-tectee which is usually an SSBN.

ASR—Auxiliary Submarine Rescue ship.

ARS—Auxiliary Recovery and Salvage ship.

C H A P T E R 1

As the last years of the Cold War ended, many Soviet manufactured SS-22’s, mobile missile launchers carrying ICBM’s, were deployed to remote areas of the USSR. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, these mobile missile launchers were sent to various dismantling stations. One of those dismantling stations was in the remote mountains inside the Commonwealth of Independent State Georgia. This dismantling station was located several kilometers from the city of Kirova-kan near Lake Sevan. Although security was good at the dismantling facility, many of the SS-22’s were never dismantled. At this facility, 60 of these SS-22’s were still intact with all launch codes and targets still programmed into their memory banks. With only a few guards around the facility, a keen Iraqi eye was placed on this facility.

In the early weeks of February, a train that had been carrying some 360,000 liters of crude oil to various countries inside of the Commonwealth of Independent States rumbled along the tracks. The engineer looked out the window of the train to see a sign coming up. The sign read GORI. For the engineer, he looked at his gauges, being satisfied that the train had enough fuel to last until he reached Kars, Turkey. There, if the weapons inspectors found nothing unusual, it would be a short trip to the homeland. Ever since leaving Iraq with an elite Iraqi commando unit aboard, the engineer had prayed to Allah every hour.

The tracks glistened in the trains’ headlights. The engineer slowed down coming into the city of Gori. Once he was through the city of Gori, he followed the Kura River for a short distance to the city of Tbilisi. As he approached the city of Tbilisi, he slowed down once more. The inspectors were coming aboard before leaving the country. As the engineer stopped the train, he looked around to see the familiar armed guards checking the train out. He reached above him for the manifest logs of the journey. A young lieutenant stepped up onto the train, opened the door and spoke Arabic to the Iraqi.

Can I see your manifest logs? he asked.

Here you are, replied the Iraqi in Russian.

The Iraqi handed the lieutenant the manifest logs. The Russian looked them over carefully, then handed them back.

Looks like you did a good run this time.

With people still wanting crude oil, you’re our best buyers.

Yeah, and with the prices your country charges, you’re in a good business.

They both started laughing as the lieutenant exited the train, giving the order to open the gates at the other end of the railway yard. The gates opened, as the engineer moved the throttle controls to the 10 position. After clearing the city of Tbilisi, the train was moved onto a track that would turn it southward towards the city of Kirovabad. As the train rumbled down the rails, the commando unit was checking and double-checking its gear.

The elite Iraqi commando unit was composed of highly trained men chosen by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein some 15 years ago. They started training for the day when they would take possession of nuclear weapons. As a third world country, that would make them a world leader, forcing the Western world to recognize them as an equal. For years, with United Nations weapons inspectors touring the country, Iraq had been working on its own nuclear program. The nuclear power plant at Al Qurna was able to produce weapons grade Plutonium in small quantities. However, with pressures from the Western world about weapons inspections, Saddam Hussein gave into them in late 1999. Only the week before, Saddam Hussein had made sure that this elite Iraqi commando unit knew what their objective was; the dismantling facility. Using dart guns loaded with tranquilizers, this Iraqi commando unit was to break into this dismantling facility, acquire 10 SS-22’s and return to Iraq. Saddam Hussein didn’t want to kill people unnecessarily if it could be done. The tranquilizer guns were the perfect weapons for this job.

Once inside of Iraq, five of these SS-22’s would be kept for themselves. The other five would be deployed by rail to the North Koreans who had outfitted them with weapons, some training in guerrilla warfare and food. It was the food that was disagreeing with the Iraqi’s very much. As they were checking their gear, the second in command of the unit looked at the unit leader. Speaking in Arabic to one another, the men conversed for a short time.

I have been praying to Allah since we left the homeland, said the second in command.

I have done the same thing. This is a really dangerous mission. A hundred things could go wrong at any time, replied the unit leader.

I know. We have come this far, we should be within sight of our goal.

Yes. Are the rest of the men ready?

Yes. They too have been praying to Allah since we left.

Patience, we are almost there.

The train rumbled along the countryside. After clearing the city of Kirovabad, the train went west for a short time, turning to the north. There was snow falling as the train started to skirt Lake Sevan. At 02:00 hours on a Friday night, the train came to a stop at a little passenger station just five kilometers from the dismantling facility. The engineer radioed ahead that he was having trouble with the engine. He estimated a time delay of a few hours at most for repairs. Nervously he walked backed to the third engine. He opened the door, grabbing a piece of pipe; he banged on the next door three times.

This banging signaled the beginning of the mission. The men moved into action quickly. The door opened as Iraqi soldiers were expelled in all directions; they prayed even more often to Allah for this mission to go right. The snow was going to hide their approach and if the intelligence reports were accurate, the dismantling facility should be about unguarded for the weekend. For them, it meant that maybe they could be well into Iraq before the missing missiles were reported. The commando unit ran off into the forest headed towards the dismantling facility. With no moon and no stars, they had to navigate using the lights reflecting off the clouds. The lights were coming from the dismantling facility itself. The distance seemed a lot farther in the dark, than when they had trained in their own mountains.

Meanwhile, at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, a report from Iraq had been decoded. After being sent to Karen Sommerfield’s office for review and filing, the message would be put into a special file on Iraq. Karen Sommerfield wasn’t there when the message came in. She was in the gym lifting weights. Her toned, trimmed body was glistening with sweat from the workout she was doing. The shirt she was wearing was soaked with sweat; the wetness outlined her nipples and flattened stomach. When the workout was completed, she showered, dressed into her clothes for work and went to her office. As she entered her office, her secretary turned to look at her.

Good morning. Your friend from the Middle East called, she said, pointing at the sealed envelope on the desk.

Thank you. What did it say? asked Karen.

I wouldn’t know. Remember, I’m not supposed to read those particular notes that come to you.

Thanks, said Karen as she picked up the envelope.

After entering her office, she opened up the envelope, removing the contents. The message was from her contact in the Middle East. The message said, ELITE IRAQI COMMANDO UNIT WAS DEPLOYED TO THE MOUNTAINS OUTSIDE OF TIKRIT. COMMANDO UNIT HAS NOT REPORTED IN AS OF YET. WILL SEND MORE INFORMATION AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE. Karen reread the message, then filed it into a growing file folder labeled IRAN/IRAQ/KUWAIT. She didn’t think much of the message again.

The weather had turned for the worse on the Iraqi commando unit. The weather had turned from snow to a bone chilling wind. As they approached the electric fence, they could see the SS-22’s standing all in neat rows of 10. They had been lightly dusted with snow, looking much like a child’s toy left outside in winter. There were searchlights roaming the grounds; the Iraqis could count at least eight patrols of heavily armed men. The commando unit leader waited patiently until the patrols had passed by before signaling all was normal.

The first part of the exercise was over. They had made it to the electric fence without being spotted. In the still of the night air, with only a few puffs of wind, the commando unit could hear the crackle of electricity. As a lone Iraqi ran up to the fence, he reached inside of the bag he was carrying. Withdrawing a pair of heavy-duty electrical gloves, he pulled out three pieces of metal with wire wrapped around them. Large metal clamps were attached to these wires and pieces of metal. A sign in Russian warned that the fence was electrified with high voltage.

The Iraqi commando unit leader signaled that all was still normal as the metal pieces were pushed into the ground as far as they would go. The crackle of the electric fence didn’t bother the Iraqi as much as the heat it was giving off that alarmed him. After placing the large clamps on the fence, the electricity was cut-off at that point on the fence. Taking off his rubber gloves, he pulled out a simple ammeter to check for electricity. Finding none, he waved a fist at the commando leader. The commando leader moved the next personnel into position.

Another group of Iraqis moved into position with bolt cutters, snipping at the fence until a hole was made wide enough to allow them all through. Now that the third part of the plan was completed and entry gained without detection, five separate waves of commandos moved into position. One wave was to take out the patrols using the dart guns, another wave moved in towards the barracks to take out reinforcements with Halothane™ canisters that they had brought along. There were still other waves that were to take out alarms and other unforeseen problems. The last wave was the drivers, who would drive the 10 SS-22’s to the loading platform just five kilometers away.

As the commando unit moved in, an alarm went off. The sound sent shivers down the commando unit’s spines. The alarm, however, was quickly silenced. The alarm, triggered by a pressure sensor near the SS-22’s, was disabled as well. The alarm operator, asleep from the dart that had been put into him at close range, had left his computer terminal active and logged in. The Iraqi in charge of taking out the alarm system pushed the sleeping Russian out of the chair. Quickly he typed a simple message, downloading it to the monitoring station at Tbilisi. He typed: ALARM ACTIVATED BY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL ACCIDENTLY. REPAIRS ARE IN PROGRESS. ESTIMATED DOWNTIME 2 HOURS AT MOST. WILL KEEP YOU UPDATED. SIGNING OFF NOW. At the push of a button, the message was sent to the monitoring station.

Now, with the dismantling facility safely asleep, the awe-struck Iraqis looked at the SS-22’s with reverence. Allah had indeed been good to them up to this point. The gates were quickly opened to allow the SS-22’s out of the compound. The drivers were the only ones left out of the original commando unit. The others were instructed to go back to the loading platform. Once they arrived at the platform, the specially designed tanker cars opened up their sides to allow the SS-22’s to be driven in. Now that the journey was almost over, the Iraqi commando unit breathed a little easier. After the last paint job had been put onto the resealed tanker cars, the Iraqis climbed aboard the train, going back into their hidden compartments. The leader of the Iraqi commando unit picked up a metal bar. He banged the metal bar on the railing of the front engine.

To the engineer, it was a signal to get out of the area. Wasting no time, the engineer moved the throttle controls to the 30 position. As the train picked up more speed, it placed distance from the dismantling facility. The engineer informed Tbilisi that repairs were completed and that the train was moving once again. The Iraqis prayed more to Allah now than ever. They prayed that they wouldn’t get caught at the check station on the border. The engineer moved the throttle controls to the 50 position, which was maximum speed for the area.

After years of training and preparation, the mission was a success. The Iraqis now had in their possession land-mobile ICBM’s. Now the Western world would have to heed the fact that a third world nation now had nuclear capabilities. The downtime of the dismantling facility worried the Russians in the local area. When more than four hours had elapsed, the somewhat sluggish Russian typed a message to say that he had fallen asleep at the computer. It wasn’t until some days later that the missing SS-22’s were reported to the Russian government in Moscow.

The Russian government looked into the matter with serious interest. The Soviet Missile Defense Commander, General Vladimir Petrov, was inspecting the facility where no one wanted to take responsibility for the problem. A close inspection revealed the access hole in the fence, the disabled personnel from exposure to Halothane™, etc. All the information gained in the investigation pointed to one thing; an elite commando unit. After completing the inspection of the facility, several divisions of men were left to guard the facility from further intrusions.

In Iraq, the tanker cars were divided at Tikrit. Five of the tanker cars were sent on their way to North Korea. The remaining tanker cars were shuttled to a remote location in the mountains outside of Tikrit. The Iraqi commando unit reappeared from their training. Another message was sent to Karen who merely filed it away. In a deep underground bunker, the tanker cars were pushed past rows and rows of Soviet T-80 main battle tanks, Soviet Surface-to-Air missile batteries, anti-tank devices, etc.

The cars soon came to a halt at the end of the row. As the engineer stopped the train, he stepped down from the train. Next to the train were special platforms for the SS-22’s, the greatest military piece of firepower ever developed. As the engineer walked out of the bunker, a team of Iraqis started to cut the tanker cars apart. The bunker was filled with smoke and the sound of metal crashing against itself was audible. The last tanker car was opened, being gutted; the metal fell to the floor. The Iraqis looked at the ominous tractor-trailers carrying nuclear warheads on them.

The doors at the other end of the bunker opened slowly. A group of cars entered, the door was quickly shut behind them. The first car came to a halt in front of the Iraqi military leaders. Saddam Hussein stepped out of the car, looking past the military leaders at his new prize possessions. He surveyed them quietly, saluting the general in charge of the bunker. Saddam Hussein looked at the general, speaking Arabic to him.

Your men have done well. Now, we make our move on Kuwait tonight, he said.

Success, sir.

Start moving all of this equipment down the tunnels towards Baghdad. Halt them at the palace entrance. Your years of digging these tunnels will not go unnoticed. Kuwait will be ours once again.

And what of the Americans?

They will back right down when they see what we have in our possession.

If not?

Then they will die for their country. I have enough firepower sitting here to take them out of the sky and hurt them on land.

I will do as you command, sir.

Start tonight.

Yes, sir.

The two saluted one another as Saddam Hussein stepped back into his car, driving off. He wanted so much to call a press conference, but that would jeopardize his situation. He would know when the time was right for the announcement. As he drove towards Baghdad, he smiled as he saw the look of horror on the Western world. He looked at his watch, noting that the