Memories

A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II flies over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel, June 29, 2020.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Justin Parsons)

Lieutenant Colonel John "Honcho" Nakagawa scanned the barren terrain some 30,000 feet below his aircraft. The old girl had been upgraded to an A-10C but she was getting pretty long in the tooth. His unit, the 190th Fighter Squadron of the Idaho Air National Guard had been scheduled to transition to the F-16 (or Lawn Dart as some wags liked to call it) two years earlier.

Politics, in the form of a U.S. Senator who had flown the bird during her time in the Air Force, had intervened and the 190th, the Skull Bangers, had kept their 'Hogs. Nakagawa didn't mind at all, though when he was tagged to command a Guard squadron he had been a little miffed.

Major General Talbert Jenkins III had turned his office chair to stare at the short, stocky officer of Japanese descent and said, "Look Honcho, you wanted a goddamned A-10 squadron, here you go. You gonna get picky on me now?"

Nakagawa had grinned, he had two years until he had his twenty, what the heck, it was, after all, an A-10 squadron and that had been his dream since he had sworn the oath the first time as a young ROTC student, command a squadron of Warthogs.

"Understood, Sir. If that's all there is, I'll make the best of it."

"You're damned right you will, I expect you to make the 190th the premier 'Hog outfit on the planet. Now get out of my office, Jeannie has your orders."

Nakagawa had saluted and stopped at the general's secretary's desk to collect his orders. As he read through them he couldn't help but smile. Jeannie Hutchinson had spoken up when she saw the grin.

"The general called in a lot of favors to get you that slot, Colonel."

Nakagawa looked puzzled for a moment, then Hutchinson said, "They passed over a Congressman's nephew to get you that slot."

"No shit?"

"Honest truth, Colonel."

That had been nine months ago. Then, when the Houthis in Yemen, backed by Iranian "volunteers" had virtually shut down the Gulf of Aden, the 190th had been called up. John Nakagawa was now commanding a squadron in combat. His wife, Hiroko, a native of Japan, had not been happy. But she understood and said she would pray for him while he was "out there," as she put it.

Nakagawa was fifth generation Japanese American, a Gosei (五世), his grandparents had seen time in a California detention camp when they were children. His great-grandfather had been killed in action in Italy, fighting with the 442nd Regimental Combat team. His family honored their Japanese roots, but they were as American as baseball. (As his uncle liked to say.)

Now they were on a mission to provide close air support to a battalion of Marines who were in deep trouble just to the northeast of Al Habilayn. The Navy was having trouble with both the weather and a group of Iranian patrol boats, so they were temporarily unable to provide support. When CENTCOM had offered Air Force support, the Marine commander on the ground had asked ...

"What kinda birds they fly?"

"The A-10, the Thunderbolt II." the very green, non-rated Air Force lieutenant on the other end of the line had answered.

"Ya mean the f**kin' Warthog, right?"

"Uh, yessir, that's what the ..."

"Send those bastards, Marines love the 'Hog!"

So here they were.

"All Skullbangers, this is Skullbanger One, we're at the IP, go tactical spread. Red Flight, you're in first, then Blue. Green flight will stay up and hit anything you guys miss. Just as briefed."

"Red One, copy."

"Blue One, copy."

As his squadron rolled in, someone on the ground got antsy. Nakagawa saw the lazy looking tracers come arching up from the terrain just to the north of what the Marines were calling the Shell Staton.

"Blue Flight, you've got triple-A at two o'clock low."

"Saw that Honcho. Blue Three, hose that bastard."

Major Lucius Hennesey heard the low moan of an A-10 cannon from off to his right. He looked up in time to see the 'Hog already pulling off the target. WIth his field glasses he could see that the Air Force had hit what appeared to have been a ZSU-23-4 Shilka. At least what was left of it looked like a Shilka. The 30mm cannon on the 'Hog had torn the site up pretty badly, the 500-pound bombs which the A-10 dropped had obliterated whatever hadn't been hit by cannon fire.

"Sir, 'Hogs are coming in to hit the Gomers to our front, gonna be danger close!"

Hennesey looked at his air liaison officer, "Fry the bastards, Horndog, we'll keep our heads down!"

When the Skull Bangers had recovered at their makeshift base outside of Kadamat Al Awdhali, their commander had been very pleased. A couple of his jets had been hit by small arms fire, but nothing more than some minor sheet metal work would be required.¹ All his folks had made it home and from what the Marines on the ground had said, the Gomers had had their asses kicked.

Nakagawa smiled as he taxied in, his first combat mission as a squadron commander had gone off without a hitch. As his jet rolled into its revetment, a sudden fire engulfed the nose of his aircraft. What the ...

Nakagawa began to scream as he felt his feet start to burn ...

"John, John!" Hiroko was shaking her husband, "You're having that dream again. Wake up, wake up!"

She looked up as Bill Aspinall and another agent stepped in to the room, weapons drawn. She shook her head vehemently at Aspinall, then, with a grimace, slapped her husband hard and shouted, "Okiro!².

Nakagawa felt the sharp pain on the side of his face, why did his crew chief slap him? Then slowly, as if surfacing from very deep water, he began to get his wits about him.

"Omae³, I'm here, I'm okay," he muttered.

He sat up, his pajamas were soaked with sweat. As he looked around the room, he muttered to his wife, in Japanese, that he was fine. To Bill Aspinall he said ...

"Any news?"

"Yes Sir, it's been confirmed that units of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy have been spotted in the Indian Ocean. The Indian Navy is shadowing them, but as they are in international waters, that's the best they can do."

"Have we made contact with anyone in Beijing?"

"No Sir, rioting continues in some sections of the city, the PLA is getting things under control but so far, no one is really in charge in the PRC."

"Damn it."

Nakagawa realized that any orders issued prior to the turmoil surrounding the loss of Fujian  and the subsequent unrest throughout China would remain in force. The commander of that PLAN task force would remain on mission until ordered back.

Thing is, there was no one to do that.

"What assets do we have in the area?"

"Two attack boats, Mr. President." His naval aide, LCDR Josh Higgins had come into the room carrying a message board, which he consulted. "Barb and Silversides."

Looking again, at a separate sheet on his clipboard, he continued, "Vermont and Colorado are supporting units outside the Gulf, we can have them set up a patrol line to intercept, if necessary."

"Have the Navy issue the appropriate orders." As he said that, his wife handed him a cup of his favorite tea. He gave her a warm smile and a nod.

"Josh, get the Joint Chiefs together at the Pentagon, set up a secure Zoom call, ASAP."

"Aye, Aye, Mr. President."

Turning to Aspinall as he sipped his tea, "Anything on the schedule today, Bill?"

"I already cleared that, Sir. By the way, the guy you tapped to lead the new FBI, the Maryland cop ..."

"Juan Ramirez, what about him?"

"He's coming to DC today, if you've got time ..."

"Whenever he gets in bring him to me. We need to get a jump on domestic issues immediately. Senate confirm him yet?"

"No Sir."

"Fire a rocket up their asses, I need that done today."

Aspinall grinned, "Will do, Sir."

Nakagawa finished his tea then set it down, "Guess I better get dressed, going to be a long day I think."

His wife brought his clothes in, smiling at him.

He smiled back, "Omae, I should make you my Chief of Staff. God, how I love you."

She swatted his butt, "Go to work, husband-san, I'll see to breakfast."

¹ As any aircraft maintenance man can tell you, what might look like simple holes in a wing or fuselage could involve a lot of work under that sheet metal. No doubt the maintenance pukes would be pulling long hours to get all of Nakagawa's aircraft ready for the morning.

² Okiro (起きろ), wake up.

³ Omae (お前) literally means "you," a term of endearment a man would use for his wife. A wife would say anata (あなた) to her husband. Older Japanese use these terms, apparently the young nowadays don't.