George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 133

The U.S. defense industry was booming like never before. Everyone knew that orders from abroad were plentiful, and domestically, there was new weapons research and a sudden surge in orders for the C-17. The C-17 was a relatively new transport aircraft, developed in the late 20th century and deployed in 1995 to replace the C-130, a transport aircraft designed during World War II.

The C-130’s excellent reliability, reasonable payload, and affordable price have allowed for the continued production of new models, even with the advent of its successor, the C-17. If you were to ask, ‘Is there any reason to retire the well-functioning C-130 and produce more C-17s at this point?’ Bush would likely answer, ‘Is there any reason to stubbornly stick to such an old design as the main force, even though we have plenty of money?’

Thanks to this proposal, the budget allocation that Congress had been considering was thrown into chaos, and it was deemed a terrible idea by lawmakers who favored arms reduction. However, the fear of terrorism had not completely subsided, and the prevailing sentiment in Congress was to strengthen national defense, so the proposal was easily passed.

To be precise, Bush aimed to gradually replace the existing C-130 fleet with the C-17 over a sufficient period. However, Congress insisted that ‘the C-130 is a tactical transport aircraft, and the C-17 is a strategic transport aircraft, so the C-17 cannot directly replace the C-130.’ In the end, they compromised with the additional production of the C-17.

In other words, the increased C-17 production was a strategic move to prepare for the deployment of new weapons in the future. Some in Congress even suggested that if that was the reason, they might as well produce more C-5s instead of C-17s, but the Air Force, which was actually responsible for operating these transport aircraft, vehemently opposed it and barely managed to prevent it.

This was because the C-5 was a notoriously difficult transport aircraft to handle. And ‘handling’ it didn’t just mean operating or maintaining it. Once it took off, the runway was left in a terrible state. It was so bad that it was even given the nickname FRED. This FRED stood for ‘Fucking Ridiculous, Economic/Environmental Disaster.’ [A tongue-in-cheek acronym highlighting the aircraft’s negative impacts.]

With such a grand nickname, you could imagine that the problems didn’t just end with causing damage. First of all, it consumed fuel as voraciously as its size would suggest, which was enormous compared to other aircraft. And what powered this ridiculously large fuel consumption? That’s right, the engine. The four GE CF6-80C2 engines, producing 51,000 pounds of thrust each, wreaked havoc on the surrounding environment.

It would be fortunate if it only destroyed the grass on the runway and scattered dirt and dust everywhere. All sorts of facilities installed on the runway, including the approach lights, were often damaged or destroyed. Of course, aircraft cannot take off in such an environment where foreign objects are flying around. The moment foreign objects enter the engine, the engine explodes, and a tedious daily routine instantly turns into a scene from a Hollywood movie.

In addition to this, there was also the problem that the tires on the landing gear wore out quickly because the aircraft was so heavy.

In any case, it was a transport aircraft that they were forced to use because of its excellent payload of 122.4 tons, but they were hesitant to increase its numbers by spending more money.

In other words, ‘economic’ referred to the monstrous tire wear rate and the pig-like fuel consumption, and ‘environmental disaster’ was a dishonorable title earned because it damaged the runway every time it landed.

“Wow, I thought it was Pandora’s Box, but it’s completely insane.”

It’s good that the order volume has increased. But that’s something that the CEO and other higher-ups should be happy about, and the people who actually worked on the C-17 assembly line were going crazy. In any case, they were told to meet the deadline no matter what, so in the end, it was the manual laborers who suffered.

However, assembling an airplane is not something that just anyone can do. These airplanes were assembled by highly skilled engineers and technicians, some with advanced degrees and high salaries, working together, putting their heads together, and meticulously tightening each and every bolt.

In reality, even a bookshelf bought from IKEA can be destroyed if you tighten a screw wrong. What if that were a transport plane? Imagine the transport plane assembled on that line crashing to the ground with its wings shattered because the bolts were not tightened properly or were tightened incorrectly as soon as it took off. What a terrible thing that would be! In any case, the important thing is that the people who assemble the C-17 are highly skilled personnel.

“Hey! Mr. Kim! Stop screwing around and assemble more!”

‘Oh, that Yankee bastard.’

“Yes, yes, I’m going!”

Everyone on the C-17 line was suffering because of one president who was crazy about national defense. What good is it to give more money? You need time to spend the money. At first, there was a lot of resistance. They badgered the higher-ups, saying, ‘Who will take responsibility if we make a mistake and don’t tighten a bolt because we’re working overtime?’ but all they got back was an order to get it done no matter what.

The really serious thing was that they couldn’t take manpower from other departments. This was because all models were experiencing increased orders, so everyone was busy. Among them, the busiest were the F-15 and F-16 lines, along with the C-17 line, which had just started to get busy.

The former two lines had anticipated that they would be busy, so they had expanded their manpower in advance, but the C-17 was terribly busy because the surge in orders had come so suddenly.

‘Bush, you son of a bitch, you bastard. I’m never voting for you if you run for re-election.’

The really sad thing was that George W. Bush was not the kind of person who wouldn’t get elected just because Mr. Kim didn’t vote for him.

“What the hell?!”

“No way! How could he do this to us?”

Mr. Kim blankly tightened the bolts, almost detached from the world. He tightened and tightened again until he realized that the surroundings were noisy, leaving him out. He was upset that everyone was resting without saying anything, but he shut his mouth, thinking that he might not have heard.

Or maybe the news that had just come in was so shocking that it made him put down his work and brought back the spirit that had left home.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

In any case, after being locked in the factory for three days and nights, just tightening bolts, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with even trivial things, so Mr. Kim’s tone couldn’t help but become somewhat rough.

“Mr. Kim! We’re in big trouble! Look at this!”

He wondered why they were making such a fuss, but the content itself was incredibly simple. It was a company document that had been twisted this way and that, but to put it simply:

「20 Additional Orders」

“Oh my god, you son of a bitch.”

Thanks to the increased orders, the factory, which was already running fiercely, began to run even more fiercely.

“Strike?”

Bush had to hear something he really hadn’t expected from his chief of staff. The C-17 production plant had gone on a massive general strike.

“Yes, they say they can’t meet the scheduled order volume under any circumstances and have gone on a massive strike.”

“How the hell is the factory running?”

He had never heard of a munitions factory going on a general strike, let alone any other factory. To be precise, he had only heard of it once, and that was during the Japanese colonial period in Korea. He had read in old newspapers about workers striking simultaneously at munitions factories in Yeongdeungpo, Noryangjin, and Incheon.

But such a strike was happening in modern America?

“They say they’ve been running at full capacity, day and night, in two shifts.”

Hearing that, Bush had no choice but to slap his forehead. Well, if it’s running like that, how can a strike not happen?

“Didn’t they give the workers enough bonuses?”

“They’re shouting that they can’t live like this, bonuses or not. The working environment must have been really terrible, except that no one has died.”

“Well, two shifts is really something you can’t do.”

But Bush, who is saying this, is wrestling with documents all day long without proper leisure, let alone two shifts. The only time Bush can afford to relax is when he eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and when he sleeps.

Frankly speaking, it could be said that he was acting like a ‘꼰대’ [Kkondae: A Korean term for an older person who is condescending and imposes their views on others], but this was just Bush being unique, not that they were wrong. Excessive workload could be a sufficient reason for a strike. Even if it is the core of national defense, a defense company that is responsible for the safety of the country.

“So, the point is to delay the production and deployment schedule target a bit?”

“No. Rather, Lockheed Martin’s management has asked us not to reduce the number of orders, even if their bodies are broken, saying they will somehow deal with the strike.”

Lockheed Martin would want to run to the end, even if their bodies were broken, during the golden age of the defense industry, which will never return. Once it is introduced, it will not change for at least 20 or 30 years. Besides, who knows how long the United States will have abundant budget? Frankly, if they receive an order and the country says they don’t have the money to buy it next year, that’s the end of it.

No matter how artistically a transport plane is made, it is nothing more than scrap metal stuck in a warehouse if it cannot fly in the sky. The only country rich enough to buy the C-17 is the United States, which requested the order, so it was impossible to sell it elsewhere. Therefore, delaying the production schedule also meant that Lockheed Martin had to bear that much risk.

“Stop talking nonsense and just delay it a bit.”

Of course, that was the situation of Lockheed Martin’s management, and Bush was a president who was more friendly with the workers than the operators. As the mixed contents were what they were, it was perhaps a natural thing, but George W. Bush was originally such a person. Thanks to the human being named Kim Kap-hwan, this part was even more prominent.

White seemed to know that his owner was in a bad mood, so he rolled around and acted cute. But its size was so large that it looked like a tiger or a lion was rolling around. It looked majestic, but it acted completely like a dog.

Honestly, what cat would go hunting every night, be sensitive to the owner’s mood, and respond to it immediately? He knew that it was no ordinary cat from the moment it deceived the eyes of the presidential security team and boarded Cadillac One, but who knew it would be this much?

“Yeah. Still, I feel much better with you around.”

However, the heart that had been relieved through White had to be tightened again by seeing the chief of staff. This was because the chief of staff was looking at the report that had just come up, and his expression was unusual.

“Mr. President. We have a problem.”

“What is it now?”

This was the most frustrating part of Bush’s presidency. Even as he asked, ‘What is it?’ there were so many things he could anticipate. Just listing the things that came to mind was considerable. Things like ‘China’s moratorium or default,’ ‘the myriad problems inherent in the Middle East,’ ‘the EU’s intervention in the Middle East,’ and ‘the CIA’s seizure.’

“No. It’s not a serious matter at the national level. If I had to say, it’s a problem at the presidential level, but.”

“What? Why?”

No, not anything else, but a problem at Bush’s personal level? Why would such a thing come up in a document? If there is, what on earth is it?

“They say the warehouse to store the taxidermied animals is full.”

“Ah.”

White, the main culprit of this problem, was just yawning quietly at his feet.