The PACOM Command Center changed its emphasis from watching the events in Indonesia to directing the response to this hostage situation.
Across the Ko’olau Mountains, at Kaneohe Marine Station, a clanging alarm bell roused the Marine Force Recon anti-terrorist team from their slumber. They jumped from their bunks, donning their combat outfits as they raced toward the flight line. The black jump suits contrasted sharply with regular Marine cammies. The Kevlar vests under the combat harnesses gave them a bulky, sinister appearance.
Three large green MH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters were warming up for the quick flight from Kaneohe to Hickam Air Force Base, next to Pearl Harbor. The fully outfitted teams ran out onto the flight line and jumped in the choppers just as the pilots completed their pre-flight checklists. Within minutes of first receiving the alarm, the ungainly birds were enroute.
The small Marine barracks on Pearl Harbor Naval Station also got a call from the PACOM Response Team. They rushed out of their barracks, grabbing their weapons from the Armory on their way to set up roadblocks. They sealed access to Hospital Point, controlling all activity entering or leaving the Point. This was easily accomplished since there were only two roads leading to the small, isolated housing complex.
The gates to Pearl Harbor slammed shut. No one could enter or leave. All ship traffic in the harbor was stopped.
So far the activity had all been scripted. The hostage response plan was designed to get everything in place as quickly as possible to contain the situation.
The next part would not move so quickly. They had to gather as much information as possible and plan the response. The only constant that they all knew for certain was that there would be no negotiation.
There had been no contact from the terrorists. The waiting game began. This was the hard part. Waiting ground on the nerves as they sat, unable to do anything to rescue the family of one of their own.
Evacuating the small isolated community began. The first few houses were easy. Marines in full combat garb rushed into the houses without bothering to even knock. The surprised residents were shuttled on to launches waiting at Charlie Landing on the windward end of the Point. The launches carried them up the harbor, past the shipyard and the submarine base, to Merry Point Landing, well away from the danger zone.
The houses within view of Quarters G presented more of a problem. Brenda Calucci was awakened by a Marine pounding on her back door. She and her son, still in their nightclothes were hustled down the shore, through a hole cut in the fence, to Dry-dock Four. They joined the residents of the last five houses on First Street, huddled together and chattering nervously, trying to find out what was happening.
Two Marines managed to approach the other side of the duplex from the terrorists’ blind side to evacuate the family that lived there. They implanted two sensitive listening devices on the shared wall, but so far nothing had been heard.
21 Jun 2000, 0430LT (1530Z)
“What do we know so far?" Admiral O’Flanagan demanded as he stormed into the command center.
The admiral had been enjoying a few hours of rest at home when the call arrived. The boat ride from his home on Ford Island to the SUBPAC landing had been at full throttle. He had not wasted any time in the short dash to the SUBPAC Building or the hurried descent into the basement.
His aide and most of his senior staff were already in the command center. Some of them had been there to monitor the events off Nusa Funata; the rest had just arrived after being summoned to deal with the latest crisis. They were all focused on the house over at Hospital Point. The high priority communications lines between SUBPAC and PACOM up at Camp Smith were humming with activity.
LT Pyler answered the admiral’s question, “PACOM is in command of the situation. The cell phone is still working but the batteries appear to be dying. They have heard all three of the family and at least three terrorists. The one that we think is the leader, some character named Ashad, was heard telling Peg that they were going to demand that SAN FRANCISCO divert to the nearest Indonesian port. PACOM has some voice experts coming to help determine their country of origin."
He continued, referring to a large-scale map of the base. "The area is surrounded and cordoned off, here, here and here," pointing to the roadblocks. "I don’t think a centipede could sneak through. No direct contact from the terrorists yet.”
“Alright, we let PACOM worry about this. What about SAN FRANCISCO?” The admiral continued.
His operations officer turned from his desk and answered, “Last communication was about four hours ago. They were working on setting up the relay of targeting information to the NIMITZ for the Tomahawk strike. Everything appears to be working OK so far.”
Admiral O’Flanagan turned to his Chief of Staff and, in a low voice, asked, “Chief of Staff, what do we do about telling Jon Hunter what is happening here? Clearly we don’t divert him anywhere.”
Captain Hughes was a senior submariner who hoped to occupy the admiral’s seat in a couple of years. He thought quietly for a few moments. He answered in a carefully measured tone, “Admiral, this is a tough one. Jon has every right to know what is happening with his family. It's the humane thing to tell him. Normally we would HUMEVAC him back here as fast as possible. But this isn’t a normal time.
