future?”
“Don’t you?”
Just then a waiter came in with the chicken salads and fruit along with a fresh pot of coffee and two hot rolls with butter. Andy Carlow declined politely, so Mack gratefully began to devour both lunches, spearing hunks of grilled chicken as he went.
“This debate,” said Andy, “which will begin in the media and proceed to Congress, is going to end up with no-nothing politicos saying stuff like, What’s the point of spending X billions on our Special Forces if we can’t use ’em, can’t even send ’em in to rescue our own ship s and our own people?”
“Well, they have to understand that not all circumstances are the same,” said Mack. “Different locations. Different demands. Different threat levels.”
“They don’t,” snapped Andy. “To them, a pirate attack is a pirate attack, so send in the SEALs to rescue everyone. And do it quick. That’s the mindset, both in the media, and in a large part of Congress.”
“And what are we going to do about it?” said Commander Bedford. “Reload our M-4s and go in all by ourselves? Show ’em how it’s done?”
Andy Carlow grimaced. “Mack,” he said, “this could get out of hand. They might make us go into a totally inappropriate theater of operations, and a lot of our best guys stand a hell of a good chance of dying. And I might not be able to stop the mission.”
“I see that. What do we do?”
“We need an idea, something to surprise the life out of them. Something that makes us one jump out in front of them all. We need to make them look like amateurs in a very professional place.”
“I’m right with you on that.”
“Mack, how much do you know about DEVGRU?” asked the admiral, mentioning the most secretive, highly classified operational force in the United States Navy, the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.
“Not much. But I know what they do, and where they are.”
“They’re a sensational fighting group, the premier US counterterrorist teams, and they’ve had a lot of success. But the world is moving on. Fast. These damned pirates have changed the rules in the last two years.
“And the truth is, DEVGRU has become too big. It’s too much like an army, too many people know what they’re up to. And everyone knows when they move. They’re really a joint services operation, and brilliant as they are, they’re a state secret that’s become loose.
“Right now, because of a zillion legal factors, we need to be much smaller. We need an outfit that can move very fast, in total secrecy. These days when DEVGRU moves, probably a thousand people know it’s happened.”
“They even had a book written about them, right?” said Mack.
“Yeah. And it was a pretty good book. But more and more became known. Right now they got Web sites all over the Internet. There’s about four hundred people involved in DEVGRU, including support staff, combat teams, and a training team, and a huge hunk of real estate down at Dam Neck, Virginia Beach. Nations have gone to war with less frontline backup.”
“What’s changed so much, Andy?”
“Laws, Mack, goddamned laws. Things need to be done these days when no one know s what happened, or who did it. It’s the new way, and it’s going to become the only way. Because anyone gets caught fighting and perhaps killing in order to save their own people and ships, well . . . that someone is going to face some quasi-international justice. The US cannot allow that legal bullshit to happen.”
“So what do we do?” said Mack.
“We need to form a kind of anti-pirate platoon, a highly trained, specialist force that is geared only to attack pirates. Guys who are at home on the high seas, guys who will become world experts at taking pirate ships, recapturing hijacked vessels, and then going in on land and knocking out their headquarters and beating the shit out of their high command. I’m thinking the most ruthless professional fighting force in the
“Don’t you?”
Just then a waiter came in with the chicken salads and fruit along with a fresh pot of coffee and two hot rolls with butter. Andy Carlow declined politely, so Mack gratefully began to devour both lunches, spearing hunks of grilled chicken as he went.
“This debate,” said Andy, “which will begin in the media and proceed to Congress, is going to end up with no-nothing politicos saying stuff like, What’s the point of spending X billions on our Special Forces if we can’t use ’em, can’t even send ’em in to rescue our own ship s and our own people?”
“Well, they have to understand that not all circumstances are the same,” said Mack. “Different locations. Different demands. Different threat levels.”
“They don’t,” snapped Andy. “To them, a pirate attack is a pirate attack, so send in the SEALs to rescue everyone. And do it quick. That’s the mindset, both in the media, and in a large part of Congress.”
“And what are we going to do about it?” said Commander Bedford. “Reload our M-4s and go in all by ourselves? Show ’em how it’s done?”
Andy Carlow grimaced. “Mack,” he said, “this could get out of hand. They might make us go into a totally inappropriate theater of operations, and a lot of our best guys stand a hell of a good chance of dying. And I might not be able to stop the mission.”
“I see that. What do we do?”
“We need an idea, something to surprise the life out of them. Something that makes us one jump out in front of them all. We need to make them look like amateurs in a very professional place.”
“I’m right with you on that.”
“Mack, how much do you know about DEVGRU?” asked the admiral, mentioning the most secretive, highly classified operational force in the United States Navy, the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.
“Not much. But I know what they do, and where they are.”
“They’re a sensational fighting group, the premier US counterterrorist teams, and they’ve had a lot of success. But the world is moving on. Fast. These damned pirates have changed the rules in the last two years.
“And the truth is, DEVGRU has become too big. It’s too much like an army, too many people know what they’re up to. And everyone knows when they move. They’re really a joint services operation, and brilliant as they are, they’re a state secret that’s become loose.
“Right now, because of a zillion legal factors, we need to be much smaller. We need an outfit that can move very fast, in total secrecy. These days when DEVGRU moves, probably a thousand people know it’s happened.”
“They even had a book written about them, right?” said Mack.
“Yeah. And it was a pretty good book. But more and more became known. Right now they got Web sites all over the Internet. There’s about four hundred people involved in DEVGRU, including support staff, combat teams, and a training team, and a huge hunk of real estate down at Dam Neck, Virginia Beach. Nations have gone to war with less frontline backup.”
“What’s changed so much, Andy?”
“Laws, Mack, goddamned laws. Things need to be done these days when no one know s what happened, or who did it. It’s the new way, and it’s going to become the only way. Because anyone gets caught fighting and perhaps killing in order to save their own people and ships, well . . . that someone is going to face some quasi-international justice. The US cannot allow that legal bullshit to happen.”
“So what do we do?” said Mack.
“We need to form a kind of anti-pirate platoon, a highly trained, specialist force that is geared only to attack pirates. Guys who are at home on the high seas, guys who will become world experts at taking pirate ships, recapturing hijacked vessels, and then going in on land and knocking out their headquarters and beating the shit out of their high command. I’m thinking the most ruthless professional fighting force in the
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