Sorry- it is a gun show weekend and a shipmate of long-standing was moved to write in about the LT with the Pearl Handled Pistols attempting to gain access to a place he was not supposed to be.

I have been concentrating on the lovely islands- there is a story in development about more of that- but this is certainly apropos current events as things in the ever-weird world of the Middle East continue to surpass expectations of mind boggling events.

My Shipmate commented thusly:

“Vic, I once knew two LT’s who had some of the same experience as your Chief.

It was 1973 and on a mid-watch in CNO Intelligence Plot- when the phone rang. It was someone claiming to the be the Defense Attaché from Israel calling from the Pentagon’s Mall Entrance asking to be escorted up to IP.

So, the LT on watch called the briefer who also was a LT and was just starting on the briefing notes for the next day and dispatched the IS1 down to escort the DATT up to the spaces.

Not too much later (this was about midnight) the IS1 returned to report that there was nobody at the Mall Entrance, let alone an Israeli Brigadier General. The phone rang again and it was a somewhat irritated BG. Again the IS1 went to fetch him and again he came back empty handed. When the phone rang the third time, we ascertained that the BG was in fact at the River Entrance and the IS1 launched for the third time and this time returned with the general in tow.

The aggravated BG then proceeded to lecture us about the peril his nation was facing and then to demand certain information on troop formations and movements that he assured us he knew that we had, but were not sharing with his nation.

He assured us that if Israel went down, it would be our fault. We knew what he was talking about and what assessments had been made, but because of the source (highly sensitive at that time), we stone-walled and told him that we had no such information and basically couldn’t help him regardless of what outcomes might be about to transpire.

The watch LT and the briefer then sweated until about 5 PM when CNO IP himself came to work and we presented ourselves to tell him that there was likely to be an international incident evolving out of the actions over night that would explode in the first working hour that day. The Israelis would make it known that a couple of O-3’s had stiffed their DATT for information necessary to the survival of our staunchest ally in the region.

Luckily Israel had not vanished during the intervening hours, so at least that catastrophe had been averted.

It was quite a night along with a few others in IP. It was one of the few times when the other LT asked for help and then acted on the advise. I believe I’m the one who said we need to talk with him, but then took the lead on stiffing the general. I sure thought we might have just screwed up, however, because the USG was bending over to give them anything they thought they needed. And, he knew that we knew (or sure bluffed it well) and had the right information, but he clearly needed confirmation.

Management informed the two LT’s that the CDR now had it and would take it from there. Like the Chief who told the pistol-packing LT to “go away,” nothing more was heard from any of the parties involved or anyone above them in their chains of command.

An indication of how deep our support was for Israel at the time is that USS HANCOCK (CVA-19, I won’t use the proud ship’s nickname!) got orders to go to the Persian Gulf at ‘best speed.’ They then launched all the flyable A-4 Scooter’s off the ship and flew them to Israel and turned them over to the IAF, lock, stock and barrel.

How about that for an Assistance Program? A-4’s Forever! I was also in as a briefer the night we went to DEFCON 3. That was a heck of a morning brief. About 200 combined U.S. and Soviet ships were in the eastern Med. The Soviets were loading airborne troops into the transports to intervene on the Egyptian side and we couldn’t persuade the Israelis that they’d won and needed to let the Egyptian army out of their vice grips.

It was my first engagement with the Israelis and DATT tactics. It was all a bluff. It was designed to pit a senior against a couple of JO’s. The intent was to scare them into doing something they should not do. It regularly came to mind in my future dealings.

When in doubt……No Admittance.“

I think that is pretty good policy, but the way things are these days, I am not even sure the Israelis would ask, you know?

Copyright 2015 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303