Into the Fire

CHAPTER TEN

Allen Kim swung the rental car into the vacant parking space at the Green Beret Club at Fort Bragg. It was happy hour, and he had to circle the parking lot twice before he found a spot. Kim made his way to the door and stepped inside. He was dressed in khaki slacks, a blue oxford shirt, and a corduroy sport coat. He was noticed by no one. The club was open to all ranks and branches, active and retired, so it was crowded by a great many soldiers in uniform and civilians, many of whom were former Green Berets or active-duty special operators, and many who were not. It was crowded but not overly noisy, as those gathered were generally male, military, or ex-military. Most were crowded around the bar in the center of the single large room. There were flat-screen TVs with sports, but this was not a sports-bar crowd. Their sport was combat, and the coin of their realm was war stories. Most of the tables and booths on the periphery of the bar were occupied, but Kim spotted a single table in the corner and made for it. He ordered a beer and quietly observed the scene around him. There were those who came to the Green Beret Club to be with their own kind and talk of past deployments and wars and those who came to just sit and drink alone. Allen Kim, for all outward appearances, seemed to be one of the latter.

A short time later, Major Mike Volner stepped into the club, and, like Allen Kim before him, his entry was quiet and passed unnoticed. He stepped to one side, surveyed the room, and immediately spotted Kim. He was dressed in jeans, a cotton pullover, and a Windbreaker. Seeing a few soldiers he knew, he carefully skirted the room as he made his way to Kim’s table. He offered his hand as he took a seat.

“Allen, it’s been a while.”

“It has, Major.”

“It’s Mike now. I hear you’re a team leader up there at Quantico. Congratulations. Now you get to make the big bucks and still have fun.”

Kim returned his grin. “Not sure what passes for big bucks in the D.C. area without the variable housing allowance and combat pay you guys in the military get, but it’s a living. And it is fun. How have you been?”

“Couldn’t be better. I have another year in the job, and if I’m lucky I’ll be able to stretch it into eighteen months. That’s the problem in the military. If you’re in for a career, you have to move around, and there’s no way to sidestep the staff jobs and Pentagon duty.”

Kim nodded appreciatively. That was why he got out. He liked the tactical work, but neither the prospect of endless rotations overseas nor the reality of being deskbound for two to three years at a crack appealed to him. The FBI Critical Incident Response Group work and SWAT duty had been a perfect choice. His travel was limited and he could remain in a tactical element — at least for the foreseeable future. Like the field agents, he could choose his track. He could remain with the CIRG and stay in the field, but his advancement would be limited. Or he could step into the normal special-agent career path and try to move up the line. For now, he wanted to stay where he was. Mike Volner didn’t have that option; for a military officer, it was move up or move out.

“You know, Mike, there is another way. Not a better way, but a different way.”

Volner nodded. “I suppose you’re right, but somehow I just don’t see myself as a federal agent, even if I am carrying an assault rifle. It wouldn’t be the same. I guess I’m just a soldier. At least the guys up the chain of command have all walked in my boots, or at least most of them have. Not sure I could take orders from someone who’s not been there and done that.”

Kim took a measured sip of his beer. “Well, that’s what I wanted to see you about. I guess in some ways you’re doing a little of that right now with Op-Center. You know my team has been assigned as their domestic action arm. What can you tell me about them?”

Volner paused to frame his answer. It was not an issue of security since both of these men were cleared for the most sensitive top-secret material. Brian Dawson himself had briefed Volner on the role of CIRG-SWAT element being seconded to Op-Center. And Volner had history with Allen Kim; Kim was a new man to the JSOC Army special missions unit well after Volner had arrived. Kim was assigned to another team, but his reputation was solid. He was known as a reliable operator and a combat leader. A good many special operators, SEALs, Rangers, Green Berets, and special missions — unit veterans had left their service component and gone to the FBI. There was a good deal of kidding by those who remained in uniform about the federal SWAT boys — obtaining hall passes to train, getting permission slips to kick in doors, and Miranda-izing some dirtbag before you could shoot him — that kind of thing. But the facts were that, for the most part, they were the same men tactically doing much the same thing. Their mission sets were different, their area of operations was different, and their rules of engagement were different. Otherwise, the mechanics of how they did their business was much the same.

“You’ve met Brian Dawson and Hector Rodriguez?” Kim nodded. “Well, what you see is what you get. Both of them have been around the block more than once. They know what can and can’t be done, and they know when it’s important to go on a dangerous mission and when it’s really important to go. They’ve upgraded our communications and callout protocols, but they’ve not messed with our team operating routines or our standard tactics, techniques, and procedures. We’ve been called out on two no-go operations and one time for the real thing. They gave us the mission and let us run with it. Can’t ask more than that.”

“No, no you can’t,” Kim replied. He was quiet for a moment, then continued. “I’ve thought about this since they came to Quantico to brief us and observe one of our training exercises. I’m not seeing any problems with this, but I want to be sure I’m not overlooking something. One of the reasons I came down here was to ask you if you see any downside to their taking operational control of your team. Am I missing anything?”

Now it was Volner’s turn to pause before answering. “Just this. I knew these guys would not be coming to us with a targeting mission on some lowlife al Qaeda operative or even a senior Taliban leader. Or some nutcase with a suitcase bomb in Mumbai. When they come to us, I knew it would be because something really bad is about to go down, and the normal, through-channel action arms either can’t handle it or can’t get there in time. The guys in my team think this is really cool because it’s another chance to put their guns in the fight. But they also know it could be extremely dangerous. And they’re right.” He again paused and lowered his voice. “I don’t think the shot callers at JSOC would send us on a one-way mission, but I’m not sure I can say the same for Dawson and his organization. They’re standup guys and they wouldn’t do it on a whim, but Op-Center gets involved when the stakes are big, and failure could cost a great many lives. They will do what has to be done. They’ve not said as much, but they know it, and I know it. And I’ve made sure the guys on my team know it. If it’s really important, we could be a fire-and-forget part of their solution. So, my friend, this is not like serving a high-risk warrant or going after a hostage in a convenience-store robbery that’s gone wrong. They’ll call you when time is short and the situation is critical — a situation that could get some or all of your people killed. Just so you know.”

Allen Kim did in fact know. He and his element leaders had talked about this, and the “why us?” question had come up. They had, as had Mike Volner, concluded that if they got the call, it would be because the bureau could not get a regular CIRG-SWAT team there in time or would not send a team since it was simply too risky. Kim and his team had agreed to work with Op-Center for the same reason that Mike Volner and his team had. It was, Kim concluded, a chance to use their unique skills to make a difference when it really counted. Now Mike Volner had just confirmed it.

“One more thing, Allen. I know your aviation arm is an important asset to all of you with the CIRG. You’ve got a fairly new pilot with your Blackhawk unit. Her name’s Sandee Barron. We worked with her the last time we were called out for an op. She’s good people and a hell of a pilot. You get in a tight spot, you want her in your corner.”

“She is new, but I’ve heard about her already. She’s making her bones, and my senior pilots think she’s on track to become an impact player. But I take your point. I’ll make sure she is on the A team if and when Op-Center calls on us.”

There was another issue Kim wanted to raise with Volner. It was not like the CIRG teams and the military special operators never trained together, but there had never been an ongoing, cross-training program in place. A good many senior military special-operations leaders saw the CIRG as poachers of their talent pool. Kim rightly guessed the nature of the tasking for his team and Volner’s team would come from the same source and might well be focused on a similar threat. Their communications would be identical and their assault tactics nearly so. Issues of collateral damage and risk to noncombatants would fall more heavily on Kim, but Volner had those same concerns. They could learn a good deal from each other. And there might come a time when Kim’s team would be called on to operate overseas and a domestic threat could arise that could only be managed with the help of Volner and his team. It made sense they establish a working relationship and establish a measure of interoperability.

“Mike, Hector Rodriguez suggested we conduct some joint training. Maybe you could come up to Quantico for one day a month and we could come down here for the day. That sound doable?”

Volner thought about it, but not for long. “Why don’t you come over to the JSOC compound tomorrow and let’s try to put something together. I think I can sell it to my boss, and if I can’t, Op-Center seems to have the pull to make it happen. How about on your side?”

“I was turned down flat when I took it up to my higher headquarters, but a funny thing happened when I told Hector about it. The next day, my boss called me and said I had a green light.”

“Yeah — funny thing,” Volner replied with a grin. “Let’s order some chow and another beer. I’m starving. We can work this out tomorrow morning.”

Kim raised his hand to signal for the waitress.