Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [214]
Major demand-reduction strategies could focus on: a) transportation systems and practices, b) commercial building and industrial plant and practice retrofits, c) residential dwelling initiatives with weatherization and appliance updates, d) energy production and power distribution systems, and e) personal and institutional changes in energy use patterns, which could include rationing.
In the scenarios portrayed in the book, the citizens of Mankato look to conservation and demand-reduction activities as a first priority due to constraints on oil and energy beyond their control.
Chapter 57:
The Winter of the Perfect Storm: The perfect storm projected in this book has an abrupt start and limited timeframe—five months—of maximum hardship. The trajectory could transpire differently absent a Pearl Harbor-type event to rally the nation. An incremental transition into the perfect storm, a course we now seem to be on, could be potentially more devastating as incremental, feel-good actions are taken instead of the aggressive, paradigm-busting solutions needed to address the perfect storm head on.
We live in a nonlinear world where global events seldom unfold in an orderly manner. The two great unknowns lurking in the perfect storm are the collective power it might generate through the chain reaction of global forces in collision and humankind’s ability to adjust behaviors and expectations to the new realities. In the past, cheap energy has enabled nations to grow their way through the economic quagmires they faced, but the ballgame will change dramatically with the loss of cheap energy and reduction in supply.
Chapter 59:
Pearl Harbor–Hickam Field: In an effort to reduce costs and streamline operations, the Pearl Harbor Naval Base and Hickam Field were formally merged in 2010.
Chapter 60:
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency): We have learned from previous and ongoing wars how deadly IED roadside bombs, detonated by an electronic signal from cellular or satellite phones or other sources, can be. While electronic jamming can be used to prevent electronic signals from getting through, there are collateral issues in the form of degradation in electronic and navigational systems outside the immediate target area. DARPA is now working on Precision Electronic Warfare (PREW) projects that will jam signals in a limited area—perhaps 100 meters in diameter, without disrupting signals directly outside the target area. The use of sophisticated electronic warfare systems has been a core competency of the U.S. military since WWII.
U.S. Special Forces: The U.S. military has a wide range of highly trained special-forces units in each of its branches to cover difficult situations within their respective areas of control. They include some of the better-known elite units: Navy SEAL teams, Army Green Berets, Night Stalkers and Rangers, Marine Recon units, special-mission Delta Forces, and others. The exact size and scope of operations is classified, but the lethal effectiveness of such units has been proven time and again.
Chapter 63:
Operation Steel Drum: Code names are usually given to significant military operations. The D-Day code name was Overlord; the 1991 Gulf War was Operation Desert Storm; the 2003 Iraqi invasion was Iraqi Freedom. Operation Steel Drum, the name given to the fictitious 2018 Saudi War waged to return the regime to its former leaders, describes the conventional military operation that follows the asymmetric