Land of Promise (19 page)

Chapter 16: Fair Exchange

“I’m a freeborn man of the traveling people

I got no fixed abode, with nomads I am numbered

Country ways and byways were always my ways

I never fancied being lumbered.

There were many spots where a man could linger

For a week or two when time was not his master

Then along I’d jog with my horse and dog

Nice and easy, no need to go faster

Come on you freeborn men of the traveling people

Come every tinker, rolling stone, or gypsy rover

The winds of change are blowing, old ways are going.

Your rambling days will soon be over.”
-- Excerpted from the lyrics to the song
Freeborn Man
, as sung by the band
Lau
; lyrics written by Ewan MacColl

Solus Christus, The Ilemi Republic -- March, Four Years After Declaration of the Caliphate

Local industries and trades: Mining, beef cattle ranching, dairy cattle ranching, goat herding, farming (open air and/or greenhouse), road construction, various contracting trades, firearms manufacture and gunsmithing, firearms suppressor manufacture, integrated aquaculture and fish farming, natural gas and water drilling, PV/hydrogen farming, telecommunications (mostly cell phone tower construction), brewing (near-beer, under the Kudu label), and precious metal minting.

Growing up in parallel were a panoply of service industries: banking and vault storage, restaurants, air transport, ground transport, retail sales (including the ubiquitous mobile Tinker Trucks), healthcare, fuel stations, vehicle repair and tire sales, private mint security, intrusion detection system installation, off-road vehicle customizing, cottage fabrication of web gear, weapons, and vehicle painting with camouflage RAM coatings, barbers and beauticians, and so forth.

One notable niche in the Ilemi economy was filled by men who called themselves hotshot truck drivers. These independent drivers were mostly natives of South Sudan, Kenya, or the Triangle itself. They specialized in quick delivery hauling runs to Juba, Nairobi, and Mombasa. Usually operating hydrogen-powered pickup trucks with fifth-wheel trailers, they hauled natural gas field equipment, appliances, and light vehicles (either new vehicles from dealers or vehicles for major repair jobs). Although it was difficult for them to match the per-pound rates advertised by TAT for small parcels, they could handle cargo that simply would not fit in the 3.4-meter wide rear clamshell door of an IL-76, but that were not big enough to justify using a large truck. That was their niche. One example was the standard four-meter diameter white HDPE plastic water cistern tanks that were ubiquitous for Ilemi homes and ranch houses.

Another unusual part of the Ilemi economy was the advent of four HEMTT Tinker Trucks. These were essentially general stores on wheels. A large number of Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTTs) were sold off as military surplus in the 2030s. These ten-ton eight-wheeled military cargo trucks could handle the roughest roads and were often driven up dry wadis to reach remote settlements.

The Tinker Trucks were typically assembled by bolting a 20-foot CONEX shelter onto the back of M977A4 and earlier model cargo trucks. These CONEXes were equipped with multiple spinner ventilators on top and packed full of retail merchandise that was carefully strapped down to prevent shifting and damage on bumpy roads. The CONEXes were emblazoned fanciful names for the tinker enterprises: “Dave’s Dragon Wagon Buy–Sell–Trade”, “What’s In Store – General Mercantile”, “Katie and Jim’s Deluxe Junque”, and “Oshkosh Emporium – If We Don’t Have It, You Probably Don’t Need It.”

Most of the HEMTT Tinker stores were owned and operated by young husband and wife teams. Because of the relatively high cost of fuel, they would stay two days to two weeks at each stop, depending on the local population density, with the longest stops at large settlements. The variety of merchandise that the tinker trucks carried was amazing.

Most of the native-born inhabitants remained in their home villages, but a few moved up to Solus Christus. One enterprising native, Robert Lomuro, owned and operated Big Bob’s Kabobs. This restaurant started out as a roadside stand, where he grilled goat and beef kabobs over a barbecue fabricated from a horizontal sectioned half of a 200-liter fuel drum. His roadside stand did a flourishing trade with both locals and tourists and eventually grew into the largest restaurant in the country. It was often said, “No trip to the Ilemi Republic was complete without a dinner at Big Bob’s.” His restaurant also served beer and near-beer, but most of those drinking the alcoholic variety were tourists. That fact was, given the sensitivities of the typical Ilemi, drinking beer with more than 1% alcohol was not particularly popular.

Because the Ilemi citizenry would be entirely self-policing, one section of the Constitution guaranteed the right of any adult citizen to demand to inspect the border crossing card, passport, or resident alien ID of any adult inside Ilemi Territory. This right was in recognition that as Sovereign Citizens, each had both the right and duty to personally defend the territorial integrity of their nation. It follows that in the absence of a police force, as is typical in other nations, it falls upon the Citizens to insure that their nation’s infrastructure is not overwhelmed by an influx of illegal aliens.

The resident alien ID cards had expiry dates printed in tall red text. And like Ilemi passports, the cards had anti-forgery features including holograms and seals that showed up when exposed to ultraviolet light. IRDF border posts and patrols always carried compact flashlight with UV filters.

Unlike most other national armies that had only ten-week basic training courses, the IADT Basic Combat Training (BCT) course for IRDF inductees was 24 weeks long. This lengthy training was necessary because of the IRDF’s strong emphasis on rifle marksmanship and the need to teach infantry tactics, crew-served weapons familiarization (all the way up to 155mm artillery), advanced first aid, and citizen’s arrest procedures to every soldier. There was also a lengthy outdoor survival course included as part of the first three weeks of BCT, to prepare IRDF troopers for the rigors of the Ilemi Republic’s climatically harsh and inimical environment. And while the soldiers in most other armies fired less than 800 rounds of ammunition in basic training, the norm for all IRDF troopers was 3,000 rounds. Follow-on Advanced Individual Training (AIT) branch-specific courses (Infantry, Artillery, Ground Mobile, Aviation, Intelligence, EOD, Medical Service, and so forth) ranged from three to nine months each. Exceptional students could also be selected to take a second branch course, and some of these troopers later trained as full-time cadre NCOs or officers.

Because cycles of AIT courses were not taught continuously, they could be scheduled at any time following their basic course during an IRDF trooper’s three years of IADT, at the convenience of the IRDF cadre. College deferments were fairly common but strictly limited to students continuously carrying at least 12 semester credits. And completion of IADT during break between completion of a baccalaureate degree and graduate degrees was strongly encouraged.

Chapter 17: First Class

“Keep within the requisite limits a standing military force, always remembering that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics -- that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe.”
-- James Madison

Solus Christus, The Ilemi Republic -- April, Four Years After Declaration of the Caliphate

Forming the new Ilemi Republic Defense Force (IRDF) started almost immediately after the pioneer settlers arrived on the Mtume Plateau. For the first three months, everyone with military experience informally cross-trained those who had little or no prior military service.

In March, the first cadre meetings were held in leaky tents to plan and organize for the first-round Intake of Basic Combat Training. The initial IRDF cadre consisted of six Israeli Defense Force (IDF) veteran NCOs, three former South African National Defense Force (SANDF) NCOs, and a former U.S. Army Infantry Captain, François Deschamps, a Moroccan-born mining engineer and veteran combat engineer Captain formerly with the French Foreign Legion. They were led by the IRDF’s commander, Colonel Petrus Kamwi. Kamwi decided to personally lead Intake 1 and to set up the entire curriculum. He also personally taught several classes on strategy, tactics, armor, counter-armor operations, and mechanized infantry operations.

There were just 23 trainees in Intake 1, all between the ages of 18 and 25, and all lacking any former military experience. Thirteen were men, and ten were women; after this first cycle, training platoons were separated by gender. In the first BCT class there were six native-born Ilemis, five Americans, four Israelis, five South Africans, one Dane, one Nigerian, and one South Sudanese. About all that they had in common was faith in Christ and some experience playing the computer war game
Call of Duty: Freedom Fighter III
.

The first challenge for the IRDF was getting everyone to understand each other. The Israeli-born instructors and trainees had trouble understanding speech in a South African accent. And everyone except the Nigerian had trouble discerning English in a heavy East African accent. So one of their first classes, on radio-telephone procedure, began with teaching trainees the international phonetic alphabet. They would chant together, “Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo…”

There were some peculiarities of speech (like the South Africans saying “Keen-yah” instead of “Ken-yuh”), but remarkably little chafing between ethnicities. Because of the language barrier, an intentionally slow manner of speech with crisp enunciation soon developed and became the norm in the IRDF. This became known as “Urr-Diff Talk” or “IRDF Special English.” When using it, instructors often paused to spell out acronyms and to even spell out technical terms phonetically. In one memorable classroom exchange, it took fifteen minutes to explain the concept of
enfilade
rifle and machinegun fire. The exasperated instructor, an Afrikaner from the Natal Province of South Africa, grew red in the face as he repeated himself. On the third attempt, he shouted, “What we are talkeen abut heeere is the French word
enfilade
-- and I spell: Echo November Foxtrot India Lima Alpha Delta Echo, by which you will slay thine enemies by the hundreds like Samson, but without the aid of ‘a jawbone of an ass.’ No, instead you will use an FN-MAG and you will hit them from their flank and knock them down and they wuun’t be getting up again. And the corollary to
enfilade
is
defilade
, where you uuzze natural or artificial cover and concealment to protect yourself
from
being engaged by
enfilade
fire by the enemy.”

There were some differences in Drill and Ceremonies (D&C) standards among the instructions, and this led to a lot of confusion, laughter, and extra push-ups. Eventually, they settled on an American-style hand salute, but British Commonwealth style formations and parade close order drill. Since the IRDF’s emphasis was placed on combat skills, D&C was kept to a minimum and only practiced early in the morning. Marching around in the noonday Ilemi sun was, all agreed, cruel.

At the same time trainees were getting their first dose of D&C and radiotelephone procedure, they also got hands-on training in outdoor survival. Their instructor for much of this was a 20-year old Ilemi trainee -- a cattle herder from the Toposa tribe named Mwenye Lokwacuma. He taught everyone how to find water by digging beneath the curves of dry wadis, which plants were edible and which were poisonous, and all about the snakes, scorpions, and spiders of the Ilemi. Colonel Kamwi was impressed with the depth of Private Lokwacuma’s knowledge of local flora and fauna and declared, “Nothing I learned at Sandhurst prepared me for simply
staying alive
in the wilds of the Ilemi bush. The plants and animals here are quite different than Namibia, where we have
our own
meaning of the word ‘harsh.’ We all have a lot to learn from this private trooper. He swings one mean
panga
. The Bible teaches us that ‘the least shall be greatest and the greatest shall be least.’ And this young soldier is a fine example of how the IRDF should embody that Biblical teaching. Some of the best and most tactically-sound ideas in the IRDF will always come from the bottom up, and let’s never forget that. Everyone, and I do mean
everyone,
has some special skill or knowledge to contribute, Tig-Tig. The IRDF will always have Unity of Command, respect for rank, and obedience to lawful orders, but we must also wisely accept respectful input from the bottom up.”

One trainee in Intake 1 who stood out was Pamela Møller, a 23-year-old Danish woman who received a four-year basketball scholarship from American University in Washington D.C. There, while majoring in journalism, she was controversial for taking a Christian stand against lesbianism, which had become rife in collegiate athletics, both in the U.S. and in Europe. Upon graduating
cum laude
(while on probation for “causing discord”), she was offered a position with
Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten
(
The Jutland Post
), the largest news organization in Denmark. But she turned it down and instead enlisted in the IRDF’s recently announced Solo Soldier Program. Another interest lay in creating a commercial blog on Ilemi culture and current events following her IADT service.

Patterned on the Israeli Defense Force’s
Garin Tzabar
Lone Soldier program, the Ilemi Solo Soldier Program was intended for 18- to 28-year-old Christians from around the world without any family connections in the Ilemi to enlist in the IRDF, with the key benefit of fast-track free citizenship. Each enlistee was paired with a host family in the Ilemi Republic as their home away from home.

Pamela Møller was 6’1” with a pretty smile and wavy blonde hair. She was one of the few females in the IRDF who could hold her own in physical training and on forced marches alongside the men. Her endurance earned her the nickname “The Pamazon.” A photo of her running in IRDF camos and carrying a Galil at the high-port position soon made it to the IRDF Solo Soldier Recruiting public web page, with the caption: “Ready For Some Thrilling Heroics? -- Join The Ilemi Republic Defense Force.” This fetching photo was later turned into a much sought-after recruiting poster. She became the unofficial heartthrob of the nation, and that image of her was one of the main reasons the Solo Soldier program was chronically over-subscribed, with more than 120 candidates turned down for each one selected. The Solo Soldier selection committee chose only the best of the best. The majority of those selected had foreign military experience, were multilingual, earned highest academic grades, and achieved top intelligence test scores. They were without exception skilled athletes with remarkable physical stamina, favoring cross-country running, Iron Man competitions, biathalon, pentathalon, and Kenyathalon.

Because the IRDF’s fairly standardized Sikorsky helicopters had seating for 11 troops, it was decided that the IRDF unit organization be based on ten-man squads (or “sticks”) consisting of two five-man fire teams and either a patrol leader or a forward observer. This squad size also worked well with IRDF Mechanized Infantry, because the majority of APCs were eight-wheeled Badgers, each of which seated ten troops. The vehicle commander position could also be occupied by a patrol leader. Thus, either four helicopters or four APCs could carry a full platoon.

The IRDF soon developed an informal lexicon that was a conglomeration of military terms and slang from around the world. From Afrikaans came words like
kraal
(corral) and
laager
(defensive encampment), and
spoor
(tracking sign). But they discouraged the use of the word
koppie
(for hill), because it sounded too much like the radiotelephone term
Copy
. There were, of course, many French military words like
camouflage, enfilade, defilade, rendezvous, reconnaissance, commence, bivouac, magazine, terrain, materiel, latrine, espionage, sabotage, canteen, barrage, fusillade, esprit de corps, retreat, surrender, cordon sanitaire, and maneuver
--which had all become ubiquitous in armies worldwide since the Napoleonic era. And even though there were no German-born soldiers in the IRDF, the German words
kaserne
(for barracks) and
ersatz
(substitute) also slipped into their lexicon. And, in a joking play-on-words, “Ersatz Israel” became a local nickname for the Ilemi Republic.

Other foreign words commonly used by the IRDF included the Arabic words
wadi
(for stream or streambed) and
keffiyeh
(for scarf). Then there was the American military slang: chopper (helicopter), goat rope (a useless exercise), crunchies (dismounted infantry), farmer armor (improvised vehicle armor), gaggle (a loose formation), Gone Elvis (for anything or anyone that was missing), klick (kilometer), Ma Deuce (the M2 Browning .50 caliber machinegun), Old Man (commanding officer), O Dark Thirty (pre-dawn hours), unsat (short for unsatisfactory), and a huge host of acronyms including KP (kitchen police), PLF (Parachute Landing Fall), FO (Forward Observer), FDC (Fire Direction Center), and many more.

Hebrew and pieces of Israeli slang surfaced, too. These included
Eser
-- Literally “ten” -- meaning awesome or wonderful;
Sof ha’olam smola
-- meaning “at the end of the world, turn left!” (used in the context of “in the middle of nowhere”);
Kravi
for combat,
Mimiyah for
canteen,
Shmirah
for guard duty,
Shpitz
to describe a great soldier (“He’s the Shpitz”),
Ad matai?
for “Until when?”,
BeSeder
for “okay”, and
Tash
for relax or “chill out.”

British terms used by the IRDF included recce (reconnaissance), Chinese Parliament (a before-action conference with rank intentionally ignored), brew (making tea), pukka (authentic or excellent), tiffin (lunch or a snack), and kit (for field gear).

The day before Intake 1 graduated, the trainees were each presented a tan and green horizontally-striped Stable Belt packaged in a zippered butyl rubber pouch designed to reduce tarnishing of their large buckles. The buckles were engraved with a tall, treelike cross and the stacked lines of the Five Solas:
“Sola Scriptura, Sola Christo, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Soli Deo Gloria”.
The belts were a gift and personally presented by Kim Rhee; presentation of these articles became a tradition, for each graduation, at considerable expense. The buckles were cast of heavy sterling silver. The first few belts and buckles were special-ordered from Moore Leather in England, but later, the buckles were produced locally by Heston Mint.