Chains of Command

by Dale Brown

  DALE BROWN

  CHAINS

  OF

  COMMAND

  CHAINS OF COMMAND

  All Rights Reserved © 1993 by Dale F. Brown

  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 or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Dale Brown

  Originally published by G. P. Putman’s Sons

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I’ve been out of the go-fast kerosene-burning flying game for six years now, so it was time to go back to school. When you want to know about the F-111 weapon system, there is only one place to go, the world’s one-stop Aardvark base: the Twenty-Seventh Fighter Wing, Cannon Air Force Base, Clovis, NM, and go talk to its commander, Brigadier General Richard N. Goddard. Thanks to him and his people, I was able to get reacquainted with the swing-wing bomber I loved so much.

  Very special thanks go to Lieutenant Colonel John L. Carnduff, Jr., commander of the 428th Fighter Squadron “Buccaneers,” probably the “final resting place” for the FB-111A bombers I flew (now called the F-111G), and three of their fine crew dogs, Captains Rich “Hawkeye” Pierce, Tom “LaBrush” Lacombe, and Dirk “Hutch” Hutchison. These gentlemen got me back in the F-111G simulator, gave me an introduction to the new systems, and then got me back to where I belong—hand on the “goat turd,” eyes in the “feed bag,” checking offsets and shacking targets. It was good to be back in the cockpit again. Many thanks for your time, your help, your ideas, and your inspiration.

  Thanks to the following members of the Twenty-Seventh Fighter Wing for their help: Captain Michael M. Pierson, Wing Chief of Public Affairs at Cannon AFB, and SSgt. Fred Espinoza, for setting up a wonderful three-day tour of the Wing’s units and personnel; Captain John Ross, TSgt. James Wilkins, and SSgt Tim Jung of Field Training Detachment 528, for their help in understanding the upgrades and changes to the F-111 weapon system’s avionics; Major Stephen Hearne and First Lieutenant Gary Gross of Wing Logistics, for teaching me about some of the problems and challenges of unit deployment and mobility; Lieutenant Colonel John Hill, commander, and the men and women of the 522nd Fighter Squadron “Fireballs”; Lieutenant Colonel Dale “Muddy” Waters and the instructors of Detachment 2, USAF Fighter Weapons School, for giving me a taste of flying the F-111F into combat and for answering questions on the F-111 weapon delivery system; and TSgt. Michael Madson and Mr. Kirk Dusenberry of the PAVE TACK laser-pod maintenance shop.

  Thanks to the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron, McClellan Air Force Base, CA, for information and help in formulating the missions and understanding the role of the F-111 and other tactical aircraft in combat, especially Lieut. Colonel Jack Leslie, squadron commander, and Major Steve Webber, Captain Pat Shaw, Captain Russ Smith, Captain Dan Warren, and Mr. Bob Perkins.

  Thanks to Ronald J. Kopa for information on the inner working of a Strategic Air Command command post during a crisis situation. I served with Ron at Mather AFB, CA, and he taught me a lot about command-and-control procedures in the Air Force. It was good to get back with him after ten years.

  Thanks to Pamela Nault, Chief of Media Relations, Air Force Reserve Headquarters, Public Affairs, Robins AFB, GA, for information on service in the Air Force Reserve; to my good friend Colonel Tom Hornung, USAF (Ret.), former Director of Public Affairs—Western Region, Secretary of the Air Force, USAF, for arranging visits to McClellan AFB, CA and Cannon AFB, NM for F-111 research; and to Bill and Harriet Fast Scott, for information on Russia and the city of Moscow.

  Special thanks to Jack Hokanson, Media Relations, Sacramento Air Force Logistics Center, McClellan AFB; Colonel Dwight Bass, Chief Flight Surgeon, and Captain Dolly Grise, Flight Surgeon, McClellan Air Force Base, for their help and insight into accident physiology and physiological problems associated with women pilots flying in combat; and to Royal Australian Air Force Commander Philip Campbell for information on the Australian RF-111C aircraft and reconnaissance tactics.

  For their help and inspiration, I wish to thank my friends Lieutenant General Robert Beckel, USAF (Ret.), former commander of Fifteenth Air Force, and Lieutenant General Donald O. Aldridge, USAF (Ret.), former vice commander of the Strategic Air Command, for their special insight on potential world conflicts that could affect national security.

  Thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Chris Anastassatos, Director of Public Relations, Nevada Air National Guard, for arranging a visit to the 152nd Reconnaissance Group in Reno, NV, that flies the RF-4 Phantom II reconnaissance bird, for their help in understanding reconnaissance systems and tactics; to Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Bath, RF-4 pilot of the 152nd Reconnaissance Group, for detailed information about tactical reconnaissance sensors, cameras, and flight profiles; MSgt William Sjovangen for a tour and explanation of the facilities and photointelligence labs; MSgt Richard Evans for a detailed explanation of the reconnaissance cameras and the film in the Sensor Shop; and CMSgt Mike Patterson of the Image Interpretation department.

  Some of the details of the Aurora spy plane are courtesy of aviation expert Bill Sweetman, from his article in Popular Science magazine, March 1993.

  At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I must extend my sincere thanks to my wife, Jean, for helping me over the rough spots in developing these stories; to George Coleman, Vice President, executive editor at G. P. Putnam’s Sons; and Natalee Rosenstein, senior executive editor at Berkley Publishing, for their help in hammering the final story into shape; and to my friend and executive assistant Dennis T. Hall for his support and assistance. The errors are all mine, but a lot of the credit goes to them.

  June 20, 1992–March 15, 1993

  AUTHOR’S NOTES

  As always with works of fiction, this story is purely the invention of my imagination, and is not meant to describe any real-world persons, organizations, events, places, or plans. Any resemblance to an actual person, place, or thing is purely coincidental.

  Development and production of the AGM-131 attack missile (SRAM II) and the AGM-129 stealth cruise missiles described in this story were canceled in 1991. Supposedly the Russians canceled development of their new nuclear sub- and air-launched cruise missiles at the same time. We shall see.

  REAL-WORLD NEWS EXCERPTS

  General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, from his autobiography, It Doesn’t Take a Hero; New York; Bantam Books, 1992 (reprinted with permission)—9 December 1990, C+ 124, 2100: Phoncon with the chairman [General Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]. The two leaders discussed the issue of a declaratory policy with regard to retaliation against biological or chemical attack. The chairman said he was pressing the White House to inform Tariq Aziz [Iraqi foreign minister] that we would use our “unconventional weapons” [quotes added] if the Iraqis use chemicals on us …

  Adrian Karatnycky, Foreign Affairs Magazine, June 1992— … In their May [1992] meeting [Ukrainian president] Kravchuk and [U.S. President] Bush agreed on Ukrainian participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks agreement …

  President Kravchuk demonstrated the depth of Ukrainian concern in late April [1992], when he announced the republic’s intention to seek Western security guarantees in exchange for scrapping Ukrainian nuclear arms …

  … A free and pro-Western Ukraine would deprive a newly aggressive Russia of its capacity to reassert superpower control over its former satellites. Bolstering a strong pro-Western Ukrainian democracy and assisting a stable Ukrainian state, materially and technically, would not only benefit Ukrainians but the entire democratic West.

  PEACE MOVES REMAIN FRUSTRATED AS DNIESTER, SOUTH OSSETIA CLASHES GO ON

  06/28/92 Newsgrid New
s—MOSCOW (JUNE 28) DPA—Fighting continued Sunday in the Dniester and South Ossetia regions of Moldova and Georgia, where peace moves remained frustrated, local media reports said.

  In the Dniester region, 16 people were reported killed and 21 wounded in clashes Sunday between Russian and Ukrainian forces on the one hand and Moldovan forces on the other, in defiance of the ceasefire agreed in Istanbul at the weekend by the presidents of Russia, the Ukraine, Moldova and Romania.

  LOS ANGELES TIMES, 22 July 1992—About 60 Ukrainian crew members of a Black Sea Fleet patrol boat mutinied Tuesday, raising the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag and sailing to the Ukrainian port of Odessa to protest rough treatment by their Russian superiors.

  … The mutiny served as a reminder that the Black Sea Fleet is a tinderbox, vulnerable to any spark of nationalism …

  The incident came close to exploding in the morning when Russian Black Sea Fleet commanders … sent several ships and a seaplane to cut it off. Among the interceptors was the missile boat, Impeccable, carrying an assault team ready to board the boat and seize it.

  AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY, 5 October 1992—Ukraine is seeking support from Western nations for an ambitious plan to complete the conversion of its defense industry to civilian production in three to four years.

  Victor I. Antonov, minister for the military-industrial complex, said Ukraine is pursuing conversion “in a very radical manner.” More than 500 commercial programs have been created, mainly involving medical and agricultural equipment …

  Unlike Russia, Ukraine has decided against a policy of selling arms abroad to keep factories open and generate hard currency, he said. Instead, Ukraine plans to retain only a small military technology base to support its army, converting all other enterprises to civilian production …

  AIR FORCE MAGAZINE, Mary C. Fitzgerald, September & October 1992 [reprinted with permission]—Russian military leaders are currently focusing not only on creating the Russian armed forces but also on developing a new military doctrine for the 1990s and beyond. A draft of a new Russian doctrine was published recently in Military Thought, the main theoretical journal of Russia’s armed forces.

  This new doctrine identifies two direct military threats to Russia: the introduction of foreign troops in adjacent states and the buildup of air, naval, or ground forces near Russian borders. In addition, a violation of the rights of Russian citizens and of persons “ethnically and culturally” identified with Russia in republics of the former Soviet Union is viewed as “a serious source of conflicts.”

  … The 1990 doctrine held that nuclear war “will” be catastrophic for all mankind, while the 1992 doctrine holds that it “might” be catastrophic for all mankind … Russia now views limited nuclear warfighting as a possibility. These changes may stem from the growing proliferation of nuclear weapons on Russian borders, which increases the possibility of a limited nuclear conflict.

  … [General Rodionov, chief of the General Staff Academy of the Russian Armed Forces] contends that, for centuries, Russia has struggled to acquire an exit to the Baltic and Black seas and that “the deprivation of such free exits would contradict [Russia’s] national interests.” … Attempts by any state in Europe, America, or Asia to capitalize on existing disputes among the CIS states or to strengthen its influence in these states … would violate Russia’s national interests and security.

  … General Rodionov’s bold views about the new doctrine may well reflect a civil-military rift concerning the extent to which old Soviet imperial interests should be pursued by military means.

  AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY, 23 November 1992—Military commanders at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and their civilian counterparts at NATO Headquarters, Brussels … see dangers looming both inside Russia and among its neighbors as a result of growing military factions in the unstable Russian political situation …

  “There is still an awful lot of hardware in Russia, and an awful lot of nuclear weapons in Russia,” [British General Sir Brian Kenny, deputy supreme allied commander Europe] said.

  This story is dedicated to the memory of my good friend, business associate, and teacher, Jim Harvey. You were always there when I needed you with your knowledge, professional counsel, helpfulness, and most importantly, your friendship.

  This story is also dedicated to the memory of my friend, California State Assemblyman B. T. Collins—soldier, statesman, incorrigible Irishman, and determined, inspirational leader.

  As the old Irish toast says: May you both be in Heaven a half-hour before the Devil knows you’re dead.

  CONTENTS

  Epigraph

  Prologue

  Part One

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Part Two

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Part Three

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Part Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Part Five

  Thirty-Three

  Thirty-Four

  Thirty-Five

  Thirty-Six

  Thirty-Seven

  Thirty-Eight

  Thirty-Nine

  Forty

  Forty-One

  Forty-Two

  Forty-Three

  Epilogue

  If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannonshots.

  —Napoleon Bonaparte

  PROLOGUE

  Deliberate with caution,

  but act with decision;

  and yield with graciousness or

  oppose with firmness.

  —Charles Hale

  L’vov, Republic of the Ukraine, Eastern Europe December 1994

  Buoyed by crisp, cold air, the tandem two-seat Mikoyan-Gurevich-23UB fighter leapt into the air on a tongue of flame like a tiger pursuing its prey through the trees. Pavlo Grigor’evich Tychina, a Captain First Class of Air Defense Aviation of the Fourteenth Air Army, L’vov, Ukrainian Republic, moved the gear handle to the UP position as soon as he saw the altimeter swing upward. It was such a great day for flying, with light winds and near fifty-kilometer visibility, that Tychina didn’t even mind when the LOW PNEU PRESSURE warning light came on. He simply started pumping the emergency manual landing gear pressurization handle near his right knee to build up enough pressure in the gear uplock system to fully raise the landing gear. Nothing was going to spoil this flying day, even this cranky twenty-year-old warplane.

  Tychina, a twenty-eight-year-old pilot and flight commander in the Ukrainian Air Force, immediately dropped his oxygen mask and took a deep breath, like a platform diver who had just risen to the surface after a deep dive, then swung a small auxiliary microphone to his lips. He never liked flying with his oxygen mask—it was unnecessary anyway, since they rarely flew above four or five thousand meters where oxygen was really necessary. Flying in southeastern Europe was generally pretty good, as long as you stayed above the smog level of about one thousand meters. He raised flaps and slats passing 450 kph (kilometers per hour), then checked out the right side of his cockpit canopy on the progress of his wingman for today’s orientation flight.

  His wingman was an F-16D Fighting Falcon fighter from the Republic of Turkey. The sleek tandem two-seat fighter and attack plane was on a goodwill visit, representing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Since the Ukraine had applied for NATO membership earlier in
the year, NATO member countries had been doing more and more of these exchange flights, getting to know their Ukrainian counterparts. While these exchange flights were taking place, Turkish radar controllers and military commanders were inspecting Ukrainian radar facilities and military bases, and Ukrainian military commanders and politicians were doing the same in Turkey, Germany, Belgium, and even the United States. Pavlo Tychina never thought he would ever see his country join a Western military alliance, and he never expected that the West would ever so heartily embrace his country in return.

  Someday soon, Tychina thought, the Ukraine will be wealthy enough to build planes like the F-16. Hell, Turkey was an agricultural country, not much more industrialized than the Ukraine, but they were license-building F-16 Falcons there and even exporting them to other countries. He shook his head in disgust. The Ukraine should sell off its MiG-23s, MiG-27s, and Sukhoi-17s. The F-16, as both a fighter and attack plane, could replace them all. That’s what they should buy: F-16s. It might take fifty MiGs to get one well-equipped F-16, but so what? Everyone knew the F-16 was at least fifty times better than the MiG-23.

  His fantasy of flying an F-16 Fighting Falcon emblazoned with a Ukrainian flag on the tail was just that, a fantasy, so Tychina turned his attention to his backseater: “Are you all right back there?” he called back on interphone in English.

  “I’m doing fine, sir,” came the reply. Tychina had an American “Combat Camera” military cameraman from March Air Force Base in California in the back seat of the MiG-23UB, filming this entire flight. NATO cameramen and producers had been at L’vov Air Base in western Ukraine and other bases all week, conducting interviews and taking pictures. It was a far cry from the old Soviet multilayered secrecy and isolation. But it made Tychina and his comrades feel good, as if they had finally joined the family of nations, as if they belonged to something other than the stifling, soulless Soviet-Russian domination.