Firebreak (50 page)

Throughout this novel, I have used many terms that may seem foreign to anyone who is not acquainted with military jargon. I hope the definitions below will help the reader understand the unique vocabulary of the Air Force. These definitions come from a variety of sources, such as the
Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms,
published by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the unclassified technical manuals associated with various weapons systems.

AAA:
Antiaircraft artillery.

Active:
Can mean when a weapons system is on-line and working or the runway that is currently in use.

AIM:
An air intercept missile such as the AMRAAM or Sidewinder.

AMRAAM:
AIM-120, the advanced, medium-range air-to-air missile.

APC:
Armored personnel carrier.

APDS:
Armor-piercing discarding sabot antitank round.

AWACS:
Airborne Warning and Control System. Air surveillance and control provided by an airborne radar platform.

Backseater:
Any person occupying the backseat of a fighter aircraft.

Bandit:
An air contact positively identified as being hostile.

BDA:
Bomb damage assessment. The determination of the, effect of an air attack on a target.

BFM:
Basic fighter maneuvers.

BMP:
Soviet-built, tracked armored personnel carrier that weighs twelve tons. It sports a 73-millimeter gun, an antitank missile, and a 7.62-millimeter machine gun. Carries twelve people.

Bogie:
An air contact that is unidentified but suspected to be hostile.

BOQ:
Bachelor officers’ quarters.

CAP:
Combat air patrol. An aircraft patrol provided for the purpose of intercepting and destroying hostile aircraft.

CAS:
Control Augmentation System. Senses pitch, roll, and yaw rates; vertical and lateral acceleration; angle of attack; g forces; and provides the proper electrical input into the control surfaces.

DCI:
Director of central intelligence. An individual appointed by the President and approved by the Senate who is in charge of all United States intelligence agencies and functions.

DIA:
Defense Intelligence Agency. The Department of Defense’s intelligence branch.

DO:
Deputy commander for operations. Normally, a colonel in a tactical fighter wing responsible for all flying operations.

Dragon: A
medium-range, antitank missile that a single
man
can carry and fire. It is guided by commands transmitted through a very thin wire tailed out behind the missile and connected to the tracker.

ECM:
Electronic countermeasures.

EMIS Limit:
Emission Limit. A circuit that shuts down electronic emissions coming from an aircraft that might be detected by an enemy.

Flanker:
NATO code name for the Su-27, a Soviet clone of the F-15.

FLIR:
Forward Looking Infrared.

Flogger:
The NATO code name given to the MiG-23.

Fox One:
In an air intercept, a code meaning “A radar missile has been released from aircraft.”

Fox Two:
In an air intercept, a code meaning “An infrared missile has been released from aircraft.”

Fox Three:
In an air intercept, a code meaning “The aircraft’s machine gun or cannon is being employed.”

fulcrum:
NATO code name for the MiG-29. Looks like
an
F-15, but smaller, roughly the size of an F-16.

Gadfly:
The NATO code name for the SA-11, the latest Soviet-built surface-to-air missile. By all reports, an awesome system.

GBU: Glide Bomb Unit. A guidance head and a steerable fin
assembly attached to an ordinary bomb to make it “smart.” The bomb then becomes highly accurate and possesses infinite courage to attack a target.

Have Quick:
A radio that uses rapid frequency hopping to defeat jamming and monitoring.

HICAP:
High-altitude combat air patrol.

HUD:
Head-Up Display. A device that projects vital flight information in front of the pilot so he does not have to check his instruments inside the cockpit.

Hummer:
The four-door, four-wheel-drive combat vehicle that is the follow-on to the jeep.

IDF:
Israel Defense Forces.

IFF:
Identification Friend or Foe. The discrete identification friend-or-foe code assigned to a particular aircraft, ship, or other vehicle for identification by electronic means (usually by radar).

IG:
Inspector General. A military organization that investigates complaints and conducts inspections.

IP:
Initial point. A well-defined geographical point, easily distinguished visually or electronically, used for starting a bomb run to the target.

IR:
Infrared. A device or film sensitive to the near infrared electromagnetic spectrum.

Jink:
The constant movement by a fighter aircraft to avoid flying straight and level and to defeat enemy tracking. Absolutely vital to survival in an hostile environment.

Kiloton:
The measurement of the energy of a nuclear explosion equivalent to 1,000 tons of TNT.

LANTIRN:
Low-altitude navigation and targeting infrared for night system.

LAW:
Light antitank weapon.

LOCAP:
Low-altitude combat air patrol.

M113:
U.S.-built, tracked armored personnel carrier. It weighs twelve tons and can carry a squad of infantry.

MAC:
Military Airlift Command.

Mark-82:
A five-hundred-pound bomb.

Maverick:
An air-to-surface missile with launch and leave capability. It is designed for use against tanks, armored vehicles, and field fortifications.

Mossad: Israel
‘s CIA: the Central Institute
for
Intelligence
and Special
Missions.

MPCD:
Multi-Purpose Color Display. A video screen that presents information in color to the pilot or crew.

MPD:
Multi-Purpose Display. A black-and-white video screen that presents information to the pilot or crew.

NBC:
Nuclear, biological, and chemical.

NSA:
National Security Agency. The U.S. intelligence agency responsible for monitoring communications and breaking codes.

NSC:
National Security Council.

ORI:
Operational readiness inspection. An evaluation of the operational capability and effectiveness of a unit conducted by a team from the IG. An ORI can be very realistic and a true measure of a unit’s readiness or it can easily degenerate into a bureaucratic sham.

PI:
Political influence. A term no longer used in the Air Force because those individuals with it can hurt any person foolish enough to so label them with it.

Puzzle Place:
The Pentagon. Lots of PI present.

Ramp:
The parking area for aircraft.

Recce:
Short for reconnaissance.

Red Flag:
An extremely realistic ongoing exercise conducted at Nellis AFB, Nevada, that trains aircrews to survive the first ten days of combat when the casualty rate is the highest.

RM:
Resource manager. One of a wing commander’s deputy commanders. The RM is in charge of material and logistics.

ROE:
Rules of Engagement. Normally, a collection of very good ideas designed to keep fighter jocks alive.

RPG:
Rocket-propelled grenade. A Soviet-built antitank weapon similar to a LAW.

RTB:
Return to base.

SA:
A surface-to-air missile such as the SA-11. (By all reports, the SA-11 is a very dangerous Soviet-built antiaircraft missile that makes survival extremely difficult for fighter jocks.)

Sagger:
Soviet-built, wire-guided, antitank missile.

SAM: Sur
face-to-air missile.

Sim:
Abbreviation for a flight simulator.

SITREP:
Situation report.

Snakeye:
A Mark-82 500-pound high-explosive bomb that is selectable for either high-or low-drag delivery. Currently being phased out of the inventory.

Stand Eval:
Standardization and evaluation.
A
section of officers responsible for conducting proficiency flight checks and insuring aircrews obey standard rules and procedures.

Tallyho:
A code meaning “Target visually sighted.”

TEWS:
Tactical Electronic Warfare System. The system of “black boxes” in the F-15 that can detect and counter an electronic threat.

TFR:
Terrain-following radar. A radar system that provides the pilot or autopilot with climb or dive signals such that the aircraft will maintain a selected height above the ground. Preferably the “selected height” will be in the near vicinity of rocks and weeks.

TSD:
Tactical Situation Display. An electronically generated map that scrolls with die position of the aircraft at the center. Navigation and tactical information is superimposed over the map.

UFC:
Up Front Controller. Controls many systems in an F-15E through a keyboard.

UHF: A
radio transmitter that is limited to line of sight in range and transmits in the ultrahigh frequency band.

USAFE:
United States Air Force in Europe.

Vee: A
verbal abbreviation of “versus,” as in “one vee many.”

Weapon systems officer:
The second crew member in a fighter who performs many functions such as copilot, radar operator, etc. from the backseat. A WSO dies six feet behind his pilot.

Wizzo:
A nickname given to weapon systems officers.

ZSU-23:
A 23-millimeter antiaircraft artillery cannon with either two or four barrels built by the Soviets. In its radar-guided configuration, it is very effective and feared by pilots.

This novel is a work of fiction that I tried to root in reality. In it, I branched far beyond my own area of expertise and owe much to those who shared their time, knowledge, and experiences. I am indebted to Mr. Randy Jayne and the crew at McDonnell Aircraft Company who introduced me to the complexities of one cosmic jet—the F-15E. To John York, Gary Jennings, Mike Boss, Bill Kittle, Gary McDonald, and Dave Vitale, many thanks.

On the operational side, I must thank Colonel Dave “Bull” Baker, Lieutenant Colonel Skip Bennett, Major Keith Turnbull, and Captain Steve Farrow, all of the 405th Tactical Training Wing, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, for showing me how the F-15E really works.

I had no idea what tanks were all about until I met the First Battalion, 149th Armor, of the California National Guard. To Master Sergeant Doug Krelle, Staff Sergeant Lee Harner, and Sergeants First Class David Hooper and Kerry Harris, I can only say thanks and I hope I got it right.

A word about the F-15. The battle damage an F-15 can take and still fly, and which I depicted in Chapter Twenty-seven, is based on a true incident. During my last tour in the Air Force, I logged quite a few hours in the pit of the Eagle, but only in an air-to-air role. I was impressed. But what the E model of the F-15 can do in a ground attack and interdiction role defies the imagination, and that is what I wanted to capture. The jet does have its faults; but then, all aircraft do.

The collected sayings of Major Ambler Furry, USAF, are not the product of his wit and experience, but the distilled wisdom of men who have fought in combat since time immemorial. Without doubt, many of Major Furry’s rules were in well-developed form when the Hittites first smote the ancient Egyptians. They were certainly around when Mr. Murphy discovered them and were alive and well in Southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf. It is important to remember that there is no priority to the importance of these rules. Whichever one is applicable immediately becomes number one.

1. Always remember your jet was made by the lowest bidder.

2. Train like you plan to fight.

3. If you’re up to your eyeballs in Gomers, you’re in combat.

4. When in doubt, use industrial strength deterrence.

5. Never fly in the same cockpit with someone who is braver than you.

6. Priorities are man-made, not God-made.

7. A plan never survives the first thirty seconds of combat.

8. If it’s stupid but works, it ain’t stupid.

9. Only turn to blow the opposition away; otherwise, run away and fight another guy.

10. Always honor a threat.

11. Know the opposition.

12. Know when it’s time to get out of Dodge.

13. Always know how to get out of Dodge.

14. The important things are always simple.

15. The simple things are always hard.

“WHAT TOM CLANCY DID FOR THE NAVY WITH
THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER,
RICHARD HERMAN, JR., HAS DONE FOR THE AIR FORCE … BUT HERMAN HAS DONE IT BETTER!”
Richmond News Leader

Praise For the Previous Novels of
RICHARD HERMAN, JR.:

THE WARBIRDS

“One of the most honest novels of the Air Force in a very long time … A tip of the wings to Richard Herman.”
W.E.B.
Griffin, author of
THE BROTHERHOOD OF WAR

“Soars into the wild blue yonder… A gripping story which could be the basis for tomorrow’s headlines”
Pittsburgh Press

“Unusually well-written … Truly hair-raising … Thoroughly believable … A military thriller that stands out from the pack.”
Kirkus Reviews

FORCE OF EAGLES

“A fantastic story … Breathtakingly realistic … Edge-of-the-seat exciting … Dick Herman really firewalled this one!”
Dale Brown

“A truly riveting adventure. The aerial combat scenes are so vivid that I thought I was back in the pilot’s seat.”
Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, USAF (ret.)