Notice: Use of this site constitutes your acceptance of these Terms of Use.

Home About Letters to the Editor Archives FAQ Membership

The Galleries: Grand Ducal Amelia Earhart Research Org. Cutter Air Museum Wotanberger Kriegsspiel Ver.

Letters to the Editor

3.  Is there any connection between "American Consul Support Force 3" and "Consular Operations"?

Question:  What connection, if any, is there between "American Consul Support Force 3" which served in the Seiber Islands during World War II and "Consular Operations" featured in Robert Ludlum's novel Apocalypse Watch?

Answer: The existence and activities of "American Consul Support Force 3" (or "AmConSportFor3" for short) were discussed in passing in Quinton McHale: Legend or Myth? Although it is assumed that there were at least two other "American Consul Support Forces" (ie., Forces 1 and 2), we have found no other published or internet references any such "Forces". This lack of information speaks volumes for the ability of the United States Government to keep important secrets secret.

"Consular Operations" (or "ConsOp" for short) is described in Apocalypse Watch as an intelligence agency jointly administered by the American State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency. A search of the internet reveal many references to the phrase "consular operations", including one that "Consular operations, which often draw public and media attention, are of vital importance to individuals and essential to United States national interests." [SOURCE] However, it is clear that this reference to "consular operations" like the rest discovered on the internet are referring to the "official" functions of American consulate, e.g., "Non-immigrant visas [,] Immigrant visas [, and] American Citizen Services." [SOURCE] Of course, if an organization such as the "Consular Operations" described in Apocalypse Watch actually existed, one would not expect to find any public information about it.

To answer your question, we have contacted a trusted, though anonymous, source, who is familiar with intelligence activities and agencies of the United States, the Grand Duchy of Wotanberg, and the Seiber Islands. Our source declines to confirm or deny the current existence of "Consular Operations" as described in Apocalypse Watch, but did state that an organization denominated as "Consular Support Operations" was established as a special working group of personnel from the State Department and the Office of Naval Intelligence in December 1937, just after the Japanese sinking of the USS Panay in China.

According to our source, the stated mission of the working group was to assist the State Department in maintaining the security of and communications with American Consuls around the world. Its secret mission was to identify and implement ways of supporting "friendly" neutrals in the Pacific, such as the Republic of Carlotta and, especially, the Grand Duchy of Wotanberg. whose Seiber Islands were seen as an essential to maintaining communications with the Philippines and Australia. With the fall of France, in May 1940, Army Air Corps personnel were added to Consular Operations when it became clear that the Air Corps' B-17 bombers would be needed to "maintain communications with the American Consul in the Grand Duchy of Wotanberg."

According to our source, the fall of France also shocked Consular Operations into realizing that the United States could no longer count on the French Marivellas providing a buffer to America's lines of communication to the Philippines through the Seiber Islands. This forced Consular Operations to take drastic measures to "beef up" the defenses of the Seiber Islands, namely "assisting" the Grand Duchy's acquisition of "high speed fishing boats" (i.e., PT Boats) and "high speed crop dusters" (i.e., fighters) to be manned and maintained by "volunteers" recruited in the United States.

According to our source, after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor and America's other Pacific territories, Consular Operations authorized the creation of naval "American Consul Support Force 3" and Army Air Corps "2nd Consular Support Squadron" which were deployed to the Seiber Islands. (Our source declined to identify the existence or location of any other "American Consul Support Forces" or "Consular Support Squadrons".) Our source stated that American Consul Support Force 3 was deactivated at some point after the withdrawal of Japanese forces from the region, but claimed that 2nd Consular Support Squadron was not deactivated until some time after V.J. Day. Our source declined to provide any further information on these two units or to either confirm or deny the relationship, if any, between the wrorking group denominated "Consular Support Operations" to the agency denominated as "Consular Operations" in Apocalypse Watch.

The Journal's Academic Partners:

The Journal's Corporate Partners: