Family Across the Stars,
Origin of the term? ‘River City’ supposedly came from the times in Vietnam when a unit would go up-river in-country, losing some or all of its radio communications, only to have them restored with the delivery of special equipment, or upon their return. Traveling up the rivers of that country during the war was risky business, and it often meant setting up the miniature towns called Forward Operating Bases; military cities by the water sources necessary for safe transportation away from the thick jungles.
Today, wherever it came from, it is a slang term used by Marines and sailors to refer to a situation when the unit’s communication systems are temporarily shut down. It could just be that River City is used in place of ‘reduced communications’, the two starting letters being the same, thus easy to remember. River City often occurs to preserve operational security (OPSEC) before a maneuver, such as the float or deployment of a large ship, or if a unit sustains casualties; it helps to ensure family members are notified of deaths through the proper channels, not random service members who haven’t been properly trained how to gently convey such terrible news.
When a service member dies in a combat zone, the entire area of operations goes into what is called River City; this is a total blackout of any and all non-operationally-oriented communication assets. In other words, it means nearly all service members are prevented from contacting the outside world until the fallen service member’s family has been notified. River City can prevent service members from communicating with loved ones at home for a period of a few hours to a few days, but it is a necessary sacrifice to protect the dignity of the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
River City is also sometimes known by another term; ‘running dark’.
My fellows of the companies of WGI, and to all our other fellow citizens living and working across Inisfree, we are going to be ‘running dark’ for some time leading up to the end of the Mayan calendar, the start of The Shift, and the operation we have all been ramping up for ever since the Modern/American Exodus began. I’m going to be back out there for a number of months, returning here only once I have personally seen to it that our loved ones still outside our great city’s protective walls are safely to their pickup locations. To ensure the safety and peace of them and you all here alike, it will be River City for at least a few weeks, certainly as we approach Yule and New Year’s, and possibly a week or more in addition to that.
WGI benefits from River City moments similarly to how it does when employees professionally keep trade secrets; by controlling our own flow of sensitive information, we keep the competition guessing while maintaining our strong business momentum. Operations will go on, as will critical communications, but not a peep about what is arranged for the years of The Shift will be let out. That information is for your ears and eyes only, my fellow Inisfreeans and associates of WGI. We can talk about what we accomplished this way later.
The exact day and time of our campaign initiation will remain undisclosed until the last minute. River City will overlap a time between now and then, giving us plenty of flexibility. Due to the location and planned routes of our personnel, you likely won’t notice until after they’ve returned. Only a very small percentage of the volume of this planet will be adjusted, anyway, so just wait to catch word. You can go about your business as normal this whole time.
Rest assured that every measure has been taken, and no expense spared, to guarantee total and lasting victory. This is long overdue, and will be secured soon. Be patient, keep quiet, and trust in the process. The solution has been created, and will debut very soon.
To paradise and beyond,
A °
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