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Phil Smith takes you into the minds of warriors and reporters and drops you straight into the heart of danger. Tiger Stripe serves it up at Mach 2!" ….Ian Jay, author of ‘To Do Or Die’. "...move over Uncle Sam..." …...Rockhampton Morning Bulletin. While readers may recognise locations, military units
and media procedures, this is a work of fiction. The circumstances and the
characters involved are not intended to have any resemblance to real people. The
story does not reflect government policies, military tactics or the activities
of actual organisations. Phil Smith has exercised his international rights to
be recognised as the author of this work. Front cover photo by SGT Gary Ramage, Electronic Media Unit, used with permission of Defence Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. Novel: ‘Tiger Stripe’Author: Phil
Smith Book review by SGT Nerine Eaton
Yes, author Phil Smith has done it again.
After the success of his first book Shooting
Script, Phil Smith has followed up with an equally addictive and compelling
book Tiger Stripe.
Still the same modern-day warrie highlighting the
different agenda's between the media and the military and how they need to work
out their differences if they ever hope to foil the plans of their common enemy,
in this case J.C. Enterprises and the rebel Tigers.
The Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers are finally ready to begin
negotiations for peace. For J.C. Tang Enterprises, this would be bad for
business.
Australian News correspondent Tony Newman and his camerawoman Megan
Chaseling are in pursuit of that elusive big story. After reporting and
broadcasting footage that puts the United Nations Forces in a compromising
position they must find a way to work with the military avoiding jail, getting
exclusive rights to the biggest story of Newman's career and steer clear of
being killed in the process.
This book has all the familiar defence lingo, locations and hardware for
die hard military buffs. Add to
this rebel forces, people smugglers, a virus aimed exclusively at men, murder,
betrayal, a surfer with detailed military knowledge, a persistent reporter and
his camera man (or rather woman), who just will not die.
Very compelling reading.
Phil Smith also includes a reference to his first book
Shooting Script. "I could
have written that” Newman says. "It's not bad, but every hack journo in
the world thinks he's got a novel waiting for the best seller lists”. Very
Albert Hitchcock. THE
AUTHOR Phil Smith has all the first hand experience and
connections to write international thrillers involving the media, military and
political manipulation. Phil is a graduate in Journalism and Media from
Central Queensland University. An award winning journalist, he has filed stories
from throughout South East Asia, Australia's "Top End" and the South
Pacific. His credits include an ABC TV
documentary on the rebuilding of East Timor, and ABC radio broadcast his series
of outback yarns, 'Round The Traps'. Phil's international magazine credits include
military history for the American Primedia group, aviation features for Pacific
Wings and World Air News as well as travel and in-flight publications. As a Flight Lieutenant in the RAAF Specialist
Reserve, he's served as a Peace Keeper in East Timor and Bougainville. He's also
been operational in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Phil has trained
with Australia's allies from Alaska to the Coral Sea, working aboard aircraft
carriers and in battle tanks. A short stint as Media Advisor to a state cabinet
minister allowed Phil to see some of the inner working of political spin. Back as a journalist Phil won a Prince of Wales Award
that allowed him to spend time working in California with the US Marines and at
Radio KGO San Francisco. He harbours an ambition to write for children and
teens, following his voice over work on the 'Noah' series of educational CD Roms. He lives in Queensland, Australia, near Lake
Samsonvale with his wife and two daughters. CHAPTER ONE (part sample)
Hawaii. June 4th Nothing
on earth goes quite like a red Ferrari with the roof down. Tony Newman was
convinced. Maybe it didn't corner as well as his classic Mini Cooper S. Still,
the growl of eight cylinders, the warmth of the Hawaiian sun, and Megan
Chaseling's ridiculous shirt made for a winning combination. The
Australian television reporter and his camera operator were assigned to ATV's
United States west coast bureau. While the life of a foreign correspondent was
often tough, there were occasional choice assignments. This was one. RIMPAC
was a big story with first-rate footage. In this gigantic military training
exercise, the largest since World War Two, seven Pacific Rim nations were taking
part in RIMPAC 2004. More than twenty five thousand sailors, soldiers and airmen
were involved on and around the Hawaiian islands. On Oahu, Pearl Harbour was
packed with warships. Hickam Air
Force Base roared with jets. On the other side of the island the Marine Corps
Base at Kaneohe Bay was crowded with marines and soldiers. The runways crawled
with maritime patrol aircraft. Among the lumbering long range planes were
Nimrods from the United Kingdom and P3 Orions from Japan, Korea, Canada, the US
and Australia. The
combination of politics and high tech toys would guarantee Newman's stories a
place in the first break of the prime time news bulletins for most of the week.
Newman and Chaseling had spent most of the preceding day on board a Royal
Australian Air Force AP-3C. By No.10 Squadron's usual standards, six hours had
been a short flight. Twelve or thirteen hour missions were not uncommon for the
low flying 'Fish Frighteners'. Added to the flight, the time spent writing the
story and editing the videotape had made a long day for the television crew. So
Newman had declared this a rest day. For millions of visitors, Waikiki is Hawaii. Driving in from the airport, they turn right at exit 22, and cruise along the legendary strip of shops and hotels lining the short route to Waikiki beach. During the evenings after work Chaseling and Newman had seen it all. Today was an opportunity to see something more. They'd left their rooms at the Outrigger early to get a breakfast table at Duke's. The restaurant overlooks the beach and Waikiki's reef break a couple of hundred metres offshore. During
coffee Tony confessed there was one tourist thing he just had to do while they
were in Hawaii. Megan admitted she also had something on her mind. She wanted to
check out a nearby clothing store. "OK,"
Tony responded. "I'll go and get the car." Megan
was standing on the sidewalk wearing a bright red Aloha shirt. The shirt had
cost almost a day's wages in Australian dollars – and no wonder. The original
design, complete with purple parrots, hangs in the Smithsonian Institute. She
was looking for their rented brown Mazda when the snarl of a racing change
caught her ear and a perfectly shaped sports car swooped from the traffic and
stopped. Its nose was barely level with her knee. Tony
Newman was wearing Ray Ban sunglasses and a Ferrari 308 GTS. "Tom
Selleck?" she asked. "Magnum
P.I!" he laughed back. "At
least I'll take the shirt home," Megan chuckled as she slid into the
passenger seat and placed her daypack at her feet. They
cruised around the coast road to the North Shore and swam at Waiamea Bay. Newman
chose the route back through the pineapple farms and rejoined the six lane
Nimitz Highway near Pearl City. Chaseling
had made good use of the digital min-cam, adding to her collection of broadcast
quality home movies. 'What the hell, the network can supply the tape', she
figured. The posting to the United States bureau was for two years and Megan on
call twenty-four hours a day. She wasn't going to lug the bigger DV Pro camera
everywhere. They
were in the fast lane, Newman watching for police but enjoying a last blast from
the rented Ferrari. A Lincoln Town Car shot past on his right and cut in front,
swaying on its soft suspension. The passenger in the back cast one terrified
glance at Tony before shifting his gaze to a big Ford 350 pick-up that was
drawing alongside the Ferrari. The
truck moved ahead with a roar, level with the Lincoln when the tonneau cover
over the cargo tray flipped back. "Oh
shit!" Chaseling was tugging the video camera from her bag, feeling for the
power button with one hand and flipping the lens cap off with the other. A
shotgun emerged from beneath the corner of the black cover followed by the head
and shoulders of a heavily tattooed teenager. Unlike
American motorists, most Australians always wear seatbelts and that saved
Megan's face. The Lincoln driver slammed on his brakes and Tony followed suit a
quarter of a second later. The prancing stallion bonnet badge dived and stopped
a couple of centimetres from the Lincoln's rear fender. The pick-up overshot as
the shotgun fired twice. The windows of the Lincoln exploded and Tony could
clearly see the gunner working the pump action to chamber another round. Two
expended shells tumbled through the air and landed in the sports car. Megan
was focussed and rolling tape as the Lincoln swerved right across three lanes.
Tony reacted like any good reporter. Hot on its tail, he followed. Other cars
braked and skidded out of the way. Horns blared. Fingers went up. The Ford
forced its way between cars in the centre lane and boxed the Lincoln against the
concrete side barrier. The youth with the shotgun was having difficulty keeping
his balance and he'd only managed to unclip one corner of the cargo cover. Now
his target was on the right hand side of his vehicle. A car in front of the Ford
slowed, the Lincoln powered ahead as the right hand lane cleared. On
what to him was still the 'wrong' side of the road, Newman was struggling with
quick reflex driving. The pick-up got between him and the town car. Chaseling
taped the whole scene as the three-car convoy raced along and lurched back into
the middle lane. The gunman stood up and leaned on the cab roof, firing his
weapon through the rear window and roof of the Lincoln. Whoever
was in there came under a hail of buckshot. The big car drifted left and slowed,
the driver was dead. The
gunman realised he was being followed and started to turn, trying to keep
steady. He turned his attention to the open top Ferrari. Megan
was looking up through the viewfinder, into the murderer's face when Tony made
the mistake that could have killed them both. His rally driving experience
overrode any conscious thought and one hand went for the park brake. Years of
driving on the left hand side of Australian roads made for an instinctive right
flick of the steering wheel as the rear wheels locked up. The 'J' turn was perfectly
executed, to the right. The race-bred suspension kept the Ferrari flat as it
screeched round to face the oncoming traffic on the Nimitz freeway. * * * Warrant
Officer Class Two, Steve Rodgers was about to experience the ride of his life.
He'd been warned about what came next. His goggles were down over his eyes and
the chinstrap of his cranial protector was cinched tight. The environment was
hot, noisy and claustrophobic. Buck Rodgers wanted it all to be over. Soon. The
day had begun in the red dust of the volcanic Big Island with Rodgers and an
unusual team playing a very small role in the huge RIMPAC exercise. With so many
aircrew from a wide range of nations, Exercise Control had decided there was an
ideal opportunity to teach combat survival skills. Australia
had sent a two instructors. Petty Officer Clearance Diver Dan Krause was from
the staff at North Queensland's Combat Survival School. After whipping the
latest intake to the Special Forces Basic Course into shape, WO2 Rodgers had
been at a loose end. His boss had taken Buck's past life in the Special Air
Service Regiment into account, had pity on his hoarse voice, and put his name up
for this cushy assignment in Hawaii.
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