Special Ops - By W.E.B. Griffin Page 0,1

COMBAT

BOOK VII: BEHIND THE LINES

BOOK VIII: IN DANGER’S PATH

BOOK IX: UNDER FIRE

BOOK X: RETREAT, HELL!

BADGE OF HONOR

BOOK I: MEN IN BLUE

BOOK II: SPECIAL OPERATIONS

BOOK III: THE VICTIM

BOOK IV: THE WITNESS

BOOK V: THE ASSASSIN

BOOK VI: THE MURDERERS

BOOK VII: THE INVESTIGATORS

BOOK VIII: FINAL JUSTICE

MEN AT WAR

BOOK I: THE LAST HEROES

BOOK II: THE SECRET WARRIORS

BOOK III: THE SOLDIER SPIES

BOOK IV: THE FIGHTING AGENTS

PRESIDENTIAL AGENT

BY ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT

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SPECIAL OPS

A Jove Book / published by arrangement with G. P. Putnam’s Sons

Copyright © 2001 by W.E.B. Griffin.

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For Uncle Charley and The Bull

RIP October 1979

And for Donn Who would have ever believed four stars?

And for Russ Who would have ever believed Pee-Wee’s Dog Robber would grow up to be a major general, a division commander, and a university president?

And for Mac RIP December 1987

And for All Those Special Operations Types Who Laid Their Lives on the Line To Keep Africa and South America Free of the Communists

I

[ ONE ]

TOP SECRET

THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF WASHINGTON, D.C.

Duplication Forbidden Copy 4 of Seven.

For Distribution By Officer Courier Only

8 November 1964

Commanding General, United States Strike

Command

Commanding General, European Command

Commanding General, United States Air

Force, Europe

Commanding General, Seventh United States

Army1. By Direction of the President; by Command of His Royal Highness, the King of the Belgians; and at the request of the government of the Republic of the Congo, a Joint Belgian-American Operation, “OPERATION DRAGON ROUGE,” will take whatever military action is necessary to effect the rescue of American, Belgian and other European nationals currently being held hostage in Stanleyville, Republic of the Congo, by forces in rebellion against the legal and duly constituted government of the Republic of the Congo.

2. By Direction of the President, Counselor to the President Sanford T. Felter (Colonel, General Staff Corps, USA) is designated Action Officer, and will be presumed, in connection to military matters, to be speaking with the authority of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

3. OPERATION DRAGON ROUGE is assigned an AAAA-1 Priority with regard to the requisitioning of personnel, equipment, and other U.S. military assets.

4. Addressees will on receipt of this directive immediately dispatch an officer in the grade of colonel or higher to the United States Embassy, Brussels, Belgium, where they will make themselves available to Colonel Felter or such officers as he may designate to represent him.

FOR THE CHAIRMAN, THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF:

Forbes T. Willis

FORBES T. WILLIS

BRIGADIER GENERAL, USMC

EXECUTIVE OFFICER, JCS

TOP SECRET

[ TWO ]

Brussels, Belgium

1320 11 November 1964

Brigadier General Harris McCord, USAF, thought he had yet another proof, if one were needed, that life was full of little ironies. Sixteen hours before, he had been at the USMC Birthday Ball at the Hotel Continental in Paris, tripping the light fantastic with his wife. He had been wearing his mess dress uniform, complete with real medals rather than ribbons,