by Mike Hartman
Red was whistling this particular morning while he flipped pancakes and thought about his new adventure ahead. He was determined to make it through BUD/s training anyway, but these last 4 months of mess cranking had given him additional motivation.
**********
The 7-day trip back to San Diego had gone quickly and here he was back at Coronado being processed in for BUD/s. He knew the routine for this part of the program. At least he knew the routine for today and tomorrow. That’s as far as he made it last time. The next six months would most likely be the most challenging months of his life. He was mentally prepared and anxious to get started.
The next morning was like déjà vu at 0430. They came in the barracks screaming and yelling through a bullhorn, “Get up, get up! Get dressed and hit the beach! Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!”
The 115 men jumped out of their racks and quickly dressed. Within minutes they were on the beach running laps around concrete pillars in the predawn darkness.
The rubber boats were no less challenging than before. It took a lot of teamwork for the men to learn to paddle them out against the surf. The last time he had been here in August and the water was warm. This time it was January and a whole different story. Even though he was in southern California, the water temperature made his teeth chatter. It took many tries, but over the next few days his boat team learned to paddle out beyond the waves. It was a real feeling of accomplishment.
**********
At the end of the 5-week pre-training course there were only 83 students left of the 115 who started. Now 2 weeks later only 39 remained and it was time for the dreaded hell week. The sole purpose of hell week was to separate the undecided from the committed in a ritual every SEAL must pass and no SEAL wants to repeat.
Red couldn’t believe the transformation his body had undergone in the past several weeks. His muscles were sore all the time, but he had long ago learned to ignore the pain. His excitement didn’t keep him awake this particular night. He was tired and knew it might be a long time before he slept again. Hell week was about to begin.
**********
Red was in a daze. He just sat on the edge of his rack staring off into space. His brain was frazzled and his body ached for sleep. He thought back over what he had just endured.
I woke up on that first day of hell week to a surprise. Although we didn’t know it, hell week didn’t actually start until sunset. It was Sunday and they allowed us to take it easy during the morning. I was allowed to attend a church service and then we went for a 4 mile run shortly after lunch. They actually let us take a nap that afternoon. It was almost like they were being nice to us. It was only a matter of time, however, before all hell broke loose. After the sun went down that night, it didn’t take long for the shit to hit the fan.
They assembled us on the grinder in a single line. We were dressed in BDU’s with long sleeves, orange life vests, and helmets with green glow in the dark light sticks on top. Much like that first morning seven weeks ago, they had us start counting off one by one. “One,” said the first man, “Two,” said the next. On down the line it went until all 39 of us had counted off. As the 39th man counted off, all hell broke loose. There was machine gun fire coming from all directions. Flashes of light, gunfire, and mortar rounds were all around me. We all scattered, but none of us knew where we were going. The instructors began barking orders, but we were all confused and disoriented. Breakout is a calculated exercise designed to create confusion and destroy class cohesion. Let me tell you, whoever calculated this event knew what they were doing! We were in total chaos! It took about 25 minutes for us to begin to collect our bearings, escape the grinder, and assemble on the beach next to our rubber boats. These guys really know how to kick off a party!
On the beach we assembled with our boats. Each of us had a paddle in our hands. The instructor told us we had five seconds to inspect each other to ensure we were ready for sea. We were less than 40 minutes into hell week and the first lesson had already become crystal clear to me: Individuals fail; only teams survive.
They had us strip down to our t-shirts and told us to get wet. The 58 degree water was brutal as we lay on our backs in the surf attempting to hold our heads up out of the water. They kept us in the water for 15 minutes at a time. I decided 15 minutes was my new definition of forever! We had our first DOR during those 15 minutes in the water. I can’t believe someone would come this far only to quit now.
By midnight we were cold to the bone, our teeth were chattering, and we were having trouble performing simple tasks like buttoning our shirts. We had to help each other don our gear. We couldn’t do it on our own. I quickly found out that every minute of hell week was a scripted blueprint on planned chaos. There was a sense of urgency in everything we did. All the exercises we would face over the next week were based on actual SEAL team missions. They were all designed to discourage individualism and promote teamwork.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, they broke out the 12 foot long telephone poles about two o’clock in the morning. We broke up into six man teams with a pole assigned to each team. We carried that thing around with us all over the beach. A member of my team broke a shoe lace and had to change it out. His problem quickly became a problem for the whole team because the other 5 of us had to tote the telephone pole while he changed out the broken lace. One of the instructors yelled at him the entire time he was changing his shoelace. He told him what a screw-up he was and how he couldn’t believe he would let his team down like this. He made sure he knew the rest of the team was paying the price for his problem.
The next morning we were allowed to take showers and eat breakfast. Nobody mentioned anything about sleep and I was beginning to wonder if they left that part out. At 10:00am we donned wetsuits and headed back to the water for an ocean swim. Every evolution was challenging, but the way I looked at it, it was five days of pain for the right to a lifetime of pride. I would die before I would quit!
As the sun went down on day 2 we sat on the beach eating our MRE’s of dehydrated food out of sealed pouches. Night time was coming and that brought on a whole new sense of dread. The temperature was in the 40’s and the water temperature was about 57 degrees. The only thing worse than being cold and tired is being cold and tired in the dark. During that 30-minute period we spent resting and eating on the beach, 7 people DOR’d.
The rest of that night was spent getting in the water for 15 minutes to tread water, then getting out and running on the beach with our rubber boat over our heads. Then we were back treading water for 15 minutes, and then we carried our telephone pole around on the beach. That was followed by another 15 minutes in the water and then pushups on the beach. All night long this went on and on.
The first 3 days of hell week we didn’t get any sleep at all. The exercises were non-stop. The instructors worked in 3 rotating shifts to provide constant supervision around the clock. On the 4th day we were allowed to sleep for an hour underneath our boats on the beach. We were exhausted! We were allowed to sleep another hour on the 5th night.
I didn’t think it would ever get here, but it’s finally Friday and hell week just ended. There are now only 19 of us left. The dropout rate has been tremendous. We still have 24 weeks of training left to complete BUD/s, but the worst is over.
We will spend the next 24 weeks learning dive techniques, underwater demolition, weapons systems, and close quarters combat. The list goes on and on. I’ve come to learn that the only easy day of training is yesterday.
Red smiled as he thought over the events he had overcome and knew that he was ready for anything. He lay down on his rack and slept the next 22 hours straight.
Chapter 25
February, year 2.
Monica and Jillian sat at a table outside their favorite sandwich shop enjoying their lunch. They came here often because it was right across the street from Brainstorm.
“Thanks for having me over for supper last night,” said Monica. “I had a good time. It was nice to have somewhere to go after work. How about if I have you and Jamie over for dinner next weekend?”
“Sounds good,” said Jillian as she took the first bite of her sandwich. She loved the cranberry sauce they used on this turkey sandwich. She could eat these every day.
Monica munched a potato chip and then asked, “Are you making any progress with your new theory?”
“A little bit, but its slow going. I’m pretty sure I’m on to something. It just hasn’t quite focused in my brain yet. I’m pretty sure my study of urea is going to be a key element.”
“What’s urea?”
“Urea is an organic compound that plays an important role in metabolizing nitrogen-containing compounds by animals. It is a solid, but it is readily soluble in water. The human body, as well as other mammals, uses urea to remove nitrogen from the body via the kidneys. It is then excreted out in the form of urine.”
Monica picked up her sandwich and said before taking a bite, “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Glad you asked. At one time it was believed that living cells could only be produced from molecules of other living beings. In 1828 Dr. Friedrich Wöhler published a paper on the synthesis of urea, proving that urea could be created artificially using synthetic materials. Further research showed that other organic compounds were able to be produced from synthetic materials as well.”
Neither of them noticed the white sedan pull up out front or the man get out and take a seat at the table next to them.
“I’ve been thinking about the signal loop processor we were working on yesterday,” said Monica. She was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. She looked at her phone and said with a quizzical look on her face, “It’s Dan.”
“Hello?” She listened for a minute and then said, “Okay, we’ll be there in a minute.”
She folded up her phone with a puzzled look still on her face. “He wants us to come back from lunch early.”
The man at the table next to them watched as the two young women walked across the street and disappeared through the front doors of a business with no logo on the outside. As a matter of fact, there was no name of any type that would indicate what businesses were contained within.
**********
Dan’s heart was beating fast. It was a good thing he looked out the window of his office at just the right time. He had seen the white sedan pull up in front of the sandwich shop. It was the same white sedan he had been noticing at odd times as he moved around town. When the man got out and claimed the table next to Monica and Jillian, it was all the confirmation he needed. That was a lucky save! Things were really heating up.
A few minutes later the two girls entered his office and sat down. “What’s up?” asked Jillian.
“I’m sorry to call you back from lunch early,” he said. “I’ve got to catch a flight, but I want to get a report on your progress before I leave.”
The girls thought this was a bit odd, but they proceeded to fill him in on their recent progress. Dan pretended to listen with interest. The truth was that he already knew all about their progress. He had been keeping close tabs on both of them.
When the girls left his office, he got up, crossed the room, and gently closed the door. He called Dr. Bowles and said, “It’s time.”
**********
Dr. Michael Bowles sat at his desk and looked thoughtful as he put the phone back in its cradle. Dan had only spoken two words. Dr. Bowles only response had been, “I understand.” Then he hung up the phone.
He sat there wondering what could have happened to tip the scales.
Chapter 26
February, year 2.
Monica and Jillian sat at the conference table in the BioTech facility. When they arrived at Brainstorm this morning Dan had been waiting for them. He told them this was going to be a special day in their careers. He was going to introduce them to some powerful people in the company. “That’s all I’m going to tell you for now. I don’t want to ruin the surprise,” he had told them. He gave them the address for BioTech and told them to take a cab. The receptionist would be expecting them.
The receptionist had indeed been expecting them. She ushered them into the empty conference room where they now sat looking around. The room was elegant. A rectangular shaped mahogany table filled the center of the room surrounded by brown walls with white decorative molding along the baseboards. White chair rail accented the walls on three sides. Everything looked freshly painted and well cared for. Above the table was a tray ceiling with accent molding around the perimeter. Two attractive ceiling lights hung above the table equally spaced and recessed lights shown from the ceiling at strategically placed locations. There were four black leather chairs on each side of the table and a chair at one end. Large flat screen monitors hung on three walls. This allowed the person at the head of the table to see a monitor on the wall in front of him and people on either side of the table could view the one on the wall directly in front of them. The forth wall, the one behind the head of the table, contained a large whiteboard perfectly cleaned off. There were no windows and the girls heard no sounds from outside the room.
The receptionist had offered them coffee and apologized that they might have to wait for a bit, but she offered no other information.
“What is this place?” asked Jillian. “I’ve never been anywhere so fancy!”
Monica looked around, “I don’t know. Dan could have given us a bit more information. I wonder why he didn’t come with us.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t make sense,” Jillian agreed. “Why would he send us here to meet people without coming along to make introductions?”
The girls sat and nervously waited for the next 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes the door opened and the receptionist showed Gabe into the room. She went through the same spiel of offering him coffee and apologizing for his upcoming wait. Then she closed the door and left him in the room with the girls.
“Hello,” started Jillian. “I take it you don’t know why you’re here either.” It was really a question, but she stated it as a fact.
Gabe looked around the room nervously and took the seat at the end of the conference table farthest away from the head of the table, directly across from the two girls. “No, my boss came in today and told me to take a taxi over here. I have no idea what’s going on.”
“I’m Jillian,” she half stood so she could reach across the wide table to shake his hand.
“I’m Gabe,” he reciprocated.
“And this is Monica,” Jillian continued the introductions. Monica stood to reach across the table for the handshake.
“So, where do you work?” asked Jillian.
“I work for a company called JLS Technologies over in Palo Alto. I’m a mechanical engineer.”
Monica was processing this. Nothing in common with us, she thought. Why are we being ushered in here together?
Jillian kept up the conversation, “We work for a small company in Cupertino. Monica is a computer programmer and I’m a biochemist.
That didn’t really leave much room for common ground, so the conversation dwindled and they all sat uncomfortably and waited.
Another 20 minutes went by and the receptionist once again opened the door. “Jamie?” Jillian was shocked.
Jamie was equally puzzled. As he entered the room the receptionist closed the door behind him without her usual spiel. “What are you and Monica doing here?” He took the seat next to Gabe.
Monica’s brain was really whirling now trying to process everything that was happening. None of it made any sense. She didn’t have time to fully process the situation because the door opened once again and Dan walked in along with two other men and a woman.
Now it was Jillian’s brain that was whirling. She hadn’t yet got over the shock of Jamie showing up. Now
Dan walked in with the woman from the bookstore and the movie gallery. What was going on?
Everyone sat down and the man at the head of the table, clearly the eldest and clearly the one in charge said, “Well, I see everyone has gotten to know each other.” All four of them looked at him with expectant gazes.
“Welcome to BioTech,” he continued. “I’m Dr. Bowles, this is Dr. Coltrane but she likes to be called Sally, this is Dr. McCoskey, and I believe you all know Daniel.”
“I won’t keep you guessing. Here at BioTech we are a technology development company. Traditionally we have specialized in information systems of all kinds. Most of our work is cutting edge technology and very sensitive in nature. Because of that we have to take special precautions.”
“Each of you was selected because you were new college graduates in the top of your classes at the premier universities in the country. Each of you came without a husband or wife and children to distract you or take up your time. Since you had never worked for another company, you hadn’t developed any bad habits or preconceived notions about how a company was supposed to work. The only thing that was missing was practical experience. Daniel was kind enough to arrange for your development at a few of the other companies we own. I’m pleased to say, each of you has developed nicely and we are looking forward to the next phase of our little project.”
“I hope you will forgive us for keeping you in the dark up to this point, but due to the nature of our work, secrecy is an absolute must. I can assure you that nothing illegal is going on here. We are very much above the board as far as ethics and legalities go.”
“As I said, we are a cutting edge technology development company. We are currently working on a new technology that we are calling ‘transparent technology.’ You have each been working on an aspect of this project already, although you didn’t know how your piece of the puzzle fit in with the rest. Transparent technology will allow us to see into a person, to see what they see, to hear what they hear, and to understand their thoughts. I’m sure you can see how this could be useful to our government security agencies.”
