Chapter 183

At 0630 I was eating a light breakfast and reading the morning updates. The bombing had resumed at 0001 as I ordered. The Navy and Air Force had split up the new targets plus there were over a thousand new ones picked out by the analysts who had studied all the photographs during the heavy bombing stand down.

Another report indicated the ground forces had gained another one hundred miles before stopping and waiting for fuel and logistics to get to them.

There were dozens of pictures of the oil wells and refineries. Years ago the Iranian Republican Guard had stationed thousands of soldiers in the region, primarily to end union organizing and strikes for higher wages and benefits.

Hundreds of oil field workers were summarily executed for union organizing, participation in union activities or even discussing a union. There were barracks, exercise fields, administration offices and a grave yard. When Iran began the training exercises, all the troops assigned to the oil fields were shifted to the war games. They never returned; instead they were sent to one of the growing bases near the border.

Because we wanted to avoid a repeat of Saddam Hussein’s mass environmental destruction in the first Gulf War, we had been watching the oil fields and the refineries with satellite and spy planes since the attack on the Hammann.

The Special Forces from USS Boxer were actually in the marshlands near the oil fields and refineries observing. Those Special Forces reported to Rear Admiral David West. Admiral West certainly had access to plenty of firepower if something looked to go wrong for those embedded forces.

There had been no sign of any troops there. During the lull in the bombing several non-military vehicles made trips to the administration building. We were trying to decide if the buildings were to be targets for missiles or to let troops take the area. The Army and Marine units would overrun the area within hours. They were less than a day away.

We decided to let Marine General Downs, Army General Irons and Rear Admiral West make the final decision. They were on the USS Boxer - now the command center for ground forces. They knew our concerns. The Boxer was sailing in a box in the Persian Gulf directing the ground troops.

It was 1000 and all the phones started ringing. We had sent the activation orders to thirty eight state states by special couriers. Apparently they were now being delivered and several Governors were upset.

The first one that passed the gauntlet to get to speak to me was the governor of New York. ‘‘I am not going to allow the New York National Guard to be activated to go to the front. I am going to court today for an injunction,’’ he said.

‘‘Before you do that you need to have your State Attorney look at Title 10 Presidential Reserve call-up authorizations and policies. I am not calling up National Guard front line combat troops. I am calling up Transportation units, Military Police and culinary units. ‘‘

‘‘There are a large number of Iranian military that have surrendered and need to be held in POW camps for a short period of time. We cannot tie up soldiers needed at the fast moving front. The prisoners need to be guarded and they need to be fed.’’

‘‘The resupply lines are getting longer daily. The transportation units being called up are for moving men and materials to that front,’’ I said.

‘‘I hope you review Title 10 and reconsider but make no mistake - the units that been called up are going one way or the other,’’ I added.

I already knew that any challenge would have to be done in Federal court. The White House and military lawyers had already double checked the Title and previous court decisions regarding challenges.

Another ace in the hole I had was a subsection in Title 10 regarding equipment of the state’s National Guard. It belonged to the Army and had to be returned to the Army whenever it became unwanted or a Guard base closed. With a simple stroke of the pen the Secretary of the Army could have any of it recalled within hours.

If the Governor of New York refused to activate his forces I would issue orders to General Harridan to collect all the guard equipment in New York and return it to the Army. In two days it would be in Iran used by the Army - all of it portable kitchens, bulk foods, tents and much more.

I had to repeat the conversation with six other governors. They were easily convinced to allow the activation of their Guard units.

The Air Force C17s were going to be busy for a few days, but it would solve a growing problem. In the first five days of the ground offensive the troops had gathered ten thousand prisoners. They were hungry, suffering from shell shock and ready to give up.

They had not received any food or fresh water since the bombing campaign began. Supply trucks were the random trucks the Navy and Air Force had been picking off like a turkey shoot.

The prisoners the troops were capturing were from small military outposts, highway checkpoints and the small villages that were scattered all over southern Iran.