Chapter One

March 21, 2015

The sun shone brightly in the eastern sky, but it was not the best day to be out along the border. With the late spring morning wind whipping across the rugged south Texas terrain, the thermostat might have read thirty-one degrees, but in actuality it felt more like it was in the teens. Fort Bliss, the largest US Army Training and Doctrine Command installation in the country, was situated adjacent to the city of El Paso. Built in 1849 to protect the southern border from raids by Mexicans and Native Americans, the reservation served its country commendably, with a long history of being a staging point for deploying military personnel to support conflicts around the world.

Strategically located on the southwest quadrant of the military establishment was ground zero. The US Army Corp of Engineers had erected a special six-story viewing tower that was secured directly into the pavement of the J. E. B. Stuart and Cassidy Road intersection. The eight-by-ten-foot rectangular platform protruded above a reception tent and provided a magnificent panoramic view for miles in all directions. The structure was purposely meant to look hastily constructed, but in reality it could withstand gale-force winds.

As you looked east, the arriving and departing flights of El Paso International Airport could clearly be seen. To the north stretched the four-mile-long runway of Biggs Army Airfield. To the west, the city of El Paso blocked the expanse of Puerto de Anapra and the lands thereafter. Five miles to the south clearly showed the catalyst for today's event, H