Bjjonesmylife. Book 2

Patti and I went to KCC on Tuesday like normal; we drove separate cars. I was coming home at noon and she was putting in a full eight. Patti had no clue that I knew she was getting a little more than friendly with one of the newly hired maintenance people at the college.

She had been a long time getting over the last abusive boyfriend. Purnell Miller – from all appearances – seemed like a nice gentleman. As of September I was doing background checks on all new hires for KCC. Purnell’s came back kitten clean.

If she found someone she could be truly happy and comfortable with, I would be happy for her. I would hate to see her move out of the house but she has to live her own life.

Emails I worked on emails and then the paperwork I needed to complete for the month of November; with the holidays it would be a short month. The e-mails and notes left on my desk had to take second place on the to-do list this morning. It was after 10 when Bob Jackson and Mr. Nobles walked into my office.

“I see you are at it again, we saw you on the news again. How are the injured students? God, they were lucky,” Bob said.

“Dan Parker, my director there, is going to the hospital this morning, and then I will get an update,” I replied.

Remembering that I had my JBG laptop with me with my copy of the video files from yesterday a couple of clicks and it was connected to the flat screen in my office. They watched the video of the assault that still had not been released to the public yet.

Then for shock value I played the previous three visits the pair had made to the Warrington campus.

Bob asked, “How many hours of searching did it take to come up with the visits?”

“It was easy after the fact, because we had the van,” I said. I explained about the tag scanner and how it narrowed the search parameters. Then I explained about developing a program to capture more real time data.

“We don’t have those scanners here. Why?” Mr. Nobles asked.

“Simple – all the open street parking defeats their use here. It would take a major reconfiguration of the traffic pattern to work here for us. That or a major fencing project and a parking lot addition,” I replied.

“Oh, OK, something to think about for the future security meeting with the full board,” he replied.

A few minutes later they both left after reminding me that there was a Thanksgiving luncheon at noon tomorrow in the cafeteria.

Dan called a few minutes later with the update on Shannon and Sonny. Shannon would be discharged sometime Wednesday afternoon in time to go home with her family for Thanksgiving, if there were no changes in her condition.

Sonny – on the other hand – was going to be in the hospital for at least the weekend, possibly longer. The surgery needed to place the bone chip back into place and install pins to hold it there had been lengthy.

The old doc I had talked to was a football fan and went out of his way to move muscle, veins, and ligaments instead of cutting them. Even though it had made the surgery lengthy but full recovery a greater possibility and faster. Sonny and his family were more positive today than yesterday. I thanked Dan for the update and asked for another tomorrow.

I received a text from Frank asking if we were having a meeting tonight. “Of course,” I replied.

“Good, I want to speak to you and your management team, I am leaving Washington now. I should be there in plenty of time. I am going out to Morton field first,” he said.

Frank came in with several men and a woman I did not know.

Frank introduced us to Victor Edmonson, director of embassy security, Amy Lockerman, associate director of the State Department and Elmer Hobart from the Embassy Appropriations division.

Frank began the conversations, “We had talked a little in the past about an expansion of your security business and you had clearly stated reservations. We are here to clear those up and convince you to partner with the agency on embassy security.”

“As you know Black Water is finished. The trials ended last week; the courts hammered some of those people hard but they deserved everything coming to them and more. The corporation will be closed and all government contracts ended on February 28 next year,” Frank said.

“That leaves us with a tremendous security hole with no one we trust to fill it, except possibly your organization,” Amy said.

“Every feedback report on cooperation with your group comes back as a five star rating. Here is what we propose. There are eighty embassies that rely heavily on contract security in some fashion or another. There was a separate division of Black Water that was not connected with the Iraq mess, but Congress has ordered the contracts closed anyway,” Victor said and then continued.

“There are 500 employees who are in place and some of them are working in deep intelligence gathering as well as security, something similar to the college gig we are doing with you right now. If we lose them we may not be able to put people that deep again in the short term. That is a huge national security risk.

The state department and the CIA are not bound by the budget limitations that other agencies are and I know you have benefited from the results of that. As a matter of national security, we want JBG to take over those contracts and put those 500 employees under your wing. I can assure you the terms will be very favorable.” Victor added.

Amy continued by saying, “You will need more logistics and we will help you acquire that. I hear you already have excellent facilities that I want to tour someday soon. To be honest, when I parked I never expected to see this expansive office hidden in this type of building.”

“Amy, I would be glad to give you a tour to see what we do here. That goes for the rest of you too,” I said.

Amy continued by saying “In these folders are the contracts with the last year’s payments and cost from Black Water. Pay scales and the benefits that were offered to those employees are included. You would have to match those scales for those employees. These are for your eyes only.”

“Frank has authorized a temporary mid-level security clearance for the seven of you to see these reports. Call him or me direct with any questions, my number is on the folder.”

They left a few minutes after that and left us with a pile of sealed folders, a million questions and a whopper of a decision to deal with.

But first there was a more important question I had for my in-house computer experts – Marcy, Ching Lee, Cindy, Vicky and Jenny.

“Today the news has been filled with reports that hackers from China and Russia have hacked all government employees’ personnel files including NSA, FBI and other top secret stuff. How do we stop our information from being hacked?” I asked.

Marcy replied, “If it is on the internet it will be hacked sooner or later, no matter how often you change passwords or logins. There are countries that have hundreds of experts who to do nothing but hack. The very best security programs last, at best, a year before they are broken. The only way to be sure is not to be on the internet at all.”

“Then what you are telling me is that we need two separate systems in place not connected to each other and one of them not connected to the internet in any way, to safeguard critical employee information,” I said.

“What do you mean?” Marcy asked.

“A separate server, computers and printers to handle all HR, payroll, insurance – any personal information – not connected by wire or wireless to the other computer system. We do not even do updates for the system or programs on it once they are installed and tested,” I replied.

“Make all applications available on-line on the net-connected system then after that everything gets manually put into the separate system from then on. Move all HR data over to the secure system. If someone needs info out of it sent electronically, print that page from the secure system, scan it in a connected computer and send it. It will mean more work and a couple more employees,” I said. “We are getting too involved in too many things and getting too big to let something like a hacker get everything we have on our systems.”

I could see by the looks that I was getting, I had the wheels turning in deep thought.

“I think we should run it by Robert Alderman – our in house IRS tax guy – to see if we can make the tax and payroll end work,” Marcy replied. Then added, “He will be back on Monday – if everything works I am all for it.”

We were working with the CIA and Homeland as it was. Do we really want to get involved with the State Department, I wondered?

Edit by Alfmeister
Proof read by Joe H.

I listened to the rest of the pony show then made my way out, first stop the main entrance. The bodies were gone; chalk marks still marked the spots where the gunmen fell and to add to the mess and a ton of debris from the investigators could be found every where.

The college lockdown had long been lifted, most classes were cancelled those students still left on campus were in various classes, or had gone to their dorm rooms. I met Richard Whitehead from maintenance when I turned to walk away.

“If you will pick up all this debris, I will call the fire company and have them wash down this area for you,” I said.

“I have some barn booms and Tide powder that we can mix in some water; it will get rid of all the blood stains as they wash it off,” he replied. “I will get my people started immediately.”

I went to the security office to make the call. I ended up talking with the chief. He was very sympathetic to my needs. Then I filled in Jenny, Marcy, Ching Lee and Vicky, while Jason and Cindy had been diligently manning the security office for us. Jason’s team had been screening the hundreds of calls that came in, that left me with a pile of notes to go through.

The first order of business after the call for a wash-down was a video-conference call to all security sites and the Island office for an update.

The information from today’s event needed to be passed on to each security site. There were more things that needed to be learned from the data we collected and a process created to make it beneficial.

Marcy, Ching Lee, Cindy and Vicky were the best people at computers we had in-house. To them I directed the following question.

“Can we develop a real time search program that will automatically search the tag scanner data and remove the routine tags? By routine tags I mean those that are supposed to be on campus; students, faculty and administration. Then check those that are left, have they been here before? When and how long did they stay?”

“We used that information today after the fact. Can we turn it and use it real time. Could we have been better prepared and one step ahead of today’s attack,” I asked.

I could tell I had put them all in deep thought. Just how may people came to the grounds daily who were not regulars and why would they be repeat visitors? We found one reason today.

A few moments later Lorrie called to say they were landing.

“Thanks for calling we are leaving for the hospital now,” I replied.

The fire truck arrived for the wash down before we left. I made a mental note to send the volunteer company a donation. It was customary to donate for any non-emergency help they gave. Insurance companies paid when they responded for accidents and fires. Many volunteer ambulance departments had a billing service to do paperwork for them.

There was a billing even if they burned an old barn down for training that the owner donated. Equipment, fuel and turnout gear was expensive. I would have Dan deliver a check in person, then forward the cost to the college account. Marcy had agreements in the contracts to charge for extra services and emergency events.

At the hospital parking area we met the Gibson and Chambers families Lorrie made the introductions. We walked the maze of reporters asking questions without answering them. ‘No comment’ was the phrase of the day.

We gave the families some time alone with their children before we went in. I found an old country doctor writing on patient folders while we were waiting. I asked questions I did not expect to get answers to.

I was surprised that he recognized me from the news conference. He asked how many colleges I supplied security for.

“Soon to be ten and covering over 20 thousand students” I replied.

“What are the conditions of the students?” I asked.

“Four have been released with tetanus shots, a few stitches and band aids. They were the lucky ones,” he replied.

“Shannon Gibson?” I asked.

“The bullets went clean through on both of her legs, they didn’t hit anything important, and lost some blood. She will have matching scars on both sides of both of her legs. We are going to keep her a couple of days. She will get IV antibiotics and blood. She will be OK,” he replied.

“What about Sonny Chambers?” I asked.

“His right femur took a pretty good hit. The bullet took a chunk out of it, luckily it did not shatter. His football season is done for the year, it might be permanent I’m afraid. He is pretty down about it – he needed a football scholarship to be able to stay in college next year, not being able to play in the championship game and possibly the bowl games will hurt that,” he replied. Then added, “He will be here a week then on crutches for four to six weeks after that.”

We went to see Shannon first. Other than a little pain she was in good spirits. She said, “I am glad that the terrorist were such bad shots and your guys were excellent shooters. I just knew they were going to finish me off before security got there. I don’t think I will be doing any dancing at the victory party after the game this year.”

“I don’t think so either. The folks will still be driving you around, most likely,” I said.

Jason and her dad, Glenn, found hunting and fishing as a common link between them. Jason was always looking for new places to hunt and fish, and was captivated by Glenn’s tales of wild hog hunting near their home.

The hogs were big, mean, and smart, and its said, a dozen of them could tear up a field of corn in a night. Glenn was growing his own corn and using it to make whiskey.

Glenn was one of a growing number of independent producers of home grown and bottled whiskey. The laws had been changed in the last few years to allow whiskey and beer to be produced in limited quantities and sold as long as state and federal alcohol taxes were paid and records kept.

I asked Glenn what he did with the leftovers from the brewing process and if he thought that the sweet fumes of the mash were drawing the hogs to his property?

“Well, that could be but not from our operation; the leftover mash – after all the liquid has been removed – we dry and sell it to feed mills to mix with feed stocks for cattle, hogs and chickens. They call it brewer’s grain on the feed ingredient tag.”

“It’s about 25% protein so they mix it with trash grains such as barley and wheat as filler and still end up with the needed protein level to maintain good growth,” he said. “Too much protein gives them the shits.”

“DAD, there are ladies present; its dysentery,” Shannon replied as she did an eye roll.

There was a host of chuckles in the room.

The animal can only process just so much. For fattening, 12% is usually the target – it also depends if they have silage or pasture and use grain feed as a supplement.

“There are a couple of small operations – like bootleggers – who don’t have enough quantity to sell to the mills so they just dump it. They are the real problem and have a problem with the hogs that are following them around. I have even heard tales of hogs destroying their vats and stills. A lot of them have to have armed night watches to keep the hogs away,” he said.

Before the conversation about the hogs ended Jason had finagled a hog hunt for Dad, the Judge and Joey between Christmas and New Years.

I wondered if Jason had figured out that the C130 could carry two jeeps and 4 four wheelers. Damn, that would be an expensive hunt. I better keep that thought to myself. Another thought I planned to take to the grave.

The girls were having a lively conversation with Shannon, her Mom, sister and brother like they were long lost friends. It was almost an hour before we left Shannon’s room. Glenn asked if they could drive the rental car back to Cleveland and turn it into the MAAR site there.

“Sure, not a problem,” Marcy responded.

The mood was different in Sonny’s room, with the injury being more serious. Bob Chambers was worried about the hospital bills; he even wanted to change to a cheaper motel.

“Mr. Chambers, you are not going to have to pay for anything, not even a bottle of aspirin. Keep all the receipts, even for meals; if you eat at the restaurant in the motel have them put it on the room bill and don’t forget to tip 20%. If the college insurance does not pay, our insurance will. I can promise you that,” I said.

“When you get ready to go home we can have you flown or you can drive the rental car and leave it at the MAAR site at the Cherokee Airport,” Marcy added.

Jason read between the lines, “We are going to give you an advance draw to pay for incidentals or whatever you need while you are here. When you leave to go home or drop the car off at Cherokee, put the receipts and what’s left over in an envelope and give it to the manager at MAAR with my card.”

Jason pulled out his money clip. I could not see how many he counted out but they were all $100s. He handed to Bob with his JBG business card. “If your stay is longer and you need more, just call the number on the card.”

We drove from the hospital to the airport and then flew home. It was near midnight before we finally snuggled into bed. There had been long talks on the plane and in the living room. It had been a long day with big emotional and big swings for all of us today. In the end other than Sonny’s lingering question the outcome was a draw.

Sure two terrorist were dead and possibly their controller in custody, but how many more were there at Warrington? Were Sam and Artie safe there or would they be targets for retaliation? Eric was going to get a call in the morning. I wanted to know how big the network was in Warrington.

Edit by Alfmeister

Proof read by Joe H.

I met Jenny, Ching Lee, Marcy and Vicky in the security office with Dan on his way.

I gave Jenny the tag number from the van, “Search the data base for the tag scanners and see if that van has been here before.”

A few minutes later, “Yes, four times in the last two weeks,” she replied.

I gave each day and the time to separate girls, “Follow them on the camera system, and let’s find out where they went and who they met or talked to.”

A search that would have taken hours was reduced to minutes because we had the days and times. We also had the camera numbers at hand for the parking lot, the main entrance and the main hall cameras.

There was another ace that we girls had access to that Dan did not. He could not search our master servers that saved the camera data for eternity. At midnight every day that day’s camera data was automatically sent to the master servers. That was a suggestion from East Coast Security to keep someone from erasing critical data to cover wrong doing at local sites.

One by one, each day’s visit by the two was taking shape and moved to a video file, and that reinforced my suspicions.

I called Agent Payne, “You need to bring the senior state police investigator, the FBI and the CIA agent and come to the security office ‘Now’ – I have more information for you.

“I need to tell them something – they are on a wild hair as it is,” he replied.

Five minutes later all four were standing in front of me and three of them were not really happy that I had called them away – they were far too busy to be here. Agent Payne just stood back and waited.

“The van and those two have been on the college grounds four times, including today. The first time was a week ago Friday, then on Tuesday, again on Thursday and also today.

Jenny had the Friday video with a date and time stamp and it started on the big screen. I had nodded for her to run it on the plasma. It began when they came past the security island. We were able to follow them to the parking lot, then into the main entrance into the hallway where they went into the fourth office on the right. A few minutes after they entered the secretary for that individual left the office and did not return until after the two had left.

Marcy had the Tuesday video and it was almost and exact copy of Friday’s.

The Thursday video was different in that they changed shoes, shirts, and dallied at the van with bags that they left in the van when they went inside, where previous events were repeated with the secretary leaving.

“I believe Thursdays visit was a run-through for today. You already have today’s video. The occupant in office four did not report for work today, neither did the secretary,” I said.

I had their full attention now, “Dr. Sur Ben Ahmeen has not used his ID card on campus today. However, he is not far away.”

“Some habits die hard, like carrying your ID card,” I said as I clicked on the ID card locating program. “He is across the highway in the shopping center parking lot, no doubt watching the activities.”

I handed them several color pictures from his ID card and pictures of the car he normally drive to work from the security island camera.

The FBI, the CIA and the State Police officer almost tripped over each other trying to get out the door.

Agent Payne answered his cell then smiled as he closed it. “Thanks for the five minute head start on those guys; we have him in cuffs.”

“Let’s go set up the news conference and have it ready to go when they get back. By the way, since your people handled the problem, you get to go first. When we finish I want to hear all about the training and cooperation JGB is doing for Eric. If it works so well for him in his area, it should work in mine just as well. I can not let him get all the atta-boys from the bosses,” he said with a laugh.

We were standing outside the security island, waiting for them to get back, surrounded by the media. I organized the folder that I had with me to set up a timeline for the events, from the time they came through the gate until Sam and Artie had killed them. I would take no questions.

I asked Sam and Artie if they wanted to remain anonymous or have their name in the public arena. Both declined to be named.

I took the time while waiting, to schedule a visit by Dr. Rich to come talk with both of them on Wednesday. The plane would wait to take her back to Washington so as not to interfere with her holiday.

“At 12:35 this afternoon the green van you saw being searched, came past the security island and parked in the public access parking lot. The occupants then put on bulletproof vests and other gear in the open and in broad daylight. That gear included AK47 semi-auto rifles and ammo.”

“The JBG security video specialist observed this activity and ordered the college locked down. He also directed two of the closest security cars to respond and security patrols inside the building to go to the main entrance that was the target of the attackers.”

“The two assailants started random shooting before they got to the locked entrance, wounding 6 students. The two security cars arrived to interrupt their attacks on any more students. The security personnel engaged in a shootout with the two, killing both of them,” I said.

Then I added, “The DHS and other agencies arrived and took control at that point,” as I stepped away from the Microphone.

I looked at a text that came in when I was talking. It was from Lorrie. ‘Have left Cherokee and am almost to Cleveland. Just watched you on national TV; you did a good job.’

As I listened to what the agencies said to the media – ‘Lone Wolf’ – no fucking way I thought. They made three trips here, they met someone here each time and that someone was mysteriously absent today. But he was across the street watching.

Why?

Was he making a video to post? Was he reporting to someone? These were all questions I doubt I could get answered here today.

Agent Payne gave his little song and dance for the media and then joined me standing to the rear. Agent Payne began typing on his cell. Then mine received a text message from him.

“You do not believe a single word that has been said, do you?”

I looked at him and shook my head as I mouthed “No, not a word of it.”

He typed another long message.

“Eric said you saw and understood things behind the words, no wonder he speaks so highly of you.”

Two more texts came while I was waiting for the media white-wash to finish.

“We have left Cleveland will be there in an hour the pilot says. Just to verify you need three motel rooms and two rental cars. L.L.” That was the way Lorrie ended all messages to any of us, even on e-mail. ‘Love, Lorrie.’

The second text was from Frank, “Would like to meet with you ASAP about more business contracts.”

“I will call you to set it up as soon as we get back. BTW Thanksgiving dinner is at the house on Friday 1PM you and family are invited if you want to come.” I sent.

Edit by Alfmeister

Proof read by Joe. H

As we attempted to enter the security gate, we found it was blocked by a crowd and cars in line trying to get in. They were being kept off the college grounds by JBG security.

The cars were moving slowly with most of them making a U turn and leaving. The crowd of media trucks was lining both sides of the road with cameras rolling and reporters with microphones peering into each car and trying to get interviews.

As I slowly moved the car forward waiting for those ahead to be directed through or turned around it was easy to see that Dan had made appropriate command decisions.

The security checkpoint that was normally staffed by one person on a normal day was staffed by three wearing the green reflective safety vest that was required by a new federal law for individuals working within 50 feet of a roadway. Even the state police were wearing them on traffic stops.

The winter version was like a flannel-lined bomber pilot’s weatherproof jacket. Of course we had to get them logoed for each college and the ‘Security’ emblem on them.

The damn things were almost 80 dollars each and that was the discounted price, because Marcy bought 300 of them. She had decided that they should be standard for anyone that worked on the runways at the airport. With the M&M additions we needed another 200.

I stopped the car and stepped out to give them moral reinforcement for their professionalism in dealing with this unruly group. No group can be more unruly than reporters trying to break a story and this group was no different. I motioned the three of them together to do that.

I was greeted with, “Hi Boss, glad you are here – we can use the help. They are running Dan ragged back there.”

Back there is where I drove the car with us in. I drove as close as I could. The place was packed with police cars and there were still several ambulances there along with two cars marked ‘County Medical Examiner’.

With laptop in hand, we pushed the yellow do not cross tape down and made our way through the maze to where there was a large group going thru the motions of a reenactment.

We were immediately met by a DHS agent. He said, ‘Special agent George Payne at your service.”

“Eric speaks highly of your organization. He said you were on your way,” agent Payne replied.

“I need an update on the students and my people,” I replied.

“There are six students who were hit by bullets, two are serious but not life threatening, the other four are minor, most likely they will be treated and released,” he replied.

“I need names so we can notify families and get them transportation to be with their children,” I answered.

“Dan has the list, he can go get you the information for you – we have finished with him. Eric said that would be the first thing you wanted,” agent Payne replied.

I sent Dan to get the contact information so I could make the calls; it was another job that would ruin my day.

Before he left Dan said, “None of our employees are hurt, Artie and Sam both have some scratches and abrasions. They had to surrender their guns for testing.”

“Agent Payne, have you secured their van and checked it for explosives?” I asked.

“Van, what van? We have not gotten that far yet,” he replied.

“It is in the public parking lot over there,” I said as I opened the laptop and played the video for him.

There was a mad rush by a dozen agents and police to secure it and move the media vehicles that had unknowingly parked around it.

Bomb sniffing dogs and special equipment were called in to inspect the van.

I went to talk to Artie and Sam while all that was going on. They were shaken by today’s act of domestic terrorism. I told them how great a job they had done, that no students had died. I said that they had saved many lives today and had every reason to be proud of the job they had done. We were very thankful and appreciative of the way they handled the situation.

I was still talking to them when Dan returned with the contact information. I updated the list to be sure I had the correct names for the two seriously injured students.

I asked Dan “Has anyone from the college, HR, the board of directors or the Administration made contact with you?”

“No, not a word and they are not answering any of the numbers I have,” he replied.

The thoughts that came into my head were not kind to administrators. Those people at the security gate were parents and relatives wanting to know if their children were safe. They deserved answers in a timely fashion.

I sought out Agent Payne and the senior state police officer and asked them the same question ending with the same answer, “No contact from them.”

Agent Payne sent an announcement to the media that a news conference would be held in an hour. We both agreed that the parents of those injured should be notified first.

I had the information and went to make the calls. I first started with the least injured and went from there. The first four were easy, flesh wounds treated and to be released today. They were local students; the parents were going to drive to Metropolitan Hospital and would be there in no time.

The last two were not so easy. Sonny Chambers, age 20 was from Dawsonville, Georgia here at Warrington on an athletic scholarship. He played on the football and baseball teams.

He was the defensive captain on the Warrington’s championship Bulldogs and was going to miss the final game this weekend, and more than likely any bowl games. He had taken three bullets in the thighs, one of them grazing the bone.

It hit me that Dawsonville, Georgia was home to Nascar Champion Bill Elliott and his son Chase was last season’s Infinity Series Champion and was to replace Jeff Gordon in the ‘24’ car next year. Damn, what a coincidence.

The other student was Shannon Gibson, star player on the girls’ basketball and softball teams. She and Sonny were dating and a couple from the water cooler talk, Dan had said. They were walking together towards the main entrance. She, like Sonny, had taken several rounds in the thighs.

The fact that both of them and the other students was all shot low flagged that the shooters had no formal training; possibly they fit into the lone wolf category. At least it looked like that to me.

With that style weapon for a novice you simply started at the ground and let the gun rise as it was firing to kill your victim. The fact that all the injured were hit in the legs meant that they were swinging the guns left and right – and fast at that – and they were putting plenty effort into keeping them at that level.

Someone had impressed upon them that an AK would rise and take the shooters own head off if you didn’t keep it held down hard. With the field version that I saw on the ground at the scene, it was not true.

“Is this Mr. Chambers?”

“Yes, this is Bob Chambers.”

“Do you have a son named Sonny at Warrington College?” I asked.

“Yes, are you calling about the shooting there?” he asked.

“My name is Roberta Jones – please call me BJ – I am from the security department. Yes, your son was injured in the shooting. He is in the hospital; his injuries are not life threatening. Are you able to travel to be with your son for a few days?” I asked.

“The wife and I cannot drive that far and I doubt the old truck will make it that far,” he replied.

“Do you think you can be at the Cherokee County Airport near Canton Georgia in an hour?” I asked. “We will have a plane pick you up so you can be with your son.”

“We don’t have that kind of money to pay for something like that. We will have to take the bus,” he replied.

Now I knew why Sonny – as talented as he was – ended up at Warrington on a scholarship. The family did not have the extra money to kick in funds for the higher end colleges. Sonny was hoping to prove himself on the field to get continued scholarships at Warrington or a step up to a bigger college and into the spotlight.

“The flights and motel are not going to cost you anything,” I replied.

We exchanged cell numbers and estimated time that the plane would be the county airport.

Then I moved on to Shannon’s parents. They lived in Cleveland, Tennessee.

“I am calling for Veronica Gibson, are you Veronica?” I asked.

“Yes, call me Verna,” she replied. “How may I help you?” she asked.

“My name is Roberta Jones – please call me BJ – I am from the security department at Warrington College, I am calling about Shannon,” I replied.

I did not get to say anything else; there was a scream and a breakdown and sobbing. A man picked up the phone.

“What the hell did you say to my wife?” he asked.

I started over again, “Shannon was hit by gunfire today; she is in the hospital. She will be there several days. It is not life threatening. If I send a plane to pick you up, can you stay a couple days to be with her?” I asked.

“Yes, of course! We have another daughter and a son; they will have to stay with friends,” he replied.

“No, that would not be right, bring them to be with Shannon,” I replied.

“It will be 2 or 2 ½ hours before the plane lands at Cleveland municipal airport,” I replied.

I got their cell numbers and sent Lorrie to go along on the flight, first to Georgia and then to Cleveland Tennessee.

Vicky called for motel rooms and Marcy called to set up the rental cars.

I went to join Agent Payne in front of the cameras but first there were some things I wanted to check out. There were questions I needed answers to, just to have peace of mind.
Edit by Alfmeister
proof read by Joe H.

It was Monday with Thanksgiving on Friday and I was going to be at KCC until noon for the next three days and then take a four day holiday weekend. KCC was in the holiday mode already. The college basically shut down from Thanksgiving until January when the spring semester started.

We were all looking forward to having four days of family and friends together without having to do intense training and interviews. After the holiday, it would be back to the grind for the M&M projects. The M&M projects and the Rochester College Police Force all went active on January 1.

East Coast was going to have to bust ass to get all the systems in place and activated in between all the holidays.

At Michigan our 15 employees were already on payroll and on site along with the 15 DHS to oversee the installation. I was sure that DHS was going to have them install special cameras in certain areas because they were so eager to be on site so early.

Jason, Dad, Judge Slaughter and Joey along with several clerks were going to Minnesota for two weeks to oversee the installation there after the interviews at Michigan.

It was a working vacation; Jason did not know that I knew they had scheduled a deer hunt with muzzle loaders and a bobcat hunt with center-fire rifles with a hunting service.

Roseanne had come to me with the interview schedules that Jason had set up there. There were some days that Jason was only working afternoons and some day’s mornings, leaving Roseanne and Cindy to interview those days. The list of hunting equipment they needed to take on the fax was a dead giveaway.

That was going on while the first fifteen from Minnesota – the best of all the applicants – were here getting aggressive training. Those fifteen we felt were the best and first choices to be in a supervisory role.

The girls all had lists of things they were going to do assisting the Moms who were the chief chefs. The entire gang had made it known point blank that Jenny was not going to stand for hours cooking.

Jenny’s feet, back and legs were getting multiple massages every day now to ease her discomfort. She swore the boys were already in training. They were moving and kicking so much, she just knew they were going to be born with black and blue bruise marks.

We had just visited the doctor on Friday for another checkup. Dr. Peterson, Susan as she insisted we call her, was very pleased with the blood work, Jenny’s weight and all the tests she had taken. Even though Jenny thought she was gaining too much, Susan insisted she was doing great with carrying twins. We had multiple snapshots from the sonogram to carry back to the family.

Lisa and Sandy (my mom) had been scouring the contents of attics for the last week or so, digging out all the baby things they had stored for years.

Bassinets and cribs, bronzed baby shoes and all kinds of sentimental things were making the rounds almost daily, bringing back precious memories for the folks.

The bassinets and cribs, little rockers and chairs that I never remembered had been sent out to be refinished. A couple of miles down the road were a wood-workers shop that specialized in that kind of work.

I helped Lisa and Mom carry the things to them. There must have been a dozen bib-overalled old gentlemen that worked there; the youngest might have been 65. Gray beards, old corn cob pipes and ball caps were the uniform of the day. One would have thought we had carried them furniture from the Smithsonian by the way they carried on over the things.

From the conversation they had with Lisa, they restored a lot of furniture for her. It was a regular event that every time she went with Jason she went to every antique shop she could find while he was working and always brought back something.

With the morning work finished at KCC by 12:30, I was at the refreshment center having a loaded salad for lunch with my brood, when all the cell phones rang at the same time.

This was not a good thing; it was an emergency call from one of our many sites. Something terrible was going on somewhere that required immediate attention.

I answered the call while the other girls were looking at the accompanying messages.

It was Dan Parker, the director of our site at Warrington Community College. “We have two shooters on campus. We are responding in force,” he said.

“We are on our way, do what you need to do. Keep me informed when you can,” I replied.

All six of us were standing and headed for the door. Lorrie was on the phone to Carson at the airport office, “Get us a plane and pilots to Warrington North Carolina ‘Now’ they have shooters on campus!” she yelled into the phone. We are on our way.

As we headed out, the girls ran to their office to get to get their go bags and laptops. We met Jason and Cindy in the hall, “I’m coming with you,” they both said.

We were at Morton field in record time. One of the leased Lear 55’s was on the terminal building tarmac with the engine away from the steps running and the other was spinning up waiting on us to board.

While we were boarding, the pilot was communicating with the tower. The seat belts were not even fastened when the plane started moving.

Warrington was almost two hours in the Lear 55 with the turbines fully redlined. There was little we could do but be observers on the way. Then we could help sort out the mess when it was over and we were there.

We would be there to support my people who would have to live with the decisions they made and explain it to hundreds of investigators, each looking for someone to blame.

With it just days to Thanksgiving, it was a horrible way to start the holiday. Minutes after we were in the air the story was all over the major news outlets. The girls were busy pulling up the Warrington camera feeds. I instructed them to record everything; who knows how long we would have possession of the masters.

I took one call after another. Marley, with my personal cell number, thought she could get an inside scoop for her parent network. “We are en-route, no comment at the present time,” I responded as I closed the conversation.

Eric called but again I had nothing to tell him other than we were on the way and I would fill him in as soon as I knew something.

“We have agents on the way there; they will know who you are. Just display your JBG badges,” he replied.

We pieced together the camera video. It took a while to get back to the beginning with so many cameras to look at. But at last we had it.

At 1PM a van had parked in a public parking across from the college. When JBG took over security we changed the traffic flow. No longer could the public park directly in front of the college buildings. They had to park in public parking lots and walk across a small park and recreation area to get into the main entrance.

The company that scanned the tag numbers from the tag readers, did not flag the tags when it drove past the security post. That is a 30 second process that completed before the vehicle gets to the security gate.

The two occupants of the van boldly donned bulletproof vests, helmets and other gear including AK47 rifles and ammo packs in broad daylight, before walking towards the main entrance.

One of our better people – Alvin Masters – was manning the security desk and watched as the two geared up. He immediately sounded the alarm and directed two of our patrol cars and all security to the main entrance to intercept the two men.

Warrington College had had a campus shooter the year before JBG contracted the security. The College Board was receptive to any security changes that we recommended. Security was number one, period.

One of those changes was a special lockdown alarm that went over the PA system as well as a special ring sequence on the fire alarm system. All college doors in the complete complex switched to auto-locking, requiring an ID card to open.

Another change was to add a policy that prohibited propping any door open for any reason. We had enough cameras in the halls that several professors had been disciplined for doing just that.

The two shooters had started randomly shooting at students and the building as they got to the park area. The two patrol cars arrived in time to pin the shooters between the locked main entrance and the park area.

One car was driven by Artie Shaw – a former police officer – and the other by Sam McHale – former army. They turned the cars into a defensive position as they stopped and exited the cars. The sirens did as they are supposed to do; draw attention.

The shooters turned their attention to the sirens and officers, filling the cars with bullet holes and busted glass.

The video showed that Sam and Artie both started shooting at the two suspects at about the same time. I could see the shooters reacting to hits on the bulletproof vest.

Even the 40 caliber would not penetrate the vest with the distance between them, but the bullet carried enough energy that it was like getting hit with a baseball. It would get your attention and quick.

Sam changed tactics and began shooting for the guy’s unprotected legs and groin area, with the first shots connecting. The shooter went down to his knees and turned, trying to get away.

The guy trying to turn opened up another lethal unprotected area, the arm pits. Because of mobility and comfort wants, an area under the arms was lightly armored in all but the most expensive vest.

Sam immediately took advantage and emptied the rest of his clip. The camera was situated in a position so that I could see Sam change clips as the shooter fell face down on the concrete.

The other shooter was on his knees but still firing at Artie. From Sam’s position the same weakness was exposed. The shooting ended a few seconds later with number two lying on his side, not moving and bleeding out.

The whole process from the time they drove into the parking lot until they were both dead took fifteen minutes.

We tried our best to see how many students were hit – it was not possible to get a count – but at least three or four for sure.

I had the girls send me still shots captured from the various videos to my laptop. They started with them coming past the security gate, getting set in their gear, the walk to the main entrance and finally the shoot-out.

With Ching Lee’s help – she was the computer video expert – the different pieces of video were put together into one video. By then, we were landing and quickly made our way to the MARR site to pick up a car and race to the campus.
Edit by Alfmeister
proof read by Joe H.

Thanksgiving was just days away. The moms had big plans for a family feast. Because things had worked out so well at our house last year, it was going to be used again this year. With all the tables, chairs and the setup we used for the Labor Day picnic stacked neatly in the garage, it made sense. The guest list was immense.

The only thing lacking was enough refrigerators to keep the prepared food in. It was an easy fix; Lowes was more than happy to deliver two more of those commercial stainless refrigerators to place in the garage. Since they had rented the shopping center from us, we received a great discount from them.

All of the building materials we needed for the airport came from them, Tony had a open contact. You wash my back and I will return the favor. Tony commented that we must have been getting it at near cost.

The Michigan group had returned home, after careful deliberations for director I had chosen Lemuel Hickman. We were still picking the best we could find, but our arrangement with the agency made the choice even more challenging.

With the fifteen we had already trained plus the fifteen from DHS, we had a start on the 100 needed employees. East Coast was going to start on installation of our camera system the day after Thanksgiving. Cindy and Mark were flying there to supervise the office set up.

Roseanne and Jason were going to join them the following day and interview for the seventy remaining positions out of one hundred and twenty applications that had passed the 1st background checks. Once they had narrowed the pick to 80, DHS was going to look at them. And then they were on to Minnesota for the same thing a week later.

Sixty of the eighty were ex-military. I know it could be viewed as wrong but I had a soft place in my heart. They had given so much and were being offered so little when their time was up and not that long ago. I was in that spot. Training the ex-military was a breeze. A light run through on the physical training and several days’ computer training along with the HR manual should handle most of it. They could follow instructions or take the lead and knew the way things should be done.

The first group of Minnesota applicants was coming back on the plane that carried Roseanne and Jason to Michigan for in depth training at the gym; twelve of the fifteen were ex-military. With Roseanne and Jason gone, Corry and Vicky were going to do the HR training.

The thirty cars had been delivered to the M&M colleges; only 10 of the cars were new. Same as before, older cars from MAAR went to the security department and the MAAR fleet was upgraded by 20 new cars.

Tony and all the Jones & Jones employees were going home for Thanksgiving, taking with them a lot of the equipment. All of the concrete batch plants were now gone along with all the concrete trucks and associated equipment.

There was still some dirt working equipment – as Tony called it – a couple of graders, a dump truck or two. All the big mining dump trucks had been leaving for a week or so loaded on lowboy trailers one at a time.

The final blacktop finish coat was completed the day before the blacktop plants closed for the year.

The maintenance building for support equipment was completed and nearly full. All the equipment that Frank had bought for us on-line was at the site and all of any needed maintenance had been completed.

The experimental snow removal system had been finished and been given the gold star (pun intended) by the engineers and the FAA, all that was needed was snow for a real test.

The finalized Airport emergency plan drawn up by the county had been accepted by the FAA and our insurance company. It was a relief to be able to put the certificate on the wall.

Bob’s Construction work was slowly coming to an end on the terminal building. With the concrete work done and brick work finished all that was left was for the electricians, drywall, painters, and trim out to finish.

Crash’s replacement house was finished. The only thing lacking was the occupancy permit. Crash did not want to move into it and said so flat out.

“I feel like I am part of your special family. I never realized how lonely I was there by myself and how much I missed being part of a family. I am perfectly happy being here and with the room I have,” he said.

I knew the girls felt the same way. Between them and Marlene, he was always going somewhere. Any time there was an empty seat on a flight he was always invited to go along. He always had plenty to eat and clean clothes.

I wondered if the agency was interested in renting a safe house in the area; I would have to ask. The worst case, we could make it a layover lounge for the pilots, so they could sleep between flights, not that I wanted to do that.

The FAA and TSA were coming after Thanksgiving to install the x-ray and body scanners. They were already posting the jobs. Talk about the gravy jobs they were going to be!

The agency certainly was not going to run its people through the equipment. Our charter customers were not going to go through it either. Those two groups were the bulk of the activity happening at this airport, unless something was going on that I did not know about.

Today was my last full day at JBG until after Thanksgiving. My two weeks of working from home was over for a few days. Patti and I were each driving a vehicle to KCC in the morning. I had meetings and personnel issues to deal with in the mornings and I was planning to leave at noon.

I was sitting at my desk after another day of training, reading over a report that Kelly and Randy had put together about Aadam’s four day gathering. It came from our e-mail system.

I wondered about all the addressees, and there were a lot of them! The problem was it allowed a lot of people to have knowledge of our internal e-mail address.

My thoughts were interrupted by a text message from Captain Peters. He wanted to know if I was in the office and what the link was to do a video conference with me.

After I sent the link I wondered why he needed it. He had done several with Kelly from Kelly’s video conference room to me.

I found out when the screen went live; I was looking at Captain Peters’ office, I assumed and several of his people that were here for the training.

“I just had this installed today – you are the first one I have used it with. I was fascinated with how well your system worked when I was at Kelly’s office, way better than a conference call; the video just adds so much more,” he said.

“Have you read the report about the Aadam’s clan weekend you were e-mailed? There are some things I want to clarify and follow up with you.”

“By the way, the four officers are no longer employed by Rochester. It was something to do with improper use of city e-mail, equipment and time reporting. I am going to send you pictures and background information to you just in case they show up looking for a job with your company.” He added, “They are not going to be working for any police departments around here anytime soon.”

“I am going to send you a large file for your police force at the college. The chief and the mayor want to do a media PR when you officially start on January 1. By the way, the commander of the SWAT team wants to run his team through your course at the gun club whenever possible. That course has become a huge conversation piece around here. You know how everyone feels about training,” he said. “Whatever the fee, the chief will pay.”

I spent an hour going over the report and other topics with him. We were even interrupted by the chief to say hello.

Edit by Alfmeister
Proofread by Joe H.

Tuesday and Wednesday were full on-the-mat training. The Michigan group was split up so half of them could get the computer training and the other half started on the mats with the Rochester group.

With Ty, Kathryn and Herman from the agency working as trainers for us while the Rochester group was here, plus Ching Lee and Vicky, we worked them hard.

Ty and Herman tried their best not to show it, but they were getting their jollies working the Rochester officers over. The class for today was getting control of a suspect, how to keep control, how to do it without hurting them and then how it could be done very painfully. It was something that we taught every class.

Ching Lee and Vicky taught how to use the padded sticks from a defensive posture and as an offensive tool. By lunchtime the donut officers were physically worn to a frazzle. Afternoon on the mats was out of the question for them.

By luck I had anticipated that this would happen. I had asked Judge Slaughter to give overviews of privacy rights and an overview of aggressive tactics from the court’s prospective.

The Judge was spending a lot of time with Jason even going on some JBG business flights. I suspected something was in the wind and knew it for sure when Jason suggested that the Judge speak to the group.

Judge Slaughter was preparing for the lecture circuit in the courts down season. He was beginning to slow down some. When he was younger he spent all his time off on the bay crabbing and fishing. With his dry sense of humor and his knack for storytelling, he would be great on the lecture tour.

The judge must have been preparing for awhile and with help. He had a laptop with a PowerPoint that Marcy helped him set up to run. He called it, “What If and Why Not”. I would have loved to sit through it, but the Michigan 10 who were on the mats this morning rested through more computer training and the other 10 joined us trainers on the mats for four more hours.

I had taken two calls during the morning mat session. One was from Frank; that lasted 10 minutes in Arabic. He wanted to move up the C130 flights by a day and extend it by a day. The pilots had already agreed but he wanted me to OK it with Lorrie.

“Chicken,” I kidded.

With the new pilots there was no problem on our end. Jack had signed approval on the instrument check rides yesterday and felt sure that he would on the remainder of them today.

I found Lorrie and brought her up to date on Frank’s request and asked if it was a problem. “No, not at all,” she replied. I could have sworn I saw dollar signs in her eyes. Marcy’s quest for profits was beginning to rub off on her.

The second call was a surprise for it too was in Arabic. It was made from the Rochester College security front desk.

It was the leader of the poster group that I had confronted when we were there; I recognized the voice. He introduced himself as ‘Aadam Abdul Mohammad’

“We met at the fence a few weeks ago. We had a private talk while my aids went to summon the artist. Do you remember any of the things we talked about?” he asked.

“Yes, we talked about how the weather was in Bagdad in the spring and compared it to the weather in Rochester, was one topic,” I replied.

“Yes, good – I wanted to make sure I was talking to the right person,” he replied. “I have a favor to ask, as you call it.”

“OK, what can I help you with?” I replied.

“I am having a special celebration with friends and family from other cities Thursday, Friday and the weekend. I wish your approval to have the artist display their work those four days. We will keep the litter picked up and remove everything as agreed on Sunday evening,” he said.

I thought, “A meeting of the terrorists,” before I answered.

“Yes, it will be OK, I will inform my security people so they will not bother your artist,” I replied.

He thanked me and we had another five minute general conversation before he ended the call.

I called Kelly Pepper and explained what was going to take place and that the artist were not to be bothered, along with the agreement that cleanup was as usual Sunday evening.

The next call I made was to Eric. I was sure DHS most likely knew what was going to happen in Rochester but I wanted Eric to hear what I knew directly from me.

Mable sent my call through without delay, even though Eric was in a classified meeting. As usual we spoke in German.

“There had been chatter from several sites that there was going to be a meeting of the clan, but we have not been able to pinpoint the exact location,” he stated.

“Randy has already called in; he was startled when Aadam walked into the security office. It was the first time anyone had seen him without his security detail. Aadam made them wait outside the office while he talked with Kelly to get your phone number.” Eric said. “Kelly suggested that he use the office phone for quicker response. It was quick thinking on Kelly’s part to keep him from getting your personal phone.”

“The research group has finished with the checks on all of your Rochester guests. You can relax; they all came back clear. Captain Peters has worked with the FBI several times with good results. The consensus here is that we should access his knowledge of the area,” Eric replied then added.

‘How do you feel about letting him in on the operation? We are there working under your cover. The decision is yours,” he said.

“It is your operation. How many people do you want to know about it?” I replied.

“We think having an asset inside his department may be beneficial,” Eric relied.

“Do you want me to have Ty bring him up and discuss it now as a conference, or are you going to come over?” I asked.

“Let’s do it now; this meeting is going to last the rest of the day, and tomorrow I need to be on the west coast,” he replied. “Did you get the video conference room completed?”

“Yes, Marcy had it set up in my office because I use video conferencing so much. It works so well with our college camera systems; it gives me the feeling of being there. I like to read facial expressions when I talk to my people,” I replied.

I hit page on the other phone, “Ty, Kathryn and Herman, would you accompany Captain Peters to my office, please.”

There were two in my office so multiple calls could be made if necessary. In reality it had come in handy more than once when Cindy and I were deep into work.

By the time they made it to my office, Eric had established the video link from their MTAC room.

”Captain Peters, we are on a video conference with Eric Robinson, regional director DHS. You have already met Ty, Kathryn and Herman – what you did not know is that they are DHS employees,” I said.

Then I continued, “Special agent Ty Deshields works for JBG part time, his day job is Senior Field Specialist DHS, Special Agent Kathryn Dykes and Special Agent Herman Grant are both part-time employees for JBG,” I replied.

For an hour we had a three way conversation about the developing threats in the Rochester and how JBG was working with the agency to provide cover, logistics and other classified assistance.

There were lengthy questions about the event that Aadam had planned for the weekend and what the Rochester police department knew.

Captain Peters made several calls and had several returned as increased surveillance was planned from the JBG Rochester site, along with additional agents.

The TSA director for the North East increased airport security and the no-fly list.

As the pieces came together from the various agencies, Eric determined that Aadam Mohammad had invited 100 Muslim leaders to his little meeting. More than half of them were under surveillance from various agencies for terrorist suspicions.

Eric delivered some bad news to Captain Peters, four officers of the Rochester police force were actively involved and feeding information to Aadam Mohamed and reinforced that JBG involvement was to remain his knowledge only.

At the close of the video conference Captain Peters turned to me and asked, “Are any of the Agency people on the list you want as Campus police?”

“No, Eric’s crew could be gone with a text message,” I replied.

“I’m going to recommend approval of your Police request. Can you arrange a flight home for us tomorrow morning?” he asked.

“You don’t want another walkthrough with the shoot-don’t shoot course?” I replied.

“Hell no, it would be a great course for our SWAT team. I want to get four people reassigned to some shit detail so they can be watched,” he replied.

When Lorrie picked up the page, I told her to schedule a flight to Rochester at 8 in the morning.

I finished the day back in the gym training with both groups. Peters informed his people they were going home in the morning. Before they left for the evening, he used the meeting room with his officers.

When I returned to my office later there was a stack of papers on my desk from the fax machine. It was the completed approved documents for the Rochester College Campus Police Force.

Developing a firm chain of command that could be implemented at Rochester for the police force was now a priority.

Edit by Alfmeister

Proof read by Joe H.

Sunday was quiet restful and relaxing. In the afternoon we went to the mall again to shop for more maternity clothes for Jenny. This time they needed to be winter clothes. It was the 14th of November and fall was showing the coming winter chill early.

The mall experience was better this time. It was packed with people hoping to get an edge on the Christmas rush. Security was very heavy – both outside on the parking lots and in the mall. I even noticed tag scanners at the parking lot entrances.

Sunday evening we made a big supper; the full spread. With all the training going on for the next three weeks, good meals would likely be a scarcity.

The agency people were at the gym at 8 sharp. This was another hand-picked group, same as before. Ty handed me a brown office folder sealed with tamper tape and marked ‘For your eyes only’.

“You’re one of the few that I know of with this kind of access,” he replied. “You can read it later,”

Ching Lee, Vicky and I led them to the mats and started. We were still on the mats when Dad led the Rochester group in with Captain Peters.

“Thanks Dad,” I said. “Does Lorrie have you busy all day?”

“I’m going back to the airport and help set up the parts room. A shipment of parts racks came in this morning that are to be assembled in the side hangar next to the temporary office,” he replied. “Call me when you need me to move this group.”

The first place I carried the group was to an office meeting room for introductions and a brief question and answer session. Besides Captain Peters, there were 4 women and 10 men; four of the men were ex-military.

All of them had 5 years or better of service with the department and a variety of life experiences. The first place they were going to start was with Jamie. Peterson had said that our people carrying firearms were a concern for his department. This group was going to get the same training my security employees received. Other than the shoot, don’t shoot this should be a cake walk for them. If they had never been through one of those, it would be a humbling experience.

It was noon when Dad brought in the 20 from Michigan to start the process. They and the Rochester group were carried to Island Buffet for lunch and the bus was full. I sent Roseanne and Jason with them. I stayed and ate in the refreshment center with the agency group.

After lunch the Rochester group went to the gun club for their first attempt at the shoot-don’t shoot course. I went with them to assist Jamie.

The Michigan group went with Roseanne and Jason. The afternoon would be spent on getting their ID cards and all the things that HR needed. It would take two, possibly three days to do orientation, teach the computer system, how to monitor the camera surveillance system and how to document their time and daily routine. By the time they were finished that part I hoped that the Rochester group would be on their way home.

This group from Michigan was somewhat unique compared to our other sites. This entire group was bilingual, a first for JBG security. We had seven languages covered. It was part of a new approach to college security and very necessary at the M&M campuses.

Both of those colleges catered heavily to foreign students and according to the agency, there were a sizeable number who were sympathetic to radical ideologies.

Before the ten days were up I needed to pick one of this group to be site director, then give him the list of people who were to always be split on different shifts from the agency. I had decided that this time around, no one at the site was going to know the agency people were there.

Several from this group were good candidates for the position. They had held leadership positions in their previous jobs.

It was 4 when we finally called it quits at the gun club. We had spent all afternoon there and I had one group of demoralized people from Rochester, including Captain Peters.

The shoot-don’t shoot course at the Queen Anne Gun and Hunt club had been years in the making. It was the oldest gun club on the shore and had a membership list of VIP’s from local industry and politics. Senators, Representatives, former vice presidents and many high ranking military officers were on the lifetime members list.

A person or group could book almost any kind of hunt – anywhere in the world – from the club contacts. Jason, Judge Slaughter and Dad were lifetime members. When we first started using the club with the girls, I used Dad’s family membership. When we started the security business, JBG purchased a corporate membership.

The clubhouse could seat 500 people and regularly did for the Ducks Unlimited events, the Eastern Shore Goose Hunting Guides Association, the Delmarva Whitetail Association and the Maryland Wild Game Club. The Maryland Trap and Skeet Shooters Club had a monthly tournament and the Delmarva Pheasant Club held all their annual events there. The commercial caters in the area fought to cater those events.

The club had a rifle range, an archery range and multiple trap and skeet shooting sites. It sold ammunition at discount rates to members by the truckload.

The shoot-don’t shoot course had been built by volunteers years ago as a different shooting challenge and to break up the boredom. I really think that some of the old timers had OK Corral fantasies the way it was laid out.

The course had steadily improved as technology improved. It was a fifty station course with mock buildings, streets and wooded areas with popup and appearing targets that a shooter had to decide which ones were threats. Some bore disguises and others did not. Each of the stations had several different scenarios to challenge you. All of it was controlled remotely by radio control.

There was a fee to use the course that I gladly paid. The fee paid for the two club employees to operate the course as you made your way through. I required all JBG security people to pass this course with a 95 point rating. They went through the course twice to get a possible 100 points.

A point was deducted if you missed the target, or you shot one that was not a threat or if you waited more than five seconds to shoot or declare a non-threat.

The best – and I gave wiggle room on the times the first run through – for the Rochester was 75 points. The average of the 15 was 60!

I did not need to say how poorly they had done; they knew it and they would feel much worse tomorrow when they saw the scores of the agency group. I was not going to tell them that the agency group had been through the course dozens of times on the taxpayer’s dime.

Jenny, Marcy, Lorrie, Vicky, Ching Lee and I carried the groups to the Farmers Buffet Diner for supper. Dad drove one bus and I drove the other. One of the first things I had done when I came home from the Marines was getting my commercial driver’s license because I was thinking about driving a truck to make a living. This was the first time I had driven a vehicle that I needed that for.

Before I took the Rochester people to the motel I offered them the use of our rental pool, in case they wanted to go anywhere or check out the night life in Washington or Baltimore (that were only an hour away). They took four.
Edit by Alfmeister
Proof read by Joe H.

On Thursday morning as Patti and I passed by ‘Morton Airport Lane’ the two C130’s passed overhead departing for another classified destination. They were scheduled to return Sunday afternoon. In the back of my mind, I wondered if it would be Monday or Tuesday instead.

We had a busy day planned for our pilots on Monday. Four of the six pilots were scheduled to leave early Monday morning. The first plane was heading to Michigan to pickup the 20 that had passed physicals and background checks. They were to get training for 6 days for 12 hours a day along with the 10 DHS guys that Eric was sending there. It was better to pay them overtime than keep them over the weekend and another week.

The other plane was going to get the 15 Rochester police group.

I was going thru the e-mails at my desk when Marcy sent me a FYI text. In it she said my Dad is going to handle all the bus tagging for us”. He knew the inspector, they are going to give him the certificates and while they are finishing the repairs he is going to go get the tags at the independent DMV site. Then he is going to take them to Island sign to get the old county logos taken off and ours installed.’

I guess he was serious about wanting to start working today. He and Mom were pumped up about his retiring and more over that he could work for us as he felt like it. At supper last night I asked, “Why did you retire if you still want to work?”

“Jason talked me into finally doing something I had been thinking about for a long time now. Every day I got up and drove across that damn bridge, cuss asshole drivers in both directions. All summer long I had to sit in one traffic jam after another.”

“Jason said the best thing he ever did was to come work for you. He said that Lisa and Jason are having the best time of their lives since he retired. He added, if he wants to go fishing for a few days he goes. He said he has been to places he never would have been able to with out your help. Jason, Lisa, Mom and I are going to vacation together down to Naples this winter when you have an empty house available. Lisa has talked Mom going to a private beach that she and Jason like to go to.” He replied.

I just smiled at that revelation. I knew the beach Lisa was talking about. Jason had let it slip last winter when they returned, that Lisa had a natural all over tan. It was the same suit optional beach that my mates and I went to when we went to Naples to inspect houses.

The folks may be retiring early but were still young at heart and still frisky. I knew Mom and Dad were swinger’s years ago but I never thought about Jason and Lisa in that light. I wondered if Jenny knew. It was one bit of information that I was going to keep to myself one of those things that you carry to the grave.

The next day as Patti and I were headed back to KCC, I received a text inviting me back to the budget meeting. Because of the rushed adjournment yesterday, I went back for a short question and answer session.

Bob Jackson started the questions, “The new dorm will be finished next year. You made no additional budget request to add manpower for coverage of them, why?”

I responded by saying, “With the completion of the dorm Mr. Bozman is planning to retire along with the reduction of student problems and the statistics that prove it I plan on using his budgeted salary and benefits cost to hire more part time individuals that will not require benefits. That change will allow enough part timers to handle our needs,”

“So you don’t forsee a supplemental budget request?” He responded.

“No, we will have adequate coverage,” I responded.

A couple more minor questions from the remainder of the board and I returned to my office.

The rest of the morning was quiet. After lunch I received a call from Lorrie. She asked if I could be home half an hour early. There were several aviation issues that needed immediate attention and she wanted me there to help with the decision making at the gym.

The first pressing problem for JBG at Morton field was a serious pilot shortage. When Delmarva Air Charter & Florida Vacation Rentals as a JBG company first started, we had 4 planes and were using a dozen pilots that also worked for major airlines out of BWI that lived in the area.

Those pilots received their work schedules from the airlines a month in advance. The way it worked in the past was those with hi seniority could pick and choose the flights they wanted it was a union perk.

This perk allowed the pilots if they wished to pick flights and take long layovers in great cities depending on how many hours they had flown in a given week. They could with the right planning have a three day weekend in Miami, San Francisco, New York on the airlines dime. They also had a shot at international flights like London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo and other great cities where they got even longer layovers Again, in case of the airlines all that was needed was for them to fly a minimum number of hours they had to fly for the airline in order to keep the full time pilot status.

When they were not flying for the airline they were flying for JBG. The kicker into this arrangement was the FAA rules and Union rules limited the hours a commercial pilot could fly in a month. Because we were so small, we were able to work around all those problems.

With the cost of crude down the price for airline tickets came down and passenger numbers went up for the airlines so they were busy and the pilots flying more at BWI. To compound that problem we had added the Bombardiers and now the C130’s.

To even further complicate the problem was the added flights to the Naples vacation houses. From November to March was Lorries busy season and we had added 20 more houses this winter for a total of 40 vacation houses. Marcy had bought 15 and contracted for five more with an additional five that may be available at a higher rate if we needed them.

It was almost too easy to get pilots to work for JBG because the airlines were not hiring any full time pilots. To keep cost down they had developed a stand-by plan. It was another way of saying we have only part time work for you.

The four of our pilots that were flying the C130’s exclusively for the agency were ex-military, trying to get full time positions with the airlines. The airlines were not hiring any full time pilots they offered 20 hours of flight time a week as on call pilot. When the airline called, you had an hour to respond and accept the flight or they called the next pilot on the list.

Those four pilots withdrew their applications from the airlines and became full time for JBG. The FAA rules still applied and we were still seriously short pilots.

Ten applicants were coming in today starting at three for interviews. The agency had checked all of them and signed off on 5 of them whom they would accept on agency flights. Those five were ex-air force in their 40’s would be able to fly for us.

The other five were airline pilots who had had enough and wanted to be home for their families more. They were in their mid fifties, retirement age. I suspected they were going to play the sick time, vacation time thing, just fly the minimum for the airlines and then retire when the airlines started putting the heat on them.

Marcy, Lorrie, Roseanne, Ty and Jack Rush (our chief pilot) and now I were going to sit in on the interviews. Jack was going to inspect their credentials and logbooks and as an instructor had access to FAA records.

If we decided to hire them he would give them their flight test sometime in the upcoming week. They would have to demonstrate instrument landing under the hood and other skills to Jack’s satisfaction along with a pilot’s physical with the JBG company doctor. All that would be before we would offer them a position and a salary.

The first one was Josh Ransome. I could have sworn it was a young Pierce Bronson when he was escorted in. Jack took his log books and analyzed them as we reviewed his information and started asking questions. Josh was on the list Eric approved and was ex-air force.

The interviews were to last an hour each and six were scheduled to be done tonight with four more tomorrow night. The five who the agency endorsed were going to be the first ones.

Some of them brought wives and kids or girl friends who Kendal allowed into the gym to sit in the refreshment area or work out while the interviews took place.

We were finished shortly after 9. Marcy and Lorrie had prepared a standard set of questions to ask all of them. Jack hit all of them hard with aviation related questions and Ty with the what-if scenario along national security lines.

Jack scheduled the test flight for each of them; three were for tomorrow morning and the other three for Saturday morning.

I worked Friday morning at KCC and participated on the interviews in the afternoon. Those interviewed in the afternoon were all senior airline pilots with thousands of flight time and – as I suspected – were in the process of retiring. They wanted part time work; that suited our needs as well as theirs.

Saturday afternoon when all the check rides were done, Lorrie called all of them to set up appointments to offer them the jobs, our salary offers and to schedule the physicals, the final piece necessary.
Edit by Alfmeister
proof read by Joe H.

Wednesday morning Patti and I were back at KCC. I had three days of meetings to deal with so I could take the next two weeks off. I had to do my part of the training at the gym.

There would be enough trainers working that if there was an emergency at KCC I could leave. We did need to make a good impression on Peterson and the Rochester Group to get the final approval to be the Rochester College Police Force.

My first meeting was with the board. It was budget time, time to begin work on next year’s budget. Patti had been putting together all the necessary reports for the last two weeks.

I needed to defend my current staffing levels and yet justify the normal pay raise for my employees. The reports that Patti had put together would do just that.

There had been only two campus crises in the last year. One was the Courtney – Maryanne incident in the spring semester. The other was the ID card problem at the beginning of this year’s fall semester. There was even a reduction in the normal day to day student issues.

The dorm repairs from the crane incident had been completed on time and we ended up with a third of the dorm renovated to new standards. I knew the building department was going to request funds to renovate the rest of that dorm.

Insurance had paid Mr. Bozman’s salary all summer because the dorm repair was result an insurance claim. That freed up more funds in my budget.

Overtime in my department was down enough to offset some of the funding for the raises. I had not used even half of the emergency operations budget in the last year so some of the dollars in that budget item were negotiable to cover raises.

My salary was by contract. I had three more years at the fixed level. I had intended to keep extending the contract as long as they were willing to give the state retirement plan.

I was now wondering if that was the smart thing to do. With JBG security growing so fast, my time might be better used there than here. The flip side to that thought was that everything was going so smoothly at the senior management level at JBG; the best thing might be to stay away. I had heard of no disagreements or even arguments between the girls at all on any issue.

My thoughts were interrupted by Patti setting the final print of my report, budget request and hand-outs on my desk and telling me that I needed to be going.

I spent the next three hours listening to departments make the pitch as to why they needed double digit increases in funding for next year. I wondered about the rational in paying some political activist speaker 200 thousand to give a speech that could not be recorded or quoted.

A box lunch was served from the cafeteria and I still I had not had my allotted time. It was almost three before I was finally asked to make my pitch. I could see all the board members looking at their watches and shuffling in their seats.

I passed out the thin handout and quickly covered the highlights. I spent a few minutes covering the numbers and why. Then I did what none of the other presenters had done all day, “Any questions?” No questions were asked as I made my way to my chair.

I thought I should have been done and out by lunch as I looked around the table at the other departments waiting.

One of the board members suggested the rest of the departments be put off until tomorrow, a remark that was quickly accepted. As disgruntled department heads left I stayed in my chair to give the grumps time to clear out of the lobby.

I walked out with Bob Jackson and Dean Nobles, “Marcy might let you borrow her bull whip – if you promise to return it – to speed things along tomorrow,” I said with a laugh to Bob.

“Don’t tempt me, they know they are not going to get those kinds of increases, but they just have to ask,” he replied.

I had been sitting so much today that I went straight out on the gym floor and started working out to loosen up the body. It was hard to believe that after spending so much time training the agency bunch that my body needed more exercise today.

I worked out an hour before I took a 3 minute Marine shower and joined Marcy’s executive meeting in gym shorts and tee shirt with my hair still wet.

I listened at the list of defects the inspection site found on the two busses and the cost to correct them. Two grand later they would still be ready to pick up tomorrow afternoon.

There was a knock on the door and I looked up to see Dad and Mom standing there. That was unusual; Dad rarely came to the office, but I could see they were both smiling.

“I am looking for a job,” Dad said, “I hear you might be hiring, it doesn’t have to be one that I can wear shorts and a tee with wet hair either,” as he looked at me with a grin.

To answer all the questioning stares he explained. “I am retiring. I signed the papers today. I have enough built up vacation and sick time to carry me to May. Jake told me to come see you and get a real job or he was going to kick my ass when I called him a few minutes ago. He and Mindy say Hi.”

After all the hugs and congratulations we decided to carry them to supper at the new Outback Steak House. The call a head seating worked great for that.

“You are still keeping your class A with all the endorsements?” I asked.

“Oh yes, never give up anything, you know that,” he replied.

“Good, we need a bus driver for a couple weeks starting next week,” I said.

“You don’t own any busses, do you?” he replied. “Never mind – I should know better.”

Jenny called Jason and Lisa to see if they wanted to join in the celebration. It was a family night with a real cause to celebrate. Both our parents now worked for us. JBG truly was a family business.

I had a quick thought about where and what the 15 agency people were doing right now. I bet they were all stressed waiting for their ops to begin in a few hours. I gave them a toast for good luck and safety with the last beer of the evening.

Edit by Alfmeister

Proof read by Joe H.