I've been thinking about this for quite a while. Rush Limbaugh brought my thoughts into focus when he had a Lt. Colonel, former special ops guy, on his show.
http://youtu.be/FDw6snlQ3P0
I've said before that I was active duty Navy, and that my job was to track submarines. I was an Ocean Systems Technician, Analyst. I've been out for 24 years, though. I was stationed in Bermuda when the Soviet Submarine went down off the coast of Bermuda. It was 1986. We were conducting a drill at the time. In a drill, we play tapes for the people on duty and run war game scenarios. You know, "The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming!" My job, since I was day staff, was to get the teletype message off the teletype (drill only) and take them to the drill watch officer. We also ran normal operations. Normal operations weren't usually very busy in Bermuda, which means there wasn't a lot of traffic real time. We usually ran the drill on specific equipment, having certain equipment dedicated to live time. I won't go into detail on the equipment due to security reasons.
I hear the teletype go off and go to check for drill messages. I read the message. I'll never forget the phrase that jumped out at me. They gave the contact number assigned to the contact, which after 24 years I don't remember and wouldn't post if I did remember, and said it was "on the surface spewing green smoke." I'll never forget that phrase. I started scanning the message for the word D R I L L. which usually is posted top and bottom of a drill message. It should have had at the top * * * * * * * D R I L L * * * * * * all across, and at the bottom as well. If you give a drill over the speaker system, you start with, "This is a drill," state your message and then say again, "This is only a drill." I couldn't find drill anywhere on that message. I was also familiar with plotting, and there were no drill contacts with that number. I only knew drill, as at the time I was a drills administrator. I wasn't familiar with the real time contacts.
So, I take the message to the real time watch officer. The drill was over, because we had an emergency on our hands. Every analyst available hit the floor and looked for the history of the noises we monitor. We did find the time the submarine experienced an explosion, but it took an experienced analyst to interpret it. We also found the signature of when it did an emergency surface. I never got to see it, though, being a day worker at the time.
We report to Norfolk (at the time), who reports to Washington, D.C., though possibly through further parts of the chain of command. We got word down from Norfolk that they wanted ALL data from a certain time period to be sent to them. Even if we record something and play it back later, the time marks will show when it actually happened. That meant all data concerning the event was confiscated. We had nothing left to prove we saw it. I know, because it's not classified if it doesn't have time or frequency marks on it. There was talk of making laminated badges with the signature of the explosion and emergency surface on it. That was prevented when all information was confiscated.
Here's what happened as I was told. Someone fired a nuclear missile (not armed) with the tube doors shut. That means all the propellant blew up inside the torpedo room. We were told it killed three men right off the bat. The submarine then did an emergency surface, where they blow all ballast tanks and come up just like Hunt for Red October. They actually jump a little out of the water, they come up so fast. The United States had already offered to rescue all the sailors, but Russia denied the help. They sent a Russian surface ship down to get the men off the submarine. It was actually the first time I had seen the signature of a real time Russian Surface ship, beyond "fishing vessels" that station over our sound equipment. After all the men were taken off the submarine, they put depth charges on the submarine and put her on the bottom of the Atlantic.
Our "Airedales" dropped sonar buoys in the water as the submarine was sinking. I got to hear those tapes, and it's the eeriest sound I've ever heard, or expect I'll ever hear. It sounded like a woman screaming, with intermittent explosions as it imploded.
The reason I tell this story is because that information went immediately right up the chain of command. And they weren't even our soldiers/sailors. They were Russian and we were right there to rescue them. I also am able to tell this story because I'm past my contractual gag order. I signed a document saying I wouldn't talk about what I did for 10 years after I got out, and it's been 24. The President was well aware of the events happening in Benghazi. He knew within minutes. It was something like 4:00 in the afternoon. At 5:00 he was scheduled to be in a meeting, so he wasn't on the golf course, unavailable. And the Lt. Colonel in the call to Rush was asked just that question: what would happen if they couldn't reach the President? He said there are standing orders to preserve life. Was life preserved? No. We lost an Ambassador, his assistant and 2 former Navy Seals.
Here are my questions for the President:
There are rumors that you watch EVERY single drone attack, were you watching this time when the drones were in the air over Benghazi?
We are hearing that the embassies have an emergency alert that trips live video of what's happening to alert Washington, D.C. Did you receive this video or is there something wrong with our communications systems? How big of a security risk is that?
I know information of this nature goes up the chain of command to the very top. As in my case, the United States can not offer to rescue Russian personnel without the President's approval. Are you saying that someone stopped the upward flow of information and usurped your authority on this matter? If so, who stopped it? Why were you not alerted to the fact that an Ambassador couldn't be found in a hot spot?
Unless the standard standing orders of preserving life were suspended after you became President, why were they not followed? I know from my experience in the Navy that no lower level military person would do something on their own. Our men chose to disobey after the third request. No one can override standing orders except the President. Once again, who usurped your power as President and told them to stand down?
Why was help not sent until you had confirmation that the Ambassador was dead?
What did Ambassador Stevens know that you wanted suppressed?
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