previously:

I walk to the door and out with my thoughts swirling around me. I don’t remember finding the car, nor riding back to the BOQ, but somehow I realize that I’m back in my room searching for those few tampons I tucked away from when Mom, Sis and I went out to supper and dancing. That’s it, they’re in that purse….

Finally, I have one in my hand and, after some trial and error, manage to insert it. I clean up and go back to bed to sleep for the two hours remaining to me.

Dreams assail me in the form of tiny kicks against my tummy from within. When I wake up during the night, I find that my hand is cradling my tummy, as if feeling for something which I wish were there even now. I go back to sleep with a smile on my face.

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Admin Note: Originally published on BigCloset TopShelf by T D Aldoennetti on Sat, 2008/11/08 - 6:32am, Air Force Sweetheart -- TacPzlSolGp Chapter 21 is revised and reposted on Sat, 2010/01/09 - 10:42 PM. ~Sephrena

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Teaching the Children (I mean the instructors):

 

Chapter 21

 

The next morning, that Major’s conversation still rankles me. I know that at least some of the instructors who are in my class are likely to be a part of this attempt to cut back the scope and reach of the class. I think Monday the school commander and I will have to have a little discussion. No, wait… I have a better idea.

-o~O~o-

Monday, I’m in full uniform. I eat my breakfast — it’s better every day, by the way — and ride the half mile to the school. There, my materials are waiting in the labs for distribution to those who wish to learn. I turn and walk down the hallway to the lecture hall. Upon entering, I see a few students are already seated. The moment I enter, they go silent and stand.

I turn to them and say, “Remember what I said on Saturday? Sit down. There’s no rank in my classes, at least none that the students need to concern themselves about.”

They look at each other, and at my uniform, and then quietly drop back into their seats.

I place my things on the table and turn to the chalkboard. The next ten minutes are spent placing my notes upon the board and then the screen drops covering the information as I turn back to find that most of my students have arrived and are seated.

They did so quietly, since they were able to see an officer writing at the chalkboard but they apparently didn’t recognize me, since my hair is up and I’m in uniform today.

I wait until it’s time for the class to begin.

“As many of you are aware. The methods I am teaching here are quite different from those which you have been taught during the previous classes. There’s a reason for that. The previous curriculum prepared you for the interesting and difficult job of intelligence analysis and gave you a large assortment of tactical skills that you’ll absolutely require in your job. What I am teaching you now is how to know the difference between enemy-provided diversions and the real information which you’ll need in order to save the lives of the thousands of soldiers entrusted to your hands through the accuracy and strategic presentation of your analysis.”

I pause to let that sink in and then say it again in a different manner, “Any mistake can result in hundreds or thousands of deaths on our side rather than that of the enemy, and not discovering or doing what needs to be discovered or done is also a mistake. I’m going to teach you how to detect holes in the Intel provided to you, and to plug those holes — as much as possible — through the use of information which you’ve learned through careful observation of enemy actions over the course of many months or even years. How you understand the enemy makes all the difference. Each little piece of information is not something to be considered alone with a little report written about it. Each little piece is part of a bigger whole.”

“It’s like the three blind men examining an elephant. None of them sees the whole picture. It is your responsibility to see that picture and to assemble the pieces of the puzzle into a comprehensive whole. Your work may save the lives of thousands. That’s what you must learn in these few weeks we have available to us. I intend to take you right through and past the undergraduate education you’ve just finished and push you through two to four years of post-graduate work during these six weeks.”

“When I finish, you will know you have survived the most strenuous course you ever thought could exist. I am going to push you through a desert without a canteen and with no watering holes in sight. When I finish you will not be Intelligence analysts, you will be among the first of a new breed. You will be capable of producing such remarkable deductions from the information around you that even Sherlock Holmes would be proud.”

“Would the instructors please stand?”

They all look around and slowly get to their feet. I note that there are three fewer today than Saturday.

“The methods which I’m introducing here are radically different than those to which you are accustomed. If you don’t wish to use my methods while attending this class, then I would appreciate you making that decision now and leaving. I can’t afford the time to drag someone along who does not wish to learn, but I need each of you for the experience you have behind you, experience which you have proven by taking these students so far and in such a short time. Without your training, they’d have no hope of learning from or surviving in this class. Students! Would you show your appreciation of the efforts made by these instructors?”

I begin to clap my hands and quickly the students are applauding too. After a few seconds I stop and the students wind down as well.

“If there are any instructors here who feel they may best serve by preparing new students and who feel my methods are a little too drastic or extreme, you may leave my classroom with no ill will on my part, and with my sincere thanks to you for all you have done for these students. Those of you who would like to attempt to go on may stay, but be advised, the course will become rougher and rougher and the students will be relying more and more on those instructors who remain.“ I pause for a long beat, to let them think, and then continue, ”All right, those of you who wish to leave, may now do so.”

Three more instructors look around and depart. That leaves me four. Two per lab.

“Now, so you students won’t feel left out. Stand up. Now! The same applies to you. This course is going to become very difficult. Only the most unique individuals will win through to the end. There will be no shame for those who do not. This method of analysis cannot be used by just anyone. It takes a different sort of a mind to follow the convolutions and dark pathways we must explore in order to deduce the truth. Any who feel, based upon Saturday’s introduction, that it will be too much for them, may leave now and you will be processed and given assignments befitting your advanced learning. Those of you who decide to remain must realize right now that you are going to be facing the most grueling six weeks you have ever experienced short of war itself. Those of you who wish to leave may do so now without shame, and with neither comment nor scorn on the part of those who remain.”

I watch as the students shift foot to foot while standing there until here and there a few come down and begin to leave. Someone makes a derisive remark. I identify the voice from my memories and call that individual forward, inviting him to depart as well. “Pride has no place in my classroom. Pride gets my fellow soldiers killed and I won’t stand for it. Pick up your things and leave.”

He grumbles as he goes to the door, but he departs. My thirty-nine students are now thirty-four.

“All right, everyone, be seated and let’s get this show on the road. We are ten minutes behind because of this foolishness and minutes mean lives.”

I commence my lecture without hesitation as the lights dim and the notepads come out. Slides begin flickering on the screen. By the time the lecture is finished we are at the hour. We’ve regained the ten minutes.

“Everyone, take a ten minute break then report to your lab and group as shown on the chalkboard. Instructors, please come down here for a few minutes to discuss your assignments and suggestions before your break.”

I split the four remaining instructors between the two labs and explain the lab materials quickly. They are to hand out the packets and no one is to open them until commanded to do so.

“Notes may be placed on the materials and, while each student is expected to produce their own conclusions, much as was done Saturday, they may also quietly discuss their thoughts with the others of their group, but only members of their group,”

I warn them, “Secrecy is now a part of the training and anyone outside their own group is suspect. In the real world outside our classroom, the material produced by any one group may be too sensitive to be widely disseminated, nor can it be placed in juxtaposition with other information produced by other groups, because the combination would be so valuable to the enemy, if revealed in the slightest detail, even by a casual remark, and so valuable as to be both prized and sought after by groups outside the military intelligence community, that secrecy and intelligence protection is paramount. In each lab, each group will have different materials than those of any another group to replicate the situation they’ll soon find themselves in over there.” I wave vaguely west, toward Vietnam.

“Instructors may be called upon for assistance by anyone, and they may share with any and all groups their own extensive knowledge, but no information being examined by a group may be seen or discussed by or with any other group in the lab. The labs will break ten minutes before lunch and the labs will be locked during the time that everyone is to be at lunch. No one will enter a lab without the instructors present there. The students will assemble in their groups prior to entering the lab and will go directly to their own materials. All materials will be covered when not actually protected by the members of the group. All materials are to be considered Top Secret – No Forn and every other group is to be considered Foreign.”

“This is to be stressed to the students before they open the materials. At the end of the second lab period, the folder from which a student has been working will have that student’s papers inserted with the student’s name and the proper designator as shown on the sample materials listed on the work sheets. All folders will be collected and delivered to me for examination. Tomorrow, we’ll meet in the lecture hall at 0800.”

I indicate the packets of intelligence I’ll be passing out in the labs and tell them, “You’ll also find separate materials here, which are yours to evaluate and act upon. Your own papers and reports will be inserted into those folders and also given to me to examine. Any questions at the moment?”

None asked, I tell them to allow an extra five minutes for everyone’s break, since I’ve occupied that much of the instructor’s time.

Pouring myself another glass of water and drinking it down, then gathering my things, I make my way to one of the labs. There I separate the piles of materials into groups and place the instructor’s folders separately. Crossing to the other lab, I repeat my actions, removing the folders which are no longer needed because their intended recipients left us. Going to the phone in the lab, I call the department which has been preparing my materials and change the numbers needed to reflect the lost instructors and students.

No need to waste paper and man-hours. While they have me on the phone they ask when they may expect the photos for the material to be prepared for week three as they need a two day lead on those prior to printing. I tell them that at the moment I have no idea but will pursue the matter. Thanking them for their heroic efforts, I hang up.

The students and instructors are just beginning to enter this lab and after a couple of minutes observing them, I go to the other lab to see how they are progressing.

They are about par with the first. Having a little time to myself, I sit at the rear of the lab and begin to fill in the details of the outline of my lesson plan I’d outlined for the following week and the third week as well.

I hope we will be able to maintain the pace. I need week four to prepare them for the difficult challenges we will face in weeks five and six. Everyone will work together during those last two weeks to produce a group output which will comprise all perceived possibilities from the data as well as assigning percentiles of confidence to each possibility.

-o~O~o-

The past week or so has been interesting. With only two days remaining in this, our second week, we’ve lost two more students. They were good at what they do, but simply couldn’t handle the stress of this rapid pace. The pace is difficult, and some simply are not up to it. I’m beginning to believe that only my urging is causing most to continue their monumental efforts. I try to get them to understand that this hard pace in a peaceful environment is a substitute for the nerve-wrenching stress encountered while working with deadlines during combat situations.

Everyone is tired, but all are beginning to understand that they are perceiving the data in many new ways. No one derives less than three potential directions from the data they examine and they are also beginning to become more comfortable with placing their confidence level on the answers they prepare.

No one has yet had enough confidence to place higher than a 60% level on their conclusions, but that’s nearly double the level they were willing to assign less than a week ago.

-o~O~o-

The photographs for week three have finally arrived and I am in my room at the BOQ preparing the photo interpretations which would normally accompany such photographs. This will be an interesting week, as we’ll work collectively on the material.

The instructors have been briefed and are to act as the commanders of the analysis group, which will be comprised of the students. Each will have eight students going over some part of the data. Reports will be prepared by each group for use by the others. Group assignments will rotate each of the first four days allowing each group to be responsible for a different portion of the preparation each day.

The fifth and sixth days we will as a group examine the final reports filed with Command (me) and see how they differ and why. The fourth week will be much less exhausting. I hope they all make it to the fourth week.

-o~O~o-

As Friday wraps up, I decide to allow my students both Saturday and Sunday off this weekend.

“Monday we start a new approach and the week will be rough,” I tell them. “You will all report to a single lab on Monday morning and we’ll commence our work there. Both the morning lab and the afternoon lab will go for a full three hours and forty five minutes. Command requires your final report at the end of second lab.”

There are a few long blinks as the idea sinks in, but no one seems dismayed.

“All supporting documentation and photographs must accompany that report. Any dissenting views must also be presented with the support for them as well.”

I look over the bridge of my nose at them, half smiling as I explain, “Assessment levels will be attached to all final reports or views. Any assessment of less than 50% will cause that opinion to be abandoned as insufficient for Command to act upon. Have a nice week-end, ladies and gentlemen, I’m very proud of your progress.”

They are all smiles as they leave the school. When they report back to their companies they will find I have authorized 48 hour passes for them starting at 1800 today and ending Sunday at 1800. Those who don’t have weekend duty may relax and go take in a movie, or visit nearby friends, or whatever students do when they have free time.

-o~O~o-

I return to my BOQ to await my supper hour and to put finishing touches upon the ‘little unexpected requirements’ which will be made by ‘Command’ while my students are dealing with their primary assignment. There will be a sudden need for a non-related report to be produced using different materials supplied by ‘courier’ during the second lab each day, which will require reallocating assets in order to produce the second report without jeopardizing the first.

Surprise. How well do you work under pressure?

I hear other officers from the BOQ going past the door and check the time. Nearly supper. Wrapping up and locking everything in my briefcase, I go out, locking the door behind me. At supper I find the meal is again very good and hope the enlisted mess is doing as well. Later, a walk back to the BOQ — going the long way around — let’s me catch up on my exercise a little before retiring for the night. Entering the lobby, I see the young specialist has duty this weekend.

“Hi, I see you have the duty. Will you have any opportunity to use your liberty this week end?”

“No. But that’s okay, Ma’am. I don’t know anyone here so I really have nowhere to go.”

“Sorry. I know how that goes. Maybe after you finish this course, we can find you some time. We could go into town together and take in a movie or something.”

“That would be great. The city has their concert series starting in two weeks so maybe we could get tickets for a Friday night and go.”

“Give me more information about that and I’ll see what I can arrange. Is it a classical series, or perhaps popular?”

“Usually the series is classical, sometimes music selected from notable operas. No singing though.”

I laugh, “That’s fine with me, I like the music, not the singing.”

“Me too. Do you mind if I ask a question about the class, Ma’am?”

“Go ahead. The worst that can happen is that I won’t answer it.”

“I’m hearing through the rumor mill that next week we get to work with real Intel. Is that true?”

“You’ve been working with ‘real’ Intel these past two weeks,” I say.

“I know, I mean the Intel will be current stuff. Things which are happening now and which have been processed by others for use in making command decisions in the war. It’s like this is going to be our first chance to actually make decisions which might be the same as some which are being used right now. I mean, looking at the Romans invading somewhere is one thing and creating reports based on the information available to try to convince one side or the other to do something, that’s interesting but it doesn’t let us see what really happens, but real Intel from a current conflict? That’s something else again. We all relate to that.”

“I hope you ‘relate’ well enough to produce accurate conclusions and attempt to influence Command to take specific actions. That’s what this is all about. You try to make your presentation effective enough, and with enough guidance, that Command will adopt your opinions and proposed action plan with few changes. They are more aware of what changes need to be made within the confines of the troops and materiel they have available, but a good presentation includes a good battle plan, which can be quickly implemented.”

She’s very focused on my remarks, but doesn't react overtly, an excellent habit for an analyst.

I continue, “That means you must not only know the enemy’s resources, you must know your own. The purpose of your reports isn’t to summarize the information. Command could do that without your help. Your function is to give them action options, coupled with a confidence in the successful outcome of those actions. You’ll have to out-think the enemy, and tell Command exactly what you expect the enemy will do when confronted by your proposed action plan.”

“Everything which has been done these past two weeks has simply been analysis. Now it’s time to move to the next level and start telling Command what they need to do, how they need to do it, when it must occur, and why they should proceed on the path you outline rather than what someone else recommends.”

“Your plan must take in all contingencies, yet be concise and explicit. It's a difficult job, as you all are about to learn.”

“Yes, Ma’am. This is an interesting course.”

“I do believe you said that once before. Perhaps the first Saturday the course began?”

She smiles, “Yes, Ma’am, I do believe you’re right.”

“Good night, Specialist.”

“Goodnight, Ma’am. Thanks for talking with me.”

I wave as I enter the hallway leading to my room. Inside, I turn the TV on low and dial the local CBS affiliate, so I can watch Walter Cronkite when the CBS Evening News comes on.

I’m in the middle of my own action plan for the fifth and sixth weeks when the news comes on. Midway through, I become fed up with the banter and shut off the TV. I need to be back over there putting in my own two cents worth.

Four of these students are good, really good. If they make it through the fifth and sixth weeks in the way I hope they will, then they could readily influence the ongoing conflict. Then again, we have need of skilled analysts in our European theater too. The entire class has been responding well to the challenges put before them.

Monday should be interesting, to say the least.

-o~O~o-

“…Each group is responsible to its Officer in Charge,” I say to them. “These officers will assist and guide their group, making decisions when necessary or requested. The task of each group will change every day, so you’ll all have the opportunity to participate in each phase of the process. One group will be preparing the synopsis of the photo-recon information.” I indicate one of the piles of folders arrayed on the tables before each group. “This will be passed to your supervising officer who will send it on to the analysts responsible for the final report. You will be prepared to answer any questions which are passed back from them.”

I point to another group of folders on another table. “Another group will be processing the raw intelligence which has been obtained from the field. The same conditions apply. The third group,” I designate another stack, “will track enemy supply movements and develop an estimate of the amount of supplies being transported, the suspected collection point or points, recommended actions to halt those movements and destroy the supplies, as well as deciding if the supply quantities are greater or less than normal and if so, why? Again this information will be passed to the last group which is responsible for the actual preparation of the Command report and action recommendations.

I point to each group in turn. “Whichever group is fourth each day will have the responsibility of developing battle plans based upon all the data supplied taking into account the reports and recommendations of the other three groups. Those first three groups will provide that fourth group with percentile estimates of the likelihood of any one action path in order to allow the fourth group to prepare the best possible plans. Please note that I said plans, not plan, and the probability of their success. The third group is also responsible for tracking enemy troop movements, whenever possible, and all groups are responsible for updating the decision group with any material or information which comes in after the initial recommendations have occurred.”

I now address the groups as a coöperating whole, changing my tone a little to stress the importance of what I’m about to say. “It’s not uncommon in the field to find that your best laid plans are suddenly trashed, due to a change in enemy activities, or to new intelligence. As it is a waste of resources or, worse, the danger of potential casualties, when these exigencies occur, they must be taken into account and the decision group notified immediately if Intel dictates a change.”

“The information with which you are dealing this week is to be considered ‘Top Secret – No Forn.’ Go to your areas and prepare to begin at 0810. Good luck.”

“We’ll need it,” someone says quietly.

I let it slide.

The students are looking at the closed packets on the lab tables before them as the instructors suddenly tell them to begin. I walk to the back of the room and sit down. I have a number of command decisions to make regarding our present action plans, and it is now up to the teams quietly working in the lab to alert me to any necessary changes. I think about the computer lab at college and wish they were capable of simulations. That would mean they’d need to be able to do far more than just add and subtract, so I doubt they will ever allow us that luxury. If they could do the make-believe things we see in movies, it would certainly be a help, though.

The clock is just passing 1000. The first monkey wrench should be arriving any time…. Yes, here it is.

A ‘courier’ arrives with updated photo information from recon and hands it over to the OIC of that department after noticing the departmental labels on the tables.

The students look up as the instructor tells them they have just received the latest photo recon information and then they all glance in my direction with questions in their eyes, as I pointedly ignore them, before they quickly turn to and attack this new data. Forty-five minutes later, a second ‘courier’ arrives, going to the intelligence table with updated field information and the notification of the loss of one of our patrols, which had gone out to check on a peaceful village that had reported heavy enemy activity during the past 24 hours. He also stops and delivers updates concerning the movement of enemy supplies across the Cambodian border into Nam.

The students are doing quite well. The change from static information — such as they had the past two weeks — into something much more dynamic, has taken them off guard, but they’ve responded quickly and, after examining the information, they have begun to alter their concept of what must be done and are updating their assessments. One group has requested a map of the southern portion of Vietnam showing bordering country information as well.

Their OIC tells them to put the request into writing and he will pass it on through channels. They quickly draft their needs and he gives it to the OIC of the decision group. That OIC reviews and approves it and it is passed up the chain to the Command structure (me). I place a phone call and in ten minutes the map arrives and filters back down the chain to the requesting group who look at it like it is a treasure they never expected to receive. Within minutes I have three more requests for maps. Ten minutes later, those requests are filled.

I think they are beginning to understand that they can request supplies or materials to assist them in their efforts. Various other requests come through such as coffee and pencils. I disapprove them, marking them to be requested from Mess or Supply, not from Command. In a few moments, there are chuckles as they read the replies. They are beginning to enjoy the exercise. At 1145 they are instructed to ‘lock all materials in the safe’ (put them back into the folders) and to prepare for lunch break. We all file out for lunch and the two doors to the lab are locked.

Upon returning from lunch, I quickly have a request from the group processing the photo reconnaissance information for updates pertaining to a specific region. I send back a reply that a photo recon aircraft has been tasked and the information will be available shortly after it returns. They obviously have been discussing their needs while at lunch in possible violation of the Top Secret – No Forn regulations. I make a notation in my log for the discussions of Friday and Saturday.

Updated photographs and interpretations arrive about 1400, just five minutes before command sends down a request for a priority analysis of some new information concerning another subject which has been included with the request.

This takes them about five minutes to decide how they will handle the request.

Each group allocates a couple of individuals to take on this new assignment while the bulk remain at the previous assignment. It only takes ten or fifteen minutes for them to discover the new information also is pertinent to the previous assignment. Surprise!

The new assignment is completed by 1610 and is forwarded back up to Command. The clock is ticking and at 1612 more new Intel arrives for inclusion into their primary report. They prepare updates and forward them up to the decision group who prepares a paper with new alternatives superceding the original which was moments from being sent to command.

By 1646, the final report finds its way through the bureaucracy of the Command structure and arrives at headquarters for Command examination. Several folders of supporting documents and photos accompany the report.

“That’s cutting it a bit fine, groups,” I tell them. “All right, clean up all information still on the tables and place it into the burn bags. If you forgot to include something in the report, it’s too late now.”

They take everything and clean up the lab. The instructors remove the maps and fold them for inclusion in the bags. We have three bags of trash to be burned.

The students are dismissed for supper and the burn bags are taken down to the incinerator. The instructors and I make our way out of the school, chatting about the students and the confusion which momentarily surfaced each time something unexpected arrived. We alter tomorrow’s group assignments and separate. This first day of the third week is something the students are unlikely to forget.

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To Be Continued….       © 2008, 2009 by T D Aldoennetti & Rénae Dúmas. This work may not be replicated or presented in whole or in part by any means electronic or otherwise without the express consent of the Author (copyright holder) or her assigned representative. ALL Rights Reserved, including but not limited to ownership of Characters, final content decision, and more. This is a work of Fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional and any resemblance to real people or incidents past, present or future is purely coincidental. An Aldoennetti Original.