Sword Point (4 page)

She knew what was going on in his mind: Is she good enough to do the job?

How well will she hold up when the shit really hits the fan? .. .

Nothing changed. Every time she came into a unit, from 20 her first day at West Point to her assignments at Fort Hood, she had had to fight the same attitude. At least in the past she had not been the first or the only female officer in the unit. This assignment, however, was different. Since coming down to the brigade, she had been treated with the respect due an officer but not the confidence or trust that was accorded to the other junior staff officers. She had been warned by friends of hers on the staff of the 25th Armored Division that the brigade commander and the S-2 had fought tool and nail against her assignment. They had even stated that it was better to leave the position open rather than put a female in a tactical headquarters that would operate as far forward as the brigade would. In the end, the division commander had told the brigade commander to shut up and accept her. This he did, but reluctantly and with barely concealed hostility.

She had been warned it was not going to be easy. She felt, however, as if she were starting with two strikes against her.

Feeling rage slowly building, Lieutenant Matthews turned her thoughts away from her plight and to the notes she had for the briefing. She knew she was ready, having spent most of the previous night at corps G-2 reviewing every bit of information coming in on Soviet activities and Iranian reactions.

She had rummaged through the files, dragging out every old intelligence report and study on the area that she could find. Her preparation even included a trip to the post library, where she had pulled everything she could find on Iran, from National Geographic articles to area study books.

Maps of Iran were at a premium that day on Fort Hood. Everyone wanted one.

That’s where having friends in the right place paid off. The 2nd Brigade was probably the only brigade in the corps that had a full range of maps not only of Iran but of the Gulf states and the southern

USSR
.

With the XO’s announcement “Gentlemen, the brigade commander,” the briefing began. After being introduced by the XO, Lieutenant Matthews began her briefing with an overview of the topography and demographics of Iran. “Iran lies on a large plateau bordered in the south by the Persian Gulf, in the north by the Caspian Sea and the Soviet Union, in the west by Turkey and Iraq, and in the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Major terrain features are the Zagros Mountains that start in the northwest and run southwest, parallel with the Iraqi border, to the Persian Gulf. The second major mountain range, the Elburz Mountains, also starts in the northwest but runs almost due east, where it ends just short of Afghanistan.

In the center of the country, between the two mountain ranges, are two large deserts, the Dasht-e-Kavir, or Great Salt Desert, in the north and the

Dasht-e-Lut to the south. Dasht is a word used for the gravel slopes that surround the kavir, a salt crust that covers marshes of black mud.

As the crust is easily broken, many parts of these deserts remain unexplored.

Iran’s oil reserves are concentrated in the southwest near the Iraqi border, and offshore in the Persian Gulf.

“Less than fourteen percent of the country receives over fifty-two percent of the annual rainfall. This is mostly in the northwest, in the area that runs from Tehran to the Soviet and Turkish borders. Even though the land is quite mountainous, it is in this region, in the valleys, that the majority of the population and agriculture is located. Temperatures range from below the freezing point during the winter to a high of one hundred thirty two degrees in the summer, but there are parts of the Elburz Mountains where snow never disappears.”

Lieutenant Matthews stopped for a moment while her
NCO
changed maps to show population densities and divisions. She looked at both the brigade commander and the XO to see whether they were tracking the briefing. The

XO

gave her a nod of approval.

“Last estimates place the population at approximately thirty-five million.

Because of the growth rate and the generally poor quality of the medical care, the population is an extremely young one, with a median age in the low twenties. While the majority of the population in the central region is

Persian with Indo-European origins, there are several minorities. The most important of these are the Turkomans in the northwest, who are interrelated with other members of this group in both Turkey and the Soviet Union; the Kurds in the west, who are related to compatriots in Iraq; and the Baluchis in the southeast, who are related to the Baluchis in

Pakistan. Ninety-eight percent of the population is Muslim. Iran is the only country in the world where the majority of the population is Shiite. Only among the Kurds, Baluchis, Turkomans and Arabs living in the country does the Sunni Muslim belief predominate.”

She paused again while her
NCO
put up a new map, one showing the symbols of military units. The brigade commander was busily writing notes on small three-by five cards. The XO, with a faint smile of approval, nodded for her to continue.

“The first impression that the current invasion by the Soviets is a bolt out of the blue is incorrect.” She paused for a moment and watched the brigade commander noticeably straighten up with a quizzical look on his face.

“Are you trying to tell me, Lieutenant, that we knew about this?”

Without flinching, Matthews continued, “Apparently the Central Intelligence

Agency, the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency each were collecting data on the modernization and buildup of Soviet forces in the area but passed it off as either routine modernization or preparation for the rotation or reinforcement of forces in Afghanistan. The

Soviets have maintained a normal level of activities in all other areas of the world, especially in Europe, where they have already begun their semiannual rotation of recruits. As a result of this normality, there was an insufficient increase in intelligence indicators to warrant an increase in the Watchcon level.” Again Lieutenant Matthews paused for a moment to let this last bit of information sink in before proceeding.

“The current Soviet offensive appears to be following the same basic plan as its 1941 invasion of Iran, with a few new twists, these primarily being amphibious landings along the Caspian Sea here at Bandar-a Anzali and

Astaneh and airborne assaults reported at Khvoy, Tabriz and Rasht.

Major ground forces in the northeast include one combined-arms army moving along an axis from Jolia to Tabriz through the Zagros Mountains and a second combined-arms army moving along the coastal plain of the Caspian Sea. A third army of unknown composition is in reserve south of Baku. In the northeast, a corps sized element is moving west along an axis from KizylArvat to Gorgan, with a second corps-sized element moving south from Ashkabad to Quchan. Several other divisions are assembling farther inside the Soviet Union, here at

Nebit-Dag and Mary. In the east a single motorized rifle division has been identified moving along an axis west from Herat in Afghanistan to, probably,

Mashhad. Current intelligence gathered from several sources, including monitoring of official Iranian news agencies, indicates that the Soviet invasion came as a complete surprise to the Iranians. Only token resistance is being met by the Soviets. With the majority of Iran’s forces involved in active fighting against the Iraqis, and in view of the country’s lack of mobile reserves, the Soviets will meet little in the way of organized resistance for at least the next five to seven days, maybe longer.”

Lieutenant Matthews paused to allow the commander to study the map showing the activity she had just described. When he was comfortable with the information, he nodded for her to continue.

“A preliminary analysis brings out three major points. The first clearly indicates that Tehran is the offensive’s initial objective.

Seizure of the northwest, the coast of the Caspian Sea and Tehran will place the majority of the population, agriculture and industry of Iran under Soviet control.

This would leave only two other worthwhile objectives: the oilfields in the southwest and control of the Strait of Hormuz in the south. The second point is that the
USSR
is using relatively small forces along established lines of communication. Although it does have a large number of forces in the Transcaucasus region, they are being held in place to serve either as a threat to Turkey or as a second echelon.

There is insufficient information at this time to confirm either theory. This could also mean that the

USSR’s objectives are limited to the seizure of Tehran or that it is being careful not to shove more forces into the country than can be supplied.

“The final point, and perhaps the most important to us, is the fact that the Soviets have taken no other actions anywhere else in the world to increase their state of readiness. An intelligence summary released to 10th

Corps earlier this morning from the
DIA
concluded that it appears to be the

Soviets’ intent to keep the conflict localized to Iran. In fact, Soviet ambassadors in all
NATO
countries had scheduled appointments with the heads of those countries within an hour of the invasion to present the Soviets’ position and explanation.”

At this point, the brigade commander interrupted. “It’s going to take one hell of a line of BS to turn this stunt into a lily-white crusade to save humanity.” For the first time there was laughter in the room.

Turning to

Lieutenant Matthews, he asked, “Amanda, do you have anything else?”

For a moment, Lieutenant Matthews was in shock. This was the first time since she had come to the brigade that the brigade commander had called her by her first name. She simply replied, “No, sir.”

“That was a good briefing, thank you.”

As she went to take her seat, the XO gave her a nod of approval. She was part of the team.

Daradiz Pass, Iran 1700 Hours, 25 May (1330 Hours, 25 May,
GMT
) The captain finished making the rounds of the positions occupied by his paratroopers. All was in order. Brought in by helicopter in the predawn darkness, the airborne company had had no problem overwhelming the Iranians who were supposed to man the positions now filled by his men. Four months of training, rehearsals and preparation for this single operation had paid off.

At the cost of one man wounded and a sprained ankle sustained during the debarkation from the helicopters, the airborne company had taken out forty-five Iranians. There were, of course, no prisoners. The plan did not allow for the holding of prisoners.

Standing on the edge of a cliff, the captain looked down at the unending column of tanks, armored personnel carriers and trucks of the 28th Combined Arms Army passing below him. With the seizure of the Daradiz Pass, no defenses or major obstacles stood between the 28th
CAA
and

Marand. The 28th would easily make its initial objective on schedule.

All was in order. Carefully, the captain limped back from the edge.

With nothing more to do for a while, he finally had time to find a nice comfortable spot where he could sit down and tend to his sprained ankle.

It is well that war is so terrible or we should grow too fond of it.

-
ROBERT
E.
LEE

Fort Bragg, North Carolina 1940 Hours, 26 May (0040 Hours, 27 May,
GMT
)

Company A of the 2nd Battalion, 517th Airborne Regiment, was used to waiting. It wasn’t unusual to get rigged for a jump, move out onto the ready line and then wind up waiting for hours as an unexpected weather front or increase in winds caused a delay. The men were no strangers to the Green

Ramp either. At times it seemed to them that every time some head of state in an obscure country sneezed, the 17th Airborne Division was put on alert.

And, of course, there were always the readiness tests, called at all hours of the day to gauge the response of the unit on strip alert. The 1983 invasion of Grenada had done much to add meaning to the endless drills, alerts and training exercises. But that had been a small affair by any standards and, to a unit in the U.S. Army, a long time ago. There were few men in the 2nd of the 517th who wore a division patch on both sleeves.

Captain John Evans, the new commander of A Company, was one of them. At the time of the Grenada invasion he had been a second lieutenant who had just made his cherry jump, a first jump with one’s unit. Not having had the experience of numerous alerts and readiness tests that never went anywhere and tended to dull rather than sharpen the reactions of some, Evans had tackled the alert for the Grenada operation with enthusiasm and vigor. His performance at Bragg and on the island had earned him a name as a hard charger and an energetic young officer. As a result, he had found it easy to stay in the 517th, moving from one position to another until he made it to the most coveted position for a company-grade officer in the division, command of an airborne infantry company.

Evans had come down off brigade staff to assume command of Company A less than two months ago. Thus far he had been unimpressed with the company.

While there was more than enough effort and enthusiasm on the part of the leadership and the soldiers, the unit lacked a sense of orientation and an ability to really understand what was important.

For example, when the unit assembled at the Green Ramp for pre combat inspections, Evans had found that the men were hopelessly overburdened with useless equipment and far too much ammunition. Had they jumped with everything that they had when they initially fell out, the company would never have made it off the drop zone. It reminded Evans of the Grenada operation, when people had taken all of their military equipment with them, only to discard it once they reached the island and found they didn’t need it. Today, together with his first sergeant, a veteran of eighteen years in and out of airborne units, he had inspected every man’s load and equipment. Anything that was considered to be of no value was discarded into a pile at the end of the company line. When they were finished, the pile was higher than Evans. The inspection had taken the entire morning, but the results were worth the effort. The men in the company looked right to him.