Chapter 30

Ten days had passed and the schedule changes had been put in place. Kelly noticed that most of the students were now wearing uniforms to school. This morning she was wearing a simple spring dress rather than her uniform and was sitting in the student lounge sipping coffee and reading a book on military strategy. She had not yet sat in on any classes nor had she done anything about teaching a course. It was a little after eleven o’clock. With classes beginning at eight o’clock, many of the students were now finished at eleven.

She lifted her eyes and saw that a colonel in uniform was standing beside her table. She looked up and smiled. His nameplate said GEORGE. She said, “Good morning, Colonel George. Would you care to join me for a cup of coffee?”

The colonel looked embarrassed, but sat down. Kelly motioned for a waiter who brought over two fresh cups. She looked at George. He appeared to be in his early thirties, quite young to be a full colonel. He, too, had rows of ribbons on his chest. “What can I do for you, Colonel?” she asked quietly.

“May I ask you a couple of questions first, please, General?”

“Of course.”

“General, I read excerpts from a forthcoming book about you. It says that you were the one who set up the tactics for our breakout in Germany and for the later collapse of the Soviet government. Is that true? The authors, Collins and Carlson, claim it is.”

“Chris and Bill get a little carried away sometimes, Colonel. I think they’re trying to get even with me. They accuse me of causing them to get married.” She grinned and said, “To answer your question, though, I was involved in the planning to a degree.”

George pursued the issue. Finally, Kelly admitted that she was the one who read the Russian book on tank warfare and coupled it with her knowledge of Russian behavior to conceive the plan.

George smiled at her and said, “General, you aren’t held in great esteem by some of the faculty. They feel it could have been done differently, and should have been.”

“I’m sure there are many ways it could have been done. What does our illustrious faculty recommend?”

“They believe we should have ignored the Russians in Germany and moved against them in the south in the Strasbourg sector.”

“How were we going to cross the Rhine? The Russians were already at the Rhine down there. Did they say? Also, in what way would it have produced a better outcome? Faster? Fewer casualties? What?”

George looked puzzled. “I really don’t know. I apologize. I certainly should know.” He smiled and continued, “As a matter of fact, I feel like a fool! This is the first time I’ve ever heard of second-guessing a victory.”

“Incidentally, you said ‘some of the faculty’. Who, specifically, is saying it?”

“Professors Carson and Wilson make the most noise about it. Horace Wilson is probably the most outspoken one. But why do you ask?”

Kelly smiled and said, “I may want to sit in on a class or two. I want to be sure it’s the right one.”

George looked alarmed. “But you can’t do that. I mean, a professor’s classroom is sacrosanct!”

Kelly ignored his comment and asked, “By the way, Colonel, what is your first name? I’m sure you know that mine is Kelly. Since I am the youngest person around here, I would appreciate it if you would call me that.” She smiled warmly and added, “After all, we’re supposed to be informal here at the College.”

George put out his hand and said, “Kelly, my name is John, but everyone calls me Jack.”

Kelly took his hand in a firm grip and said, “Hello, Jack.”

When she looked up she saw several other officers standing around the table looking at them. They were maintaining a distance just great enough to be out of earshot. Kelly looked around and said, “Pull up chairs, guys. This isn’t a private conversation. We were just talking about some interesting statements being made here at the school.”

Chairs were pulled up, officers sat down, and the conversation quickly became more general. Kelly kept it on the subject of the Allied offensive in Germany. No one could recall hearing any statement which would show in what way the campaign was deficient. However, they had all heard the campaign denigrated by Carson and Wilson. They also denigrated the new book Chris and Bill were writing as not being worth the paper it would be printed on.

Finally, Kelly was fed up. “Gentlemen, I’m disappointed in all of you. The purpose of the War College is to get you officers to think for yourselves. The reason it’s required for almost all general officers is it marks a milestone in your careers. As junior officers, you were expected to carry out orders. As senior officers, you initiate them. As general officers, you are responsible for setting strategy and tactics.

“Now I have been sitting here for over an hour listening to you whine about the way the Allied campaign in Germany is being criticized. Yet no one here has had the guts even to ask the basis of the criticism, let alone ask why an alternative course of action would have been better. You don’t even know in what terms it might have been better.

“Gentlemen, if we don’t do better than this, the War College fails in its mission.” Kelly’s eyes became piercing as she looked around the group. “However, gentlemen, you will fail, also. Do I make myself clear?”

The officers looked very sheepish. Jack George said, “General, what you’re telling us is we’re acting like sheep ... or very junior officers. A professor says something and we record it as being true. This, in spite of absolutely no evidence being cited and in spite of it being contrary to our own firsthand knowledge. What should we do?”

“Well, for openers, do you know what actually did happen? Do you know what the Allied and Warsaw Pact troop dispositions were?”

The officers shook their heads, no.

Kelly for the first time sounded exasperated. “Well why, in hell, not? I thought you were supposed to show initiative? Do you know a characteristic differentiating this school from others? We have access to classified information. Other schools and scholars do not. Now I’m going to make an assignment. I want to see you all back here tomorrow at 1200 hours. By that time I expect you to know what the Allied casualties were from the time of the assault to the end of the war compared to those of the Warsaw Pact. You figure out who’s going to get what, and how.” She smiled and said, “I will see you all here again tomorrow.” She rose from her chair to leave.

As she walked away from the table, she smiled to herself. She could hear a buzz of voices. They had been chewed out and knew it. Kelly went back to her office and found Pete Martin waiting for her. He was talking to Rita Nelson who appeared to be very flustered by his presence. She asked Pete to join her in her office and close the door.

“Pete, are you trying to get something going with my secretary? You ought to know that’s my stunt. In some quarters I’m notorious as the officer who stole SACEUR’s confidential secretary.”

Pete gaped. “You didn’t!”

“Sure I did. She was Cathy King. Now she is Cathy Adams. I tease Sam that he had to marry her to get her back. She’s about to deliver their first child.”

Pete just shook his head. “Kelly Jackson, you are really a piece of work! No wonder you’re relaxed. The Chief of Staff is a buddy and the chairmen of the two Armed Services Committees think you walk on water. Is there anything else?”

She grinned. “Mike wanted to put in for reimbursement for our honeymoon. He claimed he was carrying out the direct orders of the Commander in Chief.” Pete looked incredulous. “He was, too. The President ordered us to get married ... several times, in fact.”

“My God! I think this is really going to be funny. These turkeys on the faculty have their heads buried in the sand. They don’t know when they’re overmatched. And they sure are if they try to cross swords with you.”

He changed the subject. “Seriously, about Rita ... Do you mind me talking to her?”

Kelly smiled warmly. “Not in the least. You could do her a great deal of good. I’m not at all sure what’s in it for you, though.” His jaw dropped as she continued, “If you’re looking for someone to share your bed, I know several girls who would be a lot better for that job.”

She changed the subject. “Pete, what I really want to know is what you know about Horace Wilson and Homer Carson. I’m hearing things. Do you know them?”

“I don’t know either of them but I hear that Horace Wilson is a buddy of Clarence Klein’s. He was in Klein’s Peace Studies Department until you disbanded it. Why did you do that, by the way?”

“Pete, think about it: Peace Studies in the War College? Does that sound like an oxymoron to you? The job of military officers is to prepare to win a war. It’s the job of the State Department and others to try to keep the peace. We’re the backup if they fail. Are we supposed to second-guess the civilian control of the military? Are we supposed to have our own foreign policy like some of the South American military leaders?” She smiled and concluded, “Does that make sense to you?”

Martin shook his head and said, “Kelly, you always make sense. I guess that’s why the men all love you. It’s always clear what you’re trying to do, and what you expect the men to do to get that job done. Frankly, it’s these other turkeys who don’t make sense.” He left after checking again on Kelly’s feelings regarding Rita Nelson. Kelly grinned and wished him good hunting.

When he left she picked up the phone and called Sam Adams’ office at the Pentagon. After telling the secretary who she was she was put through immediately. Sam said, “What can I do for my favorite teenybopper?”

Kelly grinned and said, “For openers, I’m going to be twenty next month. Then you’ll have to knock off that shit! Besides, is that any way to refer to an expectant mother? Speaking of which, how’s Cathy?”

“She’s absolutely great, Kel. You know what the remarkable thing is? She’s due in just a couple of weeks, and she doesn’t really look that pregnant. And she certainly doesn’t act it!”

Kelly chuckled. “Good for both of you, particularly Cathy. Sam, I can say only one thing: I hope you two are as happy together as you seem to be.

“Kelly, if I was any happier, it would be illegal! With all respect to my late wife, I’ve never been so happy in my life. Cathy is a dream come true. But I don’t think that’s what you called to talk about.”

“Sam, to get to the purpose of my call: There are some people here at the College who are badmouthing the Allied campaign in Germany. Question: What were the comparative casualties, beginning with the breakout?”

“Kelly, from that point to the end of the war we didn’t suffer 500 killed from all causes. Keep in mind that we have significant casualties in war games. We are known to engage in hazardous activities from time to time ... like teenyboppers jumping off thirty-story buildings. Of the 500, I don’t know how many were victims of enemy action, but it can’t be a very big number. As for the Warsaw Pact, their casualties were up in seven figures with the largest number, by far, being the number captured — MIA to them. Do you need anything better than that?”

“Thanks, Sam. That certainly ought to do for starters. Incidentally, there may be some more faculty numbered among the missing soon.”

Sam said that would be no problem.

Kelly hung up and sat quietly at her desk thinking through her course of action. She buzzed Rita’s desk and the girl quickly responded. Kelly asked her to bring in the class schedules and her notebook. When Rita entered the office moments later, Kelly was bothered by certain of the girl’s mannerisms. Taken together, Rita reminded her of a frightened rabbit.

Kelly asked her to sit down. She took the schedule and quickly noted that Horace Wilson’s class was scheduled for eight o’clock and would meet the next day. She smiled to herself thinking of Wilson having to be in the classroom at such an unseemly hour.

Then Kelly looked at Rita closely. She decided the girl really did look frightened. “Rita, what’s wrong?” Kelly asked. “You always come in here looking scared to death. How long have you been secretary to the President of the College?”

The girl almost jumped out of her chair when she heard Kelly’s question.

Suddenly, Kelly had an idea. She said, “Rita, are you a good friend of Professors Klein, Wilson, and Carson?” Rita turned white as a sheet. Guilt was all over her face. She didn’t answer, but her face had answered for her.

“Rita, how old are you?” Kelly asked quietly.

“I’m twenty-six,” the girl replied in a quavering voice. She was looking at Kelly with fear that was a palpable thing.

Kelly continued in a very quiet tone of voice, “You do know that unauthorized disclosure of confidential information is grounds for immediate dismissal, don’t you, Rita? I believe your position is under Civil Service, but you can be immediately terminated for cause.”

The girl broke down completely. She started bawling. Kelly sat behind her desk, making no move in the girl’s direction. The girl’s crying quickly escalated into hysteria. Kelly went around to her, helped her out of the chair and led her to the sofa. She sat down and Kelly held her as she continued to cry. Finally, she was exhausted.