Chapter 20

Our little but impressive motorcade of four vehicles lit out into traffic. I guess the Washington drivers aren’t about to pull over for a lowly Secretary on his way to the Pentagon. Not that I blame them. But it did take some time before we pulled up to the entrance of the Department of Defense. It gave me time to try and remember what I know about Defense.

The Department of Defense is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government concerned directly with national security and the United States Armed Forces. The Department is the largest employer in the world, with nearly one million three hundred thousand active duty servicemen and women. Adding to its employees are over eight-hundred thousand National Guardsmen and Reservists from the four services, and over seven-hundred and thirty thousand civilians bringing the total to just about three million employees. It is headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.

Headquarters of the Department of Defense, the Pentagon, is one of the world’s largest office buildings. It is twice the size of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, and has three times the floor space of the Empire State Building in New York. Built during the early years of World War II, it is still thought of as one of the most efficient office buildings in the world. Despite seventeen point five miles of corridors it takes only seven minutes to walk between any two points in the building.

When it came to trying to understand the size and scope of my new job, you could use an encyclopedia. Google is your friend, however.

The Department of Defense is headed by the Secretary of Defense, now me, which is a cabinet-level head who reports directly to the President of the United States. Beneath the Department of Defense are three subordinate military departments: the United States Department of the Army, the United States Department of the Navy, including the United States Marines, and the United States Department of the Air Force. In addition, four national intelligence service agencies are subordinate to the Department of Defense: the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the National Reconnaissance Office. Other Defense Agencies include the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Defense Logistics Agency, the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Health Agency, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Defense Security Service, and the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, all of which are under the command of the Secretary of Defense. Military operations are managed by nine regional or functional Unified combatant commands. The Department of Defense also operates several joint services schools, including the National Defense University and the National War College. The only things missing seemed like the League of Women Voters, the P.T.A. and the Campfire Girls.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff report to the Defense Secretary, as do the heads of all five service branches, though each has its own Secretary. The Secretary of Defense is a huge job, with enormous responsibilities and no end to the operations, obligations, and burdens that must be managed. Fortunately the Under Secretary has virtually identical authority and can become the most important official in the department when there are lots of things to manage.

I was about to be forced to pick my own Under Secretary as the first document I saw after being shown into my private office, was the resignation, effective immediately, of the current Under Secretary. While my chief-of-staff was still handy, I had him find someone to bring the Under Secretary to me before he got off the premises.

There was nothing I could do about the Under Secretary until he showed up, so I turned my attention to the second most important thing I discovered upon entering, Angela. “Hey gorgeous,” I said as she came to me from behind a wall of security.

Angela literally leapt into my arms and we hugged for as long as I wished, without regard for the protection detail surrounding us both. My current, though potentially temporary, chief-of-staff was waiting for instructions, and I broke our hug to give him some instructions. “Mr. Swan, please arrange afternoon briefings with the Joint Chiefs as soon as you can get them together. Then I would like you to round up the most senior department heads and get them somewhere private. Please have dinner set up for us at seven P.M. I will need you and my inner office staff available in between for some getting-to-know-you meetings.”

He blinked, thought about what I’d ordered and nodded vigorously. “Will that be all, Mr. Secretary?” He was trying desperately to impress me with his loyalty and efficiency, but all I saw was a butt kissing, politician, trying to hang on to his high-powered office, while doing whatever was in his power to annoy me. Mr. Swan would be out before the end of the week, I decided.

Angela and I had lunch together, in my private dining room, I might add. She was appropriately impressed when my personal secretary asked if we would be taking lunch in and then picking up her ever present phone and giving orders for our meal.

I liked her.

She looked tough and seasoned. Her name was Naomi Richards. There wasn’t a bit of phony that I could detect, and when I spoke, she listened and made things happen.

She’d stay.

It wasn’t twenty minutes later that the Under Secretary appeared with Mr. Swan. “Mr. Secretary, the FORMER Under Secretary is here as you requested.”

Swan had an edge to him I didn’t like. One glance at Naomi and she shooed the twit out of my sight, while I dealt with the Under Secretary. “Good afternoon, Mr. Lindahl,” I said greeting him and motioning for him to join us. Angela excused herself to freshen up and head back to her office. “Before we get to other things, tell me why you are resigning.”

He sputtered for a bit, not expecting such a direct approach. My thinking was that the direct approach worked so well for Hawk that these people would all recognize and respond to it. “Mr. Secretary, I am, well was, quite close to Secretary Hanson. Surely you are aware of his ... difficulty ... and how that tarnishes all of us who were close to him. I would think you would want to replace us with people of your own choosing, sir.” He looked so uncomfortable that I hated it.

“Mr. Under Secretary I decide when people are no longer useful to this department. You are not to assume I would throw you away due to something your boss – former boss – did. As far as I am concerned you are my right hand and will continue to serve in your present capacity for as long as necessary.” I let that sink in for a little while.