STRIKFORNATO—Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO. The Alliance’s premier maritime battle staff and the Alliance’s primary link for integrating US maritime capabilities with NATO’s

TIC—Troops in contact

USAFE—US Air Force Europe

VHF—Very high frequency. Radio waves between 30–300 MHz

VIP—Very important person

VJTF—Very High Readiness Joint Task Force

VTC—Video teleconference

VVIP—Very very important person

Acknowledgments

THE INSPIRATION FOR this book came from the many good friends I made as a result of a number of trips to Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. Not only have they shown me great kindness and warm hospitality, but they have shared their personal and family histories of the brutal period of Soviet occupation. The courage with which they regained their freedom in the dying days of the Soviet Union is nothing short of inspirational, hence the dedication at the front of this book. Those events took place more than a generation ago and have passed into history. But in the face of a resurgent Russia, once again a potentially existential threat on the eastern frontiers of the Baltic states and to all members of NATO, they must never be repeated.

But that inspiration needed a catalyst and this book would never have been written without Roger Field. It started at a Sandhurst reunion with a conversation about what I would do when I left the Army. With the irrepressible enthusiasm that has always been his hallmark, he urged me to consider writing. After what seems now feeble resistance, perhaps because somewhere within me I had always wanted to write, I gave in and this is the result. But Roger Field has been much more than agent and editor. A published writer himself, he brought a novelist’s eye to the project and I owe him profound thanks for his creative imagination, eye for detail and the rigorous red pen of his many suggestions, extensive additions and corrections that have gone far beyond the normal call of duty for an editor and agent. In addition, I owe Mark Booth of Hodder and Stoughton particular thanks. I am deeply grateful to him for the enthusiasm and interest he has shown from the start of the project, together with his wise, extensive and detailed advice, to say nothing of the time he has put into the project.

Much of what I write about is based on my own experience—and I plead guilty to simplifying the complex for the sake of the story. However, I have depended on professional advice from those who have operated at the sharp end, particularly at sea and in the air. Maritime advice has been freely given by a former colleague who wishes to remain anonymous, while the advice on air warfare has come from Henry Salmon, a former fast jet pilot.