"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." -Gilbert Keith Chesterton

CHAPTER SEVEN: "All is well with my Soul"

Date: August 16, 2015

Time: 2300 hours, 11:00 P.M. (Iran Standard Time)

Location: Aboard CVN-77 USS George H. W. Bush in international waters of the Persian Gulf

Over the past two days, Tony had done nothing but perform missions in the simulator that resembled possible scenarios of what might happen during the actual mission. They constantly went over the mission objectives for several hours a day. It was getting tiring, but he knew it was meant to make him memorize the mission and it had done just that.

Meanwhile the political situation in the Middle East had taken a steep decline. Russia had really stunned the world. The vote on Security Council Resolution 2441 would take place in only one day. Everyone began picking sides, a sure sign that war was near, and not too many countries were siding with the United States. As if to make things worse, Kuwait had recently had its own elections for its leaders and the new president of Kuwait was calling for all U.S. forces to leave his country's soil. Tony just hoped that the president would allow the U.S. to stay at Ali al Salim long enough to perform the strike.

The more that Tony simulated the mission, the more he realized he had the most dangerous part. Noah, Omen, Baker, and whoever was flying as Baker's WSO had the simple objective of dropping bombs on target. The Raptor pilots had the more troublesome job of handling advanced enemy fighters at high altitude. However, Tony had to weave through SAMs and AAA at low altitude to strike four targets with the risk that fighters could already be in the area. In fact, in most of the simulations he eliminated the targets, but didn't make it out alive.

The real mission was only two hours away and he was scared.

Before Tony had entered the flight equipment room his thoughts then shifted to the enemy. "Who would I be killing?" he often wondered. The Islamic Republic of Iranian was run by radical Muslims, who had one simple goal: take over the world and establish Islamic Sharia Law across the globe from east to west. What was Sharia? It was the set of Islamic religious laws that govern the lives and conduct of Muslims around the world. Many Muslim countries had many different versions of Islamic Sharia Law, but they all agreed on two simple things.

The first was that no man could change his religion from Islam. If they were to change their religion from Islam and become an apostate, then they were to be killed immediately. The prophet of Islam, Muhammad, was quoted saying "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him," in Al-Bukhari volume 4, number 55. Under Sharia law millions of people were put to death in the recent decades simply for leaving Islam.

One noticeable case that received plenty of media attention was in Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion by the U.S. a 41-year-old man named Abdul Rahman faced the death sentence under Sharia law for converting from Islam to Christianity.

Senior clerics condemned Rahman as an apostate. Rahman had "committed the greatest sin" by converting to Christianity and deserved to be killed, cleric Abdul Raoulf said in a sermon at Herati Mosque. "The Quran is very clear and the words of our prophet are very clear. There can only be one outcome: death," said cleric Khoja Ahmad Sediqi, who was also a member of the Supreme Court. However, at that time the U.S. was the only thing that propped up the Afghan government. President Hamid Karzai faced mounting foreign pressure to free Abdul Rahman and eventually did.

The second thing that all Sharia law agreed on was that women were worth half that of a man and that Muslim men had the right to beat their wives. In Surah 4:176 it read “unto the male is the equivalent of the share of two females.” This was simply pertaining to many things. The Prophet Muhammad said, "Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?" He said, "This is because of the deficiency of a woman’s mind," in Hadith volume 3 number 826.

In order for a man to be convicted of rape in an Islamic court, there had to be four male witnesses that caught him in the act. If there were not enough witnesses or if the witnesses did not catch him in the act, then the women's accusation of rape was automatically turned into a confession of adultery, which was punishable by stoning to death under Sharia law.

In the Quran, Surah 4:34, Muhammad wrote, “Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret what Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them…” In short, if a woman does not obey the commands of her husband, then the husband must take several measures, such as making them sleep on the couch, before he finally has the right to beat her.

This was the law the leaders of Iran as well as every radical Islamic terrorist were trying to impose upon the world. This was the law that they were trying to force onto his country. They hated America for one simple reason: she was free.

Tony knew that there could have been honorable, good men in the Iranian military, but the fact was that whoever was in the Iranian military supported and served the radical Muslims who wanted to destroy America as well as the rest of the free world. The Iranians who were guarding the nuclear facilities at Bushehr were, in fact, protecting nuclear weapons that were going to be used to kill millions of innocent people. Those Iranians were not innocent men. This made them the enemy of the free and the innocent. Tony had no qualms about taking out such an enemy.

When the subject of nuclear weapons came up, many people often compared the United States use of nuclear weapons in WWII on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which had no military targets, to crimes of war. However, in that special case the use of nuclear weapons was actually used to save lives.

The U.S. had two options to end the war: invade the Japanese main land or use the atom bomb. It was estimated that if the U.S. were to invade Japan, several hundred thousand American troops along with millions of Japanese, both military and civilian, would die where as the use of the Atom bomb put Japanese casualties in the tens of thousands. Japan was given the opportunity to surrender and they openly said that they would fight to the bitter end. It was then determined that it would actually save millions of lives to use the atom bomb on Japan and force them to surrender to end the war.

Despite what popular belief and the American mainstream media constantly portrayed, the decision to use nuclear weapons was not made by some crazy war mongers in the White House. It was made after careful planning by intelligent people who cared for Japanese lives even when the Japanese did not have regard for their own lives. What the U.S. did not expect was for the atom bomb to be as powerful as it was and take the lives of over a hundred thousand Japanese. In the end, this was still minimal in comparison to the figures for an invasion and the use of nuclear weapons saved lives by bringing the war to a quick end.

The then Secretary of War Henry Stimson wrote about the decision to use the bomb and his own feelings: "The decision to use the bomb was a decision that brought death to over a hundred thousand Japanese. No explanation can change that fact and I do not wish to gloss it over. But this deliberate, premeditated destruction was our least abhorrent choice... The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended a war. They also made it wholly clear that we must never have another war... There is no other choice."

As far as who his enemy was, Tony had no doubt that the forces he was about to take on in combat were the forces of Gog and Magog prophesied in the Bible. Ezekiel 38:5 listed Magog's allies and the first ally listed was Persia. Iran's original name was Persia. Only until March 21, 1935 was it ever called Iran. This made it clear that Ezekiel was referring to the modern nation of Iran when he spoke of Magog's number one ally. Never in the past 2,900 years had Iran ever had a military alliance with Russia.

The history between the two nations was extremely bitter. Russia briefly occupied parts of northern Iran in the nineteenth century, in 1912, during the WWI and even till 1946. In fact, their hatred of Russia drove them into an alliance with the United States. The leader of Iran at the time, Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, commonly referred to as the "Shah," accepted large amounts of American aid and support to build a counter weight against the Soviet Empire.

In, 1979, the Islamic Revolution in Iran overthrew the Shah, forcing him into exile, and American embassy personnel were taken hostage for 444 days. As cruel as this was a blow to U.S. interests it hardly provided the door for Moscow to form an alliance with the Muslim country as the Bible predicted. Even the new Ayatollah Khomeini had no desire for an alliance with the atheists in the north. In fact, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in the December of 1979 the Iranians feared that Moscow would invade them next.

Only when Iraq invaded Iran in 1980 did Iran begin this alliance with Moscow. When the war dragged on too long Iran needed to look to a super power for support. The Islamic Revolution had instantly made them enemies of the United States and Europe so Tehran turned to its last source: Russia. The alliance had blossomed much since then and the result was exactly what the Bible had predicted.

Tony almost could not believe it, but he was watching a 2,500 year old Biblical prophecy being fulfilled before his very eyes. As if to make thing even more fun, God had placed him right in the middle of it all. There was no doubt in his mind that the forces he was about to do battle with were the forces that were prophesied about in the Bible.

The art of battle was an ancient art that man had taken part in since the beginning of history. The art of killing and being killed. It had been accelerated by technology, but the basics were still the same. The goal was to take a human life and remove it from the face of existance. It was a bloody business and it was this business that Tony was about to take part in. He was scared.

Two verses of the Bible began echoing in Tony's mind.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." -Psalm 23:4

"The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" -Psalm 118:6

Those words gave him peace. This mission was in His hands; loving hands that never made a mistake nor judged wrongly. Death was merely a shadow that everyone must pass under. The choices that a person makes in their life determined where they would end up after passing under that shadow. If Tony were to die, he had no doubt that he would end up in God's arms and he would not have anything to worry about. He did not know what heaven was like. The only thing that he did know was that it was the place that Jesus Christ had prepared for him and was waiting for him. However, if it was God's will that he lived then nothing on earth could kill him. Either way, he was bound for good things. With this knowledge, even as he stood at the edge of death, there was peace.

He got down on his knees and prayed a quick prayer. With that done, he stood up.

"Live or die..." he had settled, "...all is well with my soul."

He sanitized his flight suit, removing the black and yellow velcro patches. If captured, he didn't want the Iranians to know what unit he was from; name, rank, serial number, and date of birth, and that was it.

Helmet under his armpit, he headed to his plane, which was resting on the elevators under the deck. Her canopy was open, the wings were folded, and the ladder extended as if to be inviting him in. Next to her was the EA-18G that Bulldog and Pat were assigned to. Bulldog and Pat were already seated in the EA-18G and running a systems check.

Tony took nothing for granted on a sortie. He made sure the right weapons were loaded and double checked the oil and tires. The oil and tires were fine. His weapons consisted from the outside inward of two AIM-9X Sidewinders, four AGM-65F IR-guided Mavericks, two AGM-88E HARMS, and two AIM-120D AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile) missiles.

These weapons were of the latest and finest on the American weapons market.

The AIM-9X was a close range heat-seeking air-to-air missile. The engine featured thrust-vectoring nozzles so that the missile could make 90 degree angle turns in the air. The sensor's eye could look 90 degrees off from its bore sight. It had a range of 15 miles and a moderately powerful explosive warhead.

The AGM-65F was an advanced, battle-tested heat-seeking air-to-ground tactical missile that was made specifically for the U.S. Navy. It was effective against a wide variety of targets, including vehicles and armor. It could strike a target at 17 miles away. These were the missiles that he intended to use to take out the SA-21s. Once the canyon opened at 15 miles from the plant, the SA-21s would be easy pickings for the Maverick missiles. If any of them switched on their radars to fight, then he had the HARMs to back him up.

The AGM-88E's real name was the Advanced Anti Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM). However, pilots just got used to calling its predecessor the HARM and the name stuck. It featured the latest software and enhanced capabilities. The AGM-88E was intended to counter radar shutdown. A passive radar, which seeks out radars when they are active, and active millimeter wave seekers were installed on the AGM-88E.

The AIM-120D was the most advanced version of the AMRAAM. When Tony had his practice engagement with the British pilot he had used a simulation of the older AIM-120C. The AIM-120D had a two-way data link, a more accurate navigation system that was enhanced by GPS (Global Positioning System), an expanded no-escape envelope, improved HOBS (High-Angle Off-Boresight) capability, and a 50 percent increase in range, which was 120 miles. It was considered one of the best long range air-to-air dogfighting missiles in existence.

On his centerline weapons station he had a new IRST (Infra-Red Search and Track) sensor pod that was mounted on the front of a modified 480 gallon fuel tank. It was a passive, long-range sensor system that searched for and detected long-wave IR emissions within its field of view. It could track several targets simultaneously and provided an effective air-to-air targeting capability even when facing advanced threats with radar jamming equipment. In addition to providing the IRST capability, it also provided 330 gallons of fuel.

His last line of defense was his M61A2 Vulcan cannon with 570 rounds of 20mm ammunition. It was effective within only one mile's distance, but it provided a capability that could not be excluded. A low tech system that was not susceptible to electronic defenses was indispensable even on the modern battle field.

Once he was satisfied he then climbed up the ladder into the cockpit. He flipped the switch for the batteries to power up. The various lights and displays flickered to life, already in night vision mode. He put on his helmet and ran a quick systems check. All was well and he had a full internal tank of 14,950 lbs of JP-5 jet fuel. Everything was operating perfectly. The maintenance crews had done an excellent job of preparing the aircraft.

Just then one of the deck crew members activated the elevator. Tony, Pat, and Bulldog were lifted up from the hanger to the deck. Another member of the deck crew came and retracted Tony's ladder. Tony flipped the switch for the canopy to close. He looked over and saw Bulldog had done the same. He began the short process of strapping the aircraft onto him, which included locking the straps and hooking in the oxygen supply to his mask. He then flipped both of the switches for the engines. The hum of his power plants coming to life was like coffee to his system and music to his ears.

At 1 o'clock in the morning, the sky was dark and laden with stars and plants. The sea appeared as an endless void of darkness. A crescent moon rested high in the sky. The deck was dimly lit so as not to make a large target at night.

One of the aircraft handlers with hand-sized liquid vapor torches that looked very similiar to glowsticks motioned for Bulldog to move forward. He did so and was guided to the number one catapult. Another aircraft handler came and motioned for Tony to move forward. He gently increased the throttle and his aircraft slowly began to crawl forward. As he did so he flipped the switch to spread his wings from the folded position. He was directed to the number two catapult. Right before he got to the catapult he flipped the switch to lower launch bar, a tiny bar located on the front landing gear that would latch to the catapult. The aircraft handlers carefully guided him so that the launch bar was in precisely the right spot for it to be attached to the catapult.

Then an aircraft handler came to him with a large box that read the weight of the aircraft. With glow in the dark writing it read: 53,447.3 lbs. He then carried the box to the small shielded station in which the officer who launched the catapult was in. This was to give him the exact amount of power he would need to set for the catapult.

Tony moved the stick around in all directions to make sure that the control surfaces of his aircraft were responding correctly. They were flawless.

"Smoke One-one ready on the cat," he heard over the radio, a phrase that meant the catapult crew was ready to launch him. His callsign was Smoke 11. Bulldog was Smoke 10.

He then gave the aircraft handlers a thumbs up sign with his hand to let them know that everything was working perfectly and he was ready to launch. This was followed by a quick salute. He then placed his right hand on a small bar, commonly referred to as the "towel bar," that was placed in his cockpit where the canopy closed.

"Stand by," he heard over the radio.

Pressing his back into his seat, he mentally prepared himself for the launch. The pilot could see the blast deflector on the deck raise behind him in his rearview mirror. Once it was fully raised he went to full afterburner and waited.

He was now a bullet in a loaded gun, just waiting for the trigger to be pulled.

"Cat two," said the officer.

Suddenly he shot forward, going from zero to 100 miles an hour in three seconds. Tremendous forces shoved him back into his seat. Once he felt the gear lift off the deck his right hand bolted to the stick. The weightless sense of flight had taken hold of him once more.

"Smoke One-one, airborne," he said back in the radio.

He pulled back and went sailing into the sky. He then lifted the lever for the gear and raised the flaps. Once in the air he let Bulldog take the lead.

"Smoke Flight, heading zero-six-zero, climbing to angle ten," said Bulldog over the radio. "Wish us luck," he added.

"It is wished," came the reply.

The mission had officially begun.

Red Crown: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Have a happy President's Day! Please Review.

Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM)

Advanced Anti Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM)

GPS (Global Positioning System)

HOBS (High-Angle Off-Boresight)

IRST (Infra-Red Search and Track)

Well, I can load the chapters back up now. I forgot something and then I realized that I need to have the chapters up here for the person I want to read it to read it. I almost feel like a complete and total idiot. Anyway, please have fun reading them.