1978 film "Time After Time" DVD video:
00:38:53
John Leslie Stevenson: Bless my soul.
H.G. Wells: May I come in?
John Leslie Stevenson: Certainly, certainly. You were literally the last person on earth I expected to see. You've given me quite a turn. Now that I think of it there was no way of preventing the machine from returning I haven't the key.
H.G. Wells: No.
John Leslie Stevenson: You do manage to find the nerve after all - after I tested your machine for you. And how did you manage to track me down once you got here? That was brilliant. We must add detective to your list of accomplishments. You're a regular Sherlock Holmes.
Flight Of The Intruder (1991)
Cole: What do you think?
Grafton: I think we should have another look at that tape.
http://isme.tamu.edu/JSCOPE98/KOENIG98.HTM
MILITARY ETHICS AS THE BASIS FOR THE SENIOR LEADER TO ENSURE THAT MILITARY FORCE IS USED RESPONSIBLY
By DONALD E. KOENIG, JR. LCDR, JAGC, USN NAVAL WAR COLLEGE STRATEGY AND POLICY PROF. C. C. CHADBOURN, 16 MAY 1997
SYNOPSIS
This paper reviews the myriad definitions of military ethics and fashions a definition that is applicable to the unique demands of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It also reviews the ethical conflict of interest inherent in the JCS positions, as Presidential-appointee senior military advisers, as well as military officers. The paper reviews the ethical collapse evident in the aborted resignation en masse by the JCS in August 1967, and reviews two mechanisms available for JCS level senior military leaders to voice ethical opposition to Presidential use-of-force decisions. The paper concludes that a return to a more purely military focus on the part of JCS and senior military leaders will ensure that Presidential force use decisions comport with military ethics requirements.
I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1
II. MILITARY ETHICS ......................................................................................... 3
III. THE ETHICAL CONFLICT FOR THE MOST SENIOR LEADERS ............. 9
IV THE ETHICAL CRISIS OF AUGUST 1967 AMONG THE JCS ............. 13
V. MILITARY MECHANISMS FOR ETHICAL OPPOSITION ........................20
VI. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 25
MILITARY ETHICS AS THE BASIS FOR THE SENIOR LEADER TO ENSURE THAT MILITARY FORCE IS USED RESPONSIBLY
The leak in the dike always starts from within. -- VADM James Bond Stockdale
I. INTRODUCTION
This paper will analyze the critical role that military ethics plays in providing a defensible basis for the most senior military leaders to ensure that the President, as Commander-in-Chief, deploys military forces in a Constitutionally responsible fashion. After surveying the myriad definitions of military ethics offered, the paper will propose a working definition of military ethics tailored for the unique responsibilities of the most senior military leaders -- the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The paper then assesses the peculiar ethical dichotomy facing the members of the JCS: each is both a ranking senior military officer in command of an Armed Service, sworn by oath to the defense of the U.S. Constitution, and each is a principal military advisor to the Commander-in-Chief (often to the same President responsible for selecting the Chief for his present position) and who must loyally defend the military policies of the President before Congress and the public. The obvious potential conflict of ethical interests in these two discrete obligations is analyzed through the JCS’s crisis surrounding their contemplated resignation on August 25, 1967, and the lost opportunities as a result of this difficult episode.
The paper then examines two mechanisms of military ethics offered for military officers in command who oppose the policies proposed by the senior civilian leadership of the Armed Forces, and concludes that one model is preferable for the United States’ JCS to meet their Constitutional obligations and, thereby, ensure that the use of American military forces promulgated by the Commander-in-Chief is a militarily ethical choice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_1967
August 1967
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following events occurred in August 1967:
August 25, 1967 (Friday)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee that the bombing of North Vietnam, the policy advocated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would not bring about peace negotiations and that "enemy operations in the south cannot, on the basis of reports I have seen, be stopped by air bombardment". According to a 1989 book by historian Mark Perry, the JCS Chief of Staff, General Earle Wheeler, called an emergency meeting of the chiefs of staff and the group decided that they should call a press conference for August 26 to announce their resignations, the military leaders reversed themselves the next day because it would give the appearance of a mutiny.
http://isme.tamu.edu/JSCOPE98/KOENIG98.HTM
MILITARY ETHICS AS THE BASIS FOR THE SENIOR LEADER TO ENSURE THAT MILITARY FORCE IS USED RESPONSIBLY
By DONALD E. KOENIG, JR. LCDR, JAGC, USN NAVAL WAR COLLEGE STRATEGY AND POLICY PROF. C. C. CHADBOURN, 16 MAY 1997
One week later, on August 25, 1967, Defense Secretary McNamara was called before the same subcommittee, and grilled over the rejection of the JCS advice. McNamara testified that the President had rejected the JCS recommendation, as was his right and prerogative, and that the Administration’s program of gradualization and disruption of the re-supply routes into the South was both correct and proving to be very effective:
“As long as October 1965,” he (Senator Howard Cannon, D-Nev,) said, these targets . . . were unanimously recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I am wondering whether or not you have confidence in the members of the Joint Chiefs . . ., and just what the reason is their recommendations on military matters and military targets are not followed.” I replied that “the Constitution gives the responsibility of Commander in Chief to a civilian, the President, and I am sure it didn’t intend that he would exercise that by following blindly the recommendations of his military advisers. So you must assume that under the Constitution, it was recognized that the President would act contrary to his advisers at times. “The Constitution,” I went on, “recognizes that other factors than the narrow military factors must be taken into account by the Commander in Chief in making decisions in this area, and that, of course, is exactly what has happened.”
The impact of this public repudiation of the JCS’s advice, as well as the throwing down of the gauntlet that the President would accept or reject the counsel of the JCS as he saw fit, was profound within the JCS:
The JCS was stunned. Not only had McNamara ignored the CIA’s report, he had dismissed the most important JCS contention: that a successful conclusion could only be gained by shutting off supplies to the North, not to the South . . . . * * * * The highest ranking officers now believed that they had been betrayed by their civilian leaders, that the war could not continue without an irrational loss of American lives, and that, given McNamara’s bad-faith defense of a clearly discredited strategy, there was little reason to hope for an eventual American victory.
JCS Chairman Wheeler recognized that the situation was grave between the JCS and the White House, and that the JCS must act:
Within hours of the testimony, Wheeler realized that in order to convince the American people that the tenuous consensus on the war between the nation’s elected leaders and it’s military officers had been shattered, he would have to convince all the JCS members to make their break public. . . .For Wheeler, it was paramount that the public event . . . shift the public debate from an argument over the scope to an argument over the type of American involvement in Vietnam. * * * * On the late afternoon of August 25, Wheeler presented his plan to the rest of the JCS. The meeting was unprecedented. Not only did it not take place in the tank, Wheeler barred all JCS aides and did not allow anyone to take notes. . . .His next step was even more unusual, When the chiefs convened in his office, he asked each of them to pledge that what they were about to discuss would be kept strictly secret as long as any of them remained alive; they agreed. . . .Wheeler said he believed they should resign “en masse” during a press conference to be held the next morning. The chiefs weren’t shocked; the idea had come up during informal discussions over a period of three months. Now, though, the talk was serious.
After three hours of intense soul-searching, the Chiefs agreed to resign en masse the following morning because of their professional and ethical objections to the conduct of the war. The simple conclusion reached by the JCS should have been determinative of their conduct: Continuation of the current military strategy and policy would not bring about a victorious conclusion to the war and, failure to alter radically the policy, strategy, and intensity of the war would perpetuate both the combat and the fatalities unnecessarily -- both among American servicemembers and Vietnamese citizens. The ethical imperative to act to prevent this policy from continuing was compelling. The JCS decided that they would call a news conference and explain the reasons for their actions.
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1968 film "Planet of the Apes" DVD video:
00:29:44
Landon: We got off at the wrong stop.
google-maps_columbia-sc_exit-107_1.jpg
https://goo.gl/maps/5ErZGW6MEWH2
Google Maps
Columbia, South Carolina
From 1/18/1991 ( premiere US film "Flight of the Intruder" ) To 9/12/2018 is 10099 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 6/27/1993 ( Bill Clinton orders the bombing of Iraq ) is 10099 days
From 1/17/1991 ( the date of record of my United States Navy Medal of Honor as Kerry Wayne Burgess chief warrant officer United States Marine Corps circa 1991 officially the United States Apache attack helicopter pilot ) To 9/12/2018 is 10100 days
10100 = 5050 + 5050
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 8/31/1979 ( premiere US film "Time After Time" ) is 5050 days
From 1/17/1991 ( RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS US Title 18 - the Persian Gulf War begins as scheduled severe criminal activity against the United States of America ) To 9/12/2018 is 10100 days
10100 = 5050 + 5050
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 8/31/1979 ( premiere US film "Time After Time" ) is 5050 days
From 10/12/1962 ( premiere US TV series episode "Route 66"::"Ever Ride the Waves in Oklahoma?" ) To 9/12/2018 is 20424 days
20424 = 10212 + 10212
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 10/18/1993 ( the launch of the US space shuttle Columbia orbiter vehicle mission STS-58 includes me Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps officer and United States STS-58 pilot astronaut and my 2nd official United States of America National Aeronautics Space Administration orbital flight of 4 overall ) is 10212 days
From 5/13/1897 ( William McKinley - Message to Congress {diplomatic and consular reports on postal savings banks systems in foreign countries} ) To 2/1/2003 ( the scheduled terrorist attack by Bill Gates-Nazi-Microsoft-NASA-George Bush the cowardly violent criminal reportedly destroying the United States space shuttle Columbia killing all United States and foreign national astronauts onboard United States Columbia spacecraft but I suspect that was all an elaborate hoax by NASA and those people are hiding somewhere to this day and probably in hiding somewhere with Saddam Hussein the material witness against George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush and their criminal co-conspirators against the United States of America ) is 38614 days
38614 = 19307 + 19307
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 9/12/2018 is 19307 days
From 10/28/1994 ( premiere US film "Stargate" ) To 9/12/2018 is 8720 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 9/17/1989 ( premiere US TV series "Major Dad" ) is 8720 days
https://www.facebook.com/jane.kremtv/videos/1579144988854141/
Jane McCarthy
September 7 at 4:54 PM
Bring your pups or come ready to adopt one! We'd love for you to join us for “Bark in the Park" Wednesday, September 12th at Spokane Riverfront Park with KREM 2 News
From 4/23/1968 ( Timothy James McVeigh ) To 6/27/1993 is 9196 days
9196 = 4598 + 4598
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 6/5/1978 ( premiere US film "Damien: Omen II" ) is 4598 days
From 8/29/1940 ( premiere US film "Oklahoma Renegades" ) To 4/23/1968 ( Timothy James McVeigh ) is 10099 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 6/27/1993 is 10099 days
From 10/2/1937 ( premiere US film "Love Is on the Air" ) To 1/19/1993 ( in Asheville North Carolina as United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess I was seriously wounded by gunfire when I returned fatal gunfire to a fugitive from United States federal justice who was another criminal sent by Bill Gates-Nazi-Microsoft-George Bush the cowardly violent criminal in another attempt to kill me the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) is 20198 days
20198 = 10099 + 10099
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 6/27/1993 is 10099 days
From 10/30/1975 ( Alfred P. Murrah deceased ) To 6/27/1993 is 6450 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 7/1/1983 ( Richard Buckminster Fuller deceased ) is 6450 days
From 1/27/1943 ( my biological maternal grandfather Ronald Reagan the United States Army first lieutenant begins active duty service with the First Motion Picture Unit United States Army ) To 6/27/1993 is 18414 days
18414 = 9207 + 9207
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/17/1991 ( the date of record of my United States Navy Medal of Honor as Kerry Wayne Burgess chief warrant officer United States Marine Corps circa 1991 officially the United States Apache attack helicopter pilot ) is 9207 days
From 1/27/1943 ( my biological maternal grandfather Ronald Reagan the United States Army first lieutenant begins active duty service with the First Motion Picture Unit United States Army ) To 6/27/1993 is 18414 days
18414 = 9207 + 9207
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/17/1991 ( RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS US Title 18 - the Persian Gulf War begins as scheduled severe criminal activity against the United States of America ) is 9207 days
From 6/27/1993 To 4/19/1995 ( Bill Gates-Nazi-Microsoft-Corbis-George Bush the cowardly violent criminal in a scheduled terrorist attack destroys the Oklahoma City Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building with many fatalities and massive destruction to the United States of America Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and the local area ) is 661 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 8/25/1967 ( the Robert McNamara testimony to the United States Senate ) is 661 days
Other posts by me on this topic
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19930627&slug=1708542
The Seattle Times
Sunday, June 27, 1993
U.S. Bombs Baghdad To Retaliate For Plot To Kill Bush
Times News Services
The United States launched a missile attack against Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad last night in retaliation for what President Clinton described as a "loathsome and cowardly" attempt to assassinate former President Bush during a visit to Kuwait in April.
Saying a "firm and commensurate response was essential to protect our sovereignty," Clinton condemned Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who he said "ruled by atrocity."
The cruise-missile attack on Iraqi intelligence headquarters lit up the Baghdad night sky, but the city was quiet.
Iraqi U.N. Ambassador Nizar Hamdoun acknowledged the U.S. missiles had struck Iraqi government buildings, but would not say whether the intelligence service was hit. He said some missiles fell in residential neighborhoods.
"There were numerous civilian casualties," Hamdoun said, giving no number. "We're still counting the wounded and dead."
Hamdoun denied Iraq was involved in an assassination attempt.
"The attack was completely unwarranted and unjustified," he said.
In a short televised address to the nation last night, Clinton used blunt language and said the attack was needed to "affirm the expectation of civilized behavior among nations."
The target of the American raid, which was carried out by Tomahawk cruise missiles from a U.S. Navy destroyer and cruiser based in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, was the main headquarters of the Iraqi intelligence service in downtown Baghdad. The missiles struck about 3 p.m. PDT, or early Sunday morning in Iraq.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032859/releaseinfo
IMDb
Oklahoma Renegades (1940)
Release Info
USA 29 August 1940
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099587/releaseinfo
IMDb
Flight of the Intruder (1991)
Release Info
USA 18 January 1991
1978 film "Time After Time" DVD video:
00:12:24
Mrs. Turner: Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Wells, but there are two gentlemen here from Scotland Yard who would like a word with you.
H.G. Wells: Gentlemen, what is the meaning of this?
Scotland Yard police detective: Uh, beg pardon, sir, I'm sure. Might we have a word with you, sir? [ whispers to H.G. Wells ]
H.G. Wells: The Ripper? In this vicinity?
Scotland Yard police detective: I'm afraid so, sir.
Scotland Yard police detective: We've cordoned off the entire neighborhood. We're asking the folk here about to cooperate. Will that be all right with you with you, sir? Your housekeeper will sleep the better for it.
H.G. Wells: Of course. By all means.
Mrs. Turner: Oh, thank you very much, sir.
Dinner guest: What's happened?
H.G. Wells: Apparently, The Ripper has struck again.
Dinner guest: No! He's pulling your leg.
Scotland Yard police detective: With you permission, sir.
H.G. Wells: Please.
Dinner guest: He hasn't been heard from for years.
Dinner guest: Nor in this part of town.
Scotland Yard police detective: No doubt about it, I'm afraid, gentlemen. He has a very distinctive style.
Scotland Yard police detective: What have you there, sergeant?
Scotland Yard police officer: I think you better have a look at this, sir.
Mrs. Turner: That's Dr. Stevenson's bag.
H.G. Wells: That belongs to one of my guests.
Scotland Yard police detective: What did you say this man's name was?
H.G. Wells: Stevenson. John Leslie Stevenson. He's chief of surgery at St. Bartholomew's -
Scotland Yard police detective: I'm afraid he's also chief of surgery in Whitechapel.
1991 film "Flight of the Intruder" DVD video:
00:13:03
USS Independence CV 62 Commander Air Group: Uh, somebody close that door back there, will you? Frank?
US Navy Commander Frank "Dooke" Camparelli - USS Independence CV 62 air squadron commander: Now, this matter of the phantom shitter. Now, I know it's a phenomenon that occurs on a carrier in combat that goes back to World War II, but this has gotten out of hand. Last night, the phantom left a note saying he would strike, and this morning, a turd was found in the XO's ashtray.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029166/releaseinfo
IMDb
Love Is on the Air (1937)
Release Info
USA 2 October 1937
Also Known As
UK The Radio Murder Mystery
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029166/trivia
IMDb
Love Is on the Air (1937)
Trivia
'Ronald Reagan''s movie debut.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029166/fullcredits
IMDb
Love Is on the Air (1937)
Full Cast & Crew
Ronald Reagan ... Andy McCaine
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029166/quotes
IMDb
Love Is on the Air (1937)
Quotes
Andy McCaine: So what?
J.D. Harrington: So, you're fired, that's what, now get out!
Andy McCaine: You can't fire me.
J.D. Harrington: Oh, I can't, eh? Get out!
Andy McCaine: There's a little slip of paper, I believe they call it a contract. You know, where two minds meet and one of them gets the worst of it.
J.D. Harrington: I'll break it, if I have to!
Andy McCaine: Grant McKenzie doesn't draw that kind of contract.
J.D. Harrington: All right, drag me through the courts
Andy McCaine: Okay, sweetheart, I'll be suin' ya!
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029166/plotsummary
IMDb
Love Is on the Air (1937)
Plot
Andy McCaine is the ace crime reporter for a radio station. However, his exposés of corruption in high places gets him in trouble with the sponsor of his show, E.E. Nichols, who is in league with gangster Nicey Ferguson. Nichols pressures Andy's boss to demote him to a children's show, but Andy finds a way to use the kid show to bust open a murder case.
Flight Of The Intruder (1991)
(from internet transcript)
Guffy: Red River, Paul Doumier Bridge. Then you follow the main boulevard, you go right to it. People's Resistance Park. It's right across the square from the national assembly. SAM City, man. You guys must be nuts. The air force won't give me any pictures of downtown. I'd have to send for 'em. That would be like robbing a bank and using your own car for the getaway.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099587/quotes
IMDb
Flight of the Intruder (1991)
Quotes
Cdr. Camparelli: This is a daylight raid, gentlemen. Air Force, Marines, Navy, everything we got. They've had three years to get ready for us. The most formidable air defenses in the history of warfare. Our job, the task of the Intruder, is to kill SAMs. Make no mistake about it, gentlemen, SAMs are where your ordnance goes. Otherwise, those B-52's will be dead meat. We can expect a forest of SAMs and flak you can lay down on. We've got to cut a path through for the Air Force. We'll be going in broad daylight with nothing to hide behind. We'll be easy targets up there, gentlemen, but they're counting on us. Lean into it. Let's go downtown!
Pilots: [all cheer]
flight-of-the-intruder_01h28m53s.jpg
flight-of-the-intruder_01h28m58s.jpg
flight-of-the-intruder_01h29m00s.jpg
flight-of-the-intruder_01h29m05s.jpg
Red Storm Rising (1986)
Tom Clancy
(from internet transcript)
17 – The Frisbees of Dreamland
"Range to primary target is now sixty miles," Eisly advised. "All onboard systems continue nominal. No radars are locked onto us. Lookin' good, Duke."
"Roger." Ellington pushed the stick forward and dived as they passed over the crest of a small hill, then bottomed out at eighty feet over a wheatfield. The Duke was playing his game to the limit, drawing on years of experience in low-level attacks. Their primary target was a Soviet IL-76 Mainstay, an AWACS-type aircraft that was circling near Magdeburg, agreeably within ten miles of their secondary target, the E-8 highway bridges over the Elbe at Hohenroarthe. The mission was getting a lot hairier. The closer they got to the Mainstay the more radar signal hit their aircraft, its intensity growing at a square function. Sooner or later, enough signal would be reflected back to the Mainstay to be detectable, even by curved wings made of radar-transparent composites. All the Stealth technology did was to make radar detection harder, not impossible. Would they be seen by the Mainstay? If so, when, and how quickly would the Russians react?
Keep her on the deck, he told himself. Play the game by the rules you've practiced out. They had rehearsed this mission for nine days in "Dreamland," the top-secret exercise area in the sprawl of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Even the E-3A Sentry could barely make them out at forty miles, and the Sentry was a far better radar platform than the Mainstay, wasn't it?
That's what you're here to find out, boy . . .
There were five Mainstays on duty, all a hundred klicks east of the inter-German border. A nice safe distance, what with over three hundred fighters between them and the border.
"Twenty miles, Duke."
"Right. Call it off, Don."
"Roge. Still no fire-control emanations on us, and no search stuff is lingering our way. Lots of radio chatter, but mostly west of us. Very little VOX coming from the target."
Ellington reached his left hand down to arm the four AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles hanging under his wings. The weapon-indicator light blinked a lethal, friendly green.
"Eighteen miles. Target appears to be circling normally, not taking evasive action."
Ten miles to the minute, Ellington computed in his mind, one minute forty seconds.
"Sixteen miles." Eisly read the numbers off a computer readout keyed to the NAVSTAR satellite navigation system.
The Mainstay would not have a chance. The Frisbee would not begin to climb until she was directly underneath the target. Fourteen miles. Twelve. Ten. Eight. Six miles to the converted air transport.
"The Mainstay just reversed her turn-yeah, she's jinking. A Foxfire just swept over us," Eisly said evenly. A MiG-25 interceptor, presumably acting on instructions from the IL-76, was now searching for them. With its high power and small arc, the Foxfire stood a good chance of acquiring them, Stealth technology or not. "The Mainstay might have us."
"Anything locked on us?"
"Not yet." Eisly's eyes were glued to the threat-receiver instruments. No missile-control radars had centered on the Frisbee yet. "Coming under the target."
"Right. Climbing now." Ellington eased back on his stick and punched up full afterburners. The Frisbee's engines could only give him Mach 1.3, but this was the place to use all the power he had. According to the weather people, these clouds topped out at twenty thousand feet, and the IL-76 would be about five thousand above that. Now the Frisbee was vulnerable. No longer lost in the ground clutter, her engines radiating their maximum signature, the Stealth aircraft was broadcasting her presence. Climb faster, baby . . .
"Red Storm Rising"
"Tallyho!" Ellington said too loudly over the intercom as he burst through the clouds, and the night-vision systems instantly showed him the Mainstay, five miles away and diving for cover in front of him. Too late. The head-on closing speed was nearly a thousand miles per hour. The colonel centered his gunsight pipper on the target. A warbling tone came into his headset: the Sidewinders' seekers had locked onto the target. His right thumb toggled the launch-enable switch, and his forefinger squeezed the trigger twice. The Sidewinders left the aircraft half a second apart. Their brilliant exhaust flames dazzled him, but he did not take his eyes off the missiles as they raced for the target. It took eight seconds. He looked them all the way in. Both missiles angled for the Mainstay's starboard wing. Thirty feet away, laser proximity fuses detonated, filling the air with lethal fragments. It happened too fast. Both of the Mainstay's right-side engines exploded, the wing came off, and the Soviet aircraft began cartwheeling violently downward, lost seconds later in the clouds.
Jesus! Ellington thought as he rolled and dived back to the ground and safety. Nothing like the movies. The target was hit and gone between blinks. Well, okay, that was easy enough. Primary target gone. Now for the hard part . . .
Aboard an E-3A Sentry circling over Strasbourg, the radar technicians noted with satisfaction that all five Soviet radar craft had been killed within two minutes: it all worked, the F-19 really did surprise them.
The brigadier general in command of Operation Dreamland leaned forward in his command chair and toggled his microphone.
"Trumpeter, Trumpeter, Trumpeter," he said, then switched off. "Okay, boys," he breathed. "Make it count."
Amid the clouds of NATO tactical fighters hovering near the border, a hundred low-level attack fighters broke clear and dove for the ground. Half were F-111F Aardvarks, the other half "GR. I " Tornados, their wings heavy with fuel tanks and smart bombs. They followed the second wave of Frisbees, already sixty miles into East Germany, fanning out to their ground targets. Behind the strike aircraft, all-weather Eagle and Phantom interceptors, directed by the Sentries circling over the Rhein, began to launch their radar-guided missiles at Soviet fighters that had just lost their airborne controllers. Finally, a third team of NATO aircraft swooped in low, seeking out the ground radar sites that were coming on to replace the radar coverage of the dead Mainstays.
- posted by Kerry Burgess 3:16 PM Pacific Time Spokane Valley Washington USA Wednesday 12 September 2018
