Chapter Four - part six

   She had just nodded and dismissed him without saying anything more. After he was gone she sat down at her desk and closed her eyes. His last words had troubled her greatly. Were they putting their faith in a man instead of God? She sat there searching her heart and mind for a long time. Finally she shook herself and sat up. No, no she wasn't putting her faith in a man. She had made a lot of tough choices over the years and paid a dear price for many of them, but they had all been made according to her faith in God. Calling James here was another of those choices made with faith. She had watched him grow into a fine officer and she had seen him standing strong in his faith regardless of what had happened to him. She hadn't been alone. A lot of people had come together to bring him here. She didn't believe that was all just the actions of men either. The people responsible for choosing Colonel James Andrew Cooper to take command of this situation were all faithful Christians. They were all Christian soldiers who daily prepared to fight for their nation and when called they fought for their Lord too. They had done a great deal of thinking and talking before they had called on James this time, but they had done even more praying. It was the prayers that had made her agree on him. She believed it was the same reason the rest had also chosen him in the end. Now she could only pray that they had been right.

   James went back to his office and tried to push aside everything that had just happened. That was all in the future, it was the unknown. Right now he had to deal with the known. He had to deal with the issues that he faced today. First he needed to make a decision about his new squadron command staff. He started by reviewing the files of those new members arriving to join the Warhawks. The first was Lt. Colonel Jeremy Adams, his old friend from the Academy. James hadn't really seen or heard much from Jeremy since graduation. As it turned out Jeremy had been in the third set of pilots trained for the F/A-48. He had become one of the best over the years and had been returned to help train new pilots. He had in fact just finished helping train the Warhawks. That was a bonus for James. Jeremy would know the pilots and they would know him. He could help James and them to come to know each other too. The next on the list was Lt. Colonel Shanna Williams. She hadn't been flying F/A-48's quite as long as Jeremy, but she had proven herself to be an outstanding pilot and flight commander. Her last duty had been at Incirlik in Turkey. She had also been very helpful before that, while working in Syria. She had helped with the rebuilding and had worked closely with the government there.

   The next name of the list wasn't one James wanted to see. Major Peter Kemp was the most senior of the new additions. He was currently up for his promotion to Lt. Colonel.  James would likely get to be the commanding officer who had to make a final recommendation for that promotion. This could be very bad. Unless something had changed drastically, Peter Kemp would likely hate James even more now than he had at the Academy. Peter had blamed James for not advancing faster at the Academy and now he would be under James command here. That could become a huge problem, but that wasn't the biggest problem James saw. Major Kemp might be a lot of things, but he was also an extremely qualified pilot. He had numerous commendations and he was clearly qualified to be a flight commander. There had been a few incidents just after the Academy, but nothing major since those. James reviewed the last two of the files and then came back to Peter Kemp. James had no real choice. Major Kemp would be one of his flight commanders, unless they simply couldn't function together at all. James would just have to pray that wouldn't be the case and trust that Peter would do his duty first.

   James would find out soon enough. Shanna, Peter, Kyle, and Tabitha would all be arriving tomorrow. Only Jeremy would be meeting them back at the training base with the rest of the squadron and the new jets. Since Jeremy had been a trainer it had made no sense for him to report to James only to have to return to pick up his jet along with the rest of the squadron. James would see how it all worked out after he actually talked with them, but for now he was fairly certain that he would make Jeremy, Shanna, and Peter his flight leaders. He would have to talk with them to decide which flight each would command. He might also need to change up the current arrangement of the pilots in the flights. Nothing was set in stone during training. Once he had a chance to meet and get familiar with all of the pilots he might be able to put together the flights and build a family within the squadron. That was a key to the success of a squadron, making it into a family. A family could and would stand together when things got difficult. They might still squabble when everything was easy, but let something happen in the family and they would all form up as one unit with one purpose. That was the first job James had to accomplish. He had to turn a group of strangers and inexperienced pilots into a close knit family unit.

  The next day James was waiting in his 'secured' office for the arrival of the first members of his new squadron. They were all coming in together. James had considered setting up separate meetings, but had decided the best approach would be to meet them all together. These people had to become the foundation of the new family. They would be the most senior members and the leaders in the squadron. If they didn't start off together it would be very hard to ever get the rest together. When they arrived the Special Forces guard was quick to buzz James. James didn't have them come in to him though. James went out to greet them with a warm smile. He in turn was greeted by a warm smile from an old friend. Shanna was smiling, but she still snapped to attention and gave James a crisp salute along with the others reporting in to their new commanding officer. James returned the salute and stepped forward to shake hands with Shanna and give her a hug too. Next in line was Peter Kemp. James continued to smile as he stepped over and held out his hand to Peter. He spoke to him with the same easy voice he had spoken with to his old friend Shanna. "Hello Peter, it has been a long time. I am looking forward to flying with you. They tell me you are one of the best." Peter managed a smile as he shook hands and replied. "Thank you, sir. I do my best, but I can't match you." James shook his head as he spoke. "I think you underestimate yourself Peter and when we aren't forced to be formal my name is James. I would like it very much if you would call me that instead of sir." James moved on to the others without waiting for a reply. Once he had spoken to each of them individually they all went into his office and sat down for a long talk.

   James had a simple lunch brought in and they made a day of it. By the end of that day James was almost certain he had his flight commanders selected. Shanna and Peter had shown a real interest in and a real understanding of the difficulties they would face getting the new squadron to function like a well oiled machine. Almost half of the squadron had never seen actual combat or even served in an active fighter squadron before. They were fresh out of school and training, as green as they could be. Almost that many more had only limited experience and none of that was in an F/A-48. This squadron would be one of the least experienced ever to be deployed directly overseas. Granted, they were stationed in Germany and it was one of the most stable nations in the world at the moment, but they were in the middle of a lot of unstable nations. Kyle and Tabitha had both offered some good advice, but neither of them had been quick to jump in. It was a good start, but only a start. They had a lot to get done and very little time to get it done in. James dismissed them but he also sent along packets with information on each member of the squadron including him. He told them they would meet again in two days to go over possible flight rosters. Until then they were to get settled in and ready to leave again by the end of the week. James wanted them to be there waiting when the other pilots returned to base from leave.