Return to Glory: The Fourth Year

By Richard J. Armona

President Foster evades assassination once again as he continues to stay steps ahead of the evil cabal headed by the notorious George Soppos.
In Return to Glory, The Fourth Year, Foster must face the greatest threat the world has ever known. Coming from the CCP a dastardly plan of world domination has been uncovered and Foster must decide how to confront the communists.
Facing civil unrest at home and having to hit the busy campaign trail for his reelection, Foster shows the steely nerves honed by his years of military service as a Navy Seal.
Foster must depend upon his intelligence agents to gather the proof he needs in order to take drastic action.
The secret alliance with Russia may be all he needs to succeed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665530286

Richard J. Armona

Richard J. Armona weaves the threats with the successes in this, the fourth year of President Foster’s Administration. Will Foster be able to end the threat of world domination by the CCP and win reelection? This is the fourth book in the Return to Glory series. Richard J. Armona has written Return to Glory, The First, Second and Third Years, along with The Lesson, a fictional thriller for pupils in grades five through eight. Armona retired from teaching sixth grade at Berkeley School in Bloomfield, NJ in 2005 after thirty-three years of service. A graduate of William Paterson College in 1972, he was active in Skull & Poniard Fraternity as historian, and lettered in basketball and golf for WPC. He presently resides in Leesburg, FL with his wife Kathleen, the love of his life.

Book preview

Chapter 1

THE RUSSIAN BEAR MISBEHAVES

42516.png

A fter President Foster was briefed by newly appointed CIA Director Kathleen Martin, he presented the intelligence report to the members of the Inner Circle which included Defense Secretary Richard Rommel. Russian troops had been massing along the borders of the Ukraine and Kazakhstan for months as a show of Russian muscle. No one in Washington was very concerned since Vice President Winston Fleming and Secretary of State Franklin Donohue secured the energy agreement with President Karmazov thus guaranteeing that the Russians would be much better behaved on the world stage.

U.S. satellites had been keeping a watchful eye on the military build-up by the Russians and President Foster was in touch with President Karmazov on a monthly basis. Foster was assured that the maneuvers were only a deterrent to dissuade terrorist groups from taking any further action against Karmazov’s government. Recent bombings in Moscow had shaken Karmazov, and the Russian people were becoming increasingly alarmed. Drastic measures, Karmazov assured Foster, were necessary to discourage any further terrorist activity.

But secretly, Karmazov was planning to invade Kazakhstan and once absorbed into the Russian family he would continue his life ambition of putting back the pieces of the shattered U.S.S.R. Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan would all fall in line and once again be part of greater Russia. From there he planned on invading once more into Afghanistan to destroy the Taliban and claim the enormous mineral wealth that Afghanistan had to offer. He felt he owed it to the honor of the thousands of Russians who died fighting in Afghanistan in the 1980’s. The Ukraine could wait. The build-up of troops along that front was merely a faint, for the present.

Following the meeting with the members of the Inner Circle, the Joint Chiefs and members of the president’s cabinet were briefed and all were in agreement that the president should order all US forces to be put on highest alert status.

President Foster wanted everyone in attendance to witness his conversation with President Karmazov. The Cabinet Room fell silent as Karmazov greeted the president.

Greetings, Mr. President. I’ve been expecting your call.

Hello, President Karmazov. Since you’ve been expecting my call, I expect you know what I’m calling about.

Yes, Mr. President. I want to assure you that what I’ve discussed with you recently has not changed. The effects of our military show of force has begun to have the desired result. Rebel forces determined to use terrorist tactics are being dealt with and will be crushed within areas that harbor their training camps.

I understand, Mr. Karmazov, but let me inform you that any perceived invasion of soverign nations will be considered a violation of our energy agreement. I understand that you must deal with terrorists in a brutal way, but any incursion into peaceful nations cannot be tolerated. Striking the terrorists and destroying their ability to harm your people is certainly acceptable, but after the appropriate action has been taken you must order your troops to withdraw within your own borders. I know you understand our position and I wish you luck and good hunting.

Thank you, President Foster. I will speak to you soon and give you a full update on our progress. Although, I’m sure your satellites will able to inform you as well. Goodbye.

The conversation was over and for the time being President Foster ordered US forces to stand down. He didn’t want some error on either side to set off a shooting conflict. He reasoned that it wasn’t necessary at this time to have a high alert issued and he felt that the warning to Karmazov was enough. He also expressed to his cabinet members and Joint Chiefs that Karmazov was doing the world and US interests a service by killing Terrorist scum. That would be a few more that the US wouldn’t have to deal with.

What wasn’t mentioned to anyone outside Foster’s Inner Circle was the cooperation that Karmazov was providing regarding an unknown Chinese threat to the world.

Chapter 2

A TRUE AMERICAN HERO

42516.png

T he small jet landed smoothly at the secret base in Montana where Mike Borgman waited in the hangar to greet an old friend and brother in arms.

Frank O’Donnell stepped off of the plane and was met with a huge bearhug greeting by Borgman.

O’Donnell and Borgman had served together in Afghanistan on classified missions on numerous occasions. Borgman regarded O’Donnell as one of the top operators that he’d ever worked with and O’Donnell felt the same about Borgman. Each man knew that he would give his life for his brother. When Borgman heard that O’Donnell was retiring from the service he contacted him immediately and prepared to save him from civilian life.

You sap sucking dog barked Borgman. It looks like life after Afghanistan has treated you well!

Well, you look like hell! Did you gain all that weight since getting out of service? retorted O’Donnell.

After exchanging insults and wisecracks, which was a way of showing respect for those who had served together, they made their way to the briefing room.

The briefing room was complete with the latest technology that was usually only found at CIA, FBI and Pentagon locations. O’Donnell looked around and realized very quickly that this was no ordinary operations facility. In the center of the very spacious room was a large table that served as the most accurate topographical map of whatever area of the world which would be the staging area and attack plan of their next operation.

I’m very impressed, stated O’Donnell. So, what’s your plan for me in all this?

I want you to head up our next group, Frank. The pay will be more than substantial and you get to command an elite group that will do nothing but kill bad guys. Plus, you won’t have to hump around in the field anymore. You’ll just sit back and call the shots. I’m sure that will make the family happy.

I’m sure of that. Two tours in Afghanistan with our hands tied by that idiot Hussein would be enough for anyone. Thank God Foster was elected. At least now we can fight without being hamstrung.

Well, you’ve been vetted by the most intense group of specialists in our business and I know how loyal you are to President Foster and our brothers-in-arms. I just have one question.

Fire away, Mike. Whatever you need to know I’ll give you.

When things go sideways, as they sometimes do in battle, are you going to feel like you need to be in the thick of it, or will you be able to shake off the loses and the casualties and focus on command. I can’t afford to lose you. You’ve given so much already and it’s time to let the newer guys cut their teeth. The training you’ll provide will not only help us win but will save lives.

I’m not going to say that I won’t miss the juice, but I’m sure that I can stay where ordered and keep focused on the mission. I’ve experienced loses in the field as you know. It’s never easy but this is the business we have chosen.

So, what’s your final answer? Are you on board?

How can I say no to eliminating bad guys and getting well paid while not getting shot at anymore.

There’s just one more hurdle. I’ve got to be totally up front about the legality of most of our operations. Most of the time you will not be aware of what other teams are doing. You will only have interaction when another team is directly involved with an operation that you are running. Sometimes another team or teams will need or provide support. Usually as a last resort when lives depend upon that support. All members of all teams have been, or will be, as closely vetted as you were. Primarily we must protect President Foster from any blowback from any operation. Finally, we don’t just kill anyone. There will be the occasional collateral casualty, but that always happens in war. But make no mistake, we are going to eliminate bad guys when, in our leadership’s opinion, they have been proven guilty, but have been able to evade prosecution because of a corrupt or incompetent system. That’s part of President Foster’s program to return America to glory.

O’Donnell thought for a moment. He was recalling his time in service and the sacrifice he and his family had made over thirty plus years. He despised the cowardly politicians that had put him and his men in harm’s way and then refused to back them. He thought too about the criminal element in our society that literally got away with murder. Finally, he came