GWOT - Novel Dedications

GWOT I

Dedicated to security guards Stephen Tyrone Johns and "Harry" (psuedonym). Both guards confronted the same suspect in different armed encounters. One died saving lives at the cost of his own. The other, by being very ready to die, saved lives including his own. One never knows until the moment which it will be.

GWOT II

Dedicated to Chiune Sugihara, vice-consul of the Japanese Consulate in Lithuania. He is credited with saving the lives of at least 5,000 Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by defying his superiors and issuing them travel visas that allowed them to escape occupied Europe. He is the only Japanese national whose name is recorded by the Jewish people as Righteous Among The Nations.

GWOT III

Dedicated to Bantu Stephen Biko, murdered on 12 September 1977 through blunt force trauma to the head by South African police in Police Room 619 of the Sanlam Building in Port Elizabeth.

GWOT IV

Dedicated to Ben Ferencz, war crimes investigator and prosecutor for the US Army at the Einsatzgruppen trial. This trial, one of the infamous Nuremberg trials, was the first criminal trial in which the term 'genocide' was used as a legal term. Fourteen defendants were sentenced to death; only four were actually executed.

GWOT V

Dedicated to United States Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry, murdered by gunfire on 15 December 2010 in Arizona while attempting to arrest drug smugglers and robbers.

GWOT VI

Dedicated to Canadian journalist Sian Cansfield. Ms. Cansfield was killed by vicarious PTSD on 1 June 2002 in connection with researching genocide operations in Rwanda. She jumped to her death from the Bloor Street Viaduct in Toronto. An anti-suicide barrier was installed at this location in 2003.

Honorable mention to Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire and the 15 United Nations soldiers under his command who died in 1994 saving thousands of innocent lives. Allons-y.

GWOT VII

Dedicated to Lt. Colonel Stanislav Petrov, Soviet Air Defense Forces, widely credited with saving the world from a general nuclear war on 26 September 1983.

GWOT I - Glossary

GWOT I Glossary

Terms that appear only in the series are labeled with a (E). This is not an exhaustive list and will be added to.

10 or 10 Codes numbered radio codes for different situations; now obsolete per national standards; yet still widely used by police and security departments - including 10-4 (OK or acknowledge), 10-2 (loud and clear), 10-1 (broken traffic, not clear), 10-19 (return to station), 10-20 (location) and 10-21 (telephone)

AED automated external defibrillator, a first aid device used to restart a heart - usually not successful

AR Armalite Rifle, now used generically for rifles on the common M-16 / AR-15 platform

assault rifle a select fire rifle intended for use by infantry in battlefield attacks ("assaults")

assault weapon a political term with no meaning

BDU Battle Dress Uniform, a uniform type of the American military, superseded by the ACU.

China a great country

China (E) ... fucked now

The City San Francisco

Client a Fortune 500 company engaged in providing high technology services for clients, including notably the Federal Government

Code 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 Priority system. Code 1 is routine. Code 2 is urgent. Code 3 is emergency, lights and siren if appropriate. Code 4 is cancel or not needed or OK. Code 6 is busy, typically as an answer to radio traffic. Code 7 is a restroom break needed or offered.

Code 33 see Emergency Traffic

Company a licensed private security company in the same space as Pinkerton, Securitas, Burns, Wackenhut, Allied Barton, etc.; see also Employer

contractor - a worker who works for a company other than the Client who is providing services under a contract; also an euphemism for mercenary

convoy - a group of vehicles traveling together, typically in a dangerous situation, usually with formal organization and security - also a good movie

Corporate - in context, the larger organization in charge - both Client and Company have Corporate offices, but they perform very different functions

delayed - the second highest priority triage category in mass casualty and emergency medical response - the victims who require hospital care but are not at immediate risk of sudden death without surgical care - need to be cared for and periodically re-triaged

DVR digital video recorder

Echo 18 (E) the main character of the series, a thoroughly unreliable narrator

Emergency Traffic radio proword demanding absolute priority due to an immediate life threat, also see Code 33

EMT Emergency Medical Technician, a license at the intersection between good at first aid and bad at medicine.

Employer (E) Echo 18's Company

Employee (E) at Site, a worker actually employed by Client, as distinct from contractors

excusable homicide the killing of a human being by accident not amounting to negligence, in a fair fight where no weapon is used and no unfair advantage is taken - "we were trading punches and he fell down and died"

Expectant the lowest priority triage category, of injured persons who are not expected to survive - collected out of the way and given respite or minimal care when this will not interfere with lifesaving care for those with a chance

Facilities the corporate department responsible for the physical plant, utilities, building maintenance, etc; sometimes oversees Security especially when the guard service is contracted or menial or both

Finance the corporate department that writes the checks and pays the contractors

Firecracker War (E) the nuclear war between the United States and China

Global War Of Terror (GWOT) (E) mockery of the Global War "On" Terror

H the letter identifier for a building at Site

H5 an observation post located on the roof of H building

Hate Truck (E) a convoy vehicle covered in barbed wire and spikes, intended to take the lead and prevent or win confrontations

Homeland (E) a super-agency made up of numerous current and former law enforcement agencies under a common umbrella

homicide the killing of a human being, without connotation as to the legality or morality of the act

Human Resources the corporate department responsible for providing systems for and giving advice to management on how to hire, onboard, retain, discipline and terminate employees; never gets along with Legal

IED Improvised Explosive Device

immediate the highest priority triage category in mass casualty and emergency medical response - the victims who have some chance of survival with swift advanced surgical care, and none otherwise - first priority for available air and ground transport to definitive care

Janitorial the people who clean the floors and clean up the messes; almost always a contract function

justifiable homicide the killing of a human being under lawful and/or honorable conditions that justify this extreme action - in democratic societies, this is determined by a jury trial by the killer's peers

LBE load bearing equipment, straps and belts and leather and velcro for attaching a lot of stuff to a person - most often used by soldiers but sometimes by police tactics teams

Landscaping the people who water the plants and mow the grass; almost always a contract function

Legal the corporate department responsible for giving advice to management on how to obey or evade the law; sometimes, especially in protecting intellectual property and keeping employees from harming the company, oversees Security; never gets along with HR

manslaughter the killing of a human being through crime not amounting to felony (voluntary manslaughter) or through gross negligence (involuntary manslaughter)

mercenary privately paid soldier, a status not respected by the laws of land warfare

minor the lowest triage category, for victims who only need first aid care - they are collected out of the way and may need other services such as clothing, food, shelter and cleanup

morgue the place in a hospital or emergency care site where the dead are accumulated for postmortem identification and disposal

Mormon an obscure religion, also known as LDS or Latter Day Saints - disaster preparedness is part of the faith

murder the unlawful killing of a human being amounting to felony

OODA Orient, Observe, Decide, Act - one of several acronyms about response to sudden emergencies.

"Oro en paz, fierro en guerra." - Spanish for "Gold in Peace, Iron In War" - the motto of the San Francisco Police Department

Pink Terror in Russian invasion doctrine, the very short time between peacetime preparation for war by using deniable assets and terrorist proxies (White Terror) and actual execution of wartime military operations (Red Terror), often measured in hours

police tactics team police officers armed and equipped as if soldiers to handle special problems bordering on military in nature

Procurement the corporate department that selects outside vendors, supervises the vendor relationship, and approves invoices for payment by Finance

Quaker harmless, as in "Quaker gun" - also an obscure religion

San Francisco (E) destroyed in the opening salvo of the Firecracker War

satchel charge a large explosive charge, typically the size of a backpack (i.e. satchel), capable of massive damage and if properly placed, disabling an armored vehicle or collapsing a building

Security the corporate department responsible for creating a safe and secure working environment and safeguarding corporate employees and assets - sometimes reports to Legal, sometimes reports to Facilities

Site (E) a Fortune 500 corporate complex

Site Operations the corporate department responsible for doing stuff at a particular location - may be part of Facilities or oversee Facilities depending on how the organization is defined

SLE (E) Site Location Executive - the seniormost corporate executive at Site, responsible for all Client operations and the ultimate local authority

Space Planning the corporate department responsible for allocating office space, building use, conference rooms, etc. - also includes contract internal and external moving services; may report to Facilities or be an equal department reporting to Site Operations

SWAT Special Weapons And Tactics - a name for a police tactics team

technical a soft skinned (unarmored) vehicle equipped with a mount for a weapon, typically a machine gun

USMC / Uncle Sam's Misguided Children / United States Marine Corps American naval soldiers, known for eating crayons, blowing things up, and a last bastion of America's honor

WiFi cell (E) a neutered mobile phone that only works where there is locally hosted wireless coverage, if the user has the proper password(s)