USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)
150 Miles Southeast Woody Island, South China Sea
“SACPAC, Arriving.” The traditional sound of a boatswain’s whistle and the simple courtesy of “Rainbow Sideboys” caught Braverman’s attention more than the Admiral. Perhaps the Admiral was more accustomed to Navy traditions.
Just reaching the “Bonnie Dick,” as her crew called her, had been a massive undertaking. Hopping across the pacific in a VC-21A, they had reached Clark air force base in the Philippines only to learn that no aircraft carriers were in position to support the planned meeting on Woody Island (also known as Yǒngxīng Dǎo in Chinese). This had led to a frantic call to Expeditionary Strike Group Three. As the flagship of ESG 3, the Bonnie Dick was positioned in the correct place in the South China Sea and also had the command staff aboard needed to plan the meeting.
A Marine general in camouflage fatigues met them at the end of the line of sideboys. “Admiral, if you would follow me, we can begin your briefing.”
The Admiral and Braverman, both in their “combat” uniforms (NWU for the Admiral, ACU for Braverman) followed the Marine general down into the depths of the ship. Oddly, the three members of the US armed forces, all flag rank, were all wearing slightly different uniforms, none of which were optimized for use onboard ship.
It was cooler down in the bowels of the ship, but a bit claustrophobic. LHDs were not known for their creature comforts. The Admiral looked like he had been born on an LHD and snapped off crisp salutes as he passed crew members standing at attention throughout their short walk down to the command center.
“Sir, I am General Wallace, allow me to introduce my staff.” After a short round of introductions, the briefing began. “As you can see from these recce photos, there ain’t much left of the place. The airedales did a pretty good job of taking them back to the stone age.”
The Admiral simply nodded as if he had already reviewed the intel. Which he very much might have done, Braverman reflected. “What is your threat assessment?”
“We can get you in there, but no telling if we can get you out. We are less than two hundred miles from Hainan here which is why we haven’t landed the ESG yet. Intel says they have at least half a dozen AIP capable subs that we ain’t taken out yet. God only knows what else.”
The Admiral just looked calmly back at the General. “General, we are going in there. Minimum support team in case this is a trap.”
“Sir, with respect…”
“General, when they piped me aboard as SACPAC, I don’t think they meant ‘Supreme Allied Commander Pacific, EXCEPT FOR MARINE GENERALS.'” He delivered the rebuke with a hint of a smile to ensure the medicine would go down easy, but go down it would.
“Aye, sir.”
“So, give me your best recommendation for this without provoking the Chinese and without risking your command.”
“Given that constraint, I would recommend we put you in with a pair of Ospreys with a Marine squad on each for support. I will have a squadron of F-35’s in the air far enough to stay out of trouble but close enough to back you up, just in case.”
“Thank you General, that sounds perfect.”
“Sir, I don’t like this. Too many ways for this to go sideways.”
“I don’t like it either. However, I don’t get paid to like it. I get paid to protect my country and so do you.”
“Semper Fi, Admiral.”
“Exactly. Carry on.”