John Simpson

by Def Con One (lit)

  All my duties were immediate in nature and when I finished the pressing actions, all I had to do was sit and wait for the next thing to happen. I reached under the desk and pulled out the M16 and put it on the counter that ran alongside the desk. Todd radioed in and asked if I was secure and I replied that there was no activity at my location.

  As the base began to respond to the shootings of the two security policemen, I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. Before I could succeed totally, the second alarm of the night rang in at the desk. This time it was the base Plans and Intelligence vault, which was a high-security location. I immediately dispatched two units to that location and made sure that Police Three knew we had an alarm at the vault. After the initial units acknowledged the call, I updated the main gate so that the security police at that location would be even more on guard than they already were.

  Sergeant Gray left one unit on scene with the down security policemen at Gate Two and responded to take command of the alarm at the Plans and Intelligence vault. An additional security unit from weapons security advised they were en route as well. That would give me at least four units on scene at a critical alarm site. Contained at that location were all of the codes for every conceivable aspect of the operation of an ICBM missile base. With those codes, a person could access national security sites within the command network. This was a “protect at all cost” location.

  After a few moments, the first responding unit arrived on scene and quickly radioed in.

  “Police Four to Police control, be advised I have a wounded lieutenant colonel lying on the ground about fifteen feet from the entrance to the building housing the vault. Continue all units in as fast as possible.”

  “Ten-four, Police Four. Copy responding units?”

  Everyone acknowledged Todd’s report of a wounded officer. I once again dialed the base hospital and advised them to dispatch an ambulance and more medics or a doctor to the security perimeter being set up around the alarm site. On-scene units would try to extract the victim so that medical attention could be rendered as quickly as possible. Wing Command Post was monitoring the base police channel and, upon hearing that another shooting had happened at that location, made more notifications, including to NORAD and the Pentagon.

  I shut off all of the lights in the immediate desk area so that any hostile forces would be forced to enter my area from a lit room and make for a better target. I would be less visible for an easy shot and thus improve my chances of surviving an attack on the desk. All this was going through my mind as I worried about Todd, who I had not heard from again since his original report on scene. I felt better now that he was no longer alone but had all backup available to him.

  Sergeant Gray radioed in that he had command of the scene and advised that they were going to attempt access to the building entrance. As I awaited further word from the scene, the phone began to ring off the hook, with everyone from the general and security police commanding officer to worried residents in the married personnel housing area near the target building calling to find out what was going on. Sirens were heard from the ambulance and some responding security units.

  I contacted civilian police communication and requested that their units move up to the gate area and assist with sealing off all three gates. Whoever was on base wasn’t going to get off base if I could help it.

  Suddenly the silence over the radio was shattered by an urgent warning that shots had been fired inside the building and a confirmation that hostiles were attempting to get into the vault area. Our men had returned fire with one being wounded. The sergeant did not say who the wounded airman was and my anxiety level went through the roof, but I maintained control of my emotions. Additional backup was requested by Sergeant Gray and I punched the phone line to the main gate and ordered two airmen to respond to the vault.

  I would leave base entrance security in the hands of civilian police if I had to in order to have sufficient firepower where needed. There were still two airmen left at the gate at this time. As I waited for the additional unit to advise that they had arrived on scene, I heard the door to the headquarters area open from the other room. Since I knew that all my units were busy, I knew it wasn’t one of them.

  I picked up the M16 and pushed the safety lever to the semiautomatic position and aimed toward the one entrance to the desk area that I could clearly see. No one came through into my room immediately and I grew more tense.

  I saw a canister of some kind fly through the air into the outside room and explode, releasing thick white smoke. In response I further shifted the fire selector on my weapon onto full-automatic fire and fired a ten-round burst through the wall into the room from where the canister had been tossed. This left me with ten rounds as I had a twenty-round clip in the weapon. I went back onto semiautomatic fire to conserve ammo. There was no response to my firing, but I could not see a thing and the air became thick inside the desk area where I sat. This lack of visibility worked to my advantage as well as to the advantage of the hostile forces. I stayed low to the floor. When I began to have trouble breathing I crawled up to the desk, which was raised, pulled the radio microphone down onto the floor with me and quickly put out a call for help.

  “Police control to all units, base police desk under attack. Request any assistance.”

  I began to cough so hard that I couldn’t speak any further on air. I rolled over to the window and smashed the glass out with the butt of my rifle to get some air into the desk area. As I listened, I heard someone attempting to push open the locked door leading into my secured area and responded at once.

  I fired three rounds through the door, placing one round high, one medium, and one low. I heard someone cry out and hit the floor. At least a dozen rounds were returned through the door at me and I cringed down lower than I already was in order not to get hit. I reached over and pulled down the shotgun from its place under the desk and then fired the rest of my M16 rounds back through the door.

  The shotgun already had a round in the chamber and all I had to do was push the safety button to the off position and it was ready to fire. The smoke began to clear and whoever was left set off a second smoke canister. I had only one choice that I could think of under the circumstances.

  I left the now-empty M16 and rolled back over to the window where I pushed out the screen and as fast as I could literally crawled out the window, falling to the ground, where I was able to get some air and begin to act. I ran the twenty feet to the rear entrance to the building where the hostile forces had entered and came in behind them. I heard more rapid firing and figured that the desk was getting pretty chewed up at this point. If I had stayed there, it was very possible I would have already been killed.

  Since they were now making so much noise, I was able to enter the building and come up behind them without them hearing me. I had to be very careful, however, since the lights were on in this outer room and now gave the light advantage to the hostiles.

  When the firing stopped, I heard two voices speaking in what sounded to me like Russian. I heard them kick open the locked door to gain access to the desk area and that’s when I went into action. I crept below the window area of the desk and came up inside the desk area. Both men were on the upper level of the desk area looking out the window. I didn’t hesitate. I fired all five rounds of my shotgun into their bodies, which killed them instantly. One fell out the window while the other slid down onto the floor. I threw down the shotgun and drew my M9 pistol and checked one hostile that was down on the floor in front of the desk area. I had hit him with the M16 when I fired through the door. He was dead.

  By now the air had cleared out the smoke fairly well. I got back on the radio and reported an end to hostile action at my location. While I was occupied, a full firefight had broken out within the building housing the vault. Two security policemen were killed in action and all hostiles were killed. My throat tightened up and my heart leapt at the news that we had lost two more men in addition to the two killed at
the back gate of the base. Where was Todd?

  I requested permission to have the main gate turned over to civilian police with one Air Force security police officer on scene and in charge. Permission was granted.

  I next sent a security unit to reinforce the Wing Command Post guard detail as this was also now a viable target if there were any more hostiles still alive on base. Finally, I heard Todd’s voice on the radio and experienced a feeling more intense than an orgasm upon realizing that he was not only alive, but apparently unhurt. My eyes clouded up with tears of joy at this realization that the man I now knew I was in love with was coming home at the end of the shift.

  Sergeant Gray ran into the building, looking around as he came up to me. He took the tears in my eyes for a reaction to the smoke. As he looked around at the desk, I followed his eyes and became aware of just how much action my duty station had seen. The base police desk sergeant’s area was eviscerated by gunfire and blunt force.

  “Holy shit, Callahan! How did you survive this and manage to kill the attackers while you were at it?”

  “Pure dumb luck, Sergeant Gray. Pure dumb luck.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t believe that. You had to have kept your wits about you to get through this much destruction. Okay, for now, there isn’t much you can do here because literally everything important is destroyed. The alarm panel is all shot to hell, the phones are shot to hell, and the area is no longer secure. I’m transferring dispatch duties to Security Control. For now, remove all papers and manuals from this area and put them in the duty sergeant’s office. Continue your report as best you can. Remember also, we aren’t sure if there are anymore hostiles on base.”

  “How many have been killed tonight?”

  “Well, you took out three here; we took out four at the vault. So that’s seven. Bring your report up to date as best you can, and then take out a patrol car and make a check on Gates Two and Three to make sure the civilian cops are still there. Then, drive through Officers’ Row and check on the unit that you sent there to stand watch. Oh, and before you go on the road, secure these weapons that you used.”

  “Will do, Sergeant.”

  Chapter 7

  By the time the sun came up once again, peace had fallen on the base. The true extent of the carnage could now be seen by all as what had been hidden by darkness now was exposed to the light of day.

  Bodies had been removed and consigned to the base morgue; injured security policemen had been treated and released or hospitalized, and new orders were being given as a result of the attack on the base. It was a costly night; four airmen had lost their lives.

  No other commandos could be located on base and so it was assumed that all who had entered the base had been killed by the security police. Even the World War II cemetery was searched by Police K-9 units and cleared. Base maintenance personnel were assigned by the dozens to repair the damage at the base police headquarters as well as the Plans and Intelligence vault area. Work was estimated to take up to a week or more to have all affected systems back to normal including the base alarm panel.

  Almost everywhere you looked, you could see high-ranking officers inspecting different areas of the base, checking for damage or sabotage. We were finally relieved of duty after a debriefing by the squadron CO, and we headed to the barracks to go to bed. Everyone was exhausted and some were suffering emotional trauma from having lost close friends during the attack.

  Todd and I took a quick shower along with about twenty other men and returned to our room. We sat on the lower bunk in stunned silence, reliving everything that had occurred within the past eight hours. We were numb from bursts of adrenaline that eventually wore off, only to be injected with new adrenaline bursts at the next incident.

  Finally, I put my arm around Todd and suggested that we get some sleep. Without a word, we climbed into the bunk and got underneath the top sheet with Todd pulling me onto his chest so that my head rested there with my arm over him. I kissed his chest and whispered to him.

  “I am so thankful that you came through all that unharmed. At one point I was almost sure that you had been at least wounded at the firefight at the vault.”

  “Me? What about you? At least I had backup; you were all alone and took on and killed three fucking Russian commandos! If you’re not put in for a medal, I’ll be surprised.”

  “Well, the important thing is not medals but the fact that we are alive and in perfect health. The same thing cannot be said for four of our fellow cops. I’m saying a prayer of thanksgiving before I go to sleep.”

  In spite of the tension that was easing from our bodies and the emotional night, we both finally fell asleep and slept soundly for eight hours. We were awakened once again by a pounding on the door from the sergeant in charge of quarters.

  “Callahan, Claymore! Are you guys in there? Wake up!”

  Todd jumped out of bed and messed up his bed to make it appear that he had slept in it and opened the door wearing just his boxer shorts. “Yeah, what is it now?”

  “Both of you are to report to the helicopter pad at 1800 hours after you draw your handguns as well as M16s. Additionally, pack uniforms and anything else you will need for a four-day stay in the field. Understand?”

  “Yeah, I understand.”

  Todd closed the door and turned around. “For shit’s sake, it looks like we’re going flying tonight and we won’t be back for almost a week.”

  I looked over at the clock and saw that it was a little after 1630 hours. We had just ninety minutes to do everything we had to do and report for duty. Since we both showered before we went to bed, we just hit the sinks to shave and brush our teeth. Once that was done, we put on clean combat fatigues and web belts for our sidearms and M16 ammo, and headed to the armory with our duffel bags.

  We were issued three ammo magazines and a small box of loose ammo for both our M9s as well as an additional sixty rounds for the M16. We next hit the chow hall as we were both famished, and had a good meal while trying to figure out what was going to be our assignment. We knew it would not be the daily helicopter patrols as we were not coming back for four days. Our guess was that we were merely being flown out to one of the launch facilities so that we could get there quicker.

  We caught a lift from one of the security patrols and arrived at the helicopter pad at 1750 hours. Sergeant Gray and the major were both there waiting on our arrival along with four other policemen from the security side of the house.

  “Callahan and Claymore, you’ve got a new duty assignment for at least the next four days. Since the desk area is essentially out of operation for at least a week, you both are being sent into the field for security patrols. Unlike before, this pilot and this chopper will belong to your team. It will land and stay at the same facility as you and the other cops. You will respond by air to any alarm received from any silo within a fifty-mile radius of your location. No trucks this time; we need fast response to anything that comes from those launch sites. Your orders are the same as always: The launch sites are designated deadly force zones and you are authorized to shoot to kill anyone found within the fence line. Any questions?” the major asked.

  “Yes, sir. Will there be any other security men on duty there?”

  “Yes. The other team you see here is going with you. There will be a total of six men responding to incidents in the field.”

  “Sir, there aren’t enough bunks for that many men.”

  “We know. You will find a camper on site and two of you will sleep in that. I’m sorry it isn’t what you are used to, but lowest ranking will have the camper and on this trip that’s you two.”

  “Yes, sir,” Todd responded.

  I spoke up, asking what I thought was an obvious question. “Sir, are there any further reports from the FBI about the missiles being targeted?”

  “There is nothing precise in this regard. However, the feeling is that there were at least fifteen commandos headed this way and, as you know, we killed seven. That leaves eight unaccounted
for, and we must assume that they may try to gain access to our warheads and attempt to detonate them somehow.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Okay, men. If there is nothing else, get going and stay on your toes.”

  We all saluted and headed for the chopper that was just starting up its blade rotation. We were assisted into the cabin of the chopper by ground crew and the door was closed. There were six seats in the passenger compartment, three facing three that sat behind the pilots. The chopper was a UH-1N Huey and was designed for just the type of mission we were on.

  The chopper took off into the setting sun, heading to the launch control facility known as Bravo Sierra LCF. As we raced across the sky, I was in awe at the beauty of the landscape as we swiftly passed over it. It was quite clear when we left the urban area and headed out into the plains of Wyoming. After only a twenty-five-minute flight, we came into our landing zone at Bravo Sierra and climbed out, ducking as we ran from the chopper into the LCF. The pilot would shut down the rotors and secure the chopper without us present.

  There was now almost no daylight left and dusk was settling in over the area. We received a briefing by the NCO in charge of the LCF, which included the assignment of Todd and me to the camper that was parked outside the building. All sites had been checked on the previous shift and therefore we had nothing to do unless an alarm was activated on one of the sites. We took time while we had it to quickly shower and dress once again since we would be in very close quarters in the back of the camper. We would also keep our weapons with us since we would be outside of the LCF. Since any response required a full component, we were essentially on call duty twenty-four hours a day. The pilot was also on the same schedule as the rest of us, so he slept when he could. If we had an alarm in the middle of the night, he would be required to get up and fly the chopper.

  We settled in for the evening to watch television and drink sodas. Unless there was an alarm, we had nothing to do until routine checks the next day. One by one, the other men began to drift off and hit their bunks, leaving only Todd and I watching television. As I looked over at Todd, he smiled at me with a twinkle in his eye, which told me what was on his mind.