What To Do About Hawkeye

Posted on Mon Sep 25th, 2017 @ 6:52pm by

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Commander Harold "CAG" Lawson
Timeline: Current

ON:

Once Kat had finished telling him about the situation concerning Hawkeye, Gordo knew what the next step had to be. They had to tell Lawson. Discord in the ranks was bad enough, but when it was between a flight leader and her squadron commander it was even worse. They were supposed to be a tightly-knit group and they had been at one time, but that was years ago - five years ago in fact - and evidently things had changed. Well, this would change and soon. It HAD to, because they would soon be embarking on a mission with a possibility of being called into battle.

when they arrived at Lawson's office, Gordo stuck his head in the door. "Hey skipper - got a minute...?"

Hearing the call, Lawson looked up from what he'd been working on. "Sure, Gordo - come on in." he said, motioning for him. "What's up?"

"Got a bit of a problem brewing in Kat's squadron," Gordo said as they walked in.

"Oh? Have a seat and tell me about it," he said, motioning them to chairs in front of his desk.

"I'll let Kat tell you since she knows of it first-hand," Cooper said as he sat back to listen.

"This situation involves Hawkeye," Kat began, "and it all started five years ago on the Pathfinder. It was before you became CAG. At the time, our CAG was Commander Cagney. We were running sims with the fighter squadron. Four flights, three fighters per flight. Our flight consisted of Gordo as flight leader, Hawkeye as his starboard wing, and myself as port wing. We were flying a standard V-formation with myself to port and a bit aft as usual to cover their a.." she hesitated a beat, then corrected to "...that is, to watch both their sixes. The pattern she was flying was too loose and I called her on it several times. Because of her loose flying one of the sim enemy was able to get in and take Hot Dog out. When the sim was over, I reported her to Cagney and she got reprimanded."

Lawson nodded. "So what does that have to do with whatever the current situation is?"

"I'm getting to that, sir..." Kat said. "In our initial meeting here, I reminded her of the incident and asked her if her skills had improved. She said that they had, but you know me - I had to see for myself. So I told her to meet me at 0800 in holodeck 5 the next morning. I set up a sim specifically to test her reflexes and flying ability. Without my knowledge or permission, she was able to somehow alter the sim to a battle scenario which really showed me nothing about her reaction times or anything else I wanted to know. What it DID show me was that she was willing to cheat in order to win as well as to prove herself right and if she had to disobey orders to do it then so be it.

"Did you discuss this with her?"

"I did. I told her to meet me in my office fifteen minutes later.

"I see," Lawson said. "And how did that go?"

"Not well I'm afraid. She spent most of the time trying to defend her reasons for altering the program. I let her know in no uncertain terms that I would not stand for actions like that. In the end, she said she understood but I still wonder if she will be able to follow orders."

"So what do you suggest we do, Cobra? Remove her from flight status?"

"No!" Kat responded quickly. "She's a good pilot as long as she follows orders and concentrates on her flying. But I do think that maybe a little scare from the CAG might be in order..." she said, allowing for the first time a bare hint of a smile.

Lawson sat back in his chair and looked up at the overhead for about thirty seconds before speaking again. When he did, he spoke slowly. "You're practicing more leniency than I might have were I in your position, Kat. My first instinct would probably have been to cashier her out of the fighter group and transfer her to a desk job somewhere. But she's in your squadron and that means it's your choice. I will schedule her for a meeting at the first opportunity. In the meantime..." he said as he stood up, "...I have a meeting with the other senior officers in fifteen minutes. So if there's nothing else...?"

"No sir, nothing else." Kat said as she and Gordo stood as well. "Thank you sir," she added with a nod.

OFF:

Commander Harold Lawson
Fighter Group Commander
USS Wellington

LtCommander Gordo "Hot Dog" Cooper
Fighter Wing Commander
USS Wellington

LtCommander Katrin "Cobra" Muller
Fighter Squadron Leader
USS Wellington