War with Russia

This morning McKinlay was in the chair for his boss, Admiral Max Howard, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the SACEUR. A strong-minded and politically savvy US Navy Admiral, Howard was currently in his personal plane over the Atlantic, en route to a Congressional hearing in Washington. SHAPE’s other four-star general, the Admiral’s Chief of Staff, General Kurt Wittman, a politically well-connected Luftwaffe logistician with no operational experience, had been called back to Berlin. That made McKinlay the senior general there that day and the man on the spot.

“Well, ladies and gentlemen,” he said, taking his chair at the head of the table, “please proceed.”

But he got no further.

“Excuse me, sir.” Group Captain Jamie Swinton, his Principal Staff Officer, or PSO, was at his shoulder. “We’ve just had a call from SACEUR’s comms team. He is still mid-air, but wants to talk to you immediately. We’ve fixed up for you to take a call on the Tandberg VTC in your office in five minutes.”

“Thanks, Jamie. I’ll be with you right away. Ladies and gentlemen, I do apologize and I know how much work has gone into preparing this briefing. Please proceed, Skip,” he said, turning to Major General Skip Williams, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, a crew-cut, hawk-faced, athletic-looking young American major general, who wore the Screaming Eagle insignia of the 101st Airborne Division as the combat patch on the shoulder of his battle fatigues. “You take over and backbrief me later.”

“Sure thing, Sir,” said Williams.

With that McKinlay stood up and stumped out of the room with the Group Captain.

Five minutes later, he was back in his office and seated behind the desk installed by the very first DSACEUR, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. His Royal Air Force PA, Sergeant Lorna Bevan, first brought him a mug of the Scottish Breakfast tea to which he was addicted, and then ensured that the American-provided Tandberg secure VTC—Video Teleconference—system was up and running and that he was connected to SACEUR’s comms team.

“Dave, are you receiving me?” Admiral Max Howard’s finely drawn features, the thoughtful face of an Ivy League historian rather than a war-fighting admiral, filled the screen. “Things are moving fast in Ukraine and we may lose comms, so I’ll be brief.”

“Go ahead, SACEUR,” said McKinlay.

“Dave, I’ve just heard from my European Command HQ that a group of Americans are missing in Kharkiv. They were part of the training team sent to support the Ukrainian army and it looks as if they have been kidnapped by Russian Special Forces. We expect the Russians to put them on TV any moment now, claiming that they are US Special Forces, captured after crossing the Ukrainian border into Russia. Even worse, it looks as if one of them was killed trying to escape.”

“Hell, this is bad news,” responded McKinlay.

“It is. I’ve tried to brief the NATO Sec Gen,[2] but I can’t get through to either him or the Chairman of the Military Committee.[3] At present this is a US-only issue, but we can expect the Russians to claim it is evidence of NATO aggression.”

“I’ll get on to the Chairman of the Military Committee soonest and be ready to brief Sec Gen… But it would be useful to know the US line.”

“I’ve talked to the White House,” said Howard. “The President has accepted my advice that we show strength and, in fact, is all for going on the front foot. I hear the Brits are talking about pulling out their trainers, but the US is not going to back down in the face of Russian provocation like this.

“I’ve persuaded the President that the US should not overreact, but we will provide reconnaissance and surveillance top cover for all trainers deployed in the field in support of the Ukrainians as protection for our people. We’ve also agreed pretty robust defensive rules of engagement. More than that, the White House is tasking the US Permanent Representative to put a motion to the North Atlantic Council, the NAC. We want to agree a NATO training mission to Ukraine to demonstrate Alliance solidarity in response to this Russian attack on US soldiers. I want you to be ready to brief the concept and planning we’ve already discussed.”

“Roger to that, SACEUR. I’ll talk to the Chairman of the Military Committee now and will also touch base with the US ambassador before the NAC meeting.”

“Thanks, Dave. I’ll aim to get back just as soon as I’ve testified over—”

And with that the screen went blank as communications were lost.

Group Captain Swinton, who had been monitoring the call from a remote set, stepped into the office. “Sir, I understand the news has got through to Brussels and the Sec Gen has called an emergency NAC meeting this afternoon at 1400. They’re expecting you to brief the training mission plan. The planning team are stood by now to take you through the briefing they’ve prepared.