by Oliver North
HPSCI. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
HRT. Hostage Rescue Team of the FBI, based at Quantico, Virginia
HRU. Hostage Recovery Unit of CSG, a private company providing “specialized services” to the U.S. government
HSV. High-Speed Vessel
HUD. Heads-Up Display
HUMINT. Human Intelligence
IAD. Dulles International Airport
ICBM. Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
IDF. Israel Defense Forces; the name of Israel’s armed forces
IFF. Identification friend or foe; a device used to discriminate between friendly and enemy units, individuals, weapons, and aircraft. In aircraft, an IFF device will display altitude, speed, and direction on an air traffic controller’s computer display.
IMF. International Monetary Fund
Interpol. International Criminal Police Organization, created in 1923 with the mission of facilitating the exchange of law enforcement information among member countries. In 2020, responsibility for funding, tasking, and management of Interpol was transferred to the United Nations, which uses Interpol as an international police force to enforce international law.
IR. Infrared
IRGC. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Special Forces of the Iranian regime
ISR. Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance
Klick. Military slang for kilometer
LAS. Las Vegas International Airport
LCAC. Landing Craft Air Cushion—a high-speed U.S. Navy amphibious assault landing craft used to transport Marines and heavy equipment ashore from ships at sea
LHA. Landing Ship, Helicopter Assault—a U.S. Navy vessel designed to carry Marine combat troops, helicopters, and landing craft to a designated area for an amphibious assault
LHD. Landing Ship, Helicopter Dock—a multipurpose U.S. Navy vessel designed to carry Marine combat troops, aircraft, LCACs, and other landing craft for an amphibious assault against a defended objective
LZ (Lima Zulu). Landing Zone
M&M. President’s derisive nickname for Chief of Staff Muneer Azzam Murad
MARSOC. United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command
MEOSAR/DASS. Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue/Distress-Alerting Satellite System
Mercator Projection. A map projection on which meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude are displayed as lines crossing at right angles
MESH. Multi-Element Semi-Autonomous Hypernet. This global, fourth-generation, broad-spectrum technology provides multiple, fault-tolerant connectivity for all wireless devices worldwide. There are more than four million MESH nodes in the United States and nearly a billion around the globe. MESH protocols are “managed” by the United Nations.
MEU. Marine Expeditionary Unit, an air-ground combat task force built around a reinforced Marine infantry battalion
MIA. Missing in Action
MTF. More to follow
MTV. Medium Tactical Vehicle; a four-ton, fully armored, four-wheel-drive vehicle built to carry seven combat-loaded Marines
Mullah. A teacher or learned man (Islam)
MV-22. Military designation for the Boeing-built, tilt-rotor Special Operations variant of the Osprey aircraft capable of carrying up to 32 combat-loaded troops at 240 knots airspeed, refueling in flight and low-level all-terrain flying
Narnia. Newman family home in Virginia, named for the mythical place in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia
NCA. National Command Authority (POTUS, SecDef, and USAF, USN nuclear force commanders)
NCTC. National Counterterrorism Center
NGA. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
NMCC. National Military Command Center. Also known as “The War Room.” The NMCC, beneath the Pentagon, is staffed 24/7 by the Operations Directorate of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff as the communications hub for the Defense Department and the U.S. terminus for the Washington-Moscow “hotline.”
NOAA. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NORAD. North American Aerospace Defense Command; a U.S.-Canada military organization headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The NORAD command center beneath Cheyenne Mountain is responsible for providing early warning and protection against attacks from air and space against the U.S. and Canada.
NORTHCOM. U.S. Northern Command. The U.S. military organization responsible for defending the homeland, Canada, and Mexico against attack from air, sea, and land. Headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, with NORAD, NorthCom is responsible for coordinating military support for civil authorities in the event of an attack by air, land, or sea.
NOTAM. Notice to Mariners and/or Notice to Airmen. Warnings issued to vessels and aircraft regarding hazards and safety.
NSA. National Security Agency
NSC. National Security Council
NVG. Night-vision goggles; worn by military personnel to enhance vision at night
OIC/POC. Officer in Charge and Point of Contact
OJT. On-the-job training
One-Time Pad. A cipher or encryption system in which random numbers, words, or letters are used to signify meanings known only to the sender and recipients of a message. Once the message has been transmitted, the “code” is destroyed and never used again.
OP. Observation Post
OPEC. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
OPSEC. Operational Security
PAX. Military term for “passengers”
PDB. President’s Daily Briefing
PEAD. Presidential Emergency Action Directive
PERT. Personal Electronic Radio Tag. A government-issued radio frequency identification device (RFID), about the size of a grain of rice, designed to be surgically embedded in a host’s body to positively identify persons through individual biometric data, including DNA. Originally intended as a replacement for passports, licenses, and medical insurance and Social Security cards, commercial PERT scanners now enable cashless transactions globally by ensuring accurate identification and location data. PERTs are powered by a micro-battery that is recharged by magnetic-resonance proximity pads. In accord with the UN Convention of Telecommunications Security, all PERTs can be interrogated by military, intelligence, border security, and law enforcement entities through MESH nodes and certain other ground, airborne, and satellite sensors.
PID. Personal Interface Device. Slightly larger than an old-fashioned credit card, PIDs are fabricated from multiple plies of high-tech ceramic and plastic embedded with microcircuits providing wireless digital voice, visual, and data communications through the worldwide MESH. Like PERTs, PID micro-batteries are recharged by magnetic-resonance proximity pads.
Piezo-actuator. A solid-state ceramic switch that can convert pressure and temperature of biometric data (e.g., a fingerprint) into an electrical signal
POTUS. President of the United States
PSD. Personal Security Detail
PVS. Passive Vision Sight
QRF. Quick Reaction Force (U.S. and NATO military term)
Quds Force. Special Operations force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
RCMP. Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Red Phone. Secure/encrypted, hard-wired, fiber-optic telephone service connecting the White House, Pentagon, State Department, FBI, Treasury Department, Department of Homeland Security, NORAD, and the ANMCC.
RFID. Radio Frequency Identification
ROE. Rules of Engagement
RPA. Remotely Piloted Aircraft
RPG. Rocket-Propelled Grenade
SAIC. Special Agent in Charge
SAR. Search and Rescue
SARSAT. Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking
SAS. Special Air Service; elite unit of the British Royal Army and Air Force used for special operations
SCAR. Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle
SCBA. Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
; SecDef. U.S. Secretary of Defense
Semtex. A highly lethal plastic explosive material developed by the Soviets in the 1970s and widely copied by their surrogates and others because it can be produced in very thin, nearly undetectable panels not much thicker than a sheet of paper
SIG Events. Significant Events
SIGINT. Signals Intelligence
Sit-Rep. Situation Report
Site “R.” Raven Rock Mountain Complex; site of the alternate National Military Command Center
SIU. Signals Intercept Unit
SOCOM. U.S. Special Operations Command
SOD. DEA Special Operations Division
SPR. Strategic Petroleum Reserve
SSCI. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
SSO. Sensor Systems OIC
SVT. Secure Video-Teleconference
SWO. Senior Watch Officer
TSA. Transportation Security Administration, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security
UAE. United Arab Emirates
UAV. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Ummah. Arabic for an Islamic community living in accord with Sharia law
UN. United Nations
Unit One. Field trauma medical kit carried by U.S. military medics and Corpsmen
USAF. United States Air Force
USCG. United States Coast Guard
USG. United States Government
USMC. United States Marine Corps
USMCC. United States Mission Control Center
USN. United States Navy
USSS. United States Secret Service
V-22. Military designation for the Boeing-built, tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft capable of carrying up to 32 combat-loaded troops at 240 knots airspeed
VIC. Vicinity; also military slang for vehicle
WHCA. White House Communications Agency
WHMO. White House Military Office
WHSR. White House Situation Room
WIA. Wounded in Action
XO. Executive Officer
Acknowledgments
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA, 2012
A quarter of a century ago this year, the U.S. Congress held hearings on “the Iran-Contra Affair.” None of the Americans involved in the covert activities being divulged wanted their names or faces to appear in print or on air. I was one of them. Brendan Sullivan, seated beside me through the ordeal, said, “This is like a novel.” He was right then—and will be tomorrow.
The Americans and our allies I’m accompanying in Africa operate in the deep shadows of a very shadowy war. Mike D., you and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Guardsmen, Marines, Federal Agents, Clandestine Services Officers, and “contractors” with whom I have kept company for most of my life are the patriots who inspired this book. You are “heroes proved.”
Those I accompanied then and now and the experiences we shared in difficult and dangerous places have made my life—and this novel—very exciting. Someday I hope to use your real names, but for now, you know who you are and where and when you really did these things.
FOX News president Roger Ailes and senior vice presidents Bill Shine and Michael Clemente have my gratitude for dispatching me to cover these extraordinary heroes all over the globe for more than a decade. Thanks to you, our citizens have come to know what it takes to protect our freedoms, even though they don’t know the real names of our protectors.
Gary Terashita, my personal samurai, and your wife, Kim—thank you for insisting that I write this book. My gratitude to MDs Gwillam Parry, Daniel Laurent, and Kin Sing Au for ensuring “The Big C” didn’t finish me off before I finished this novel. Marsha Fishbaugh, my executive assistant of twenty-five years, made me keep all those appointments!
Andy Stenner, my “Terp” in Iraq and Afghanistan, again served as translator—converting my “military lingo” into English, compiling the glossary, and tracking down the real eyewitness participants in this fictional account of genuine bravery under fire.
Robert Barnett and Michael O’Connor, the “Spec Ops Team” at Williams & Connolly, completed their mission and forged the alliance with Louise Burke and Anthony Ziccardi at Simon & Schuster to make working on this book a joy.
Duane Ward at Premiere promises another covert operation to ensure this book is an even bigger blockbuster than its predecessors. George Fenton and the Smith brothers at TASER®™, many thanks for showing me your remarkable, lifesaving products and how you make them!
Most of all, thank you, Betsy, mother of our four children, grandmother of fourteen, my muse, my greatest advocate, and the only real American mother who had to flee when “bad people were coming to kill her children because of her husband.” You’re still my best friend.
“AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL”
Words by Katharine Lee Bates,
Melody by Samuel Ward
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
FREEDOM ALLIANCE
HEROES SCHOLARSHIPS—For the Children of America’s Fallen Heroes
The Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund honors American military personnel who have been killed or permanently disabled in service to our nation by providing educational scholarships for their dependent children.
Since 1990, Freedom Alliance has awarded millions of dollars in college scholarships to the sons and daughters of U.S. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Guardsmen, and Marines. These grants further education and remind all that their parents’ sacrifice will never be forgotten by a grateful nation.
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS—Serving those who serve in America’s Armed Forces
The Freedom Alliance Support Our Troops program provides direct financial and other assistance to active duty military personnel and their families. Priority is given to those recuperating from wounds and injuries and to their dependents.
Through relationships with military and veterans’ hospitals and rehabilitation facilities, Freedom Alliance provides emergency grants to families enduring financial hardship while members of our Armed Forces recover from wounds, injuries, or sickness suffered in the line of duty.
The Freedom Alliance “Gifts from Home” project ships thousands of care packages to service members deployed overseas throughout the year. Here on the home front, we provide gifts and sponsor activities for the spouses and children of deployed personnel.
Our Healing Heroes program offers “Hero Holiday” vacations for injured military members and their families and “Hero Hunts,” fishing retreats, and outdoor activities to aid in rehabilitation.
Freedom Alliance, founded in 1990 by Lt. Col. Oliver North, USMC (Ret.), and Lt. Gen. Edward Bronars, USMC (Ret.), is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization dedicated to advancing America’s heritage of freedom by honoring and encouraging military service, defending t
he sovereignty of the United States, and promoting a strong national defense.
For more information, or to donate, contact:
FREEDOM ALLIANCE
22570 Markey Court, Suite 240
Dulles, Virginia 20166-6919
Phone: 800-475-6620
www.freedomalliance.org
www.facebook.com/FreedomAlliance
“LEST WE FORGET”
OLIVER NORTH is a combat-decorated Marine and recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star for valor, and two Purple Hearts. From 1983 to 1986, he served as the U.S. government’s counterterrorism coordinator on the National Security Council staff. His eleven previous fiction and nonfiction titles have all been New York Times bestsellers. He is also a syndicated columnist, and host of the award-winning documentary series War Stories on Fox News. North lives with his wife, Betsy, in Virginia. Visit him on Facebook and Twitter, or learn more at www.OliverNorth.com.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.