“You know I’m always interested in how I can help you,” said Susu.
“I appreciate that. I’m an open book to you. By the way, if your tech support guys passed on to you any of the video from my boat crew’s latest data breach, I just want to explain. I’d just returned from the pool, and the water was very cold.”
Susu giggled. “I have not had the pleasure of viewing anything of the sort.”
The two sat quietly for a minute, looking out though the panoramic window. Using the window reflection, Pat could see that the staff was closing the breakfast buffet, and no other guests were in the club lounge.
“I have several requirements that I’m hoping you’ll be able to support. The end user for all will be the UAE armed forces, but they’ll be purchased by Falcon and redirected to the Peshmerga. That’s information I don’t usually share, but I think you’ll need to know to get approval.”
“What do you have on your shopping list?” asked Susu.
“We’re looking for three air-defense surface-to-air missile systems, one medium-range LY-80 missile system, and two short-range FM-90 missile systems. With each system, we want eighteen missile vehicles with the accompanying radar and command-and-control vehicles. I also need twelve medium-range surface-to-surface missile systems capable of firing the A-100 with two fire-direction vehicles. For both the surface-to-air and surface-to-surface systems, we’ll require the support vehicles, training, a twelve-month stockpile of munitions and spare parts,” Pat said.
“That’s a big ask. I’ll need to take this back to company headquarters before I can give you an answer. Air-defense systems in that part of the world are politically sensitive.”
“I understand, but if we don’t buy this equipment from you, we’ll buy it from somewhere else. Plus, having the systems along the northern border with Turkey might be a deterrent that’ll keep that powder keg from exploding.”
“This is very advanced equipment. Do you think the Peshmerga can operate and maintain it?”
Pat smiled. “No, those guys believe the harder you pull the trigger on a rifle, the faster the bullet travels. These are standoff systems that we can run using expat technicians. Now that the bad guys are retreating, we think the situation is stable enough that we can utilize contractors for these tasks.
“The reason we need the air-defense systems is to protect a couple of key airfields that will house a couple of small aviation units we’re building. These are just small rotary-wing units that will enable the Peshmerga to pursue some of the ISIS high-value targets and conduct night raids. We need the surface-to-surface missiles for the suppressing enemy air defense missions as well as lethal fires. This is a high priority. I need an answer in the next week as to whether or not you can support. I’ll also need a delivery timeline of six months or less.”
“Okay, I’ll do my best,” said Susu.
“Thanks. I look forward to hearing from you,” Pat said. He looked at his watch and noticed the meeting had lasted ninety minutes.
“Can you stay for lunch?”
“Not today. I have another meeting.”
“You’re a rich man, you have good health, and you work every day and most nights. This is the weekend, and you’re working. Pat, why don’t you slow down and enjoy?”
“I’ll tell you what. If you agree to run away with me, I will. We can buy an island in Thailand, drink mai tais on the beach, and enjoy our golden years.”
When Susu laughed, her eyes crinkled, her cheeks dimpled, and her smile dazzled.
“It’s a standing offer. It’s time for both of us to start thinking of an exit plan from this business,” Pat said.
They both stood up. Pat gave Susu a long hug. Still feeling the glow of effervescence that radiated seductively from the most beautiful woman he had ever met, he headed through the club doors to the elevator.
His next meeting was at the JW Marriott Marquis, just a few miles down the road back toward Abu Dhabi. The Marquis, at seventy-six stories, was the tallest hotel in the world. It was a new five-star hotel. Marriott was headquartered in Maryland, so it was the hotel of choice for many of the Beltway bandits who were slaves to the Marriott loyalty plan. While being driven to the hotel, Pat texted that he would arrive in five minutes.
As the valet opened the door of the car, Pat spotted Jim Granger and Robert Hurd. Both Jim and Bob worked for Fleer Corporation. Jim was a vice president of operations and Bob was the director of international sales. Normally, Pat would have driven his Explorer and attended today’s meetings with Andre and Susu in blue jeans. But though he had never met either Jim or Bob in person, he knew both were retired senior military officers from the old school, and he realized how important protocol and appearances were to such people.
He also noticed Ambassador Tobin exiting the lobby doors to join the greetings and introductions. Ambassador Tobin was a retired State Department foreign service officer. His last posting before retiring last year had been as the US ambassador to the UAE. Tobin was part of the Cahill Group, a company started by former US senator and former secretary of defense Cahill to assist US-based defense companies with international sales. The big sell on the Cahill Group was the ability to expedite export licenses on sensitive US defense systems to foreign governments. Ambassador Tobin and the Cahill Group were on retainer from the Fleer Group as consultants to assist in generating business. It was in that role that the ambassador had introduced Fleer to Falcon. As with so many introductions, Pat had filed the information away should a need arise in the future, and sure enough, less than three months later, a requirement had come up that Pat thought the Fleer Group would be perfect for.
After the greetings and introductions, the four of them went into the lobby and rode the elevator to the mezzanine, where a small conference room was reserved for the meeting. Once they sat down, the group spent a few minutes going through the time-honored tradition of identifying mutual relationships with other military officers. Both Jim and Bob were retired flag officers. Jim was a retired Army major general, and Bob was a retired Navy rear admiral. Ambassador Tobin had sent Pat a biography on both retired officers. Jim had steel gray hair, cut military short, a strong face, and piercing blue eyes. He was average height with a slim build. On the lapel of his blue pinstripe suit jacket, Jim wore a miniature combat infantryman’s badge, a Ranger tab, and a master parachutist badge, and on top, a mini Purple Heart ribbon. On the ring finger of his right hand, Jim wore a West Point ring. Jim was a graduate of the class of ’67, a group that had been fated to have the highest casualty rate of any class ever to graduate from USMA. Bob was six four and weighed about 275 pounds. He was bald, with heavy features, brown eyes, and a fleshy, jovial face. Bob had been an all-American tight end at Annapolis and graduated in 1981. Following graduation, Bob had gone to Navy Nuclear School and become a submarine officer.
The four of them sat around the conference table making small talk for the next few minutes. Bud then turned on a laptop and projector and launched into a twenty-minute PowerPoint briefing on Fleer. After the briefing, Pat asked the others what they knew about Falcon. He then took a few minutes to tell his story and the story of the company. At the end, he opened his leather binder and removed some documents. He handed each of the men at the table a nondisclosure agreement. “I’m afraid before I can go on, I’m required to have you sign this NDA. You’ll notice that it’s a US Department of Defense NDA and not from Falcon. You each have two copies already signed by DoD legal, so all I need from you is a countersignature. You keep one copy, and I’ll take the other. This NDA covers only a single project, one that we’re calling Monument Men. Please take the time to read it and then sign. If you choose not to sign, I am afraid this meeting will have to come to an end.” Once all three had signed the documents, they passed one original to Pat.
“Did any of you guys see the movie Monument Men? It was set in the closing days of World War Two. There was a group of American art experts who were sent out to the battlefield to recover as
much of the artwork stolen by the Nazis as possible. The government contract I’ve received, and on which I’m seeking to enlist Fleer as a subcontractor, has a similar premise. There are billions of dollars of American-made, high-tech, high-value weapon systems that have been stolen by ISIS. Most of it is nonoperational because of a lack of maintenance and spare parts. With ISIS in retreat, there’s a danger of the equipment falling into the hands of other bad actors. We’ve been contracted to recover as much of the equipment as possible and place it back under the control of the US government. My interest in Fleer is simple. You manage the APS-5 Army prepositioned stocks in Kuwait. I have authorization in my hands granting you authority to sell me spare parts, materiel, and even ammunition from the APS-5 inventory, which you will then have to replenish.”
Pat handed Jim an original letter of authorization and contract amendment, both signed by the DoD contracting officer responsible for the Fleer APS-5, detailing what Pat had just said. He then passed a purchase order to Jim with a long list of parts.
“You can see that we are initially going after the abandoned M1A1 Abrams tanks and the M109A5 self-propelled 155mm armored artillery systems. That first parts list is a little over thirty million dollars. The company that’s making the purchase is not Falcon. It’s an American company I own named Trident. Trident has a US government IDIQ contract with a healthy yearly spend. That IDIQ will be the contracting vehicle we’ll use to make these purchases. The pricing is the US government prices plus a twenty percent markup for Fleer. All the shipments are ex-works Kuwait. I’ll need your input, but the way I see this working is that I’ll give you a purchase order, you will provide me details of availability, and then, using our aircraft, we’ll fly the parts up north. We shouldn’t need any export clearance, because the process end-to-end is all American. What are your thoughts?”
Pat could see that all three were surprised. Ambassador Tobin spoke first.
“This is not at all what we expected from this meeting. I was thinking it would be more of an introductory meeting. It’s a welcome development, but I’m trying to figure out who you’re working for. I was under the impression that you worked for the crown prince.”
“Ambassador, in my capacity as the COO of Falcon, I work for his brother, who owns the group of companies that owns Falcon. Although to be honest, I hardly know the man. In my capacity as the CEO of Trident, I work for myself. Since Trident has numerous contracts with the US DoD, primarily involving overseas contingency support, it’s accurate to say that Trident works for the US government.”
The next to speak was Jim. “We can’t execute these documents until they’re authenticated, and a lot of that authentication will be on you personally. We need to know your background, what agency has oversight over Trident, FCPA policies, and so on. For compliance reasons, we have to do a full due diligence check on Trident, and we’ll need references.”
“Jim, my estimate on the value of this entire project to Fleer is north of three hundred million dollars. The good news is I’m giving you the opportunity to make money for your company while also doing something important for your country. I’m fine with a due diligence process, but it must be fast. Trident has already been vetted and has a large existing contract with the US government, so there shouldn’t be much of a delay in obtaining approval on that end. I understand the reference stuff is important. The deputy CENTCOM commander will call you today or tomorrow and address any questions you may have.”
The next question came from Bob. “We came to this meeting thinking you were an American expat working for the sheiks, and what we’re now learning is that you’re something else altogether. If you don’t mind my saying so, this all seems kind of cloak and dagger.”
“I am a retired Army officer. I have my own company, and I also work for a local emirate company. Sometimes the two companies collaborate on projects, and in other instances, like this one, they don’t. Trident has a lot of capabilities, as you will see, but the work it does in UAE for the US government is sensitive, and I am not at liberty to discuss it.”
“What’s your background in the Army, Pat? You were very evasive when we talked about our biographies earlier.”
“I’m an Irish Catholic from South Boston. I was commissioned through ROTC as an infantry officer. I retired after twenty; I had a good run. My last assignment was in D.C. with the Army staff. I formed Trident the same month I retired.”
“Where did you serve?” asked Jim.
“My first unit was the Ninth Infantry Division at Fort Lewis. Later I moved across the airfield and served in the Second Ranger Battalion. I commanded a company from the First Armored Division during Desert Storm, and after that, all of my experience was with the Rangers and USSOCOM except that final job in D.C.”
Bob asked, “What did you do at USSOCOM?”
“I had a lot of jobs. I was there for more than a decade. My last job was as a Joint Special Operations Task Force Commander in Iraq.”
“Which one?” asked Jim.
“All my rotations were with the numbered units.”
“So now I get it. You’re a super ninja, and if you tell us what you used to do, you have to kill us,” Bob said.
“Nothing like that. I had to sign a lot of nondisclosure forms when I retired, and since I have no desire to ever see a prison cell, I work hard to avoid the subject.”
“Fair enough,” said Jim.
“Is there anything else?”
“I’d like to excuse myself for ten minutes, and when I come back we’ll have a discussion on the way forward.”
Pat exited the conference room and went to the lobby and ordered a cappuccino. While on the elevator, he texted Major General Dana Peterson, the deputy CENTCOM commander, and asked him to call Jim Granger. CENTCOM was headquartered in Tampa, but the deputy had a forward headquarters located in Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. For all intents and purposes, Fleer worked for Major General Peterson, and a phone call from the general should be all Jim needed as far as a reference is concerned. Pat needed an immediate response from Fleer because the situation was changing rapidly, and the window to claim the equipment was rapidly closing. His guess was that they would have six months for recovery before the Iraqi government was strong enough to put a stop to it. The agreement Pat had made with Mike Guthrie was that the dispensation of everything recovered would be decided by Mike. He had already given the approval to allocate two tank battalions of forty-four M1A1s and one heavy artillery battalion of eighteen M109A5s to the Peshmerga. In addition to the spare parts, the ammunition for the tanks and artillery would also come out of the APS-5 stockpiles. Pat wasn’t going to drop that purchase order until after a few spare parts orders had gone through. He’d already contracted the mechanics and the trainers through a smaller military services company in the United States.
As he reviewed the meeting in his head, Pat felt that like two of the three were on board. Ambassador Tobin was clearly in favor; he was, in Pat’s estimation, purely a power-and-money kind of guy. Pat had known he had him the first time he’d caught him eying Pat’s Cartier watch. Jim Granger was also going to provide full support; he would talk to General Peterson and then proceed forward out of a sense of duty.
Bob was the person who Pat thought might have some reservations. Bob was too smart not to realize Pat was withholding information on the true purpose of the requirement. He was sure that if he could tell him the true purpose was to arm the Peshmerga with a tank brigade while bypassing the congressional approval process, he’d be okay with it. Unfortunately, Pat didn’t have the authority to read Bob in on the CIA’s plan. The funny thing was, Pat was sure the US Congress would approve the effort without too much dissent. The trouble would come from other nations, who would learn of the plan during open congressional hearings. That was why the guys in Langley had decided it was better for Russia and Turkey to learn the Peshmerga had this capability after it was too late to do anything about it.
When Pat went back into the conference room, Jim
was on the phone with Major General Peterson, and Bob was also on the phone, talking to someone at the Fleer office in Kuwait. He had the purchase order in his hand. As Pat entered, Ambassador Tobin greeted him as though they were old friends. Both Jim and Bob quickly wrapped up their phone calls.
Jim was the first to speak. “It looks like we’re in business. Bob will get back to you with the details on the terms and conditions as soon as possible, and I’ll get the corporate office to expedite the due diligence process. Unless there’s a red flag, we should begin to flow supplies to you within the week.”
“That’s great news. I really appreciate you gentlemen making the trip to Dubai on such short notice and the quick response to this requirement.”
Bob said he would need a day to validate the pricing, but the T&Cs in the purchase order were fine. He would get Pat the banking information for the wire transfers, and once everything was agreed, he would send Pat a pro forma invoice for payment.”
The three men escorted Pat to the lobby and said their goodbyes. It had been a productive day in Dubai, and Pat was looking forward to getting back to Abu Dhabi after having accomplished what he’d set out to do. Once he got back to the Intercontinental, he planned on going to the pool. The weather was sunny and in the low nineties, which was average this time of year for the late afternoon. Pat would order a hamburger and a Corona at the pool bar, relax and contemplate his future.
The way he saw it, the war against ISIS couldn’t last more than another year. At that point, he planned on talking to Mike Guthrie about exiting the scene. Once he had everything wrapped up with Mike, his plan was to transfer his responsibilities at Falcon to Saed Al-Hananiah, his highly competent protégé, and begin retirement. Pat had recently built a small beach complex in the Bahamas, and he was anxious to get to it.
Chapter 13
Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Sheik Meshal greeted Sheik Rasheed from United Arab Emirates and Prince Bandar from Saudi Arabia. The three were attending a Peninsular Shield strategic conference on Yemen that included all the GCC allies participating in the combat actions against the Houthis and their Iranian backers in Yemen. This meeting was held at Prince Bandar’s palace in Riyadh. The three had spent the afternoon at the Peninsular Shield operation center with the other coalition leaders receiving updates on the Yemen combat operations. In 2015, with the backing of a UN resolution, the coalition had intervened in the Yemeni civil war to attempt to return President Hadi to office after he had been deposed by the Iranian-backed Houthis. Almost a third of the country still remained in Houthi hands, including the major city of Sanaa. Coalition bombing was killing 113 civilians per day, Saudi casualties were in the thousands, and UAE had already lost more than eighty soldiers to the conflict. Despite the GCC declaration that ground operations had ceased after the June peace talks, the reality was that once the peace talks had ended, the fighting had intensified. The three were discussing their willingness to do what was necessary to deny a further Persian expansion into the Arabian Peninsula when the subject shifted to ISIS.
Arabian Deception Page 10