word stencilled on it in black. He reversed it so I could read it.
It said: Transformation.
‘Your first mistake is that your focus was too close,’ he said.
‘You need to stand back and look at it from our perspective.
From above. It’s not just Armored Branch that is going to
change. Everyone is going to change. Obviously we’re going
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to move towards highly mobile integrated units. But it’s a
bad mistake to see them as infantry units with a few bells
and whistles tacked on. They’re going to be a completely
new concept. They’ll be something that has never existed
before. Maybe we’ll integrate attack helicopters too, and give
the command to the guys in the sky. Maybe we’ll move into
electronic warfare and give the command to the guys with the
computers.’
I said nothing.
He laid his hand on the file, palm down. ‘My point is that
nobody is going to come out of this unscathed. Yes, Armored is
going to be professionally devastated. No question about that.
But so is the infantry and so is the artillery, and so is transport,
and so is logistics support, and so is everyone else, equally, just
as much. Maybe more, for some people. Including the military
police, probably. Everything is going to change, major. There
will be no stone unturned.’
I said nothing.
‘This is not about Armored versus the infantry,’ he said. ‘You
need to understand that. That’s a vast oversimplification. It’s
actually about everyone versus everyone else. There will be
no winners, I’m afraid. But equally therefore, there will be no
losers. You could choose to think about it that way. Everyone is
in the same boat.’
He took his hand off the file.
‘What’s my second mistake?’ I said.
‘I moved you out of Panama,’ he said. ‘Not the Vice-Chief.
He knew nothing about it. I selected twenty men personally
and put them where I thought I needed them. I spread them
around, because in my judgement it was fifty-fifty as to who
was going to blink first. The light units, or the heavy units?
It was impossible to predict. Once their commanders started
thinking, they would all realize they have everything to lose. I
sent you to Fort Bird, for instance, because I was a little worried
about David Brubaker. He was a very proactive type.’
‘But it was Armored who blinked first,’ I said.
He nodded.
‘Apparently,’ he said. ‘If you say so. It was always going to be
a fifty-fifty chance. And I guess I’m a little disappointed. Those
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were my boys. But I’m not defensive about them. I moved
onward and upward. I left them behind. I’m perfectly happy to
let the chips fall where they may.’
‘So why did you move Garber?’
‘I didn’t.’
‘So who did?’
vVho outranks me?’
‘Nobody,’ I said.
‘I wish,’ he said. I said nothing.
“What does an M-16 rifle cost?’ he said.
‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Not a lot, I guess.’
“We get them for about four hundred dollars,’ he said. ‘What
does an Abrams MIA1 main battle tank cost?’
‘About four million.’
‘So think about the big defence contractors,’ he said. ‘Whose
side are they on? The light units, or the heavy units?’
I didn’t answer. I figured the question was rhetorical.
‘Who outranks me?’ he asked again.
‘The Secretary of Defence,’ I said.
He nodded. ‘A nasty little man. A politician. Political parties
take campaign contributions. And defence contractors can see
the future the same as anyone else.’
I said nothing.
‘A lot for you to think about,’ the Chief of Staff said. He
hefted the big Transformation file back into his drawer.
Replaced it on his desktop with a slimmer jacket. It was
marked: Argon.
‘You know what argon is?’ he asked.
‘It’s an inert gas,’ I said. ‘They use it in fire extinguishers. It
spreads a layer low down over a fire and prevents it from taking
hold.’
‘That’s why I chose the name. Operation Argon was the plan
that moved you people at the end of December.’
‘Why did you use Garber’s signature?’
‘Like you suggested in another context, I wanted to let nature
take its course. MP orders signed by the Chief of Staff would