CAMP RUSSELL, TARIN KOWT
‘Sir, we have an issue.’ Sam stopped the commanding officer as he was making his way from the gym back to his private accommodation.
‘What is it, Sam? Make it quick, I have a teleconference with Regional Command South in twenty minutes.’ The CO chugged down the last of the water in his plastic bottle and threw it effortlessly into the large rubbish bin by the side of the dirt track.
Sam quickened his stride in an effort to keep up with the CO.
‘We intercepted some low-level fighters talking among themselves about some military vehicles that are heading up to the Chora Valley. They know when Yankee Platoon is going to leave the base and exactly how long they’ll be in the valley. They also know that it is a mixture of our guys and Afghans delivering supplies.’ Sam stumbled over a small pile of rocks and dropped the map he had been holding.
‘What?’ The CO stopped walking and turned to face him. ‘How can they possibly know that? It must be someone from here, right?’ The noise of a C-130 landing on the airstrip just outside the wire drowned out all the other sounds and Sam waited for the engines to die down.
‘Maybe, sir, I’m not sure yet. I only gave Yankee Alpha his update brief this morning. I don’t think that he’s even given his men their orders yet. So the only people here that know about the plan are the headquarters staff and Matt.’
‘Well, that narrows it down somewhat.’
‘Not really, sir. We have to ask the command in Kandahar for their approval of the concept of operations. They inform Regional Command South as well as brief the commander of Special Operations Command in Kabul. Then there are the Dutch; we cross-level all operations daily in the intelligence update brief – though I haven’t given them the update brief yet; that’s set for later this morning.’ Sam’s face was red from the heat. He was uncomfortable standing in the morning sun in his full combat fatigues. A bead of sweat ran down his cheek and he wiped it away with his sleeve.
‘I’m aware of the process, Sam,’ the CO said impatiently. He looked past Sam and off into the mountains in the distance.
‘Well, I’m just saying, sir, that it’s a convoluted process and there are many points at which it could be intercepted.’
‘Hmm, yes, I agree.’ The CO continued to gaze at the mountains.
‘Sir, what was highly unusual about this intercept was that one of the handsets belonged to a human intelligence source working for the Dutch Intelligence Officer Allie van Tanken.’
‘So are you saying she’s responsible? We should move straight away if that’s the case.’ The CO was annoyed now.
Sam shrugged. ‘Like I said, sir, the Dutch haven’t even been briefed on the plan yet; it just means that their guy is getting his information from someone in the know. But it could also mean that the Dutch are aware that there is a leak, or they’re conducting an operation that we don’t know about. Maybe they’re selling our information for some sort of gain.’ Sam remembered the comment by Allie to Panetta in the intelligence update briefs the day before, when she’d suggested that Steph Baumer feed misinformation to her networks. He looked up at the CO to gauge his response and could see that this possibility had annoyed his boss even further.
‘Right, well, that is an issue. Go and see the Dutch, find out what they know about this. Clearly the human intelligence networks need a shake-up.’
‘I have an idea, sir.’ Sam’s mind was racing as he considered how to present it; if he didn’t get the CO’s buy-in, he might well shoulder the blame for this himself in the not-too-distant future.
‘What are you thinking, Sam?’ The CO started to walk again, but more slowly now.
‘Well, if the leak is occurring after we submit our concept of operations plans up the chain of command, then we could use that to our advantage. We could send false concept of operations plans to the command in Kandahar . . .’ Sam fell silent as they walked past four lads from Yankee Platoon who were returning from cleaning the heavy weapons in the vehicle yard.
‘Go on,’ the CO said when they were in no danger of being overheard.
‘If we send generic plans that detail one thing, we could then do the opposite and perhaps uncover the leak within the human intelligence network.’
The CO thought for a moment, then nodded to show he liked where this was going. ‘Or even better still,’ he suggested, ‘we could brief exactly what the commandos are going to do and then use it as a trap for the SAS to action against.’
‘No, that’s not exactly what I meant, sir.’
‘Think about it, Sam.’ The CO was sounding excited now. ‘We would be showing only part of the plan – the part that concerned the commandos – while keeping the SAS involvement secret. We don’t need to file concept of operations briefs with Kandahar if Terence’s lads are responding or reacting to intelligence that is time-sensitive. In most cases, we should be able to judge when the enemy are going to launch an attack on the commandos and then be poised, ready to counterattack.’
He was practically rubbing his hands in glee and Sam had a pretty shrewd idea what he was thinking: the key performance indicator for the SOTG tours had always been Taliban leadership killed in action, and drawing them out like this would surely make them even easier to target.
‘Yes, sir, that makes sense, I guess,’ said Sam feeling the situation getting away from him.
‘I like it, Sam. Let’s set our own traps for the Taliban leadership. Good thinking.’ The CO slapped Sam on the back.
‘Thanks, boss,’ Sam said, a little uneasily, not being sure how this had suddenly become his grand idea.
‘Do you have a name for this operation, Sam?’
‘No. Oh, hang on. What about Operation Ferret, you know, because we are using Yankee Platoon to ferret out the enemy?’
The CO gave Sam a bemused look. ‘Really, that’s the best you could come up with?’
‘I’ve got it. Odin’s Raven, sir. The commandos see themselves as modern day Vikings and Yankee Platoon are out forward of everyone for the time being, very much like Odin used his raven’s in Viking folklore.’
The CO stopped abruptly and turned back to face Sam. ‘That’s good, Sam. Brief the Dutch, in as much as we need their help to try and find the leak. They don’t need to know the rest.’
The CO started to walk away and Sam had to almost trot to keep up.
‘The Dutch might smell something fishy if we present it as a counter-intelligence operation and then have Yankee Platoon’s plans detailed within it, plans that they are actually going to go and execute.’
‘Rubbish. They won’t look that closely at the concepts, Sam. And if they do, we will cross that bridge as we come to it. Now get cracking mate, let’s get this underway.’
‘If you give me a couple of hours I can set up a brief and outline the situation so far – what we know and don’t know, so to speak. We could then get Matt and Terence in and bring them up to speed.’ The CO stopped walking and fixed his gaze on Sam. ‘No. No need to tell Captain Rix. Get something together and we’ll update Terence.’
‘But, sir,’ Sam protested, ‘Matt needs to know. I mean, otherwise they’re going to be walking into a trap every time they leave the base, with no knowledge of what’s going on.’
‘Ah, they’ll be fine. What they don’t know won’t hurt them, mate. I’m sure Captain Rix’s planning is good enough to counter whatever the Taliban throws at him – and if we’re going to fool the enemy, it’s best if the commandos’ responses are authentic. No, this is just for you, Terence the RSM and myself. Besides, the less people who know about this, the less likely it is to be leaked and the better the results will be.’
‘I see,’ said Sam, though he wasn’t sure he saw at all. He really didn’t like the direction this conversation was taking. ‘I think I get it, sir.’
‘Good, that’s settled then. I’ll go round up Terence and the RSM, and we’ll swing by the den at eleven am. Is that enough time?’
‘Yes, sir, that’s fine. But I’ve been updating the intelligence package for Matt’s patrol and I asked him to come back at eleven.’
‘Well, put him off,’ the CO said brusquely. ‘Tell him to drop by after dinner this evening. He can pick up the intelligence package from your guys then.’
‘From my guys, sir?’
‘This new information changes things, Sam. We can use this leak to our advantage. Pack an overnight bag, mate. I want you to come back with me to Kandahar today so that you can sift through the latest target deck and get a good feel for the leadership we’re going to target with this. Let’s chat about it some more at eleven.’
The CO took a few steps in the direction of his accommodation, then paused and came back. ‘Oh, and Sam? Good work. You’re a fine officer and I have a gut feeling that you’re going to have great success with this.’ He slapped Sam on the back and strode off.
Sam turned to go back to the intelligence building. He wasn’t so sure about the CO’s ‘gut feeling’. His own gut was telling him the complete opposite, that he was going to be the fall guy if this went south.