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ribbons under his aviator wings, including a Silver Star and a Purple Heart, and a pair of mirrored glasses was suspended from the button of his right shirt pocket. Brian noticed that he walked with a slight limp over to a briefing easel set up behind the senior table.
    “Gents, welcome to WESTPAC and Task Force Seventy-seven, the first team.
    The . B. Hood is, of course, no stranger to IF Seventy-seven, and you have a first class reputation as Red Crown. I believe I see some of the same faces here as when I outbriefed you all seven months ago. On behalf of Commander Task Force Seventy-seven, we’re glad to have you back.p>
    Things have heated up here since you left in January.”
    He turned to the briefing easel and flipped down the first page, then proceeded to give them an update on what ships were where in the Tonkin Gulf attack-carrier formations. He reviewed the mission of the Red Crown station, which was to act as the focal point for air-control and air-defense operations for the entire Gulf area, with secondary missions of providing the air-navigation reference point for any U. S. military aircraft operating over northern Vietnam, as well as being the seagoing base for two search-and-rescue helicopters.
    Brian listened carefully. Because he was a department head, Brian was designated an evaluator in the ship’s watch bill. As evaluator, he was going to be the senior officer in tactical control of the ship’s operations when he was on watch. The evaluator was the captain’s direct representative on watch in Combat. All of the module watch supervisors in Combat reported to him for direction.
    If the ship was subjected to a surprise attack, he would have the authority to launch missiles and fire the ship’s guns at an attacker without having to wait for the captain’s permission. Brian was under no illusions that he would be qualified technically on day one as evaluator, but he also understood that his main job was to ensure that the highly trained watch standers in Combat did their job, namely, to launch the ship’s defensive systems in the critical seconds between detection of a raid and impact. He also knew that, by the end of their first forty five day stint, or line period, on the PIRAZ station, he would be expected to know a great deal more.
    The commander emphasized the importance of the ship’s mission in terms of the fact that every pilot and aircrewman who flew the Gulf of Tonkin depended on Red Crown.
    “You guys come up on the air as Red Crown, you speak with complete authority for air control, traffic control, missile defense, and search-and-rescue. You guys have done all this before, but I want to stress to you that where you’re going, there are no more drills and exercises. From here on out, it’s all for real, gents.”
    The commander paused for effect before going on.
    “I understand you’ve had your full-scale briefings from CINCPACFLEET back in Pearl. What we have to give you today is current dope.
    Lieutenant Henson over there has a detailed brief with the current overlays for the CIC folks, the buffer zones for Red China and Hainan Island, and the daily flight plans from the carriers. RMC Batter ton, next to him, needs to meet with the Comm Center people, and I need to discuss a few things with the CO and XO. Other than that, I’m done, unless there are any more general questions.”
    Before a general question-and-answer session could get going, the captain intervened by rising from his chair.
    “Commander Wingott, thank you. I’m sure there are lots of questions, but we’re limited on time here. The engineers have to get on with refueling, and the Supply folks need to get on the beach to chase some parts and top off the consumables. We’ll have the full Weps and Ops teams assembled in CIC in ten minutes for the lieutenant’s briefing. Our Radioman Chief Furman there will escort your RMC to Radio. Gents, let’s get rolling.
    Commander, let’s go up to my cabin, shall we?”
    The