Chosen Soldier - Dick Couch [98]
“OK, it’s now 1037. I want everyone freshly cammied up, rucked up, and mustered outside for inspection at 1100.”
The team members blacken their faces and help each other ruck up. Tim Baker, who’s the assistant 240 gunner with the machine-gun tripod, carries a ruck of just over a hundred pounds. In accordance with operational security doctrine, the men sanitize the briefing bay, scrubbing the whiteboards and destroying the sand-table terrain models. Outside the hut, Sergeant O’Kane inspects his A-team, Specialist Costa the C-team, and Sergeant Hall inspects them all. The student ODA then files over to a designated training area near their barracks, where the men rehearse actions at danger crossings and actions at the objective. Eight-one-one then test-fires its weapons and returns to the main compound where its helo, a four-by-four truck, is waiting. The men board this notional helo in the reverse order they will exit the truck. Then they rehearse the helo insertion, leaving the back of the truck in orderly fashion and moving quickly into a security perimeter. The men of 811 can now do these things in their sleep, and they’re not far from just that. These are very tired soldiers. Early afternoon, they make their helo/truck insertion and begin their patrol to the objective area. Jan halts them a short distance from the insertion point.
“OK, men, bring it in.” Eight-one-one gathers around their cadre sergeant. “Sergeant Hall, that was an excellent briefing. I liked the conduct of your inspection and the rehearsals. For you newer men, take note of this. Inspections and rehearsals are important. I know you’re tired and there’s a tendency to take shortcuts, but don’t. That’s part of being a professional—doing the routine and mundane tasks again and again. When you do this for real, on deployment, you’ll often have had less sleep than you had last night and the last few weeks. We train like we fight, and that means doing it when our butts are dragging.” Turning back to Hall, he says, “You’re done, Sergeant.” Then he says to Captain Santos, “Sir, you’re the patrol leader for the first mission. Take a few minutes with your team and let’s drive on.”
The first mission is still a roadside ambush of a foot patrol—something they’ve done many times. Santos leads them to a secure position above the road and moves forward with O’Kane and two others for a closer look at the ambush site. A short time later he returns, briefs the team, and they move up to a rally point, a small clearing a hundred meters from the ambush site, where they dump their rucks. Normally, two men would remain behind to provide security for the team’s equipment, but there’s nothing to be learned by watching the rucks. With Jan’s approval, Santos takes the entire team to the ambush site. First he sets his left- and right-side security elements—two men each to guard the flanks and notify Santos if or when there is movement on the road. The security elements each have an AT4 rocket launcher so they can engage enemy armor should it appear. Santos then sets in the gun. He sites the M240 with a good field of fire in the direction of an approaching enemy squad. Tom Kendall sets up on the gun with Tim Baker laying out ammo. Then the two of them begin to gather brush and foliage to camouflage their positions. It’s now midafternoon with plenty of daylight, so they take special care to remain hidden. A short distance away, Santos places Byron O’Kane and his A-team in a position where they are well concealed, but can quickly assault