Chapter Four - part ten

   James was thrilled when the word came that he was to be relieved of this command and transferred back home. James wouldn't be getting a new squadron immediately though. He was being sent home to Shaw AFB for an extended leave. After his leave was over he was to report to the 56th fighter wing at Luke AFB, Arizona.  They hadn't told him what his duties there would be, only to report for duty when his leave was over. That was if he was willing to go. Sarah was still assigned as Squadron commander of the 77th. If James took this assignment it would separate them again. All that mattered to James was that for the moment he was going home, for an extended leave at the very least. It had been almost a year since the last time he had seen the kids. Elisabeth Marie was five and Joseph Paul was almost seven now. James had been away from them for too long. He was ready to spend some time just being a dad for a change. But he still had to take care of a few things before he left. One of those was recommending a new squadron commander for the Warhawks.

   That recommendation turned out to be an unexpected one to a lot of people. Most people expected it to be Jeremy Adams who would take over. He was second highest in flight experience in an F/A-48 and an old friend. That wasn't going to happen though, because Jeremy was headed to the 56th fighter wing right along with James. The next reasonable expectation was Shanna Williams. She was another old friend and had proven herself to be very good at handling command decisions and she had been instrumental in preventing Russian jets from turning back the 435th CRG. James did consider her and even talked to her about it. He had been surprised when she had asked him not to put her name in. She wanted to be a flight leader for a little longer and let somebody else deal with all of the added stress that went along with being a squadron commander. She didn't really explain more, but she said she had other reasons too. James had known there was more behind her request, but he hadn't pressed it.

   James next option was Peter Kemp. James had to laugh at that. Peter Kemp, the man who had been a mortal enemy at the Academy getting his recommendation for a major command promotion, a lot of people would laugh about that. James had called Peter in to talk about it. That had been a surprising conversation for both of them. At first Peter had been stunned that James would even consider him, but that had slowly changed. It had taken James a while to explain that Jeremy would have been the first choice, but he wasn't an option. Peter hadn't quite believed that Shanna had refused either. When James had explained that he thought Peter would actually be a better commander than Shanna that had done it. Peter had demanded an explanation. Peter found it hard to believe that James would favor him over an old friend. James had been expecting something like that and was ready. He had laid it all out for Peter and made it very clear why he believed he was the right choice. Peter had asked for a few days to think about it and James had given him a week. At the end of the week Peter had thanked James and agreed he would like the command, although he still didn't think he would get it.

  James had spent several days convincing General Madison that Lt. Colonel Peter Kemp was the right man for the job. After James had made a special trip to see her personally about it she had finally given her approval. James was happy to make turning over his command to Peter his last duty before flying back home to his family. Peter had been surprised once more when the entire squadron had not just welcomed him, but had given him a special party to celebrate him taking command. He hadn't really believed James until then. James had told Peter that he was the most respected pilot in the unit. The young pilots all looked up to Peter even more than they looked up to James. James had tried to make Peter understand that it was because Peter was one of them. Peter hadn't been their commander during all they had just faced together. Peter was the one they admired the most though. As the squadron commander James was supposed to do what he had done.  Peter had taken actions to remove threats and he had personally saved one of the Warhawks; that was all above and beyond his duty in their eyes. Peter had been given a high commendation for that, but to him it had been nothing more than his duty. That attitude was another reason for the admiration the young pilots had for him. Peter hadn't even been aware of how they actually felt about him until that party, mostly because he didn't feel like he had done anything to deserve that kind of respect. Peter had become a humble man since his time on the Hill.

   James left the next morning without a lot of fanfare. In fact the only one there to see him off was Peter. James was still smiling when the plane took off headed on the first leg of the trip home. Peter had made a point of shaking hands and calling him by name. James had gone from being a former enemy that Peter called sir, to being a new friend called by name with true feelings of friendship. They still weren't close friends, they might never be, but they were friends rather than enemies now. This had been a very long and lonely duty assignment for James. He had enjoyed almost nothing about any of it, but he had enjoyed that farewell. The worst part at the start of this assignment had been leaving behind his family and seeing that an old enemy would be coming under his command. The best part of this assignment had been leaving behind that enemy as a new friend; that and going back home to his family.

Chapter Four - part nine

   Europe wasn't the only place where things had become very unstable though. James was also watching some very unsettling developments back at home. The people in the large metropolitan areas had been protesting for a while about living conditions, lack of food, and lack of jobs. Now those protests were turning into riots. Power outages, water shortages, and reductions in food allotments for those who depended on them had caused the first riots. But now they seemed to be happening for no clear or apparent reasons at all. The police had been replaced in some of the worst areas of riots by the military. It wasn't the National Guard being called in to restore order either. It was the Army and in some cases even the Marines and Special Forces were moving in to restore order. According to Sarah it was worse on the west coast, but there had been problems along the east coast too. So far it had been violent when it started, but there hadn't been a lot of violence once the troops arrived. The people who were causing the riots just seemed to vanish at the first sign of troops. That wouldn't last unless things improved soon though.

   There were two problems with that solution though. The first problem was that using military force in the manner it was being used wasn't allowed under the Constitution. The second problem was that as soon as the troops left the people came back out and the protests started all over. The protests soon became riots again and it all repeated once more. James was getting to be more concerned about those things than he was about what he was dealing with. Still there was nothing he could have done to change things at home. He might be able to do something here though. This was where God had put him and James tried to keep that in front of his thoughts. He was here for a reason. All he had to do was wait and watch. Eventually James knew the reason would become clear and then he could act accordingly. Until then James just had to do the best he could to deal with whatever was going on. The small conflicts just kept happening along the border between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The Russian troops were always close by, but they remained out of things. James was beginning to wonder what their plan was. If they continued to limit the flow of oil eventually something would have to give.

   Finally something did happen to cause everything and everyone to explode both figuratively and literally. James had little doubt that Russia had little to do with that event at all. Somebody hit the main oil pipeline near Bucany, Slovakia. They destroyed the pipeline at a point where it had been split off. They had tried to destroy the section of line connected to the refinery in Bratislava. The clear intention was to force them to send more oil, at least until the pipeline could be repaired, on to the Czech Republic refinery. The attack had worked very well except for one small issue. It was too close to the station where the switching was done. The result was severe damage to the entire station and no oil flowing to anyone beyond the switching station. Russia was furious and immediately took action. They moved massive numbers of troops into the area and they moved troops with heavy armored vehicles right to the edge of the border with the Czech Republic. All of Europe condemned the attack and called for the capture and punishment of those responsible. Russia was having none of it though. Russia made it clear that they blamed rebels in the Czech Republic as well as the government; the government for not controlling the rebels.

   Within three days the fighting began along the border and within four days Russia had troops crossing the border. NATO was already on scene and trying to stop the fighting, but they made an immediate withdrawal when Russian tanks rolled across the border. Jeremy and Peter were the two flight leaders on duty when things started to happen. They were in the air before James made it back to headquarters. James ordered that Shanna's flight be made ready for an immediate launch and placed his own fight on standby. Things were moving too fast now for anyone to do anything except react to what was going on. General Madison didn't hesitate. She had contacted the government of the Czech Republic and requested permission to aid and assist in stopping the Russian advance. They had given her a green light. There was little else they could do. The Russian tanks had rolled over what little armor they had faced. They had even captured and detained some of the NATO units that hadn't retreated fast enough. General Madison, as acting commander of the United States Forces in Europe, took drastic action to stop this 'invasion' in its tracks.

  James was ordered to support and defend the 435th CRG (Contingency Response Group) from Ramstein AFB as they established an active American air base inside the Czech Republic. She also called for more support in the form of a second squadron of F/A-48's from Incirlik, Turkey. The sudden knowledge that two squadrons of F/A-48's were involved had made Russia hesitate for just a moment, but when the 435th started into action Russia reacted with force. They scrambled their own squadrons of fighter jets and tried to turn the 435th back. It was Lt. Colonel Shanna Williams who put her flight between the Russian jets and the 435th. She tried to discourage them, but within minutes there had been an exchange of rockets and other weapons. That was when Lt. Colonel Peter Kemp dropped in on the fight. He wasn't worried about keeping the peace any longer, because all hope of peace was gone. Peter simple removed any immediate threats from the area, both in the air and on the ground. When the shooting was over the entire 480th fighter wing was involved. They had three planes damaged. Two of those were severely damaged. However, the Russians had four jets destroyed, almost a dozen damaged and most of the armored ground units still inside the Czech Republic had been disabled or destroyed as well.

   James stayed in the air with the rest of the Warhawks while the damaged planes were landed at the location being used by the 435th CRG to set up a new base. The jets scrambled from Incirlik, Turkey arrived to assist and relieve the Warhawks, so James took the rest of his squadron back home. Once back on base James began preparing for the move. General Madison had ordered James to assume command of the new base at Brno-Turany airport in the Czech Republic. The 435th would have the base ready for complete military use within the week. The jets from Incirlik were already being refueled and readied to fly again from that base. The next day James sent most of the remaining Warhawks back to replace the planes from Incirlik, so they could get back to Turkey. The shooting was over; everything was in the political arena and the news headlines for now. Lots of fingers were being pointed and blame being assigned, but few attempts at finding solutions were being made. This time, for a change, James wasn't the one being grilled about what had happened. He was though, the one who was defending those who were being grilled. General Madison was also doing all she could to support and protect them.

   It was Lt. Colonel Kemp who was taking the majority of the heat. It was his flight that had done the most damage and sustained the most damage during the short, intense battle. He had been stunned when James, Jeremy, and Shanna had defended him and his actions. It was their strong defense and testimony that eventually got Peter off the hook for flaming two of the four Russian jets that were destroyed. He had done that in order to save one of the severely damaged F/A-48's from being destroyed. Peter was even more shocked when he was later presented with the Silver Star for his actions. He wasn't the only one to receive a commendation though. Three other members of the Warhawks received the Distinguished Flying Cross for their actions during the battle. Two of those three were young 1st Lieutenants fighting in their first aerial engagement. The Warhawks had proven themselves to be a formidable fighting force despite the lack of combat experience among their pilots. James still took plenty of heat for what had happened. He was the one who was in command of the Warhawks, so he was ultimately responsible for whatever they did. He was also the one responsible for the other two kills. If not for General Madison, James might well have been called back to Washington to testify about what had happened. But General Madison had assumed responsibility for everything and she was the one who spent weeks in D.C. justifying things to Congress and her commander and chief, the President.

   Things were far from over though. The Russians had repaired the pipeline and switching station in time to be ready for the winter. They also did something unexpected. They actually increased the flow of oil to about what had been flowing before any of this had started. They did reduce the flow into Poland by nearly the same amount from other lines though. In the next few months James began to wonder which side had won and which had lost. The United States had been greeted as saviors when they had moved in to stop the advance of the Russian tanks. When the oil started to flow again everything was wonderful, for a while. Then Poland began to complain. The Russians quickly began to point at the United States presence in the Czech Republic. They implied a threatening United States presence was why they had cut the oil flow north and increased it to the south. Soon even the Czech people were grumbling about Americans just barging in and taking over things. By spring the United States was once again being blamed for the increased tensions in the region.

Chapter Four - part eight

  Jeremy was waiting for them when they arrived at the training base. There had been no issues at all there. Jeremy had accepted James as his commanding officer before greeting him as an old and dear friend. After they were all settled in Jeremy had taken them all out for a night on the town. That had done wonders to bring the group together. The next two days were spent meeting and planning. The third day the rest of the squadron reported back. That had been a very long day. After the first meeting, James had left the pilots to the others. He had spent his time meeting and greeting the ground crews for the squadron. If he didn't have a great relationship with them then nothing would work right. At first they seemed to be more upset about him being with them than anything else. However, by the end of the day they had started to understand that this Colonel saw them as a critical part of his squadron. They were beginning to see him as someone who needed and wanted them to be a part of everything. That evening James held another meeting with the entire squadron. He made it clear to all of them that he expected each of them to be a part of a finely tuned weapon. He made it very clear to everyone that he knew his life depended on his ground crew and that he trusted them completely with it. He also made it clear that he expected that same trust between every pilot and crew. If there was a problem on either side he wanted to know about it too. He also announced who the flight leaders were and told the rest he would let them know who they would be flying with after they all had time to fly together.

   They spent the next few days and some of the nights doing just that, flying together. When it was time for the trip to their new base every flight was filled out and the ground crews were a part of the family too. The five man flight size made pairing hard, but it had a purpose too. Due the demands involved in learning to fly the new F/A-48 there were a lot of inexperienced pilots in each new squadron. The two least experienced pilots in each flight always flew wing with the flight leaders. One of them might fly singly with the flight leader or they might fly together with him in a three plane group. On rare occasions they might even get to pair up and fly together without the flight leader. It gave them a chance to spend as much time as possible flying with an experienced pilot before they had to take a new wingman on, to train themselves. James was thankful that he had a highly experienced set of flight leaders. The youngsters were good pilots, but they all thought they were invincible. That could be fatal in a fighter jet, even on a good day. The trip over went smoothly and the next few weeks went smoothly around the base too. That couldn't last forever though. It all ended just after James assumed full command at Spangdahlem Air Base. The Russians seemed to have been waiting for Lt. General Madison to leave before they started anything.

   It was summer in Europe so heating wasn't a major issue yet, but fuel for vehicles and industry still was. Russia had quietly announced they would be reducing the flow of oil out of Slovakia by nearly half. That line flowed into the Czech Republic and then split off to supply many other nations. It was the major line of supply for the Czech Republic and southern Poland. A reduction of that size would cripple economies and might cause the collapse of the governments. The Russians were increasing production at all of the refineries that were under their control for themselves. They were also reducing the flow of natural gas, but not as much, not yet. The results were more immediate than would have been expected by many. There were major protests and even riots in numerous nations almost overnight. Some of them weren't even going to be directly affected by the reductions. There was little doubt that most of those protests were being instigated from outside. It had been Russia that had made the news so public after all. James could do little about any of it at first. That quickly changed when the militaries in several of the nations had to step in to control the riots.

   Instead of easing the situation they seemed to have inflamed it. Soon the people and parts of the military were in open revolt against those standing governments. The governments had immediately appealed to NATO for help and that in turn had resulted in James becoming involved. He was ordered to provide support for ground units of both NATO and the forces remaining loyal to the governments. James soon found himself involved in numerous small engagements. It was very hard to do a lot without risking civilian casualties, but that was his task. James spent a great deal of his time in the air over the next few days. He soon found that now Lt. Colonel Peter Kemp was among the best at breaking up conflicts without actually using much force. Peter had quickly been placed in command directly behind James during these ground support actions. He was less senior at his new rank than either of the other two Lt. Colonels, but his experience and knowledge in these situations was worth far more than seniority to James. Days turned into weeks and most of the nations regained some control. The Czech Republic remained very much in turmoil though and as the weeks became months that turmoil started to spill over borders.

   Once again James and others were convinced that the conflicts were being instigated intentionally. The first couple of incidents seemed minor, but James knew that they were anything but minor. He had managed to avoid becoming involved in those small incidents, but if they grew in size he might be unable to do that. Slovakia still had a government and military separate from Russia, but they were nothing more than puppets on a string to Russia. Intelligence clearly showed that Russian troops and even heavy armor was being moved closer to the borders and closer to the conflict areas. It would only be a matter of time until one of those conflicts between the Slovakian military and the people of the Czech Republic involved some Russian troops. If and when that did happen, James had little doubt of what would follow. The Russians would have an excuse to take direct action. Once the Russians were directly involved James wasn't sure what would happen. If they crossed the border into the Czech Republic it would be seen as an open challenge, but if James took any action too soon that might also be seen as an act of war.

   James was in constant communication with General Madison as well as the current NATO commander in the Czech Republic. At least the NATO commander was an American, Colonel Kirby Phillips. The problem was they wanted James to find a way to prevent this from involving the Russians and James saw little chance of doing that if the conflicts between these two nations continued. It was very unlikely they would stop anytime soon either. The lack of oil had started to have a noticeable impact now. Both The Czech Republic and Poland were feeling it. Gasoline was being rationed and so was fuel oil. It wasn't even that cold yet. Once winter arrived in force the situation was likely to get a lot worse very rapidly. In order to reduce the tensions the Czech Republic had allowed more oil to continue to flow on to other nations than the people inside the country wanted them to allow. That had caused more problems, but once the cold hit it might cause a disastrous reaction from the public in the Czech Republic. It didn't help the situation any that James was so far away from it. It took time to get in the air and reach the area. They couldn't keep planes in the area without looking like they were the ones pushing things. It was a very problematic situation, with few possible solutions.

Chapter Four - part seven

   The next evening James got a surprise at his small apartment. He answered a knock at the door to find Major Peter Kemp standing outside. James knew his surprise had to be obvious, but he quickly invited Peter inside. Once inside Peter wasted no time. He spoke before James could ask what brought him by. James knew from his voice that coming here had been very hard. Peter tried to smile as he spoke. "I hope you won't mind, but I thought maybe we had best do this in private and after hours." James shrugged and motioned Peter to take a seat as he replied. "You are always welcome to see me anytime, but I hope you won't feel a need to wait until after hours if something is troubling you. Now let's hear what brings you to see me and see if we can get it worked out." Peter actually laughed. Then he gave James a genuine smile as he spoke. "Sir, I hope it can be worked out, but I don't see how. I know how I feel about you and I have no doubt that you feel the same about me. If I had known in time, that you were to be my new commanding officer, I would have tried to change my orders, but I didn't know until it was too late. I came here to see if we could arrange things without too much disruption and get me reassigned."

  James let out a long sigh and then stood up. Peter started to do the same, but James waved him down as he spoke. "Would you care for a drink? I don't have much to offer. A beer, some wine, or a soda is about it. I haven't had time to get much. In fact I still haven't received my personal things yet, so you are lucky this was a furnished apartment." Peter was looking at James like he was seeing a monster. James laughed when he saw the look on his face. "Relax Peter, I am not a monster. Just because I am a Christian doesn't mean that I can't have a drink sometimes. Frankly, I could use one right now. How about a beer? Then maybe we can work this out." Peter nodded. James brought in the beer and resumed his seat. After lifting their cans in a silent toast they both had a drink. Then James leaned forward and spoke. "I want you to understand something before we go any further. What I think and feel about you is up to you. I have seen your record. You are a top pilot and a fine officer. Your record shows only a couple small issues very early in it and I doubt they will matter much to your career in the end. You did what you believed to be right at the time and took the punishment for it. It is done and over."

   James laughed and leaned back in his chair. "Trust me I have done things that were a lot worse to some folks. I was lucky to have been punished for most of them off the record, but I still did what I believed to be right and was ready to face the punishment if I had to. I respect that you did that too and I respect you for doing it. Peter, the only one who has a problem here is you and it is up to you what we do about it. I didn't like you at the Academy, but I gave you my respect while we were both there. I may not like you now, which will take some time for me to decide. I will give you my respect though and I will treat you as the officer you are now, not the cadet you were then. Now I have said my say. What do you have to say?"

   Peter Kemp was staring at James in clear disbelief. After a moment he looked at the can in his hand and then shaking his head he took a long drink before he replied. "Sir... sorry, James. I don't really know what to say to that. I just remember how things were at the Academy. It is hard to believe that you have forgotten that." James burst into laughter and spoke while still laughing. "I haven't forgotten it, but I wouldn't change it either! Look, I know it is hard for people to understand who haven't accepted Christ, but you just can't hold a grudge once you do that. Once you are forgiven you find it very hard not to forgive others. Oh, it may take some time and you may not want to do it, but you just can't avoid it. Christ won't let you avoid forgiving others. I know that my faith is a real issue for you. I am truly sorry about that, but my faith doesn't have to make us enemies. I had planned to give it a few days and then announce to the entire squadron who the new flight leaders will be. I think you need to know right now that one of those spots is yours... if you want it. Peter you are a great pilot and a fine officer. You are a leader and I know now that I can depend on you. It took a lot of courage for you to come here tonight and face someone you think of as an enemy. I need someone with that kind of courage. We may not agree and we may never be close friends, but I think we can fly together and if needed fight together. I need your experience and your help. I hope I will have it, but that is something only you can decide. I just ask that you not think about our past so much. That is done and finished. It's over, if not forgotten. For now let's focus on the future and make it something we both want to remember. Sorry for interrupting you, but that just struck me as funny when you thought I could forget the Academy."

   Now it was Peter who started to laugh. Finally he stood up and after a moment extended his hand to James. As they stood there together shaking hands as if meeting for the first time he spoke. "I think I will need to call you Sir for a while before I can be comfortable calling you James. Anyway, I think I would like to see if we can fly together, sir." Then he grinned. "I wasn't expecting a warm welcome tonight. I certainly wasn't expecting a beer and a laugh, but I thank you for both. I don't know if I can put the past behind me, but I will try. I think I need to take a walk and do some thinking. See you in the morning, sir." He had turned and walked out before James could say anything more. James stepped over to the door and watched him walking away. That had gone better than he had expected it to go when it had started. James hoped that Peter could put the past behind him. He was a great pilot and he was a leader. Peter had been a leader at the Academy and he had apparently remained one. James could use that kind of leaders with so many young inexperienced pilots to deal with.

   The remainder of the week was fairly uneventful. They were all flying back to the United States to pick up their new jets and to get ready to meet the new squadron. James still hadn't told anyone except Peter what he was planning. Peter had come by his office to talk to James. That had been an interesting talk too. Peter had made it clear that he wanted to fly with James and was looking forward to it. He had made no promises, but he had been sincere when he said he would do his best to be a valuable part of the squadron. The others had also stopped in individually to talk with James. Most of those visits had been a first step towards learning about each other. Shanna had just talked over old times and caught up on things with him. He had enjoyed that, but it made him start missing Sarah more. James would have just over a week to meet the rest of his new squadron and get them ready for the move to Germany. A lot of the prep work for the move was already done, but there were still a lot of details to deal with. James was just glad he had these old friends along to help. 

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.

Chapter Four - part five

   Once they were out of the room Lt. General Madison had ordered that she and James weren't to be disturbed. She resumed her seat and smiling spoke directly to James for the first time since the meeting had started. "Well now you know where the problem is and I assume you know what the problems are too. You have seen all of the intelligence we have. Russia wants to take control of one or both of those nations. They don't need direct control of either of them. All they need is a foothold, a base located within the nation. That will give them the power they need to advance even further in other places. We are on the opposite side of Germany, so Russia can effectively ignore us unless we can make them notice us. Germany has no interest in being noticed. They have problems of their own to deal with. Now I want to hear what you think of all of this and what you think should be done. We can't afford to let them gain a foothold. Poland is already leaning heavily back towards Russia, which now appears to be the strongest power in the region. NATO has become little more than a paper tiger to Russia, if even that. A failure on our part now will be catastrophic to our entire position in Europe."

   James nodded as she spoke and when she stopped he sighed deeply. She was correct in her own assessment of the current situation. The problem was that James wasn't sure what if anything they could do. Taking a deep breath he offered what little he could to the discussion. "I fully agree that we must not let Russia gain more footholds in Europe or we may soon lose control of much of Europe. That said I am not sure that we have much control of Europe now. Ma'am from what I can tell; most European governments are already on the verge of collapsing. The only real strengths seem to be in places where the government has taken almost complete control of everything. Those nations are effectively standing on the people to maintain the control they do have, but even there it is getting harder for them to maintain control. As for the two nations we just spoke with? Well Austria is more stable and less likely to just cave in to Russia. They are very proud and independent, but the economy isn't that much better there than anywhere else. I think that, over time, they could be convinced to form an alliance with Russia to strengthen their economy. That alliance could be used by Russia to eventually gain full control, but that will take a long time. The Czech Republic is more likely to be in immediate danger, but some of the leaders still remember what a boot on their neck feels like. It will take a lot to make them forget that feeling. The real issue there is that the people may decide that being under a Russian boot is still better than starving or freezing."

   James stood up and paced across the room a couple of times before turning back to face Lt. General Madison. She was just sitting and watching him in silence. She seemed to be waiting for him to finish. James shook his head as he continued. "Ma'am, I don't see any good way for us to approach this at the moment. Unless Russia moves troops in a directly threatening way, anything we do will look like we are the aggressor and help them. I do believe our focus should be more on the Czech Republic than Austria, but I don't think either of those is the final goal for Russia. I think they want to gain control of Poland and are using these two as distractions. Poland is actually in worse economic and political shape that Austria and maybe even the Czech Republic. Poland has a slightly stronger economy, but the Czech Republic still has a strangle hold on opposition to the government. Poland has control of the people, but they can't hold it if the people get too cold and hungry. At the moment I just don't see a good viable approach for us to use in removing the threat of a Russian take over. They can use food and fuel to starve and freeze these smaller nations into submission. Armies can't feed people or heat their homes either, so we can't supply those needs with military force.  I am not sure what if anything we can do."

   James had stopped pacing and was standing directly in front of the desk. He was now the one that was watching and waiting. If she had expected him to provide a quick solution or any solution at all then she should be very disappointed. She showed no sign of any emotion at all. After a moment Lt. General Madison spoke softly. "Please sit down, James." After he was seated again she continued. "You have a very good picture of the situation. We have been looking at this for months and have decided much the same things that you have just said. In the end that changes nothing for us though. We still have to try and stop this slow, steady Russian advance into Europe. I fully agree that it will be difficult to do with military force. I think that may soon change though. If Russia does continue to squeeze the food and fuel supplies, the people won't stand still. They can't or they will start to die. They will demand action and those demands will become violent. That is where I think we can do some good. I think Russia will try to step in as a savior to the people. I also think they will try to move in the military when they do. If we can prevent the military from moving in, while also restoring some order, then we will have a chance. We can be the good guys for a change."

   She leaned forward and grinned. "I know you don't want to hear this, but I think this is going to play out a lot like it did in South Korea. That is one reason we thought of you. You handled that very well, almost perfectly. You used force, but you held back until the perfect moment. Then you didn't rush in and just shoot things up. You moved in silently and without doing any real damage you eliminated the threat." James started to speak, but was waved down. "Oh, I know it could easily have gone much differently! I know that you also risked your own career to do what you did. That is also why we think you are the right man for this situation. James you have been here only a few days and yet you have a better grasp of what is really going on than many of the politicians and diplomats who have spent their lives here. Maybe there is nothing you can do. Maybe there never will be... but if an opportunity does come along we think you will not only see it, but that you won't be afraid to take it!" James shook his head and laughed. Then he spoke.

   "You seem to think I am a lot more than I am Ma'am. But you also keep saying we. Who is this 'we' you keep repeating? I have gotten used to the politics, the hidden agendas, and intrigues that seem to be a part of military life for an officer, but I still would like to know who is holding my strings. I want to know who is trying to make me dance to the song they pick out. Can you and will you tell me that?" Now she laughed and shook her head slowly as she sat back in her chair to study him. After a moment she spoke. "One of those who believe in you is General Kendrick. I believe you remember him. He has never taken his eyes off of you. He will be moving up to head the North American Air Force Command soon. Right now he is in charge of intelligence. He is the one who thinks you are the only one who might be able to help here. Trust me when I tell you that a lot of thought and prayer went into this decision. James we aren't trying to pull your strings. All we are trying to do is position you where we believe you can do the most good."

   She hesitated and then stood up to move around to face James who stood up too. Her voice was no longer so commanding. It was almost timid now. "James, I told you the first time we met that I serve the Lord my God before all others. That is still true. Things are moving rapidly all across the world towards something major. The people of the world are in trouble and the governments are no longer able to truly help them. I believe that God is moving to help them. The only question is will the people let God help. When you started at the Academy nearly twenty years ago things looked very bad. In many ways they have only grown worse since then. There have been some changes that weren't bad though. James when you entered the Academy the government and the military were trying very hard to completely remove God from themselves. The government has almost succeeded, but the military has slowly been turning back towards God. I admit that we still have a large number of enlisted coming in each year that aren't interested in God. I will also be the first to tell you that many of them soon develop a very real interest in God, because of what they do and what they see going on every day in the military. I have also seen something even more hopeful happening. The people in command positions are becoming more Christian. The number of actual Christians is still far too low, but those who are openly followers have moved up and are moving into control in spite of their faith. I and others believe this wasn't by accident. We believe that God is moving His own into place to take command when they must. You want to know who holds your strings. I think God holds them!"

   She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled as she spoke in a more familiar tone of voice. She sounded much like she had when she had spoken to cadets at services at Jack's Valley. "James, we don't expect you to work miracles or save the world. We just think that you have the right set of skills and the right attitude for this job. You also have something that few others have enough of. You have an absolute sort of faith that seems to only grow stronger when it is tested the hardest.  Let's pray together about this James." She bowed her head and began to pray as James did the same. "Our Father in heaven, we come to you now for guidance and wisdom. Father you alone know what the future holds for us. You alone have the answers we so desperately need. Father, I pray today that you will provide those answers and guide our steps as we move forward. Father, I pray that you will continue to bless and to use this young warrior who stands before you. We have already asked much of him and much he has given Father, but now we must ask even more of him. Many of us have watched him as he has walked the path that we and you have laid before him. We have seen him stumble sometimes, but we have never seen him waiver or fall. He has been an obedient and faithful servant. I lift him up to you now and ask for your blessings upon him as he once more steps forward to do his duty; for his country and for his Lord. Guide his heart and mind Father. Take him where he must go and show him what he must do. We have brought this man here to do our work, but we pray that you will make his work your own. We pray all this in the name of our Lord and savior, your son, Jesus. Amen."

   James said nothing more than a soft 'Amen'. He took a deep breath again and nodded. Then he spoke softly. "Katherine, if I may call you that?" She smiled and nodded. "Katherine, you have put me into a very difficult place during a very difficult time. I will do all that I can do. I will pray that God has heard your prayers and will grant them, but I am just a man Katherine. I am no better or worse than any other man or woman. You look at me and say you don't expect me to work miracles and yet you have asked me to do nothing less than that. I hope you haven't put your faith in me instead of God, because if you have... I will fail. I thank you for that prayer, but I ask that you pray for the people instead. I go where I am sent and do what I must. Though I have sometimes forgotten God, God has never forgotten me. I know that no matter what happens it will be according to His will and that is enough for me. If it isn't enough for you then you have greater problems than these we have spoken of to deal with. Now I need to get ready to take command of my new squadron, if you will excuse me I better get to work on that."

Chapter Four - part four

   Russia was using that growing unrest and weakness to try and force a way into old Soviet Union states. Russia was openly hostile in some areas and apparently helpful in others. The telling detail for James was the massive growth he was seeing in the Russian military. China had been building massive ground armies and a much larger navy. Russia was also rebuilding massive ground armies, but they were also backing those with a larger Air Force. They still had a large navy, second only to the United States in large ships. China now had a larger navy than even America, but much of it was made of the smaller coastal defense type ships. The new Russian Air Force was now larger than and nearly as modern as the United States Air Force, while China still had far more planes than either of them. The fact that Russia now had the second largest standing army in the world was cause for worry too. When you added such a large Air Force to that huge Army and Navy it was very alarming. The United States had a well trained and equipped Army, but it was scattered around the world. Well over half of the Russian Army was within a few days move of the European borders. Even if the United States and NATO had every available Army unit in Europe ready to act, the current Russian Army along the borders would be half again larger in numbers. That was truly frightening when you looked at it closely.

   All of the Ukraine had fallen under Russian control long ago. Belarus had slowly collapsed and followed the Ukraine. Several other much smaller nation states had also fallen to Russia. They had been separate in name for a time, but now they were all just states within the whole of Russia. Russia was making a huge push in many areas all at once. Poland, Romania, Hungry and the Czech Republic were all in play and some were leaning heavily now. James had been stunned by some of the reports on the political conditions within those nations. James had known they were in turmoil, but he hadn't known how much of it was being generated from outside the borders. Russia was also pushing in other much smaller nation states along its borders. James hadn't believed most of Europe could be as close to falling as it appeared to be. He still needed more time, but he was relatively certain that if one more 'domino' fell then many more would quickly fall in a chain reaction. He just wasn't certain what anybody thought a few F/A-48's could do to change things or prevent any of it from happening.

   James spent two more full days and a good part of each night going over all of those intelligence reports very carefully. In the end his opinion hadn't changed a lot. It still looked like there were a lot of leaning dominos out there waiting for the first one to fall. The only real question was which one it would be and how many more it would knock down when it fell. He took a few hours to look over the files on those new officers he would be getting any day now. That had turned out to be a real bright spot in an otherwise very dark few days. He knew three of the five very well. The two Lt. Colonels had graduated with his class from the Academy. The good news didn't end there though. One of them was Jeremy and the other was Shanna. They had both been flying an F/A-48 for no less than eight years now. They hadn't ever served together, but they had both been flight leaders within a squadron. James now knew who two of his flight leaders would be. Since he would also be a flight leader that only left one more to find before the squadron pilots arrived. James contacted Lt. General Madison and set up a meeting. It was time to find out what command thought he could do about the situation in front of him this time. She told him she would let him know when she had arranged things with everyone that needed to be there.

   James wasn't certain who else might be there, but he suspected it would tell him more about what to expect. He couldn't have been more wrong. There were only three other people in the room when James arrived. The only other military officer was Lt. General Madison. The two others were both diplomats. One was from Austria and the other from the Czech Republic. They both seemed to be more interested in meeting James than in anything else. Once the introductions were finished they fell silent. James listened as Madison carefully explained why the two men were there. It seemed that Russia was talking of cutting back fuel supplies to them unless they allowed Russia to build new military bases inside both countries. They might have been less concerned with the threats if not for a massive build up of Russian troops in what had been Slovakia. Russia had moved in several divisions of troops during the last few months, supposedly on maneuvers. Now it looked as if they were preparing to stay there for some time. It appeared to them that Russia was up to something else along the borders of their nations. James soon heard those concerns from the men; concerns about the increased unrest fuel shortages might cause for them if they refused Russian demands. Once they had their say, and Madison had assured the two men that the United States was very concerned about all of this, the pair of diplomats left. She had also hinted that concern for them was the reason Colonel Cooper had assumed command of the 480th fighter squadron, which was the first squadron of F/A-48's to be based in Germany. It was only after the diplomats had been satisfied that something was being done and had left that James heard the full story.