The Officer Read online

  Book Description

  Wild Blue U: Foundation of Honor—The Officer continues the historical saga chronicling the United States Air Force Academy. The Officer unveils the arduous training of America’s leaders, showcasing empathetic, larger-than-life characters set against a fascinating tapestry of vivid, history-changing events that affect the course of the nation, ranging from cheating scandals at the USAF Academy to the Cuban missile crisis and the jungles of Vietnam.

  Kobo Edition – 2016

  WordFire Press

  wordfirepress.com

  ISBN: 978-1-61475-419-0

  Copyright © 2015 Doug Beason

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the copyright holder, except where permitted by law. This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Cover design by Janet McDonald

  Art Director Kevin J. Anderson

  Cover artwork images by Dollar Photo Club

  Book Design by RuneWright, LLC

  www.RuneWright.com

  Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta, Publishers

  Published by

  WordFire Press, an imprint of

  WordFire, Inc.

  PO Box 1840

  Monument, CO 80132

  Contents

  Book Description

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Author’s Note

  Dramatis Personae

  USAF Academy Abbreviations and Terms

  The Coming American

  Prologue

  Seven Years Later

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Epilogue

  End

  Bibliography

  About the Author

  If You Liked …

  Other WordFire Press Titles by Doug Beason

  Dedication

  To the 33 United States Air Force Academy graduates

  who were Southeast Asia Prisoners of War;

  their goal and motto was to

  “Return with Honor.”

  Acknowledgements

  I’ve received much help from reviewers, contributors of anecdotes, historians, former cadets, faculty members, editors, agents, friends, and a host of other people … but all factual errors in the novel are entirely mine, and if not unintended, then were purposely inserted only as embellishment. Thanks to Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Vivian Trask, Don Erbschloe, Vickie Erbschloe, Matt Bialer, Lori Peterkin and her book club, Lisa Ice, Ken Zeringue, Don Shepherd, Elizabeth Muenger, Joe Gross, Craig Hendrickson, Mike Heil, Bill Sabol, Jeff Dotur, Harald Dogliani, Gary Ganong, Jim Parsons, Bob DeBerry, Hugh Gordon, Deane Burbank, Dick Halloran, Phil Gronseth, Curt McIntyre, Jim Mateos, Chris Jaremko, Yvonne Kinkaid, John Paul Fraser Fisher, Don Cole, Ron Furstenau, Tom McNish, and Beast Beason. The editorial team: Mia Kleve, Holly Smith, Bob Vitas and Michelle Corsillo. Thanks also to my USAFA classmates for reviewing the flying scenes: Robert Massey, Lou Michels, Rick Sowers, George Patterson, Kevin Kenkel, Jack Casey, Kevin Roll, and Bill Ramsay. And of course, without whose love and support this series would never have been possible, Cindy Beason.

  Author’s Note

  Although this is a book of fiction, it is based on historical figures, events, and locations that are real. However, it is impossible to precisely reconstruct the thoughts and motivations of these historical figures and their actions. In addition, the author has taken liberty to dramatically embellish historical events. For example, although Soviet Ilyushin Il-28s were present in Cuba during the 1962 missile crisis, Chinese Il-28s were not. As another example, although I received pointers on the POW scenes in Vietnam, not all events herein occurred in the manner depicted. I did this not to denigrate, but only highlight and humanize the significance of these actions. In addition, although the cheating scandal of 1965 did occur, the discovery of the scandal did not happen in the manner depicted; “call signs” for Air Force pilots were not widely used in the 1960s and early 1970s, but for continuity I used them throughout the book; and High Country Construction, Colorado Technical Associates, and the USAFA’s Department of Theoretical Mechanics did not exist. Finally, only to dramatize the novel, some anecdotes may be out of chronological order (such as an F-105 going supersonic over the Terrazzo, the Vietnam protests at the Cadet Chapel, etc.), the sole purpose being to not make this novel a dry chronicle of historical fact, but rather to show the true excitement of the evolution of a major American institution, the United States Air Force Academy.

  www.DougBeason.com

  Dramatis Personae

  Jean-Claude (Rod) Simone

  Julie Phillips Simone—Rod’s wife

  Nanette Marie Simone—Rod’s daughter

  Major General Hank McCluney, US Army Air Corps—Rod’s (deceased) adoptive father

  Mary McCluney—Rod’s adoptive mother

  Washington DC

  Ambassador T. Edward Phillips—Rod’s father-in-law

  Francine Phillips—Rod’s mother-in-law

  Colorado Springs

  George Delante—Land developer and co-owner, High Country Construction

  Elizabeth Delante—his wife

  Fred Delante—his son

  Jim-Tom Henderson—Co-owner, High Country Construction

  Darius Moore—ex-El Paso County DA; Legal Counsel, Colorado Technical Associates

  United States Air Force Academy

  Captain Bobby Andrew—Executive Officer, Department of Theoretical Mechanics

  Brigadier General Stanley C. Beck†—USAFA Commandant

  Raf Garcia—waiter

  Mrs. Gail McComas†—Cadet hostess, 1955 to 1977

  Ben Martin†—USAFA football coach

  Colonel Maas—Department Head and Permanent Professor, Department of Law

  Brigadier General Robert F. McDermott†—USAFA Dean of Faculty

  Brigadier General Robert W. Strong, Jr.†—USAFA Commandant

  Colonel L. Bradford Whitney—Department Head and Permanent Professor, Department of Theoretical Mechanics

  Rod Simone’s USAFA classmates

  Nino Baldacci†—Cadet (Poughkeepsie, NY)

  Sylvester “Sly
” Winston Jakes—(Boston, MA)

  Jeff Goldstein—(New York, NY)

  Manuel Rojo—(Albuquerque, NM)

  George Sanders—(Fort Worth, Texas)

  Other Locations

  Captain Charlie “Rhino” Banner—Instructor pilot

  “Beast”—Squadron Commander, 3525th Pilot Training Wing, Williams AFB

  General “Speedy” Beaumont—Major General Hank McCluney’s WWII wingman

  Captain “Jazz” Ferguson—Rod’s F-4 GIB (Guy-In-the-Backseat)

  Major Tom Ranch—F-105 pilot, Rod Simone’s ex-ATO and ex-AOC

  Professor Clifford Rhoades—Professor of Aeronautical Engineering, Stanford University

  Barbara Richardson—Stanford graduate student, newscaster

  †—Denotes an actual historical figure

  USAF Academy Abbreviations and Terms

  AMI—Any Morning Inspection, usually less formal than a SAMI

  ASAP—As Soon As Possible

  AOC—Air Officer Commanding

  ATO—Air Training Officer

  AWOL—Absent Without Leave

  Blow—To rest, or to “kiss off”

  Bomb—To do extremely poorly

  BOR—Base Of the Ramp

  Buy the Farm—To crash

  Canoe U.—A small, inconsequential school that forms a suburb of the capital of Maryland with a campus partly on land and partly in the Severn River

  CAP—Combat Air Patrol

  CCQ—Cadet in Charge of Quarters

  Clank—To freeze up; to royally goof-up

  CDB—Commandant’s Disciplinary Board

  CIC—Cadet In Charge

  Comm—Commandant of Cadets, a brigadier (1-star) general

  Commshop—Commandant’s office

  CQ—used in place of CCQ

  Crash—A landing in which the vertical velocity is so great and the time spent in reducing it to zero is so brief that the acceleration and hence the forces acting become so great as to result in structural failure

  Cretin—That person disposed to doing acts of nominal coordination or acts requiring minimal thought

  DF—Dean of Faculty, a brigadier (1-star) general

  Doolie—That insignificant whose rank is measured in negative units; one whose potential for learning is unlimited; one who will graduate in some time approaching infinity

  EI—Extra Instruction

  FIGMO—Forget It, Got My Orders

  Firstie—a Firstclassman, a senior (cadets in their final year at the Academy)

  Fourthclassmen—Freshmen (first year cadet, known as Doolies)

  FORM 10—Cadet administrative form for documenting infraction of regulations

  FUBAR—“Messed” Up Beyond All Recognition

  GIB—Guy-In-the-Backseat

  Ground pounder—A non-flying officer

  Hyper—An ultra-military cadet who is focused on military bearing

  Hudson High—a small, inconsequential school [West Point] on the Hudson River distinguished by over 200 years of tradition unhampered by progress

  IHTFP—“I Have Truly Found Paradise”; equivalently, “I Hate This Friggin’ Place”

  Intramurder—Athletic competition between squadrons; violent intramural

  IRI—In Ranks Inspections

  Magic—That name applied to the department of Electrical Engineering and all related hand waving activities

  MAC—Military Air Command

  MATS—Military Air Transport Service

  NCOIC—Non-Commissioned Officer-in-Charge

  Nino Baldacci—That individual having entered with the class of ’59 and remaining until the present time, never having been off academic probation and never having taken a privilege. He is a perpetual turn-back, near and dear to all cadets.

  ODP—Off Duty Privilege

  OIC—Officer-in-Charge

  ORI—Operational Readiness Inspection

  OTF—Over The Fence, AWOL

  PDA—Public Display of Affection

  PE—Physical Education

  PFT—Physical Fitness Test

  Post—An order signifying to a subordinate that their presence is no longer needed

  Rack—Bed

  Rock—That superhuman who is free from female entanglements

  SAC—Strategic Air Command

  SAMI—Saturday Morning Inspection

  SDO—Squadron Duty Officer

  Secondclassmen—Juniors (third year cadets)

  SIOP—Single Integrated Operations Plan

  SOD—Senior Officer of the Day

  Staff Tower—The level in the cadet dining hall (Mitchell Hall) where Wing Staff eats

  Supt—USAFA Superintendent, a lieutenant (3-star) general

  TAC—Tactical Air Command

  TDY—Temporary Duty

  Thirdclassmen—Sophomores (second year cadets)

  Trash Hauler—Transport pilot

  Truck Driver—the pilot of a non-fighter aircraft with more than one engine (bomber or transport)

  Two!—A command to return the cadet to what he or she had been doing

  UCMJ—Uniformed Code of Military Justice

  VFR—Visual Flight Rules

  Zoomie—That term by which a cadet is commonly known by jealous, and usually inferior, civilians

  The Coming American

  Bring me men to match my mountains,

  Bring me men to match my plains.

  Men to chart a starry empire,

  Men to make celestial claims …

  Samuel Walter Foss

  (At the base of the ramp leading to the USAFA

  cadet area from 1958—2003)

  Prologue

  “Cry”

  September 6th, 1952

  Farnborough Airshow, England

  The eternal stars shine out as soon as it is dark enough.

  Thomas Carlyle

  The first thing thirteen-year-old Rod Simone heard when the airplane door opened was the sound of rumbling engines. Thick, humid air rolled into the plane and he smelled jet fuel mixed with the scent of damp, ploughed ground.

  Rod looked out the window and saw sleek, aluminized jets from France parked next to new, no-nonsense American B-47 bombers; a cargo plane from Germany was positioned near a collection of government aircraft from over 20 nations.

  But his eyes widened when he spotted smoke erupt from a compact British jet starting its engine.

  A fighter!

  The flight line was crowded with all types of aircraft, but to Rod the only ones that mattered were the swift, nimble jetfighters; to him, they were the star of the airshow.

  Every July, Farnborough hosted the largest collection of air-enthusiasts in the world, and the week-long air festival swelled the sleepy English village by 10,000 people who celebrated every form of manned flight, from bi-planes to jets to gliders. The airshow was nestled in England’s green, rolling hills 15 miles southwest of London and was considered the Wimbledon of the aviation world.

  The field was packed with civilian and military onlookers; they walked amid billowing tents, food booths, jugglers, and boot sales, making the crowded site look like an ancient medieval faire. His adoptive father had stressed on the long flight over that Farnborough was heaven-on-earth for pilots, and everyone who was anyone attended the yearly event. Here, aircraft executives negotiated million-dollar deals that determined the future of aviation for years.

  Rod Simone walked down metal stairs behind his adoptive parents, Hank and Mary McCluney. They disembarked the C-54 transport, following Air Force’s Chief of Staff, General Hoyt Vandenburg. Ever since 1947, when the Air Force had been formed from the Army Air Corps, the fledgling service controlled the nation’s nuclear weapons, making General Vandenburg one of the most powerful men on earth.

  Vandenberg’s aide, a young second lieutenant freshly graduated from West Point, stuck to the general like glue. The rest of the entourage was a bevy of senior officers, all of them young, rapidly promoted because of the war. The casualty rate for pilots in World
War II had been so high that some colonels—such as Rod’s adoptive father—had been promoted to the dizzying rank of general before they were even 40. But unlike Vandenberg’s aide, most of these men in the high-ranking entourage had nothing more than a high school education, having entered the Army Air Corps without a college degree or long-term leadership training.

  The Air Chief Marshal of the British Royal Air Force headed up the official welcoming party and waited at the front of a reception line for the American delegation.

  The Royal Black Watch struck up “The Star-Spangled Banner” when General Vandenberg reached the bottom of the stairs. Hank balanced his weight on a cane and grasped his wife’s hand to keep steady; Rod stood at rigid attention. The anthem sounded especially patriotic being led by the Guard’s pipes, and Rod thought the Brits played the instruments much better than himself, despite his four years of bagpipe lessons.

  An aide whispered in the Air Chief Marshal’s ear; the British general snapped an open-palmed salute as Rod’s father stepped to the ground. “General McCluney. Welcome to the UK.”

  Hank returned the salute. “Aye, it’s good to be back, sir.”

  The Air Chief Marshal smiled at his thick Scottish burr. “You sound as if you’re returning home, general. Highlands?”

  “Actually, I was born in the Lowlands, but I’m American now. My parents immigrated to America from Pitlochry when I was ten.” He motioned to his wife and adopted son. “Sir, I’d like to present Mrs. McCluney and my son Jean-Claude.”

  The Air Chief Marshall bowed to Mary and solemnly shook Rod’s hand. “Madam, Master Jean-Claude.”

  “My name is Rod, sir.” Rod avoided his stepfather’s eyes. Hank knew he didn’t like to be called Jean-Claude any more—it was Rod now. It seemed like only yesterday that he’d come home from school with a bloody nose, scuffed pants, and torn shirt from fighting about his name. Jean-Claude was a sissy name for a boy to have in Southern California in the 1950s, and despite applying to officially change his name, Hank still managed to forget.

  The Air Marshal drew himself up and nodded, a trace of a smile at his lips. “Excuse me, Master Rod.”

  Four silver stars glinted in the rare English sunlight as General Vandenberg walked back from leading the American entourage through the reception line; smoke trailed from his cigar. A portly, distinguished-looking gentleman in a three-piece suit walked next to him. Vandenberg placed his hand on the civilian’s shoulder as he joined the Air Marshal at the bottom of the stairs.