Detachment Delta (19 page)

Charlie tapped Fila with his knee, and she tried to suppress a grin. Custer shot him a knowing glance across the big conference table and flashed him a hand sign as if grabbing his testes as he glanced at Pops. Charlie grinned. Then he heard Fila chortle almost aloud, and he and Custer realized she had seen the interchange.

Rozanski was speechless and gave Pops a half nod, and Pops embarrassed the man further by saying, “Good. I am glad we can get along and make things work.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent briefing the quick reaction force for Operation Angry Godfather, which it was now called, a name created by Weasel for the famous movie.

A C-130J Super Hercules aircraft would be used to transport the backup team to a point in the desert where they would be hidden, capable of flying into Iran at several points, where technology had shown the aircraft could actually fly under the radar screen. This would be aided by an AWACS aircraft jamming Iranian security when the flight came in. The C-130J Super Hercules would transport the seven-man QRF team as well as three Little Bird specops helicopters, which would be off-loaded on the desert floor, and made flight-ready in fifteen minutes' time.

Additionally, a much larger quick reaction force of Army Rangers would be standing by at Fire Base Glory at Mosul Air Base in northern Iraq, from where all aircraft would fly out. It was decided that because there was so much air activity in Iraq, it would not be the likely place for the U.S. to strike Iran from. Additionally, Tactical Air flying missions over Iraq would be available for prioritized diversion if a major strike would need to be put in to support any problem arising out of Operation Angry Godfather. The government of Iran was constantly looking for Stealth-type jet strikes from the U.S. or Israel on their nuclear processing facilities, so they were watching for jets to come in over one of the sea areas, Dubai, or Kuwait, but believed they would be less likely coming from Iraq or Afghanistan.

Getting in and out undetected and having the quick reaction force deployable was critical, so having the three Little Birds standing by in the desert along with the quick reaction force was the only way the President would allow the operation to continue. If an international incident occurred, he said he would take the heat. He made it clear that he wanted this team to have the best aircraft and equipment available to accomplish the mission. Pops said that besides the C-130J Super Hercules, he also wanted an AC-130U Spooky “on station,” flying just outside Iranian airspace, since it did not have the short jet-assisted takeoff capability of its less-armed brother, the C-130J Super Hercules.

Designed and built by Lockheed Martin, the Super Hercules is the world's most advanced tactical airlifter. It can be converted to any number of uses, from delivery of humanitarian supplies to air-to-air refueling to delivery of combat material. It can be used for deep covert penetration, combat rescue, and low-level night entry.

It has been purchased by air forces in Australia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and, of course, the United States.

Then of the sister aircraft covering both Charlie and Fila and the quick reaction force if need be, the Department of Defense said of the Spooky:

 

Having the most state-of-the-art aircraft available for this type of mission was going to be extremely critical for mission success. So now they would actually fly in with the quick reaction force on the Super Hercules. The larger Ranger quick reaction force would sit on full-alert, ready to board a C-130J Super Hercules at the U.S. airbase at Mosul, Iraq.

Their expensive vehicle, a new BMW, would be purchased by a CIA agent in Ankara, Turkey, and would be transported by him to Van, Turkey. From Van, an indigenous U.S.-sympathetic Iranian CIA agent handler would pick it up and drive it to Tabriz, Iran. From Tabriz, it would be transported to the desert location by two of the indigenous Iranian freedom fighters being advised and equipped by a team from the 5th Special Forces Group out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The 5th Group had long had a team on the ground with Iranian resistance fighters waiting to help with just such missions. The 5th Group team and its Iranian counterparts would be tasked with locating the best spot on the ground to locate the insertion point and landing area for the C130J Super Hercules. That would not be difficult in the vast Garmsar Desert south of Tehran. Out of sight of their Iranian counterparts, two American Special Forces team members would sweep the vehicle for electronic surveillance devices just to be sure that no indigenous agents involved were moles.

Pops summoned the Detachment-Delta financial officer and told him to take someone and drive to a BMW dealership in Fayetteville and buy a black loaded BMW with tinted windows, which would be identical to the one they would buy in Turkey. This would be used for Charlie and Fila to get used to, so they would not look like greenhorn car owners if Davood saw them in the car or if he rode with them. Pops wanted to ensure that both of them looked like they knew where everything was in the Beemer and that Charlie knew how it handled. And, in case Charlie was dead or wounded, he also wanted Fila to have plenty of hours behind the wheel.

It was decided that the 5th Group team members would use simple expedient landing zone markers to mark a flat, even, solid strip where the C-130 Super Herc could set down and take off. When the plane was inbound in the daytime, they would mark the strip with fluorescent orange air panels, which they carried with them. Or at night, they would mark it by burning small cans of gasoline buried in the ground.

They would locate and prepare a
fara-kan
, or ravine or wash (called a wadi in Iraq), where they could hide the plane, Little Birds, personnel, and equipment, too far from any roads in the desert to spot. The team would fix the site up in a way only a Special Forces-led unit could do so, and the C-130 would also carry in desert camo netting to effectively hide the site from any and all aircraft flying overhead. Any small military or law enforcement patrols that might somehow stumble on the site would be immediately destroyed and buried.

If the quick reaction forces did get involved, the key for the success of the whole operation, even more than the C-130 and AC-130, would be the Little Birds. They were vital to mission success with 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta on most missions.

Technically, the Little Bird was known as the Hughes H-6 “Cayuse” helicopter. It is the U.S. Army's primary special operations light attack and cargo aircraft. The AH-6J attack variant can be equipped with two miniguns, or rockets. The MH-6J troop ship can handle everything from fast-rope insertions into jungle conditions to dropping off two operatives with motorcycles in better-developed areas.

It was decided to bring two Little Bird mechanics, volunteers with top secret security clearances, along on the C-130 Super Hercules, and they would also have an array of weapons to quickly convert one or two Little Birds from a slick version to a gunship if need be and also provide any needed maintenance.

Everybody was starting to think about Desert One and the fact that this was an operation going back into Iran and staging out of the desert, but there was one big difference. This was being totally controlled by Pops, the commanding officer of 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. Desert One was comprised of Delta members, but there were too many cooks that spoiled the broth. Lessons had been learned. And this would be different. If the mission failed, it would be because of other causes. There would also be one set of planners constantly looking at the weather in the area, staging areas, and alert areas such as Mosul. The planning was just getting going, but it was being kept in-house as much as possible. Those at JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) at Fort Bragg agreed and were in full support of Pops and his men, but even more important was his friendship with the CINC (commander in chief), who was a big supporter of Detachment-Delta.

Next, they would have to determine how Charlie and Fila would get in, affect the assassination, and get out safely with Davood Faraz Dabdeh's excessive security measures and layers of bodyguards.

Various alternatives were discussed around the table, which now had been cleared of all support personnel except for Kerri Rhodes, the national security advisor. The only ones remaining were Pops, Weasel, Poke, Booty, Custer, Bones, the tall lanky lieutenant colonel who was Pops's executive officer, and Kerri Rhodes. It was felt nobody else had a need-to-know and the fewer involved the better.

Pops liked to involve Bones in a lot of planning sessions in case anything ever happened to him. He was scheduled in two days to have a colonoscopy performed, and he wanted to ensure the command was covered just in case. He lectured all his men and women over forty years old to get colonoscopies on a regular basis, so he felt he had to set the example and did not want to cancel his appointment, a decision he had made six months earlier. He'd had his last colonoscopy five years earlier and there were no polyps or problems. He was not thrilled about having to take a laxative the night before, but remembered it really was not very bad at all.

Weasel said, “What about popping him with a Ruger Mark III pistol with a silencer in .22 Long Rifle? Eleven rounds, lightweight, quiet, easy maintenance.”

Charlie said, “What's good enough for the Mossad is good enough for me, and Booty and I actually talked about the Ruger Mark III, but we will be searched, or at least I will be. We did talk about Booty carrying one in a thigh holster under her dress.”

Pops said, “What if they use a metal detector on her?”

Fila laughed, saying, “Then we are dead.”

Charlie said, “We have discussed this already. Women are so insignificant to him, we doubt he will want to check her out. On top of that, she will be wearing a level IIIA Kevlar vest under her dress. When we first see him, I am going to beat her back with a stick for whatever excuse we make up. She won't feel a thing but will scream and cry. We think that will help establish some early friendship, believe it or not.”

Weasel grinned, saying, “Booty's tough. She earned a Silver Star in Afghanistan. Why not beat her without the body armor?”

Fila grinned back, saying, “You want to do that, Top?”

He laughed, putting his hands up and shaking his head.

Kerri Rhodes interjected, “You were awarded the Silver Star?”

Fila chuckled, saying, “Some general was trying to be politically correct, Ms. Rhodes.”

“Horse manure!” Pops said. “You left off the Purple Heart you also earned when you got wounded saving soldiers under fire.”

Kerri said, “I am very impressed, Sergeant Jannat.”

“Thank you, Ms. Rhodes, and please call me Booty or Fila.”

Kerri said, “Only if you will call me Kerri, please, all of you.”

She shot a glance toward Charlie when she said that, which only Fila noticed. She felt her face redden a little and that embarrassed her even more. Now Fila was very upset, as she had always been in control. She had let her guard down and let Charlie cross that secret boundary that no man had ever stepped over. He had been one with her, and she thought about him continuously. She knew that she was in love, and it scared her.

Kerri Rhodes was one of the closest people in the world to the President of the United States of America. She was at White House dinners all the time and was very well educated and good-looking, beautiful actually. She had handsome popular Hollywood stars interested in her, business leaders, and some of America's most eligible successful bachelors. Fila thought about all of these things and wondered why the woman was so interested in Charlie. As a woman, she knew why, but it did not make her feel any more comfortable.

Charlie said, “The problem is that we do not know what city or setting we will meet him in. We don't know if we can even get in to see him, or if we will be able to breach his layers of security. The CIA reports we read on him state that he already has doubles, like Hussein and bin Laden.”

“How are you going to even be able to speak to him?” Kerri asked. “If males and especially Dabdeh are so backward and chauvinistic, Fila can't be your spokesperson.”

Fila said, “Yes, I can. Poke speaks Arabic at a level three or even four proficiency. He will wear hearing aids and will be an Iraqi businessman with an Iranian wife. I will translate for him, and we want to have an Iraqi and Iranian interpreter speaking to him through one of the hearing aids, in case he has trouble with saying the right words. If that is the case, he can say ‘Huh?' in Arabic to stall for time, and through the hearing aids they can tell him what and how to say it.”