by Kurt Winans
Although the airfield remained quiet at first, the action suddenly picked up around three-thirty. First there was a pair of small reconnaissance aircraft to lift off, and they immediately assumed a northwesterly heading. Then with the aid of long-range scopes, the observation teams could clearly see that a squadron of cargo planes was being readied for takeoff as well. Some were being loaded with trucks and equipment, while others were taking on hundreds of troops. As the planes then took off in rapid succession and assumed the same northwesterly heading, the observation teams had their answer.
In similar fashion to his equal at Red River, the leader of the covert observation team contacted his superior to report.
Then in using his required coded message said, “A heavy flock has left their Sheppard, and they are well suited for the journey.”
As a precaution, the American military had maintained a presence just inside the state of New Mexico since not long after Texas became an independent nation. Their purpose should it be required, was to guard against either the inability or unwillingness of Texas to halt people crossing through a narrow strip of their republic from Mexico into the United States. Positioned as a defensive measure north and west of El Paso along Interstate-10 and other routes of entry, those forces had never shown any signs which could be misconstrued as a threat towards Texas. As a consequence of that benign posture, most citizens or Texas military personnel barely took notice of their existence any longer. Based upon that lack of interest, and in realizing that Texas probably viewed the moves as nonthreatening, it was relatively easy for the United States to slowly yet methodically increase the level of troops and equipment at multiple locations within a few miles of the border.
With the massive blockade of the Navy in position and activated along the entire coast of Texas, the time had come for those increased forces of the Army and Air Force within New Mexico to take on a significantly different role. Although those men and women were not aware of it, they would become another planned aspect of the multi-pronged attack based on their mere presence. While separate forces in Arkansas and Oklahoma would initiate covert incursions toward two military bases in the northeastern portion of Texas, the forces near Fort Bliss would only appear to be an invasion force.
As for the engagements which would eventually take place within southwest Texas, they would be referred to by those in the White House situation room as the El Paso front. The mission specifications which had been planned out in detail were clear and concise, although many senior officers in the field believed that the actual execution of the operation would probably be more difficult than originally envisioned. Using both ground and air missions to accomplish their goal, the American military was charged with taking back control of Fort Bliss and Biggs Army Airfield from the occupying military forces of Texas. In addition, they were to secure the surrounding area of the base from any possible counter thrust while inflicting minimal impact upon the civilian population.
The plan began innocently enough, as a semi-truck pulling a single trailer was driven south to the border checkpoint roughly ten miles east of Guadalupe Mountains National Park. That site for the incursion had been selected because the highway was one of two routes between Carlsbad New Mexico and southwest Texas. The other route was of no consequence, as it would not be needed in the current endeavor.
Supposedly carrying a large load of furniture, the semi slowed to a stop at the border crossing. The border guard assigned to the graveyard shift asked the driver for his entry paperwork, while the rear doors of the trailer opened so that twenty armed soldiers could jump out. In less than a minute they had rushed and subdued a small group of unsuspecting guards to gain control of the facility, and as those actions were unfolding, the guard speaking to the driver briefly diverted his attention to see what all the commotion was about. That was an unfortunate mistake, as when he returned his gaze toward the driver, it was met with the barrel of a handgun.
With the station secure and unable to communicate a warning to other border crossings, word was passed to the follow-up convoy. Within five minutes the first of them arrived, and a long string of thirty trucks carrying troops and equipment rolled across the border while barely slowing down. They continued to the southwest, and after navigating the curvy section of road which skirted the National Park, the last six trucks stopped at the highway junction a few miles to the south. A barricade intended to halt any traffic with intent on heading west toward El Paso was then established, while the remainder of the convoy continued south on Texas Highway-54.
Slightly less than an hour later, after crossing into the central time zone and losing another hour because of it, the two dozen remaining trucks reached the town of Van Horn and the junction with Interstate-10. With the time at their location being just a few minutes past three o’clock, the force of troops and equipment was an hour ahead of the six trucks they had left in their wake. However, they were now in synchronized time with the covert forces in every other region of Texas and that of the blockade. With that in mind the Major in command of the garrison realized that the diversion plan along Interstate-40 had been fully implemented, and that other incursions were also under way.
As for his position in Van Horn, it offered strategic importance because Interstate-10 was the main traffic artery for all points west. By seizing the westbound onramps and blocking the use of Texas Highway-54 at the north end of town, the American forces now controlled the only two highways which connected the western tip of Texas to the remainder of the republic. Then in order to strengthen their grip and create a defensible stronghold, a small section of the rail line running through town was removed and a handful of trucks with supporting troops were parked at equally spaced intervals along the runway of Culberson County Airport just east of town. As a result the military forces of Texas could not use either ground or rail as a means to aid their forces at Fort Bliss, nor could they land at the nearest airfield to Van Horn in an attempt to reopen those options.
Shortly after reaching and securing all of their intended targets, word was sent to superiors within New Mexico so that dozens upon dozens of SUV’s could cross into Texas by way of various routes to the north and west of El Paso. Some traveled the short distance along Interstate-10 until reaching US Highway-54, where they turned north to assume their holding positions near Fort Bliss. Others traversed the Trans Mountain Road of Highway-375 before intersecting US Highway-54 at a more northern location. Once there, that second group of SUV’s headed north toward the border to rendezvous with forces coming south along the highway from New Mexico. The border crossing was then taken in a synchronized and efficient effort before any warning communications to the Texas military forces could be sent out. Then with a few hours to work with before the first light of day, a long convoy of trucks rolled into Texas. They were soon followed by a squadron of helicopters with but one simple task to perform. In order for the incursion to be effective, Biggs Army Airfield on the grounds of Fort Bliss would need to be neutralized.
News of the trucking revolt along portions of Interstate-40 reached Austin just a few minutes before three o’clock in the morning, but immediate action was not taken. The junior staff member who received the news was hesitant to wake President Marcus Stoddard at such an early hour, especially on a holiday. Then after several minutes of contemplation, he reached for the phone.
The cell phone on the bedside table rang several times before President Stoddard could answer it, and through the fog of his current half-awake state he listened to what was being conveyed. After shifting to a more upright position and shaking his head in an attempt to gain some focus, he asked the man to repeat what had been said.
Within seconds of hearing the news for the second time, he asked, “And when did you hear of this?”
Through the line he heard the reply of, “About ten minutes ago sir.”
“And have you notified anyone else?”
“No sir. I felt that you should be the first call.”
“Alrigh
t, then this is what I want you to do. Contact number seven at Fort Hood and inform him that he needs to have the matter investigated. Is that understood?”
“I understand Fort Hood sir, but who is number seven?”
The phone was silent for several seconds, as even though he was still groggy, Marcus Stoddard knew that he had slipped.
In attempting to backpedal, he replied, “What? Did I say number seven?”
“Yes sir.”
“Well I honestly don’t know why I would have said something like that. But you will have to excuse me young man, as for all practical purposes, I’m still asleep. What I meant to say was that you need to contact the central military command at Fort Hood.”
“Yes sir. I’ll do that right away.”
“Thank you. And please call to wake me at seven. We should know more about what’s going on by then.”
“Yes sir. Seven o’clock.”
Having immediately followed through with the instructions given to him, the young junior staffer contacted the central military command at Fort Hood in Killeen. Upon hearing the specifics of what was encountered by local law enforcement, and the apparent severity of the revolt, the senior officer on duty issued an order to deploy multiple planes and troops. Within minutes the first of those planes took off from Sheppard Air Force Base near Wichita Falls with instructions to investigate and then rectify the problem.
At shortly after five o’clock the same junior staffer in Austin received another call in response to a strange event, but in that instance he contacted his President immediately. Throughout the previous few hours, the port authority office near Galveston had monitored several radar signatures headed toward the bay. Although not uncommon on any given day for such a large and bustling port, there were some which had taken up clustered and fixed positions roughly a nautical mile from each entrance point into Galveston Bay. Initially their identification was unknown, but the first light of dawn and a message sent from one of them revealed that the mysterious vessels belonged to the United States Navy.
President Stoddard groaned and rolled over in disgust as the phone on his bedside table was once again ringing loudly. For a brief instant he thought that it must be an overcast day in Austin, as there was very faint light for seven o’clock at the current time of year. Then he looked at the screen on his phone and understood why.
Picking up the phone the President heard the voice of his young junior staffer once again, and in a gruff tone asked him, “Do you know the difference between a quarter after five and seven o’clock?”
Understanding that he had now done the unspeakable of awakening the President twice before an instructed given time, he replied, “Yes sir I do, and I’m sorry that I had to disturb you again. However this is important.”
Without shifting his position as had been done during the first call, Marcus Stoddard asked, “Alright, what is it? Has there been a new development on Interstate-40?”
“No sir. Well that is to say, nothing has been reported from that location as of yet sir.”
“Well then what is it?”
“It’s a message from the port authority office at Galveston Bay sir.”
Just hours after the covert operations within or around the Republic of Texas had commenced, President Harwell and his entourage, which included Heath Bishop, boarded Air Force One for a flight south toward San Juan Puerto Rico. Beyond his desire to be out of the country for a short period of time if any of those various operations were to somehow go terribly wrong, the President had planned for several weeks on venturing to the capital city of Puerto Rico. He understood that multiple levels of positive press could be realized as a result of a single day trip to the Caribbean territory, and the potential voting gains.
To begin with, there was the topic of a combined statehood for the United States held Caribbean territories which included the nearby Virgin Islands of St. Croix, St. Johns, and St. Thomas. He had mentioned to the nation during a previous State of the Union address that he believed such a union could exist, and since that time the President had expressed to certain members of Congress that he maintained a commitment to eventually making that desire a reality. Then with much communication and subsequent understanding of what each island cluster hoped to achieve within the joint venture, they prepared for the steps which would be required for statehood. Although there had already been an adopted joint constitution of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands which was palatable to the United States, and the preparation of a petition which must be submitted to Congress for statehood, there were other required legal steps to overcome.
In knowing that none of what had been accomplished up to that point would matter if the next and most critical obligation was not met, Jordan Harwell had come to San Juan so that he could personally address some of the citizens. For those who qualified for the privilege, there would be a referendum vote in three days on the first of June. The results of that vote would reveal the will of the people, and the President of the United States wanted to inform them and others that he could assure the remaining requirements for statehood would be met if they voted in favor of doing so.
As a secondary purpose to his presence, President Harwell understood that many of those residing within the island territories could become voting citizens in the next election if statehood was achieved. He believed that in the grand scheme of events his overture to appear in front of them before the referendum vote could yield significant results between the present time and November. Therefore he had passed along instructions to his campaign manager to arrange the current trip to Puerto Rico.
The reasoning behind the decision was obvious, as President Harwell believed that he could increase his chances of reelection by tapping into a demographic which had never been available to any of his predecessors, their opponents, or those he would face off against in the coming months. It was true that based on population Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands would offer few Electoral College votes, but the impact of gaining the confidence of the voters in this particular region could be substantial. He knew that going through with his plan could be somewhat of a long shot, and his campaign team had made attempts to remind the President that he should consider if the little or no positive gain from such a trip would be worth the effort. However in spite of typically heeding the advice of his campaign manager, on this particular point he disregarded the stance of the man while reminding him that the same opinion was voiced about Alaska four years prior.
Now in a time zone one hour ahead of Washington D.C., and two or three hours ahead of the various operations within or around Texas, Air Force One touched down at the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport just southeast of San Juan Puerto Rico. Soon after, Jordan Harwell was whisked away to where thousands who had assembled would hear his speech of encouragement. Seated next to him as the motorcade and the Presidential limousine pulled away from the airport tarmac was his most trusted protectorate, and he was glad to have him there.
Turning slightly to face Heath, the President said, “Well it’s nice to have you back by my side on full protective detail. How does it feel to escape the confines of the White House?”
“Thank you Mr. President, I’m glad to be back. And I must admit that it does feel good to be outside once again.”
“I don’t blame you Heath. That basement area of yours must have gotten old.”
“Yes sir. But living down there in secrecy for a few months was necessary, and it has paid dividends.”
“Indeed it has Heath, indeed it has.”
“Yes sir. And I wanted to thank you again for the added security measure of this morning. I know that it was rather strange, but I believe it was warranted.”
“Well I’ll admit that having you board the plane via the rear door with members of the press was unusual. But as you said, rarely does anyone look in the direction of those individuals, nor do they take any pictures of them during the process.”
“Yes sir. And when we return to Washington D.C. later tonight,
I think it would be prudent to incorporate the same security measure.”
A few moments later the Presidential limousine, which was often referred to as the beast by members of the Secret Service, arrived at the first of its intended destinations for the day. When all around him was deemed to be secure, the President exited and waited briefly while being introduced by the Governor. Then he strode confidently toward the podium so that he could address all those in attendance.
The President concluded his speech by requesting, “I ask you the citizens of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to vote in favor of the referendum this coming Thursday. Should you do so, then I believe that both the House of Representatives and the Senate will pass a joint resolution to grant you statehood. When they do that, all which shall remain to make your statehood official will be my signature upon that joint resolution. And I can promise all of you that I will sign that document with absolutely no reservations.”
A thunderous applause followed for an elongated time, and the President basked in the momentary glory. Then with a wave of appreciation he smiled and exited the stage before heading off to lunch with the Governor.
While in transit to the airport afterwards, Heath observed, “Mr. President. If I may say so, your closing remarks got the people excited about the possibility of statehood.”
“I agree Heath, and I think that both the speech and luncheon went well. Now if the voters here will act on their enthusiasm, things could work out.”
