A couple of fatal traffic accidents that really were accidents kept them in the field much of the day and a petty officer assaulting his girlfriend kept them occupied for another couple of hours. Gibbs left the team writing their reports and met with Vance to discuss what they had, didn't have and what the plan was for the next day. The SecNav had called again and Vance was not a happy camper.

Ducky was ready to certify General Wheeler's death as natural causes, but needed Abby's report first. Abby told Gibbs she was still working on it, her machines too, and while she waited she worked on the photos McGee had gathered. Gibbs had talked to McGee, and separately to Ziva and Tony, but he would wait until the next day to get them all together and go over everything they knew. The day had been basically worthless, except for his getting a time to meet with General Chuck Ellison, so Gibbs sent everyone home by 1630 and told them to be back at 0730 with some fresh ideas.

He went home to his basement to work and think.

0728 Friday morning -

Ziva, Tony and Tim had only enough time to open their mail boxes before Gibbs breezed in and prodded them. "C'mon, let's go over what we have." The three looked less than enthusiastic until they saw that he had brought tea and flavored coffee. And then Gibbs' phone rang. A Metro cop on routine patrol had found a dead sailor less than a block from a bus stop.

The murder scene had been horrific and they had no leads at all. There were no witnesses. There were no surveillance cameras anywhere close to show anything at all. The neighboring streets had a few traffic cameras, but more than 1000 vehicles passed by in the two hours surrounding Ducky's estimated time of death. The weapon, a rock, had been left by the body. Several like it were found in the alley nearby. Abby couldn't get anything from the palm size stone except the victim's blood. The alley didn't have a dumpster and the weekend earlier a neighborhood group had cleaned up all the trash and debris. There was no new trash or debris to go through. there were no footprints or tire tracks.

The deceased had no family, no close friends and a perfect service record. His shocked and saddened co-workers and CO had nothing except great things to say about him. He'd only been assigned to the ship for two weeks and it was set to deploy to the Middle east in two days. His financials were squeaky clean, his phone records showed he didn't get many calls and didn't make many calls. He watched a lot of TV and movies and spent most of his free time alone. He was friendly and easy to get along with, but two weeks in port wasn't long enough for anyone to get to know him. He'd been on a 4 hour pass (1800-2200), his last until they docked somewhere else.

DiNozzo had been insufferable with the jokes and Gibbs sent Tim and Ziva to the next block to see if any homeless saw or knew anything so he could talk to his SFA alone. Even when he had a clue that Gibbs wasn't happy with him, DiNozzo wouldn't stop with the snide, cutting remarks, most of them comparing the dead sailor to both McGee and Gibbs, and finally Gibbs let him have it. It wasn't pretty and Tony got his feelings hurt, but Gibbs didn't care. The man was always jumping on the line and that day he'd crossed it more than once or twice.

They couldn't find any cases that were similar that might indicate a multiple offender. Without a single lead to follow, they had no path to go down. It looked like a random act of violence and those were the worst kinds because those were cases that hardly ever got solved. The would continue to search for something to get them going, but not full-time and not when they had other cases to work. Nobody liked it, but it was the way it worked.

At 1805, tired and discouraged, they gathered in the bull pen and Gibbs gave them their marching orders. It was Friday and they were on call all weekend. Gibbs wanted them to get into the office on Saturday, they could come as late as 1100 unless he called them before that, but he wanted them finishing their reports and then they would all continue working on the Wheeler case for two or three hours... or more. He sweetened the deal by ordering them to put down the extra hours as overtime. Jarvis and Vance wanted answers and he figured paid OT was the least that could provide. Then he told them to go home and he'd see them the next day. The look he gave DiNozzo made it clear that there would not be a repeat of his behavior on Saturday.

When his three agents headed out, Gibbs went to see Abby. Then after calling Vance to give a short update and explain the plan for Saturday, he went home.

An hour or so later, after eating some dinner and sipping a wee bit of bourbon, Gibbs called Brad's friend and contact, retired Air Force Colonel Bob Rymer, who was home watching TV and didn't mind the interruption. He told Gibbs that he knew O'Neill in the 70s and 80s and knew a little about him in the 90s and would be glad to share the information. Brad had told him it was important and that Gibbs was discreet. Gibbs smiled at that remark.

After BMT O'Neill went to Superman School and was one of four who made it through.

Gibbs knew the training, like SEAL training, usually started with about 100 guys.

O'Neill excelled at everything and was part of Pararescue for a while. He qualified for many roles on Special Tactics teams and had been assigned (farmed out) to Army Special Forces, Army Rangers and Navy SEAL teams. It was during that time that he disappeared from Rymer's radar.

Gibbs knew the services often borrowed and shared people for teams and missions, especially guys who were exceptional.

In the fall of 1982, O'Neill resurfaced at Scott Air Force Base after the Military Airlift Command activated the 23rd Air Force. The new numbered Air Force was charged with special operations worldwide and Captain O'Neill was a Special Tactics Officer commanding Special Operations Forces Teams for some of the nation's most demanding missions.

If O'Neill was exceptional, it made sense he'd be at the center of everything.

Rymer told Gibbs he heard that O'Neill took Advanced Placement, CLEP and Dantes exams, and proficiency and comprehensive exams to get ahead in the game. He called O'Neill brilliant and said he hadn't indicated going to school to be a problem. Officer Training School (OTS) had been a piece of cake too.

In late 1984, while on an unofficial mission over the Iran/Iraq border, O'Neill had a parachuting mishap. No rescue was sent to get him and nine days later, suffering from a skull fracture and other serious injuries, O'Neill made it to safety on his own. After he recovered he spent some time at test pilot school and then at Edwards AFB and since he wasn't being deployed all over the world, he went back to school to get a Master's degree.

Nine days in the desert, alone and severely injured, and he had saved himself. Gibbs didn't just think O'Neill was exceptional, he knew it for sure.

In June of 1986, Captain O'Neill became Major O'Neill and returned to Special Operations Command, again serving as Special Tactics Officer. In 87 or 88, Rymer wasn't sure, O'Neill accompanied another team under the command of a guy named Cromwell. The mission went south. O'Neill was declared MIA (presumed KIA) after he was shot, believed to be dead and left behind. The team leader made the decision to leave his body behind and save the rest of his men. Rymer learned later that O'Neill had been captured and then tortured for more than four months before he managed to escape. He recovered from the months of captivity and returned to Edwards AFB where he participated in developing and testing aerodynamic designs and aircraft. Rymer heard he went back to Spec Ops, but didn't know for sure. In 1997 when Rymer got together with a bunch of guys, he heard that Colonel O'Neill, and a couple of other guys he used to know, had been hand-picked for a special project in Colorado Springs. He guessed it was probably at Peterson AFB. That was the last he heard anything about Jack O'Neill.

Gibbs thought about his own time in Colombia when he'd been wounded. He'd had help or his fate.. he wouldn't have made it back like O'Neill had. Now he had an independent source telling him about Colorado Springs and a special project. He knew Wheeler and O'Neill were in it neck deep. Rymer gave him two names: Charles Kawalsky and Louis Ferretti.

Rymer added that most of O'Neill's missions (from 73 until he was captured) were top-secret with the details sealed under executive order by four different Presidents. The man was legendary in US Special Operations Command and held in high esteem by officers and enlisted in all the services, but he was also respected by the CIA, NSA and FBI. Rymer told Gibbs that O'Neill was highly decorated too and knew for sure the man had been awarded the AF Cross, Silver Star, AF Distinguished Service Medal, Airman's Medal, Bronze Star Medal and Air Medal.

Only the Airman's Medal, the AF Distinguished Service Medal and the Air Medal were on O'Neill's salad bar so why didn't he wear the AF Cross, Silver Star and Bronze Star? And he'd been shot so why didn't he have a Purple Heart? Regulations said you had to wear all your decorations, so why didn't the General and who gave him permission to not display them? The man worked everyday with very high-ranking military officers and somebody knew he wasn't wearing all his medals and ribbons.

Gibbs thanked Rymer for talking to him and they agreed to meet someday soon for steaks and beer at Brad's house.

He sat in his basement. Thinking. And sanding. And drinking. And thinking some more. He needed to get his head around O'Neill. The man had so many layers. General Ellison had said he'd see him at 0700 the next day and then Gibbs would give Tobias Fornell a call. If what Rymer said was true then the FBI would have a file on ONeill. At about 2300 he wandered upstairs and went to bed. Saturday would be a new day.

tbc

Thanks very much for reading.

BMT - basic military training
Superman school is informal term for training to become a PJ. Also referred to as 'the pipeline.' PJs are pararescue jumpers.

Effective Dates of Promotion for Jack O'Neill for this story
Airman Sept 1971
Not sure what I want for his promotions here. His history with the Stargate Program is as an officer so...
Second Lieutenant Jun 1978 after Officer Training School
First Lieutenant Jun 1980
Captain Jun 1982
Major Jun 1986
Lieutenant Colonel May 1990
Colonel Feb 1994
Retired 1995
Recalled and retired 1996
Recalled 1997
Brigadier General Jul 2004
Major General Mar 2007
Lieutenant General May 2009

I looked at senior Air Force leaders on the Official Site of The US Air Force and using what I found, I made up Jack's service. I took into account his injuries in the parachuting mishap and his time as a POW.