The Faithful, North African and Middle Eastern Islamic nations, are plotting to seize the oil resources of the Middle East. By controlling the earth's oil and its major trade routes, they plan to bring the world to its knees. Then, when the entire world is kneeling, the Faithful of Allah will read to them from the Koran, preaching the message of Islam, the True Faith. The Faithful will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. But how far will they go? And how many lives will it cost?

4 Victory and Defeat

4.1 America

4.1.1 Alboran Sea

"Officers," Admiral Duncan began the Threat Planning Meeting, "we've run the gauntlet and been damned lucky." Everybody nodded in agreement. The story of the Admiral's diplomatic coup with the Moroccan colonel had swept through the fleet. "Now we've got to figure out what comes next.

"I've been on the horn already to CentCom, and they're screaming. The Saudi army has been pretty well destroyed. The only effectives between the enemy and Jubayl are two American light divisions. The 82nd and the One-Oh-One are arriving, but most of their troops are either in the air or waiting for air transportation. Kimmel and her PhibRon are still at least five days out, and the Reforger ships are still two weeks from sailing. That means we've got three weeks before the heavy stuff, like the Twenty-Fourth Mechanized and the First Armored, can get here.

"Admiral Ellingstone has just rendezvoused with Victory and Ajax. He'll be coming through Gibraltar day after tomorrow. With Morocco backing down, Ajax will handle escort duties through the Straits, and Victory will be escorting the PhibRon all the way. We'll join up as a combined task force and give 'em hell. But, it'll take another three or four days for the rest of Blacky's troops to arrive.

"As far as the rest of our fleet is concerned, Jefferson sailed yesterday. Their group is coming east at over thirty knots. Lincoln will sail tomorrow. Farragut sailed from Yokohama yesterday, but she'll take a week or so to get here. Teddy Roosevelt sailed from Pearl yesterday going west, while Eisenhower left San Diego for Panama. We all know what that means. Essentially, it's us for two or three days. Then, there'll be three of us, and that's it for a long time. If I know CentCom, they'll put either us or Victory in the Red Sea to give them one carrier on each front.

"But first, we gotta get there. That means the next hurdle we face will be the Straits of Sicily. Well, officers, what are our plans for Sicily?"

'My brain trust,' the admiral mused. He sat back and looked around the table at his planners. 'Let's see what they've come up with.'

The Air Staff sat on Duncan's left. Buck Henry, CAG, sat next to the admiral, with his Senior Squadron Commanders next to him. Commander Donald "Spring" Sprang, the CO of VF-8, would be responsible for maintaining air superiority over and around the fleet with his big Tomcat IIs. The Admiral's son, Commander David Duncan, the CO of VFA-8, was concerned with both fleet defense and offense with his two squadrons of F/A-38 SuperHornets. Commander Pedro "Pepe" Gonzalez, the CO of VA-8, would use his stealthy A-29 Avenger attack bombers for offensive operations. Captain Byron "Bull" O'Connor, of VE-8 had the Eyes, Ears and Regulators that would keep them all informed and under control in the air. Commander Conrad "Connie" Fink's S-3 Vikings of VS-8 would work with the FiGs and the screen commander to detect and sink any subs that got in their way. And, Commander Billy Joe "Wrangler" Joiner would make sure that all his KS-3 Holsteins and the S-3 "ersatz-cows" he borrowed from Connie Fink were up and feeding the thirsty aircraft.

The Surface Staff sat to the admiral's right. Captain Teegin and his J-2, Commander James Johanson, sat next to him. Captain Grigory Yuhovitch of Bunker Hill and his missile boss, Commander Eugene Halbertson, were next. Commander Charles Taylor of Carson and Commander Floyd Albertson of Neill sat just beyond them. At the far end of the table were the FiG commanders: Lt. Commander Myron Patkowicz, Klakring; Lt. Commander George Jones, Elrod; and last, but by no means least, Lt. Commander Muriel MacDonald of the old Hiram Jones.

Captain Teegin began, "Admiral, I'll let Jimmy fill you in on that stuff, and then I'll go on from there. Jimmy?"

Commander James "Jimmy" Johanson, "Mr. Threat", unfolded himself carefully from the tiny chair, stretched to his full six feet six inches and squarely planted his two-hundred and sixty-five plus pounds on his shiny, leather, size twenties. "Sirs, officers, the threat in the Sicilian Straits can come from three sources: the Algerians, the Tunisians and the Libyans. Individually, they have the following capabilities." He flashed a new screen labeled "ALGERIA" onto the display. It was divided into the categories of Naval and Air.

"The Algerians have a small fleet. Their flagship is an old 3,600-ton French destroyer, closer to our frigates but with a 5-inch gun, and a single-arm AAM firing French Marmoset Mark IIs, copies of the NATO SM-2. They have two French corvettes - like our FiG's but smaller, only about 2,700 tons. They fire French Marmosets, about the equivalent of our SM-1s. They also have ten little, fast, missile boats. They're only about 250 tons or so, but they can fly along at 50 knots on hydrofoils. They've got a 3-incher and a CIWS, but their real punch comes from their four, sea-launch versions of the French Dragoon we met yesterday. That sucker has a range of 40 miles, travels at 1,500 miles per hour, and packs a 400 pound warhead.

"The Algerian Air Force is tidy. They've got one squadron of French Rafales. Those babies are fast, maneuverable, armed with a 30-mm gatling gun and Matra Magics, which are very similar to our AAMRAMs. They also have two squadrons of Mirage 2000s. We all know these, and have flown against them. They're good, and they're also armed with Magics. Finally, they have one squadron of Typhoons, the British/European upgrade to the Tornado. Once again, the Typhoons came out in all the variations from pure fighter to recon, but the Algerians only bought the attack version. It's half-way between the Hornet and the Avenger in every way. It's supersonic, a bit on the stealthy side, great at low levels with a big bomb load. If you were going to buy only one kind of attack plane, this'd be it."

Mr. Threat flicked a new chart entitled "Tunisia" on his screen, "The Tunisians have one of the smallest armed forces in North Africa. Their navy consists of one destroyer and six missile boats. The destroyer is an old, Italian Guarda-class, and it's a good multi-role vessel. It has a dual, 5-inch gun-mount, a single-arm AAM launcher firing Italian G-2s about the same as the SM-1, a CIWS and full helicopter facilities. Nice ship. The missile boats are Russian, about 250 tons, 40 knots, etc. They have four ASW-9s with a range of 40 miles, a speed of about 1,200 and carry a 550-pound warhead.

"Their air force is also tidy. They've got two squadrons of MiG-21s, in mint condition. They're almost museum pieces, and they use them for both training purposes and attack. They also have a squadron of Su-22 attack fighters. Then, they've got a squadron of MiG-29s. The Fulcrum is a damn good plane and with a smart driver can wax your tail."

Johanson's screen flickered for a third time to a chart reading "Libya" at the top. "Now, as far as capabilities are concerned, the Libyans are at the top of the heap. They've got two big Russian AA destroyers. These babies have forty vertical launchers in the bow and sixty in the stern. They can fire anything up to the AA-19 - that's their copy of the SM-3. They've got two 120-mm guns, torpedoes and four anti-ship missiles with a range of 60 miles carrying a thousand pound warhead.

"Then, they've got two frigates, which are Russian ASW-types. Real good. They've only got a 76-mm and a single arm, but they'll also fire AA-19s.

"Third, they've got a scad of missile-boats. They're hydrofoils, with a 76-mm and six of those big ship-to-ship types of missiles.

"Finally, and this is the real kick in the ass, they've got two subs. Both of them are rebuilt Foxtrots ... quiet as the grave, with really upgraded sonars.

"The Libyan air force is packed with top of the line stuff. They've got one regiment, or about thirty-six planes, of Su-25s, Su-27s, MiG-29s and MiG-31s. Damned capable! They've got at least two regiments of bombers. One is made up of about twenty-seven Blinders and the other of the same number of Blackjacks!

"Next, they have a squadron of Badgers equipped with look-down search radars, similar to the Big Domes, which could be used for sea patrol. Finally, we know that they have at least two, if not three MadCap radar planes. No, they're not as good as the Mainstay, and real short of the Hawkeyes, but they'll still do one hell of a job in the right hands.

"So, if we total up the threat from the three North African countries," his screen winked again, "this is what we're facing. A naval force of four destroyers, five frigates, twenty-eight missile boats and two subs. Their combined fleet could deliver about one hundred thirty-six anti-ship missiles. Their combined air forces contain over two hundred fighters and attack planes, more than fifty bombers, a dozen recon and two or three AWACs."

CAG almost choked on his coffee. The Senior Squadron Commanders exchanged serious glances.

Mr. Threat wasn't finished. "Now, I've put up this screen to emphasize a point. If they get together and run a combined operation, they can put a strong surface action group together, provide a hell of a lot of fighter cover, and still mount a simultaneous air offensive against us.

"My question is will they? Arab unity has been one of the great myths and worst-nightmare scenarios. Next to the Israelis and us, the Arabs hate each other more than anybody else on the face of the Earth. It'd take a lot of new-found trust for the Imams to come together on anything. However, as a planner, I have to think up the worst-case scenario and prepare to defend against it. This is about as bad as I could put together.

"The time and place for such a combined operation by the North Africans is obviously the Straits of Sicily." The map showing the Straits appeared again on his display. He pointed to the screen. "Here between Cape Bon and Cape Granitola the Straits narrow to about ninety miles. The water shoals to less than one hundred fathoms and is squirrely. It's a tough place for ASW."

The three FiG captains looked anxiously at each other and rolled their eyes.

"If I were them, I'd use the Bon Peninsula and Pantelleria Island as cover. I'd hit us with lots of air power, and, in the confusion, I'd pop out from behind them with my DDs, FiGs and missile boats to shoot off everything I had. Then, I'd hit us with the subs, here off Sciacca where the hundred fathoms curve drops off. There's a little tongue of deep water that sticks into the Strait and the water moving up and over the shallows would be a perfect spot to hide if they can get down far enough. And, by the way, that's a question that we don't have an answer for.

"So that's the threat we face, and my worst case scenario." Johanson said as he sat down feeling rather pleased with himself. Mr. Threat had scared the hell out of them all and with good reason.

Captain Teegin picked up from there. "As you can see, Admiral, the potential threat is both very real and very large. We are assuming that some kind of "new era of cooperation" will exist for a short time, but that it will fall apart. In the meantime, however, we've come up with several scenarios which we'd like to show you."

The Admiral interrupted, "Thanks, Ed. Before we get into that, I'd like to give you all some good news. I've spoken with Admiral Robustelli, and I've just received this."

He held up what appeared to be an advertisement. In the center was a beautiful and curvaceous Italian woman, dressed in the traditional style of a prostitute, leaning on a lamppost. The caption read: "Try OUR Escort Service!"

"The Italians have created two escort groups - one for the eastbound traffic and one for the westbound through the Straits. The groups consist of a Garibaldi-class DDG and two ASW frigates. The Garibaldi, the Alfonso Donatelli and the Enrico Ghiarggio will rendezvous with us tomorrow. The Garibaldis are similar to our Arleigh Burkes and will increase our anti-air significantly. The Donatelli and Ghiarggio are damned good ASW FiGs, and the Italians know these waters.

"Also, Robustelli has informed me that the Italian Air Force has transferred several squadrons south. They've put two squadrons of Whirlwind European Advanced Fighters in Sicily and moved a squadron of Typhoons, the attack variants, down into Calabria. They're also increasing their reconnaissance with the GR-5 versions of the Typhoons. They'll be sweeping the area from Sardinia to Malta. The Garibaldi is bringing all their IFF codes to us. The Italians are somewhat possessive about their forty million dollar aircraft. So, how would those reinforcements change our plans?"

"Wow, Admiral, that's a tremendous help," Johanson exclaimed. "It changes everything. I know the Garibaldis. They're real nice, NATO compliant, about a hundred missiles and fast. I don't know their FiGs all that well, but from what I've read they're real good at the shallow water stuff, where ours aren't as good. And as you said, they know their own coast lines a lot better than we do."

"Yes," Teegin agreed, "the Italians will make a big difference. I had planned on a similar tactical formation going through Sicily that we used through Gibraltar. Those three vessels will make a world of difference. My first thought would be to assign the two FiGs to the screen on the inshore side and attach the DDG to the anti-air screen. I'm still concerned about the ASW screen's anti-air, though, and think that we should keep one of the DDGs out there with them. What are your thoughts, Greg?"

Grigory Yuhovitch looked up. "Indeed, I'm concerned about the FiGs, but I'm more concerned about Halsey. Two hundred fighters, fifty bombers and a hundred and thirty or forty missiles can ruin your whole day. I was really concerned about pulling either of the DDGs out, but this Garibaldi sounds like it'd be of real help. My question would be whether they can integrate better with me or be better with the FiGs as screen commander?"

From the far end of the table, Muriel MacDonald raised her hand. "I'm concerned about the Vikes, Sirs. Each of us is NATO compliant, and operating and controlling our choppers wouldn't be too difficult. But, the Vikings are a different story. We've never coordinated our fleet ASW tactics with the Italians before. I think it'd be better if we kept this in our own hands and handed off the data."

"I agree with Mac," said Connie Fink. "Of course a lot depends on how many of my Vikings stay ASW and how many go to Wrangler and Cow Boss. But, if we've got five choppers, five FiGs and a bunch of my people doing the ASW thing, we'd better maintain a high level of control and communication."

The Admiral pondered their comments for a few seconds. "Yes, I think I agree. Two Foxtrots hiding in bad water could be a cast-iron bitch. Charley, you've been running the screen. Had enough, or would you like to try it, Floyd?"

The two commanders looked at each other for a moment. Finally, Floyd Albertson spoke up, "No, Admiral, I think we'll keep it like it is. Carson's crew has had more hands-on than mine, and we're really heavy into the anti-air side. Besides, my XO speaks Italian like a native, so we'd be able to coordinate with them more easily, I think. What about you, Charley?"

Charley Taylor nodded. "Yah, I cut my teeth on ASW. I like hunting subs, and I don't like people who mess with my FiGs."

The three frigate commanders laughed knowingly. Charley was tough, but he ran a real good ASW effort. Regardless of what they thought about him personally, they all respected his experience and command ability.

"What about you, Greg? How's your Italian?"

"Me? I'm a Pole, remember? Poles are great with languages, except Greek!" Everybody laughed remembering the punch line to that old saw. "Naw, shouldn't be a problem. We'll sit down together tomorrow, get our sets tuned up, run through a couple of standard drills, and we'll be fine. Tell you what, though. Floyd, do you think your XO would serve on the Garibaldi for this little excursion? It might help a lot. I've got a lieutenant on my staff who's served on DDGs. She's my navigation officer and handles a bridge real well. What do you think?"

"Could be. When we meet with the Garibaldi, I'll bring my XO. You bring this lieutenant, and we'll see if it works, OK?"

"So, if I understand our fleet dispositions," Teegin summarized, "we're looking at five FiGs out front with the Italians in-shore and Carson as Screen. We're looking at AAM of Bunker Hill, Neill and Garibaldi on the threat axis. We're looking at some personnel changes to smooth things quickly. That about it?" Everybody on his side of the table nodded in agreement. "OK, CAG, what about you?"

Buck Henry shook his head. "AirCAP has been a nightmare. If we had a second carrier, like we're supposed to at a time like this, it'd be easier. The problem we're looking at is too many missions and not enough Moo Cows. I'll let each of the Senior Commanders speak first, and then wrap it up. Spring?"

Don Sprang thought for a second. "Our problem in air superiority is the time vs. space equation. Our Tomcats were designed to find the other guy when we're two to three hundred miles out. Then we use our Phoenixes to hit the bad guys while they're another hundred further out. That way, even if they're carrying Kaltrop missiles or some other air-to-sea equivalent, we've got them long before they can shoot. In the Straits, they can shoot just about on take-off.

"We've worked out a plan rotating Rocky's Pumas and Cassey's Knights. We can maintain four T-2s on the threat axis plus two each with the Hawkeyes on the corners with no air refueling. If we're putting all the Hawkeyes up, we'll still be able to maintain two Tomcats on each, plus four more on the threat axis, but the rotation off the deck will keep the Air Boss real busy. Under that rotation, we'll have two Ready and two at Plus Fifteen.

"As for armaments, we'll have four Phoenixes, four AAMRAMs and two 9-Mamas on each bird. That'll give each squadron thirty-two long kills, the same number of intermediates and still leave us good dog-fighting capabilities.

"My pilots are going to have to fly weapons-free from the time they leave the deck. We'll only have about two minutes to identify and destroy a Mach-two bird before it hits something valuable. It'll be completely in the hands of the air controllers. We'll have to shoot first and ask questions later."

"Spring and I have gone over this several times in the simulators," Bull O'Connor agreed. "It'll have to be bang, bang! I'll see 'em, ID 'em and target 'em. I'll put a T-2 on a target or, if worse comes to worst, onto an area, and that'll be it. If we shoot down some poor innocent sap, I'll just have to apologize."

Admiral Duncan was not happy to hear their analysis and showed it. "OK, I'll declare an exclusion zone, immediately. All ships and all planes will be excluded from the Straits for forty-eight hours starting tomorrow."

Buck Henry and Teegin both made little check marks on their notes. If he hadn't said it, one of them would have asked for it.

"Now," Duncan continued, "what happens if we turn this whole thing inside-out? You say that the timing is bad for air intercepts. I agree. But, that's what our missile ships do well. On the other hand, neither our DDGs nor our CGs are toe-to-toe fighters. Put one of them alongside an old Fletcher-Class and that old DD would win three out of five, maybe more. So what happens if we turn the missiles on their planes and our planes on their ships? What do you think, Greg, Gene, Buck?

CAG turned to DJ. "You're on."

"Thanks, CAG." The young commander had been involved in many of these planning sessions during his career, but this one was especially difficult. This was his first time as a Senior Squadron Commander, which was bad enough. Even worse, though, he was also reporting to his own father.

"Sirs, the role of the Hornet as both a fighter and an attack plane gave me a lot of options. So, while CAG was handling the interceptor and air superiority roles, Pepe and I were trying exactly the same scenario you suggested, ah, Sir." He had almost slipped and called his father Dad. But, here and now it wasn't father and son, it was admiral and commander.

"You see, Sir, we just couldn't work out the timing side of it. Every time we tested our ability to react in close quarters in a heavy missile environment, things went to hell. So, we also turned it inside out.

"Depending upon the size of the Cow Herd, we'll be able to keep both T-2 squadrons up as high cover. That'll knock back the Blinder and Blackjack threat. We should be able to damage them before they launch anything at us. Afterwards, it'll be up to the Missile Boss.

"I'll be able to launch both my squadrons loaded with HARMs and Wildcat anti-ship missiles. Each plane can carry four of each plus two AAMRAMS and two Sidewinders. We decided on the Wildcat, because it's the quickest thing we've got. It'd hurt a destroyer, but it'd take multiples to sink one of them. At the same time, it's a sure kill on one of the small missile boats, which are what we see as the real threat anyway. Our job will be to maim and cripple. Then, we go to pure fighter operations and cover Pepe's Tequilas. All together, my squadrons will be able to expend sixty-eight HARMs and the same number of Wildcats. It should be enough to stop 'em cold.

"I can have my full complement of seventeen fighters up during the most critical period without extra tanker support. Is that right, Wrangler?"

"Right, DJ," Billy Joe Joiner responded. "We can rotate the four Cows keeping three upstairs most of the time. If we're all careful and nobody plays any afterburner games, we'll be all right.

"My concern," Wrangler continued, "and that of all the air commanders, is that if anything exciting happens we won't be able to keep them up there. For instance, if only the Tomcats become engaged, we'd need all four Holsteins to refuel them for another cycle. Or, we could give half loads to the Hornets and T-2s to get them home again. But, that's it. If you're talking about a running fight down the Straits, Cow Boss has to refit four of Connie's Vikes. That'll only leave him with only six in the ASW role."

"I can do it on six," Connie cut in, "but I'll have to rotate two each time around, so I can only keep four in the air. I could do more with more tankers, but then I wouldn't have the Vikes for my ASW missions, and it wouldn't matter. So, it's the best compromise we could come up with. I can have four Vikes to Cow Boss this afternoon."

CAG turned to Pepe Gonzalez. "What about your people?"

Gonzalez twirled an imaginary mustache and, in his worst Mexican accent, said, "Weel be ready for doze gringos!" Having gotten his laugh, he continued, "We'll launch the Avengers with full loads late in the program. Bull and his escorts will go off early, as will Wrangler's Cows and Ersatz Cows. We'll follow DJ, swing up north and hide.

"Our mission will be anti-ship, and we'll be working it alone. The Hornets will be able to give us low cover, while the T-2s are playing up high. With our stealth, though, it's better not to alert them with electronic noise.

"Internally, we'll all have four one-thousand pound laser guided bombs. Externally, we'll mount HARMs for defense suppression and Air Lance anti-ship missiles. We'll use the Air Lance because it's heavier. One will kill a destroyer, and there'd be nothing left of one of those little things. The idea is that we'll be hitting the big stuff with the big stuff, knocking out their fire control stuff whenever required. If we have to, we'll use the Lances on the missile boats. Those boats may be quick, but they're fragile so it won't take much for at least a mission kill."

CAG turned back to the admiral. "Sir, I think that's it. What we're suggesting, Sir, is a reversal of standard tactics. According to our computers, it should work. And, the extra hundred or so missiles from the Italians are just what we needed."

"Yes, you're right, CAG," Gene Halbertson interjected. "We were on the edge, I thought, with just two full-time anti-air vessels. Pulling Carson out as Screen Commander hurt our missilery, but with the Italians aboard we're way ahead. All we've got to do is coordinate with them to set up our frequencies, fire patterns, control and that kind of stuff."

"OK, Officers," the admiral concluded, "I think we've got the basics hammered out. Go forth and make your computers work! Ah, DJ? Could you hang around a minute?"

After the others had left, DJ and JT had a nice father-son get together. They even used "company time" and some very expensive, exotic, Naval hardware and software to call home. Fifteen minutes later, father and son became Admiral and Commander, once again, and moved off into their separate spheres within the carrier.