Yes, I’m on twitter, tumblr, facebook, and here.  Sometimes there is crossover in postings from one to the other, but each one has a distinct flavor.  For example, on Facebook, I have friends that range back through most of my life.  From childhood friends, up to colleagues in my legal world.  What is always interesting is how this collection of souls have such different political views about the same things.  They range from staunch conservatives to staunch liberals and every degree of viewpoint that lies in between those two extremes.  What always tickles me is that some of these people get righteously indignant when I refuse to engage in a political discourse.  I do not mean to be an enigma about my political views or opinions, but then again, maybe I do.  Face it, I’ve worked for every Commander in Chief since Jimmy Carter, at least in some capacity, and I’ve seen some pretty great things, and some pretty stupid things.  I just know that as a soldier, speaking ill of the Commander in Chief can never lead to good things happening for you.  

    I don’t mean being singled out for ill treatment, instead, I’m referring to the notion that when you’re in a foxhole with bullets flying by your head, the last thing you need to do is question the sanity of the leadership.  You have to have faith, otherwise you’d be frozen, or worse . . ..  I always have taken the position that as a professional in the military, having an opinion is great, but to express it might undermine that concept of having faith.  Trust me, if the Sergeant tells his men that the Commander is a moron, this does not bode well for morale or the ability to keep his people alive.  I think we all get that at the micro level, such as in the foxhole, but perhaps we should extend this to the upper levels of leadership too.  As a leader, I won’t openly criticize or express my political opinions, since that can impact the ability of those around me to execute a plan that we’ve been ordered to execute.  In other words, talking bad about the boss doesn’t help a bit when you’re trying to get something done.  Instead, it more likely will lead to failure, and face it, failure in some things just isn’t an option.  

    All of this leads to this particular point.  When someone tells me or asks me my opinion about a Commander in Chief, you will NOT get an answer.  Lest someone thinks I’m defending any one of them in particular, let me assure you, I was as offended about some of what was said by my peers about the last one, as I am about the current one.  Face it, they are polar opposites in the political arena, but they are/were the Commander in Chief.  People who have undertaken the profession of arms should have opinions, I just don’t want to hear them, any more than they really need to hear mine.  (Take it to the voting booth, and if you don’t vote, then don’t bitch!)  As men of arms we don’t check the First Amendment at the door to protect the boss, but maybe we should think about checking it at the door for our peers or our subordinates that ultimately must rely on the boss making the decision.  If you want to set foreign policy, then get out and run for office, otherwise just remember our job isn’t to make it, but to enforce it to the best of our ability.  

    The one caveat to this is that until a decision is made, open discourse is not only important, but it can be invaluable.  This is why the SecDef and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs have an obligation to point out things, and provide their opinions.  Are they political?  No, instead, they are professional assessments of the situation and the best use of the available assets.  This might lead to disagreement at the upper levels of leadership, but once the Boss has made a decision, the you do your best to make it work, regardless of your personal feelings.  That is how it has to work, and from my perspective, it is the ONLY way you can make it work.  The other day I took a pot shot at DOJ.  I don’t regret this at all, since I don’t work for DOJ, and therefore, I’m not speaking ill of the Boss.  If I ruffled feathers over there, then so be it.  Somewhere around here is a rat that is completely devoid of his nether regions.  Let me say, I’ve never been a fan of the DOJ, or the State Department for that matter, but that has nothing to do with the Boss.  Instead it has everything to do with the fact that my history with both goes back 30 to 40 years, through lots of Bosses from both parties.  I just can’t stand institutional mind sets that never change or grow, which will always put me at odds with some of those bozos.  

    Now apart from my disdain for ivy league agencies, do I have a political opinion?  You bet your ass, but you’ll not hear it from me, so please stop threatening to “unfriend” me on facebook because I’m not “one of you.”  Who knows, I might be, or I might not be, but either way, I’m now and always will be a military professional, ergo my opinions about the boss are mine and mine alone.    ~ Michael S. Pauley  

Last time I wrote about ISIS/ISIL, but this time I’m going to return to my old buddy, Vladimir Putin.  While we watched the most horrific video coming out of Iraq, Putin was taking full advantage of our distraction.   “Aid” convoys, carrying non-humanitarian aid, are not aid convoys, they are an invasion.  Armored vehicles and unmarked soldiers aren’t aid workers, and at no point does the International Red Cross need anti-aircraft missile systems for the passing out of food and medicine.  To say that Russia is in Ukraine on a humanitarian mission is so over the top, it defies even the most basic logic.  I’m always amazed that anyone can make such an argument with a straight face.  Yet he does, and there are some who believe him.  I suppose that the 18,000 armed troops along the border, along with all their equipment, weapons, rations, etc., are there to direct traffic for the aid workers and assistance convoys.  What next?  I’m pretty sure that most Ukrainians could live without such assistance, but then again, I might be wrong.  After all, there are lots of separatists that could use the bullets, and .... Oh wait!  Most of them are Russians in unmarked uniforms, so tell me again about how this “aid” is supposed to help Ukrainians?  You can’t fool me, I’m too stupid.  This is an invasion, pure and simple!  Now comes the next question, what are we going to do about it?  I’m sure someone at DOJ will consider having Putin indicted for “criminal trespass.”  ~  Michael S. Pauley

The news from last week, through this past weekend, is anything but encouraging.  So, I’m going to start with the ugliest of it, ISIS/ISIL.  Most people get confused, since we’ve heard this group mentioned with several titles.  ISIS stands for Islamic State in Syria, while ISIL stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.  Make no mistake, these are the same people who are attempting to form their own state of evil, which I’m sure will be called IS or Islamic State.  Are they a new threat?  Not so much, but they have grown exponentially over the last year, thanks to several factors.  

    For example, back on February 11, 2014, the then head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, (DIA), Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, testified before the United States Senate Armed Services Committee.  In his testimony, General Flynn spoke about Transnational Terrorist Threats, and listed several of the greatest “group” threats facing the United States.  At the top of the list was Al’Qaida Command and Control, followed by Al’Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula or (AQAP).  The next was listed as Al’Qaida in Iraq (AQI), which he then opined as being also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Levant or ISIL.  I won’t belabor his testimony, but there was definite intelligence about ISIL, and it was equally clear that the Intelligence Community was concerned.  Concerned enough for General Flynn to make sure that Congress knew that they were dangerous, organized, and quite capable of extending their reach outside of their normal operating area in Iraq and Syria.  (They were already at this point responsible for bombings in Beirut).

    Now flash forward to the tribal and other issues that were arising in Iraq.  The politicians, coupled with their religious/ethnic battles (Sunni v. Shia v. Kurds), were creating a climate rife for the fermenting of discontent at lots of levels, to include their own military.  What nobody predicted is that the Iraqi military, trained by the United States and allies such as the United Kingdom, France, etc., would simply melt away in the face of a concerted threat.  In other words, when they bolted, they abandoned their equipment.  With each ISIL victory came the addition of newer equipment, and coupled with their two or more years experience of combat in Syria’s civil war, we were now looking at an even great threat.  Now they are a group that can project power well beyond their region and on into the rest of the world.

    Fox News, CNN, and lots of pundits love to point at General Martin Dempsey (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), and say that he is changing his tune.  First he didn’t want military assistance to go to Syria, and now he wants to expand operations to attack in Syria.  Let me just say that arming groups in Syria several years ago was a bad idea then, and here is why.  Two years ago we couldn’t be sure which groups were affiliated with ISIS/ISIL, and that was well and firmly stated at the time.  Face it, if we’d handed them advanced arms two years ago, then we’d have been facing this recent threat much sooner, from a much larger territory in Syria.  Ergo, I must defend General Dempsey, since he was right then, and he is right now.  If you expect the Media to remind you of these things, then you won’t get it.  Instead, you have to read the information that is out there from other sources.  I found General Flynn’s testimony online, from an open source, and it explained to me that not only did we know about the threat, but it was NOT an intelligence failure that led to this surprise.  It was instead a leadership failure in places like Iraq that allowed this to get as huge as it did, and as quickly as it did.  This is why Maliki had to go, and even IRAN had that figured out.  Simply put, if you want to blame someone, then don’t hang this on people like General Flynn or the rest of the Intelligence Community.  They reported this news at the time, and it isn’t their fault that nobody (News Media/Congress/etc.) seemed to want to really listen! ~ Michael S. Pauley     

Aside from the book coming out in October, I still have my other obligations in life.  For example, I’m still a Husband, Dad, Son, and a “grand pa,” and with those positions comes a certain level of daily consternation and reflection.  Then there is the day job as a lawyer, which requires patience, and tolerance.  (Mostly tolerance, since I’m exposed to some pretty extreme stupid on any given day.)  Combine all of this together, and you begin to realize that there just aren’t enough hours in any given day to get all these things accomplished.  Especially if you toss in things like writing a book, or watching world events as part of your doing research.  For example, a lot happened while the first chapter took center stage on this blog.  We’ve lost a comedic genius, a stellar actress, and even Mr. Spock lost the T’Ping of his life.  The Ukraine is as dicey/sporty as ever, while in Iraq things have wavered from bad to worse and back to just bad.  I have chosen not to interrupt things on the blog with any commentary on these topics, not because I don’t care or that my book was more important, but simply because of the time limitations.  I will attempt to bring things back to a more normal pace, but hell, who are we kidding.  Right now, like billions of others on this planet, we do what we can with what we’ve got, and so within my time constraints, I will do my best. ~ Michael S. Pauley

The first chapter of Book 2 has been added to the website on its own page.  You can find it under 'Buy the Book' as a drop-down. ~Michael S. Pauley

I sincerely hoped you enjoyed the first chapter of my new book.  The plan, which of course is always subject to change, is to have the book released in early to mid October of this year.  Naturally, you’ll be hearing more about the release date as we get closer, and odds are pretty good that by the time it gets released, you’ll be somewhat tired of my having posted about it.  Still, it is a necessary evil that I start mentioning all of this, since that is what Authors do when they have a book coming out.  Be patient, it is coming, I promise! ~ Michael S. Pauley

“Okay, anybody, can we read intent from their movements?  Is there anything here that would indicate that they are friendly?”

            After several moments of silence, Dr. Clarkson finally weighed in, “General, they are going to the Moon first, and this may be something that isn’t a threat as we know it, especially since it might give us a chance to get a visual image or two.  I don’t think we can assume that their intentions are hostile, but at the same time, I would NOT want to be the one who just assumed they weren’t hostile and then have something bad happen.  That is what got us in trouble the last time.”

            “Thanks, Doctor.  That is precisely what I was thinking.”  With that I turned to General Whitney and asked, “Well?  What are your thoughts about what we tell the President, evacuate the population or not?

            “Sir, I know this is probably not a basis for making sound policy judgments, but my gut says evacuate.  At least until we know more about these......  Okay, if they’re not Gomers, then what DO we call them?”

            “I’m sticking to Gomers for the moment, but you’re right, if they’re not what we know as Gomers, we’ll have to come up with something else to call them, since I don’t want to get the tactics confused later on down the road.”

            “Sir, if I may?”

            “Sure, Doctor Clarkson.”

            “Sir, I would stick to Bogies right now.  Once we get more visual intelligence based on our photographic information, we can find something to call them.  Assuming they actually orbit the Moon, we should have some great panoramic views of them within the next several hours.”

            “Okay, General Whitney, advise the President, and tell him our recommendation is to move forward and order the evacuation of the cities.  We can’t afford to repeat our mistakes, and this could be just such an instance.  In the meantime, move our forces to Threat Level Red, and keep them in the passive mode on all radars and radios.” 

            “General, if they decide to evacuate based on your recommendation, you do know that if this turns out to be nothing, it will be your ass on the block.”

            “Whit, right now I don’t give a flea turd on a rat’s ass.  I can promise you that if we don’t tell them to evacuate, and this IS something to worry about, then not only would they have my ass, but I would want them to have it.  I’d rather be wrong and unemployed, than wrong and not be able to live with myself.”

            “I know, sir, but I wouldn’t be a good staff member if I didn’t at least point out the down side.”

            “Geez, Whit, in all the time I’ve known you, you have excelled at being my conscience, which is Latin for one huge defacto pain in the butt.  Now, tell the boss to get everyone away from the cities and the coast, and I’ll be happy to take the heat if it becomes necessary.”

            “Yessir!”  With his response, the entire War Room took on a whole new purpose.  We activated all recall procedures, initiated the evacuation plans, and took every step we could think of taking, to get the ball rolling. 

The END of Chapter

Supreme Allied Headquarters - War Room:

            I stepped into the heart and soul of our Allied Operations, an extremely high-tech command center that had a lot of low-tech touches.  We’d seen our “gee whiz” fail before, so for every high-tech ‘gizmo,’ there was a low-tech back-up system.  We no longer used the HF, UHF, VHF, or FM radios for communications.  Now it was all LF, VLF, and ELF systems.  Even the Commercial Radio stations were transmitting on AM again, with FM radio almost a complete thing of the past.  Even those who weren’t “worried” about the Gomer threat anymore were still very reluctant to send a signal on an FM or higher frequency radio.  Internet radios and television were the thing now, assuming the internet was working properly, and so there was a resurgence of entertainment in the post war world.  My being old school, I personally preferred the telephone for the more serious conversations, and so did our President. 

            “General?”

            “Yessir, Mr. President?”

            “What is your recommendation as to the threat level?”

            “Sir, I would have to assess it as high, and I’ve alerted all major commands and senior commanders to be on alert accordingly at alert level yellow.”

            “Do you have a recommendation about evacuation of the cities?”

            “I don’t have enough information to answer that yet, sir, but given our history, I would seriously consider maybe moving key personnel to more hardened facilities, while putting the public on some sort of alert.”

            “I just hate to cause a panic for no reason.”

            “I agree, Mr. President.  Just as an idea, maybe you could treat it like a weather type event.  Maybe make evacuation non-mandatory, like with an oncoming hurricane, at least for the next 12 to 24 hours.  Then as the objects move closer, make it mandatory for the final 12 hours.  It might move the bulk of the population out to safer ground, while the infrastructure can manage it.  If you wait until the last minute, then the roads will be jammed, and panic will really set in.”

            “Okay, it is an idea.  I’ll talk it over with the cabinet.  Can I quote you as making that recommendation?”

            “Sure!  Marty, you can quote me whenever you want, but if you do, make sure it starts with ‘hey you assholes, listen up.’”

            “Funny!  I knew giving you the 5th Star would make you the consummate smartass!”

            “Sorry, Mr. President, but you know most of those guys don’t want to hear from me.  I’ve been accused of being ‘Chicken Little’ one too many times.”

            “Yeah, I know, but if you will recall, I was the ‘Chicken Little’ last time around.”

            “Yessir, and you saved more than a few lives, to include mine, for those of us who listened.”

            “Bingo!  My point exactly.  Now get to work, get the latest intelligence, and then be prepared to brief when I get there.”

            “Yessir, and I can assume you’ll be bringing the key players with you, so we will open up your new facilities and have security teams prepared to receive you.”

            “Roger that, and we should have everyone out and on the way to you within the next 6 hours.”

            “Can do, sir!  Your new home will be ready, and don’t forget to bring the grandkids.”  With that, the President chuckled and broke the connection.  I turned to get the staff fired up, briefed, and moving in the right direction.  Within minutes, our first war briefing in three years began in earnest.  As Colonel Feldman briefed the course, speed, and anticipated progress of the new ships, Dr. Abramson and Dr. Clarkson entered the room.  Dr. Clarkson sat in rapt attention studying the track of the objects, their movement patterns, and course projections.  As one of the few people on Earth who had experienced first-hand the Gomer ship and technology, his opinions would be vital to our understanding and to identifying the proper tasks we would need to accomplish over the next few hours.

I was just discussing my decision to retire, for the second time in my career, with my bride, Leah, when the red alert phone went off in my quarters.  I have to admit that it caused me to jump about halfway out of my skin, since the damn thing hadn’t rung since the last test of the system almost three weeks before.  I caught it on the third ring, and it was the Operations Duty Officer of the Day, Colonel Feldman.  “Sir, we have three extremely large bogies headed towards Earth, passing Jupiter on a course that we believe is inbound.”

            “Colonel, what do they have for a possible ETA?”

            “Sir, in about 36 hours, they should be in orbit.  It appears that they are slowing down, and are coming from a course direction that is not entirely consistent with the prior tracks of the Gomers.”

            “Okay, Colonel, assemble the staff, and you can update us in about 25 minutes in the War Room.  In the meantime, get the information to the White House, and set up a conference call with the President.  I should be at your location in 10 minutes.”

            “Yessir.”

            “Oh, and Colonel, activate the initial alert system, and get messages out to the major commands and all senior commanders that we might be getting company, and to act in accordance with the Alert Plan Yellow.”

            “Yessir.”  With that, I hung up the line and immediately started out the door towards the War Room which, given our Allied Headquarters set up, was only about 8 minutes walking distance from the front door of my quarters.  As I was leaving, my wife stopped me, “Mike, is that what I think?” 

           

            “I’m afraid so....”

            “Crap, should I call your mother, Christine, and Holly to get them over here?”

            “It shouldn’t be anything that eminent, but yeah, you might want to circle the wagons and we’ll see what we need to do over the next few hours.  If nothing else, you can get them in the mind set to move in a hurry, just in case it becomes necessary.”

            “Okay. . . . . .  Honey?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Please be careful, remember the last time you wandered off to Hawaii?  It took you months to get all the chunks of metal and concrete out of your hide.”

            “Very, very, funny!  Now can I go and see what the hell is going on?”

            “Yeah, sorry.  I love you!”

            “I love you, too, sweetie!”  I planted a kiss on her cheek and then turned on my heel.  “Honey, you know I’ll be home later, don’t you?”  She responded by smiling, and I headed on out the door to the unknown of what could be another huge problem for all of us.  This time we were at least semi-prepared, but that was little comfort, since facing the unknown is seldom something you can plan with any effectiveness.