Post by simon darkshade on Aug 6, 2018 4:50:17 GMT
From Sea to Shining Sea Part 1
Cisco, Texas, November 8th 1960
“And now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the crux of the evening, after one of the closest elections in living memory. At 1:34 in the morning of November 5th, 1960, we can report that the best judgement of our counters in Chicago and our IBM 2501 computer here at NBC Election Central is that Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts has won the state of Illinois. This secures him a total of 283 Electoral College votes, taking him past the figure of 275 that he needs to win. Therefore, the Democratic candidate, 43 year old Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy, will be the 33rd President of the United States of America, defeating President Roger Thompson.”
Thompson sighed and arose from his easy chair. It was dark outside the parlour of his modest childhood home, but not so dark that he could not see the silhouettes of the Secret Service guards patrolling in the garden outside. A fleeting memory of playing cowboys out there under the old spreading hickory tree next to his mother’s pond flickered into his consciousness. Beyond it, he could see the far off flashes of light and movement of the public and the press beyond the front fence of his modest childhood home. The hub-bub of noise had been there for hours and, not for the first time, he hoped it hadn’t disturbed the children too much. They had experienced enough of that in their years in the White House.
It had been a long night; a long five years, in fact.
“Well, gentlemen, that seems to be that.”
“I believe you are right there, Mr. President. Even with California, we can’t shake it through. That’s the ball game.”
The President walked over to pour himself a glass of water before turning to face his four companions, his campaign manager William Sawyer, his chief of staff General Jack Burgundy, his wizardly advisor Dr. Cornelius Malabrancius and his long-time special assistant, Brigadier Samuel Atkinson, who looked on at him impassively.
“That aligns with all our data, William. They were right about it being darned close, though.” He drank deeply, grateful for the soothing effect of the ice-water on his overworked throat. Eighteen speeches in two days would do that to a man.
“Yes, Mr. President. You put up a mighty fight to bring it back this close.” Sawyer said earnestly, but Thompson waved him away.
“After October, I did what I could and, hopefully, God willing, my duty. That blasted offer by Stalin really messed us up. Sam, can you see about putting a call through to Senator Kennedy? I’m going up to see Rebecca to let her know we’ve got an appointment to keep at the Town Hall.”
President Thompson walked quickly out of the room into the hallway, flanked by a pair of impassive Secret Servicemen. He glanced briefly in the large mirror that they had placed beside the stairs. The man who looked back at him was a far cry from the fresh-faced fellow who went along with good old Robert Taft’s entreaties back on that cold February morning nine years earlier. The shock of golden hair was still there, but it was now lined with more than his fair share of gray and his piercing blue eyes were noticeably tired and lacklustre. His ramrod-straight posture had not faltered, nor had he abandoned the rigorous lifestyle that was responsible for an athletic build that was quite admirable in a man of fifty. A thin scar was barely visible along the side of his forehead, a vestige of a Nazi sword on D-Day, and one of the half-dozen wounds he bore from a hard war.
That was he viewed himself, but what of others? The 'Accidental President'? That moniker had rapidly disappeared just months after he took office in March 1955. On the one hand, he had achieved a series of budget surpluses, reduced the national debt by a quarter, prevented the outbreak of a world war, presided over a period of massive economic growth and doubled the American nuclear arsenal. On the other hand, the unity of the Atlantic Pact had been sorely wounded, the relative power of its foes had dramatically increased and the world pushed forward to the brink of deadly confrontation by the machinations of evil. Had he done enough?
“Ensign is moving.”
He heard one of his bodyguards whisper into his watchphone as he mounted the stairs. He allowed himself a rare smile at the nickname, a rare personal touch that he had decided upon back when it all began. That was what it was all about, really. He had spent his whole life under the flag, all the way back to when he had joined the Army in 1928, through Depression, battles, World War Two and the colder conflict that followed. It was all for what that flag stood for – the republic and the Constitution, all the people he served as his duty under God across all the United States.
As President, it had been one of his greatest honours and foremost privileges to see such a picture of America, across all its boundless plains and mighty cities. He had seen more of the land and its people than many of his countrymen, visiting every state and territory. He had stood with farmers in the cornfields of Iowa and listened to the wind. He had visited the dark coal mining towns of West Virginia and seen how the wealth of the nation was hacked out of the seams of the earth through sweat and toil. He had walked in New England forests and New Mexican deserts alike and broken bread with black sharecroppers in Mississippi and white steelworkers in Ohio alike. That, he would miss.
Maybe, once it was all over and he was a free man once more, he might go forth and see the land of America the beautiful, the land that he loved still. From sea to shining sea.
He knocked softly on the door of his wife’s bedroom. She opened it, still fully clothed.
“Darling, we’re going out for a brief speech. Then we’re coming home for good.”
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The White House, Washington D.C., December 9th, 1960
“President-Elect Kennedy. Welcome. I hope that this morning will provide some useful information for you and your people.” Thompson held out his hand in greeting. The Roosevelt Room was now filled with the principal members of the National Security Council and their key staff and the beginning of the meeting was nigh.
“President Thompson. Thank you once again. ” Kennedy took the proffered hand and shook it warmly. Despite the vigour of the campaign and its occasional heated rhetoric, he found it difficult to hold any sense of ill-will against his predecessor. Thompson was too much of a decent, personable man to dislike, not to mention being an old friend and sparring partner going back to their days in Congress. They would have to find something appropriate for him to do commensurate with his status.
Thompson sat down in his usual seat at the head of the table and indicated for Kennedy to sit at his right hand, with his three advisors behind him. The rest of the council members then took their seats and the President nodded at the council chairman, his National Security Advisor, Dr. Henry Jones, who bought the meeting to order with a polite cough and shuffling of his papers.
“Good morning gentlemen. Today we shall begin with a general summary on the global situation. Whilst we are enjoying a period of improved superpower relations, a number of developing crises threaten to impinge upon American interests or to involve us through our allies. US forces around the world are currently held at DEFCON 5, with the exception of alert strategic forces, which are at DEFCON 4. This represents a substantial reduction in tensions since the beginning of the year, which reached DEFCON 2 at the height of the crisis.
As of this morning, the Air Force has 329 Atlas, 187 Titan and 54 Minuteman ICBMs and 57 Snarks and 22 Navahos operational at twenty-three sites across the Continental United States, along with the Army’s 236 Jupiters and the Navy’s 144 Neptunes. There are also the 120 Thor MRBMs deployed in France and Italy and 216 Mace flying bombs in Germany and Korea. The Navy has fifteen ballistic missile submarines in the Atlantic and Mediterranean and six in the Pacific, of which half are out on strategic deterrence patrol, in addition to the six Regulus subs.
Our strategic forces are at a crucial stage of development in several important areas. Firstly, we have the B-70 Valkyrie programme approaching the final key stages of operational testing and production funding, with an initial 24 aircraft on order for delivery in 1963/64. Then we have the Minuteman ICBM programme, which promises to revolutionise our strategic readiness capacity, and the Skybolt ALBM, which extends the effective strike range of our B-52s by upwards of 2000 miles. Finally, the SSBN programme is in full production, but has exceeded costs by a considerable margin thus far.”
“Mr. President, I’d like to reiterate what I’ve said before – the most urgent capacity SAC requires is the Valkyrie. With them, we can effectively penetrate any air defences the Soviets can conceivably deploy until 1970, as well as reducing our reaction speed considerably. With them, we can guarantee the peace and deter enemy aggression with full confidence.” General LeMay spoke forcefully, jabbing with his cigar to emphasis his points. Many heads nodded in agreement around the room. When LeMay spoke, men listened.
“General, you are correct at every point. President-Elect Kennedy, the choices of your administration are your own, but I can only repeat to you what I said last week in our talk – the United States has to have those bombers.”
“Rest assured, Mr. President, we are going to put the highest priority on improving the strategic offensive and defensive forces of this country. You have my word.” Kennedy replied steadily, conscious that even now, defense policy was a sensitive area. The accusation that Roger Thompson and his administration had been soft on defence had been one of the most damaging tactics employed by the Kennedy campaign.
In terms of surface forces, we currently have eight carrier groups forward deployed – four in the Mediterranean, two in the Western Pacific, two in the North Atlantic and one in the Indian Ocean. SAC has B-47 squadrons on rotation at their forward operating bases in Spain, Morocco, Greenland, Iceland in the Atlantic and in Alaska, the Philippines, Thailand and Guam in the Pacific, as well as twelve B-52s on a goodwill visit to England. One Army airborne battlegroup remains in Lebanon along with the Marine special landing force. All other forces are at their peacetime stations at home and abroad. General Turgidson will now report on the status of Soviet forces.”
Turgidson, a vigorous man in Air Force blue newly raised to the position of Commander of the Joint Defense Intelligence Service, nodded several times in acknowledgement and pressed a button before him that revealed a large holographic globe floating above the centre of the conference table.
“Mr. President, Mr. President-Elect, the Soviets currently have twelve ballistic missile submarines at sea, two of which are Indias and the remainder are shorter range Hotels. We have attack submarines on seven of them, with the Royal Navy covering five. The SDA has 76 bombers deployed outside of the Soviet Union – 16 Badgers on rotation in Indonesia, 12 Badgers and 4 Bisons in North Vietnam and the remainder made up of Blinders in Poland and the GDR. All four of the carriers and battleships of the Soviet Mediterranean Fleet are currently in the Levantine Sea halfway between Rhodes and Cyprus and are due to meet with their supply ships south of Crete in six days. The Archangelsk and the Stalingrad are in the mid Atlantic bound for Recife on a scheduled visit to South America; they are being shadowed by the Independence group and the skyship aerocarrier Liberty.”
As he spoke, different red and blue images of aircraft and submarines appeared at various points on the land and ocean areas of the globe, which shifted to focus in on whichever area he discussed or indicated. Several groups of blue bombers seemed to moved almost imperceptibly, represent the airborne alert force of Strategic Air Command. Whilst the Holographic Global Display System was an ingenious piece of technology, it paled in comparison with the Big Board in the Pentagon War Room, which was directly integrated with the Atlantic Undersea Surveillance Display, one of the most notable results of Anglo-American cooperation over the last four years.
“Soviet strategic rocket, guided missile and bomber forces remain on their ordinary peacetime posture inside the USSR and are taking great pains to emphasise this. However, intelligence reports and satellite photography indicates that two new missile divisions have been activated in the last six weeks, the 41st at Aleysk and the 67th at Gladkaya, both equipped with the new SS-10 solid fuelled missile. Current estimates of the Strategic Rocket Forces arsenal are 32 SS-6, 25 SS-7 and 10 SS-8 long range ballistic missiles, 32 Burans and 110 SS-5, 150 SS-4 and 300 SS-3 medium range missiles. PVO Strany currently deploys 20 V-1000 anti-ballistic missiles around Moscow, but our sources suggest that they are not yet fully operational.”
“Almost 10:1, Jack.” Thompson smiled meaningfully at Kennedy, if with a little hint of bitterness to his tone. The spectre of a missile gap had been used extensively by the Democratic candidate in the build up to the election, before a special briefing by SAC, the Space Corps and the CIA put paid to their erroneous information and their angle of attack had shifted to a different area of security.
“The Red Army remains on a normal posture in Poland and the other Eastern European satellites.” Turgidson continued, shifting his display to show an enhanced map of Europe. “There are no signs of heightened alert in the Ukrainian and Byelorussian Tank Army Groups, nor of the Strategic Reserve in the Moscow Military District. There seems to be a greater than usual level of activity around the bases of the 98th Airborne Division in Primorsky Krai, but this now appears connected to an internal strategic deployment exercise rather than any movement to Vietnam or Indonesia as earlier thought. The first tranche of Marshal Zhukov’s new rifle divisions are currently in the final stages of general operational training near Omsk and data on their exact composition is unclear.”
“What do you estimate their role being?” Kennedy asked with his head tilted in thought.
“The consensus is that they are intended for global intervention and support of allied nations. They do not fit into any known strategic concepts for the employment of the main body of the Red Army in Europe, Asia or the Middle East in conventional operations, which are based around tank, mechanised and artillery forces. Based on increases in the numbers of airborne forces, naval infantry and independent Cossack brigades, the evidence indicates that the Soviets are building up a formidable rapid deployment capacity.”
“Which, at this time, they lack the opportunity to employ, except in a few limited areas.” Secretary of State Jefferson Smith added wryly. “They lack a direct entry point into the Middle East or Africa and the Western Hemisphere is currently sewn up tight, which only leaves South East Asia.”
“What are our contingency plans in that eventuality?” Kennedy’s chief security advisor, Dr. Clark Savage, spoke for the first time and the room quietened immediately. He had built up a formidable reputation as both as an expert on national security and as a brilliant adventurer over the last fifty years and was expected to be easily confirmed as the new Secretary of Defense.
“General Taylor would be best placed to answer that.” demurred Turgidson.
“In the case of direct Soviet or Chinese military deployment to North Vietnam, we have OPLAN 32-59, which calls for the deployment of three divisions and a Marine amphibious force to South Vietnam and one division to Thailand, accompanied by 500 tactical fighters, four medium and two heavy bomb groups and four carrier groups.” The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell Taylor, read off from a page in his leather binder. “We would also expect further assistance from the other members of the Pacific Treaty Organisation, particularly Britain and India. If the Soviets move troops into Indonesia, then we would reinforce Australia under OPLAN 36-58. The force composition in that case would only consist of two divisions of ground troops, but more tactical fighters.”
“As it stands at the moment, the Soviets haven’t made any overt moves of ground troops to either country in preference to the deployment of aircraft. Reports from HUMINT sources suggest that they intend to transfer MiG-21s to both Indonesia and North Vietnam in the next six months.”
“Has there been any indication of their new fighters reaching frontline units in Europe?” Thompson inquired.
“No, sir, neither the La-200 nor theYak-36 have reached operational service at this time. The most advanced fighters in VVS service remain the Su-19, the I-374 and MiG-21, none of which are comparable to the F-106, the F-110 or the best that the British can muster.”
“Thank you, General Turgidson.” Dr. Jones turned to an Army general on his left. “General Johnson will report on behalf of General Gavin at European Command.”
“Sir, Seventh Army currently fields four heavy divisions and two armored cavalry regiments in Germany and one armoured division in Austria-Hungary, for a total of 154,000 personnel. This represents an increase of 42,000 men since the beginning of the year, although most of our support infrastructure and supply bases remain in France and the Low Countries; these rear echelon forces can be replicated fairly quickly through bringing forth scheduled GYROSCOPE rotations. We anticipate it will take at least six more months to complete redeployment to Germany and a further nine months to a year after that to build back up to the planned level of 320,000 troops.”
Thompson gave a slight grimace. The drawdown of troops in Germany had been his decision, albeit one he had been driven to by noble intentions, the policies of his late predecessor and the will of influential elements in Congress. He had not been the first to be drawn in by the machinations of Stalin, but he still blamed himself for stumbling into the near-rupture of the Western alliance, regardless of the fact that blame lay on both sides of the Atlantic. History will be my judge; I know not whether it will be a kind verdict.
“In addition to our forces, the British and French also have four divisions each either in Germany or positioned on its borders, all committed to the interim joint command structure we’ve put in place since May. Field Marshal Rommel has thirty-two divisions, but needs at least double that for a viable defence, as the German Military Delegation set out at last month’s conference in New York.” Johnson concluded.
Secretary of Defence Thomas Gates leaned forward. “We may not be able to fill that requirement immediately, but we have come up with two interim steps in consultation with London, Mr. President. Firstly, we can increase the operational strength of USAFE in a two week period by a further 400 aircraft without majorly reducing TAC’s capability to react to another crisis. Secondly, we can make a highly visible deployment of a reinforced brigade to Berlin, to augment the defensive garrison manning the Berlin Wall; this would be matched by the British, French, Benelux and the Scandinavians. We could move them in within 72 hours.”
“That would demonstrate our resolve whilst not escalating in a manner that the Russians would deem demands a response in kind.”
“Agreed. Make it so. That will buy us some breathing space so we can move all the pieces into place for CHECKMATE.” President Thompson spoke over tented fingers. If Europe was to be the crux of his legacy, then CHECKMATE would be at its heart. It appealed to his sense of irony that it would fall to another man to take the credit for his labours if it all came off according to plan.
“Thank you, Mr. President.” Dr. Jones stood up and moved to a screen positioned in front of one of the walls. It flickered into life, revealing a large map of the world which moved to and fro and zoomed in and out at his direction. Most countries remained in soft colours, but four regions glowed an angry red.
“Moving onto the Global Threat Overview map, we can see that currently Vietnam, the Congo and the Middle East are all facing varying degrees of emerging crisis and that we appraise Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey as being the most likely states to join them. All of these have the common factor of communist backed insurgency.”
“Can’t the British handle Afghanistan? They have made a point of emphasising to all and sundry that they call the shots in the Near East.” asked Vice-President Harold Stassen.
“For the moment, yes to both your question and your comment, Mr. Vice President. India and its neighbours are firmly in their sphere. In the medium to long term, it will be an area where we can extend a helping hand without the burden of colonialism hanging over us. However, in any case, that is a matter that is down the line.”
“Middle East Command will be able to handle most contingencies in the Near East, Mr. President, at least when we secure permanent basing in our optimal locations. The Fifth Fleet gives us plenty of options.” General Taylor observed approvingly.
“In addition to such low intensity threats and the general confrontation with the Soviets, ongoing atomic proliferation could further raise the possibility of accidental superpower conflict. A secret study we commissioned from the M&M Corporation found that current projections of new nuclear states raises the chance of general war by almost 3% per nation. By 1965, we estimate that at least six states will have nuclear weapons, including Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina.” Dr. Jones concluded soberly.
“Who’s next? Like as much, Luxembourg might have a go, then who knows, maybe Monaco?” exclaimed Smith.
“We shall try to stay serene and calm, leastways until Albania gets the bomb.” Thompson gave a half smile. “It has been one of our goals of national policy to manage the pace of the spread of nuclear weapons over the last two years, Mr. President-Elect. The micro-arsenals are just big enough to cause trouble but not large enough to count. If they must have the bomb, we want a say in how and when they use it.”
“That seems sensible enough.” Dr. Savage nodded sagely after tilting his head in contemplation. “You’ve spoken of the modernisation of our strategic nuclear forces, Dr. Jones, but what of our conventional equipment? Can we count on the same margin of qualitative superiority?”
Jones grimaced slightly. “We can, but we are approaching a very difficult time in the next four years. We’ve got to replace a large number of our warbuilt fleet, particularly the escorts and our older generation tactical aircraft are approaching block obsolescence. These could well eat into the funds for our general procurement plans for the Army’s new tanks and armoured vehicles, as well as guided missile projects for all five services.”
“I can speak to the aircraft part of that, sir.” began Secretary of Air James Douglas. “It comes down to three major interrelated issues. Firstly, we have the Aerospace Defense Command fighters: the F-108 and F-112 interceptor programmes, of which there are 108 and 65 aircraft on order respectively. They will provide a major boost to CONAD capabilities and augment the F-106Cs and Ds. Secondly, we have the TAC programmes: the F-110s and F-111s. The former aircraft is at the heart of our procurement strategy, replacing the F-100, F-101 and F-104 with a single versatile tactical fighter-bomber type. The latter is even more important, as it will replace the F-104 and the B-66 in the interdiction, tactical bomber, pathfinder and all-weather strike roles at significantly longer distances, whilst retaining significant secondary capacity as a fighter. Finally, we have the long term development programmes: the FX air superiority fighter, the Lightweight Strike Fighter, the AX close air support and ground attack fighter and the BX light/medium strike bomber, which are all at early stages.”
“At sea, we have a similar challenge ahead of us. We’ve got to replace 216 war built destroyers and 138 destroyer escorts now coming to the end of their useful service life, but cannot do so with frontline guided missile designs if we want to afford a balanced fleet.” Secretary of the Navy Rockwell W. Torrey began in his slow characteristic drawl. “The last eight Threshers and the Sturgeon class hunter-killer subs will keep us dominant in underwater operations and we should reach our target force of 100 boats by 1970. On the bright side, the 30 converted missile cruisers can be replaced by the end of the decade if we maintain current construction, but when the Essex-class carriers finally leave the fleet, we’re going to have a heck of a time replacing them in terms of sheer numbers.”
“That is why we need to expedite the ordering of the new CVNs once the next four Enterprises have all joined the fleet, sir.” Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke spoke with vigour. “As for the ASW Essex-class carriers, there are a number of current studies for their replacement with new helicopter and Rotodyne carriers.”
“Meanwhile, the Army has a requirement for a further 20,000 M-60s for the active and reserve force, as well as the MACV, the AICV and thousands of the new light, medium, heavy and superheavy SPGs for the National Guard. As Dr. Jones rightly points out, we can’t afford everything that floats, drives and flies on our current level of funding.” Secretary Gates stated flatly.
“Thank you, gentlemen, I think that will be all for today.” Thompson rose to his feet, followed by the other men around the table. “Would you care for a spot of lunch, Mr. President-Elect?”
“Yes, Mr. President, that sounds like a fine idea.”
Cisco, Texas, November 8th 1960
“And now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the crux of the evening, after one of the closest elections in living memory. At 1:34 in the morning of November 5th, 1960, we can report that the best judgement of our counters in Chicago and our IBM 2501 computer here at NBC Election Central is that Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts has won the state of Illinois. This secures him a total of 283 Electoral College votes, taking him past the figure of 275 that he needs to win. Therefore, the Democratic candidate, 43 year old Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy, will be the 33rd President of the United States of America, defeating President Roger Thompson.”
Thompson sighed and arose from his easy chair. It was dark outside the parlour of his modest childhood home, but not so dark that he could not see the silhouettes of the Secret Service guards patrolling in the garden outside. A fleeting memory of playing cowboys out there under the old spreading hickory tree next to his mother’s pond flickered into his consciousness. Beyond it, he could see the far off flashes of light and movement of the public and the press beyond the front fence of his modest childhood home. The hub-bub of noise had been there for hours and, not for the first time, he hoped it hadn’t disturbed the children too much. They had experienced enough of that in their years in the White House.
It had been a long night; a long five years, in fact.
“Well, gentlemen, that seems to be that.”
“I believe you are right there, Mr. President. Even with California, we can’t shake it through. That’s the ball game.”
The President walked over to pour himself a glass of water before turning to face his four companions, his campaign manager William Sawyer, his chief of staff General Jack Burgundy, his wizardly advisor Dr. Cornelius Malabrancius and his long-time special assistant, Brigadier Samuel Atkinson, who looked on at him impassively.
“That aligns with all our data, William. They were right about it being darned close, though.” He drank deeply, grateful for the soothing effect of the ice-water on his overworked throat. Eighteen speeches in two days would do that to a man.
“Yes, Mr. President. You put up a mighty fight to bring it back this close.” Sawyer said earnestly, but Thompson waved him away.
“After October, I did what I could and, hopefully, God willing, my duty. That blasted offer by Stalin really messed us up. Sam, can you see about putting a call through to Senator Kennedy? I’m going up to see Rebecca to let her know we’ve got an appointment to keep at the Town Hall.”
President Thompson walked quickly out of the room into the hallway, flanked by a pair of impassive Secret Servicemen. He glanced briefly in the large mirror that they had placed beside the stairs. The man who looked back at him was a far cry from the fresh-faced fellow who went along with good old Robert Taft’s entreaties back on that cold February morning nine years earlier. The shock of golden hair was still there, but it was now lined with more than his fair share of gray and his piercing blue eyes were noticeably tired and lacklustre. His ramrod-straight posture had not faltered, nor had he abandoned the rigorous lifestyle that was responsible for an athletic build that was quite admirable in a man of fifty. A thin scar was barely visible along the side of his forehead, a vestige of a Nazi sword on D-Day, and one of the half-dozen wounds he bore from a hard war.
That was he viewed himself, but what of others? The 'Accidental President'? That moniker had rapidly disappeared just months after he took office in March 1955. On the one hand, he had achieved a series of budget surpluses, reduced the national debt by a quarter, prevented the outbreak of a world war, presided over a period of massive economic growth and doubled the American nuclear arsenal. On the other hand, the unity of the Atlantic Pact had been sorely wounded, the relative power of its foes had dramatically increased and the world pushed forward to the brink of deadly confrontation by the machinations of evil. Had he done enough?
“Ensign is moving.”
He heard one of his bodyguards whisper into his watchphone as he mounted the stairs. He allowed himself a rare smile at the nickname, a rare personal touch that he had decided upon back when it all began. That was what it was all about, really. He had spent his whole life under the flag, all the way back to when he had joined the Army in 1928, through Depression, battles, World War Two and the colder conflict that followed. It was all for what that flag stood for – the republic and the Constitution, all the people he served as his duty under God across all the United States.
As President, it had been one of his greatest honours and foremost privileges to see such a picture of America, across all its boundless plains and mighty cities. He had seen more of the land and its people than many of his countrymen, visiting every state and territory. He had stood with farmers in the cornfields of Iowa and listened to the wind. He had visited the dark coal mining towns of West Virginia and seen how the wealth of the nation was hacked out of the seams of the earth through sweat and toil. He had walked in New England forests and New Mexican deserts alike and broken bread with black sharecroppers in Mississippi and white steelworkers in Ohio alike. That, he would miss.
Maybe, once it was all over and he was a free man once more, he might go forth and see the land of America the beautiful, the land that he loved still. From sea to shining sea.
He knocked softly on the door of his wife’s bedroom. She opened it, still fully clothed.
“Darling, we’re going out for a brief speech. Then we’re coming home for good.”
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The White House, Washington D.C., December 9th, 1960
“President-Elect Kennedy. Welcome. I hope that this morning will provide some useful information for you and your people.” Thompson held out his hand in greeting. The Roosevelt Room was now filled with the principal members of the National Security Council and their key staff and the beginning of the meeting was nigh.
“President Thompson. Thank you once again. ” Kennedy took the proffered hand and shook it warmly. Despite the vigour of the campaign and its occasional heated rhetoric, he found it difficult to hold any sense of ill-will against his predecessor. Thompson was too much of a decent, personable man to dislike, not to mention being an old friend and sparring partner going back to their days in Congress. They would have to find something appropriate for him to do commensurate with his status.
Thompson sat down in his usual seat at the head of the table and indicated for Kennedy to sit at his right hand, with his three advisors behind him. The rest of the council members then took their seats and the President nodded at the council chairman, his National Security Advisor, Dr. Henry Jones, who bought the meeting to order with a polite cough and shuffling of his papers.
“Good morning gentlemen. Today we shall begin with a general summary on the global situation. Whilst we are enjoying a period of improved superpower relations, a number of developing crises threaten to impinge upon American interests or to involve us through our allies. US forces around the world are currently held at DEFCON 5, with the exception of alert strategic forces, which are at DEFCON 4. This represents a substantial reduction in tensions since the beginning of the year, which reached DEFCON 2 at the height of the crisis.
As of this morning, the Air Force has 329 Atlas, 187 Titan and 54 Minuteman ICBMs and 57 Snarks and 22 Navahos operational at twenty-three sites across the Continental United States, along with the Army’s 236 Jupiters and the Navy’s 144 Neptunes. There are also the 120 Thor MRBMs deployed in France and Italy and 216 Mace flying bombs in Germany and Korea. The Navy has fifteen ballistic missile submarines in the Atlantic and Mediterranean and six in the Pacific, of which half are out on strategic deterrence patrol, in addition to the six Regulus subs.
Our strategic forces are at a crucial stage of development in several important areas. Firstly, we have the B-70 Valkyrie programme approaching the final key stages of operational testing and production funding, with an initial 24 aircraft on order for delivery in 1963/64. Then we have the Minuteman ICBM programme, which promises to revolutionise our strategic readiness capacity, and the Skybolt ALBM, which extends the effective strike range of our B-52s by upwards of 2000 miles. Finally, the SSBN programme is in full production, but has exceeded costs by a considerable margin thus far.”
“Mr. President, I’d like to reiterate what I’ve said before – the most urgent capacity SAC requires is the Valkyrie. With them, we can effectively penetrate any air defences the Soviets can conceivably deploy until 1970, as well as reducing our reaction speed considerably. With them, we can guarantee the peace and deter enemy aggression with full confidence.” General LeMay spoke forcefully, jabbing with his cigar to emphasis his points. Many heads nodded in agreement around the room. When LeMay spoke, men listened.
“General, you are correct at every point. President-Elect Kennedy, the choices of your administration are your own, but I can only repeat to you what I said last week in our talk – the United States has to have those bombers.”
“Rest assured, Mr. President, we are going to put the highest priority on improving the strategic offensive and defensive forces of this country. You have my word.” Kennedy replied steadily, conscious that even now, defense policy was a sensitive area. The accusation that Roger Thompson and his administration had been soft on defence had been one of the most damaging tactics employed by the Kennedy campaign.
In terms of surface forces, we currently have eight carrier groups forward deployed – four in the Mediterranean, two in the Western Pacific, two in the North Atlantic and one in the Indian Ocean. SAC has B-47 squadrons on rotation at their forward operating bases in Spain, Morocco, Greenland, Iceland in the Atlantic and in Alaska, the Philippines, Thailand and Guam in the Pacific, as well as twelve B-52s on a goodwill visit to England. One Army airborne battlegroup remains in Lebanon along with the Marine special landing force. All other forces are at their peacetime stations at home and abroad. General Turgidson will now report on the status of Soviet forces.”
Turgidson, a vigorous man in Air Force blue newly raised to the position of Commander of the Joint Defense Intelligence Service, nodded several times in acknowledgement and pressed a button before him that revealed a large holographic globe floating above the centre of the conference table.
“Mr. President, Mr. President-Elect, the Soviets currently have twelve ballistic missile submarines at sea, two of which are Indias and the remainder are shorter range Hotels. We have attack submarines on seven of them, with the Royal Navy covering five. The SDA has 76 bombers deployed outside of the Soviet Union – 16 Badgers on rotation in Indonesia, 12 Badgers and 4 Bisons in North Vietnam and the remainder made up of Blinders in Poland and the GDR. All four of the carriers and battleships of the Soviet Mediterranean Fleet are currently in the Levantine Sea halfway between Rhodes and Cyprus and are due to meet with their supply ships south of Crete in six days. The Archangelsk and the Stalingrad are in the mid Atlantic bound for Recife on a scheduled visit to South America; they are being shadowed by the Independence group and the skyship aerocarrier Liberty.”
As he spoke, different red and blue images of aircraft and submarines appeared at various points on the land and ocean areas of the globe, which shifted to focus in on whichever area he discussed or indicated. Several groups of blue bombers seemed to moved almost imperceptibly, represent the airborne alert force of Strategic Air Command. Whilst the Holographic Global Display System was an ingenious piece of technology, it paled in comparison with the Big Board in the Pentagon War Room, which was directly integrated with the Atlantic Undersea Surveillance Display, one of the most notable results of Anglo-American cooperation over the last four years.
“Soviet strategic rocket, guided missile and bomber forces remain on their ordinary peacetime posture inside the USSR and are taking great pains to emphasise this. However, intelligence reports and satellite photography indicates that two new missile divisions have been activated in the last six weeks, the 41st at Aleysk and the 67th at Gladkaya, both equipped with the new SS-10 solid fuelled missile. Current estimates of the Strategic Rocket Forces arsenal are 32 SS-6, 25 SS-7 and 10 SS-8 long range ballistic missiles, 32 Burans and 110 SS-5, 150 SS-4 and 300 SS-3 medium range missiles. PVO Strany currently deploys 20 V-1000 anti-ballistic missiles around Moscow, but our sources suggest that they are not yet fully operational.”
“Almost 10:1, Jack.” Thompson smiled meaningfully at Kennedy, if with a little hint of bitterness to his tone. The spectre of a missile gap had been used extensively by the Democratic candidate in the build up to the election, before a special briefing by SAC, the Space Corps and the CIA put paid to their erroneous information and their angle of attack had shifted to a different area of security.
“The Red Army remains on a normal posture in Poland and the other Eastern European satellites.” Turgidson continued, shifting his display to show an enhanced map of Europe. “There are no signs of heightened alert in the Ukrainian and Byelorussian Tank Army Groups, nor of the Strategic Reserve in the Moscow Military District. There seems to be a greater than usual level of activity around the bases of the 98th Airborne Division in Primorsky Krai, but this now appears connected to an internal strategic deployment exercise rather than any movement to Vietnam or Indonesia as earlier thought. The first tranche of Marshal Zhukov’s new rifle divisions are currently in the final stages of general operational training near Omsk and data on their exact composition is unclear.”
“What do you estimate their role being?” Kennedy asked with his head tilted in thought.
“The consensus is that they are intended for global intervention and support of allied nations. They do not fit into any known strategic concepts for the employment of the main body of the Red Army in Europe, Asia or the Middle East in conventional operations, which are based around tank, mechanised and artillery forces. Based on increases in the numbers of airborne forces, naval infantry and independent Cossack brigades, the evidence indicates that the Soviets are building up a formidable rapid deployment capacity.”
“Which, at this time, they lack the opportunity to employ, except in a few limited areas.” Secretary of State Jefferson Smith added wryly. “They lack a direct entry point into the Middle East or Africa and the Western Hemisphere is currently sewn up tight, which only leaves South East Asia.”
“What are our contingency plans in that eventuality?” Kennedy’s chief security advisor, Dr. Clark Savage, spoke for the first time and the room quietened immediately. He had built up a formidable reputation as both as an expert on national security and as a brilliant adventurer over the last fifty years and was expected to be easily confirmed as the new Secretary of Defense.
“General Taylor would be best placed to answer that.” demurred Turgidson.
“In the case of direct Soviet or Chinese military deployment to North Vietnam, we have OPLAN 32-59, which calls for the deployment of three divisions and a Marine amphibious force to South Vietnam and one division to Thailand, accompanied by 500 tactical fighters, four medium and two heavy bomb groups and four carrier groups.” The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell Taylor, read off from a page in his leather binder. “We would also expect further assistance from the other members of the Pacific Treaty Organisation, particularly Britain and India. If the Soviets move troops into Indonesia, then we would reinforce Australia under OPLAN 36-58. The force composition in that case would only consist of two divisions of ground troops, but more tactical fighters.”
“As it stands at the moment, the Soviets haven’t made any overt moves of ground troops to either country in preference to the deployment of aircraft. Reports from HUMINT sources suggest that they intend to transfer MiG-21s to both Indonesia and North Vietnam in the next six months.”
“Has there been any indication of their new fighters reaching frontline units in Europe?” Thompson inquired.
“No, sir, neither the La-200 nor theYak-36 have reached operational service at this time. The most advanced fighters in VVS service remain the Su-19, the I-374 and MiG-21, none of which are comparable to the F-106, the F-110 or the best that the British can muster.”
“Thank you, General Turgidson.” Dr. Jones turned to an Army general on his left. “General Johnson will report on behalf of General Gavin at European Command.”
“Sir, Seventh Army currently fields four heavy divisions and two armored cavalry regiments in Germany and one armoured division in Austria-Hungary, for a total of 154,000 personnel. This represents an increase of 42,000 men since the beginning of the year, although most of our support infrastructure and supply bases remain in France and the Low Countries; these rear echelon forces can be replicated fairly quickly through bringing forth scheduled GYROSCOPE rotations. We anticipate it will take at least six more months to complete redeployment to Germany and a further nine months to a year after that to build back up to the planned level of 320,000 troops.”
Thompson gave a slight grimace. The drawdown of troops in Germany had been his decision, albeit one he had been driven to by noble intentions, the policies of his late predecessor and the will of influential elements in Congress. He had not been the first to be drawn in by the machinations of Stalin, but he still blamed himself for stumbling into the near-rupture of the Western alliance, regardless of the fact that blame lay on both sides of the Atlantic. History will be my judge; I know not whether it will be a kind verdict.
“In addition to our forces, the British and French also have four divisions each either in Germany or positioned on its borders, all committed to the interim joint command structure we’ve put in place since May. Field Marshal Rommel has thirty-two divisions, but needs at least double that for a viable defence, as the German Military Delegation set out at last month’s conference in New York.” Johnson concluded.
Secretary of Defence Thomas Gates leaned forward. “We may not be able to fill that requirement immediately, but we have come up with two interim steps in consultation with London, Mr. President. Firstly, we can increase the operational strength of USAFE in a two week period by a further 400 aircraft without majorly reducing TAC’s capability to react to another crisis. Secondly, we can make a highly visible deployment of a reinforced brigade to Berlin, to augment the defensive garrison manning the Berlin Wall; this would be matched by the British, French, Benelux and the Scandinavians. We could move them in within 72 hours.”
“That would demonstrate our resolve whilst not escalating in a manner that the Russians would deem demands a response in kind.”
“Agreed. Make it so. That will buy us some breathing space so we can move all the pieces into place for CHECKMATE.” President Thompson spoke over tented fingers. If Europe was to be the crux of his legacy, then CHECKMATE would be at its heart. It appealed to his sense of irony that it would fall to another man to take the credit for his labours if it all came off according to plan.
“Thank you, Mr. President.” Dr. Jones stood up and moved to a screen positioned in front of one of the walls. It flickered into life, revealing a large map of the world which moved to and fro and zoomed in and out at his direction. Most countries remained in soft colours, but four regions glowed an angry red.
“Moving onto the Global Threat Overview map, we can see that currently Vietnam, the Congo and the Middle East are all facing varying degrees of emerging crisis and that we appraise Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey as being the most likely states to join them. All of these have the common factor of communist backed insurgency.”
“Can’t the British handle Afghanistan? They have made a point of emphasising to all and sundry that they call the shots in the Near East.” asked Vice-President Harold Stassen.
“For the moment, yes to both your question and your comment, Mr. Vice President. India and its neighbours are firmly in their sphere. In the medium to long term, it will be an area where we can extend a helping hand without the burden of colonialism hanging over us. However, in any case, that is a matter that is down the line.”
“Middle East Command will be able to handle most contingencies in the Near East, Mr. President, at least when we secure permanent basing in our optimal locations. The Fifth Fleet gives us plenty of options.” General Taylor observed approvingly.
“In addition to such low intensity threats and the general confrontation with the Soviets, ongoing atomic proliferation could further raise the possibility of accidental superpower conflict. A secret study we commissioned from the M&M Corporation found that current projections of new nuclear states raises the chance of general war by almost 3% per nation. By 1965, we estimate that at least six states will have nuclear weapons, including Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina.” Dr. Jones concluded soberly.
“Who’s next? Like as much, Luxembourg might have a go, then who knows, maybe Monaco?” exclaimed Smith.
“We shall try to stay serene and calm, leastways until Albania gets the bomb.” Thompson gave a half smile. “It has been one of our goals of national policy to manage the pace of the spread of nuclear weapons over the last two years, Mr. President-Elect. The micro-arsenals are just big enough to cause trouble but not large enough to count. If they must have the bomb, we want a say in how and when they use it.”
“That seems sensible enough.” Dr. Savage nodded sagely after tilting his head in contemplation. “You’ve spoken of the modernisation of our strategic nuclear forces, Dr. Jones, but what of our conventional equipment? Can we count on the same margin of qualitative superiority?”
Jones grimaced slightly. “We can, but we are approaching a very difficult time in the next four years. We’ve got to replace a large number of our warbuilt fleet, particularly the escorts and our older generation tactical aircraft are approaching block obsolescence. These could well eat into the funds for our general procurement plans for the Army’s new tanks and armoured vehicles, as well as guided missile projects for all five services.”
“I can speak to the aircraft part of that, sir.” began Secretary of Air James Douglas. “It comes down to three major interrelated issues. Firstly, we have the Aerospace Defense Command fighters: the F-108 and F-112 interceptor programmes, of which there are 108 and 65 aircraft on order respectively. They will provide a major boost to CONAD capabilities and augment the F-106Cs and Ds. Secondly, we have the TAC programmes: the F-110s and F-111s. The former aircraft is at the heart of our procurement strategy, replacing the F-100, F-101 and F-104 with a single versatile tactical fighter-bomber type. The latter is even more important, as it will replace the F-104 and the B-66 in the interdiction, tactical bomber, pathfinder and all-weather strike roles at significantly longer distances, whilst retaining significant secondary capacity as a fighter. Finally, we have the long term development programmes: the FX air superiority fighter, the Lightweight Strike Fighter, the AX close air support and ground attack fighter and the BX light/medium strike bomber, which are all at early stages.”
“At sea, we have a similar challenge ahead of us. We’ve got to replace 216 war built destroyers and 138 destroyer escorts now coming to the end of their useful service life, but cannot do so with frontline guided missile designs if we want to afford a balanced fleet.” Secretary of the Navy Rockwell W. Torrey began in his slow characteristic drawl. “The last eight Threshers and the Sturgeon class hunter-killer subs will keep us dominant in underwater operations and we should reach our target force of 100 boats by 1970. On the bright side, the 30 converted missile cruisers can be replaced by the end of the decade if we maintain current construction, but when the Essex-class carriers finally leave the fleet, we’re going to have a heck of a time replacing them in terms of sheer numbers.”
“That is why we need to expedite the ordering of the new CVNs once the next four Enterprises have all joined the fleet, sir.” Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke spoke with vigour. “As for the ASW Essex-class carriers, there are a number of current studies for their replacement with new helicopter and Rotodyne carriers.”
“Meanwhile, the Army has a requirement for a further 20,000 M-60s for the active and reserve force, as well as the MACV, the AICV and thousands of the new light, medium, heavy and superheavy SPGs for the National Guard. As Dr. Jones rightly points out, we can’t afford everything that floats, drives and flies on our current level of funding.” Secretary Gates stated flatly.
“Thank you, gentlemen, I think that will be all for today.” Thompson rose to his feet, followed by the other men around the table. “Would you care for a spot of lunch, Mr. President-Elect?”
“Yes, Mr. President, that sounds like a fine idea.”
A hell of a lot of mega-engineering going on here. I wonder if the Soviets have/will do serious work on their OTL plans for diverting rivers from the Arctic to central Asia, which if they managed it might have huge and unintended climatic consequences! 
