by Cliff Deane
Sgt. Owens then took a red star cluster flare from his vest, removed the cap, which contained a sharp nail-like projection and placed it on the bottom of the flare.
He then carefully opened the door with just enough room to place his arm outside. He struck the concrete porch with the base of the flare, driving the nail into the flare, causing it to ignite, fly into the air and blossom into a red star formation.
A Corporal asked, “You think our guys’ll see that flare, Sarge?”
“Course they will; the Sgt. Major’s got people watchin’ for ‘em.
Remember, controlled firing, pick your targets, one shot, one kill. Smith, status on the wounded?”
The ROA Troopers did not panic as they went to work on reducing the number of hostiles.
Smith, the Medic shouted to Buck, “Two dead one wounded, but he can fight.
Buck did the math and knew they were in trouble. Six effectives to control the perimeter was cutting it close. Since the neighboring structures were on standard lot lines, Buck ordered one man to the second floor on each side of the house.
The remaining four would man the front and rear. Buck shouted, “Yeah, all we got and just a little bit more, we can do this.”
In response, he heard, “OohRah, Oh Hell, yes, and Fuckin’ A Sarge, we got this.”
The rate of fire from the hostile force increased, again forcing the patrol to duck and cover. When the fire slacked off Buck’s Troopers returned a series of deadly semi-auto fire.
Four hostiles managed to kill the second floor ROA shooter and gain entrance into the house through a side window. As they burst into the Living Room, Sergeant Owens was waiting and opened fire on full auto dropping all four of the enemy.
“Hey Billy, that’ll teach them bastards to be quieter next time.
Before all four fell, one hostile managed to squeeze off a short burst with one round hitting a Private in his buttock.
The TOC
SSgt. Jones was awakened by one of the men on OP who told him of the red flare. He yelled to the runner; get the Command Staff in here now. Jones went to the Pilots and then to the Aircrew tents and woke them with the news.
The Pilots immediately climbed into their gear while the flight crews ran to ensure the birds were ready to fly.
By the time the Command Staff reached the TOC, the Snakes were winding their engines.
“Sitrep,” demanded Levi.
SSgt. Jones said, “Sir, we have a red star cluster flare in the vicinity of the Bedford mosque. No further information, sir.”
“Roger, the air crews up?”
“Yes, sir, up and ready to go, engines and weapons hot.”
“Good, good,” said Levi, “Jonesy, go tell ‘em to get airborne. They have work to do.”
“Yes, sir, on the way,” said Jones, as he darted out toward the makeshift helipad.
Gus arrived wearing only boots and underwear. He immediately asked for a sitrep, but no information other than the red flare which was the signal that the patrol was under attack.
“This is totally unacceptable,” said Gus, “There are three basics of a movement to contact; move, shoot, and communicate, damn it, we move and shoot really well, but we must find a way to communicate other than fucking flares.
Wait a minute, I just thought of something. If we go far enough back in technology, say back to the old PRC-77 backpack radios of the Viet Nam era, I mean, they didn’t have any computer boards in them.
Bradley, get that genius guy running the Skonk Works, oh, yeah, Reyes, Adan Reyes, I think. I need to speak to him soonest.”
“Yes, sir,” said the Sgt. Major, “you may be onto something, Colonel.”
“Adan, this is Levi, quickly tell me if the old Platoon Radios like the PRC 77 would be fried from the CME.”
Adan took a few seconds to respond before saying, “Well, I’m not absolutely sure, but I think you might have a good idea. I know that there were tens of thousands of them stored all around the country, especially at all major training sites. If you don’t find them there, you will absolutely find them at any Depot Level Storage Facility, and the closest one to you would probably be Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB). It’s only a couple of hundred miles away; well within a UH-1J Huey or the Cobras. If you can, also search for the older model PRC-25s. They will definitely still work because they used vacuum tubes.
Oh, if you go there check out Hanger 18 and let me know if you find any UFO Spacecraft.”
“Will do, thanks, Adan, I gotta’ go. We’ll talk about Hanger 18 later; Out here.”
Turning to the Sgt. Major, Levi asked, “Status update?”
“Yes, sir,” said the Sgt. Major, “the Snakes are just arriving over an apparent firefight. Major Turner has launched a WASP and is now identifying hostiles from friendlies.
Here, Sir, look into the visor and you can see what the WASP sees; it’s directly over the gunfire, and apparently our guys are inside this building, over here.”
Just as Gus told Levi to look into the visor, the sky lit up with the fire from the Cobras Gatling Gun. The hostile fire was immediately quelled, and the drone was finding warm bodies in other buildings nearby. The Cobras destroyed any building holding the heat signatures of hostile forces.
The Dust Off landed in the street, and two medics jumped out of the Huey to help get the wounded on the Med-Evac Chopper.
The front door opened and Sergeant Owens, accompanied by two others, waved the Medics into the house to assist in getting the dead and wounded back to camp. Of the original eight-man patrol, two were wounded, and four were dead.
The body count of hostiles in plain view was fifty-three, plus the four in the house, all dead; riddled with bullets from the Gatling Guns of the Cobras, and the defensive fire from the patrol. The body count of those in the surrounding buildings went uncounted.
What happened?
15 July 2330
TOC
Bedford
Levi called the Staff together for an after-action report from Sgt. Owens.
After introductions were made, Sgt. Owens was asked to relate the action.
“Yes, sir, thank you, sir,” said Sgt. Owens, “Well, sir it started like any other patrol until we reached their ambush site. I noticed an open lot to our left and the street beyond the empty lot held a large cluster of homes. I don’t know, exactly why, but it just didn’t feel right to me, so I ordered the drone to check the houses, but the damned thing wouldn’t fly. Well, right then I decided that we were not going to walk into that area just because it gave me the willies, ya’ know, sir?”
Levi gave an understanding look and said, “Yeah, Buck, I do know. You did good, son.”
Buck thought the General called me Buck; he knows my name, yeah, I’d follow him down the escalator to hell. Man, he knows my name. Buck had a small lump in his throat, which he cleared by coughing a couple of times before continuing.
This simple act of recognition told Buck that he was not just some three striper; he was special.
Anyway, we started across the street to enter the house directly to our right in hopes of getting that drone fixed. What happened was that I was right, and that street was an ambush, and they like, started firing at us, but they couldn’t bring a high rate of fire because we was catty-wumpus to most of them, ya’ know?
Well, even though they couldn’t bring lots of fire down on us, I lost Private Watkins from a shot to his head, and Private Woodward took a round that somehow found its way between the vest plates and the round didn’t stop until it hit his heart. Private Carson took a round in his right thigh. We managed to get them all to the shelter of the house, but there was nuthin’ we could do for Watkins and Woodward.
I gotta’ tell ya, sir, that Carson, he never gave up, but Smitty just couldn’t stop the bleeding. We was takin’ so much fire that all Smitty could do was to wrap the wound with the clotting patch. Woodward pushed him away and started returnin’ fire.Rounds was comin’ through the windows, and some even th
rough the walls. We had to concentrate our fire on them Muslims, and in about ten minutes he bled out, but sir, he lived up to what Colonel Murtaugh taught us, and he gave everything he had, and that little bit more. He didn’t stop firing until he died.
Pritt took a couple of seconds to compose himself before continuing, “I mean it, sir, if he hadn’t helped out, I’m not sure we could have kept them away until them choppers got there.
Sir, his Mama is in Tar, North Carolina.
We probly couldn’t have lasted another ten minutes without the choppers showin’ up. They got there, and all of a sudden those choppers started firing and the fight was over. Sir, I ain’t never seen nuthin’ like it. The fire from the choppers looked like a fiery snake searching for them JJs.”
Following the briefing Sgt. Owens was sent to get some rest. The Command Staff tried considering options, but Levi decided to let everyone sleep and discuss things at the morning meeting.
Levi and the Sgt. Major remained behind for a few moments to consider getting the broken WASP returned to Lejeune and have another ten, or so flown up, tomorrow.
“Good night, Bradley, I think I’ll drop by the Aid Station and see how the wounded are doing.”
“Wait up, sir, I’ll go with you,” and the two walked over to the Aid Station, and there Levi saw not only the Command Staff but the entire platoon of the wounded troopers. Levi and the Sgt. Major both had to take a moment before they were able to speak.
The Head Nurse came out and told the crowd that the wounded would be returned to the hospital at Lejeune, tomorrow, and shooed everyone except Levi, Gus, and the Sgt. Major back to bed.
She told Levi that the trooper shot in the buttock was in serious condition and needed immediate evacuation.
“What’s happened, sir is that the bullet ricochetted off the pelvic bone and traveled along the bone. It is now lodged against the bladder. The bullet also nicked his large intestine.
How soon will it take to get the Med-Evac ready to go to Lejeune? Immediately would be best, sir. The Doctor has him stabilized, but the trooper needs to be in ICU. Dr. Monroe will accompany him to Lejeune to do the surgery.”
The Sgt. Major said, “I’m on it sir,” and he ran to get the helicopter driver to wind up the Dust Off.
Major Susan Turner was the most experienced and qualified pilot in the ROA, and she took the mission to fly to Lejeune.
Levi and Gus went back to the TOC and had Jonesy get Major Guy on the horn.
“Mike, I’ve got a Dust Off on the way to Lejeune with two serious wounds, one needs ICU, so get it up and running. Major Turner is flying them down as we speak.
Also get Dr. Faith Monroe prepped and ready to fly back to us. We can’t be without a Dr.; and for God’s sake, find more Docs and Pretty Nurses.
On a separate note, do you have any of the big Chinook helos up and running?”
Major Mike Guyardo said, “No, oh we could have one flyable in no time, but we have no qualified pilots.”
“Mike, we’re really going to need more hueys; how long until you can get them to us?”
“It’s not a question of birds, it all comes down to pilots. We are ensuring that our current pilot class is fully qualified in both types.
“Yeah,” said Levi, “Oh, we should have asked Adan earlier when we had him on the line to get a search party to find some PRC-77s. Please take that monkey, okay?”
“Of course, and to demonstrate how efficient we are, a large cache of both PRC-77s and PRC-25s have been located here, in Lejeune’s long term storage, almost all of them are still in the original boxes. The 77s and their battery packs are being tested now; and if they work, we’ll stuff as many as possible on your Huey for tomorrow’s return flight.
We were all really sad to hear about the losses; our prayers are with all y’all.”
“Thanks, Mike, and please beat the bushes for any double rotor Chinook Pilots, along with more Doctors and Nurses, because we are going to need more than an Aid Station. I think we’re in for a slugfest; please keep us informed as to progress. Out: Here.”
PRC (Prick) 77s
17 July 0600
Levi’s Tent
Bedford
Levi was awakened to the sound of thunder, and driving rain on his tent. The air, wind, and rain all felt cold. He donned his foul weather gear and made his way to the TOC, just a few feet away.
Bradley Cobb was standing at the tent entrance and held the flap open for Levi with one hand and offering a hot cup of Joe in the other.
“Mornin’ sir,” said Sgt. Major Cobb, “great morning’ if you’re a duck.”
Levi failed miserably at smiling and said, “Forecast?”
Bradley looked outside of the tent and then said, “My guess is rain, sir,” and even in this crappy weather, the Sgt. Major did make Levi laugh.
“Sorry, sir, I just couldn’t resist. We have made contact with several other of our HAM stations, and they all report fine weather; so I figure this has to be a Lake effect rain. Beyond that, we got no idea, and I would not suggest sending up any choppers to have a look see.”
“Well dang, Sgt. Major, you just take the fun out of everything, now don’t ya’?”
“Yes sir, that’s my job.”
“Okay, Bradley, let’s focus on cleaning personal equipment this morning, and we’ll hold our classes on our new AN/PRC 77 radios. Let’s use the Mess Tent for the classes.”
“Roger that, dang it; I wonder how long this inclement weather will hold?”
Now Levi had the upper hand and said, “Well, Sgt. Major, my guess is, until it quits,” and everyone in the TOC had a good-natured laugh.
The rain lasted for two days, turning the ground into a quagmire. Levi decided to remain in place for one additional day before offloading the tanks for their rumble through Cleveland.
Operation Neptune
18 July 0800
Morning Briefing
Bedford
Colonel Gus Murtaugh made the presentation of the Battle Plan for the Cleveland Offensive.
“Good morning, everyone, I have received the necessary input from each of you and put together a draft of Operation Neptune which will kick off tomorrow morning at 0700 hours, during morning prayers. This will give us the biggest target we’ll likely have.
As soon as this damnable rain stops we’ll begin patrolling with the WASPs on a 24/7 cycle until Neptune is complete.
Sorry, but at 1400 hours, rain or no rain we will advance to the Progressive Baseball Park, located between Carnegie Avenue and Ontario Street. The map coordinates are in your handout. We will utilize one company of infantry, augmented with our tanks, and two of the LAV IIIs, to establish a secure perimeter for a staging area and the mortar emplacements. The TOC will remain here, secured by one company of Infantry.
The initial assault will be from our mortar crews; lasting for ten minutes.
The Cobras will simultaneously attack the outlying mosques, marked on your handout. Please notice that these targets are lateral to the attack point.
At 0715 the WASPs will begin gathering intel on damage and possible enemy emplacements.
At 0730 all three tanks will begin to travel along Ontario St. to Euclid Ave. At this point tank Alpha1-6 will turn left onto Euclid to arrive on the left flank, while tank A 1-5, will turn right onto Euclid to arrive on the mosque’s right flank. A 1-4 will go hi-diddle-diddle down the middle to cover the south side. The Cobras will cover any effort from the enemy trying to escape to the north.
Upon arrival of all four assets, A 1-6 will utilize a bullhorn to demand the Caliphate’s surrender of the women, children under age eight, and men over sixty-four. They will be ordered to only use the northern exit with their hands high above their heads. Anyone seen without their hands raised, with a weapon, or wearing a Hijab will be shot where they stand.”
Captain Page asked, “Sir, why the Hijab order?”
“Tell me, Captain, can you tell whether someone in a Hijab is a man or a woman, o
r if the wearer is armed with a weapon or an explosive vest?” asked Gus.
“No sir, I don’t believe I could, thank you, sir,” said an embarrassed Captain Neal Page.
“You are welcome, and thank you for the question; now everyone knows the answer.”
Gus continued his briefing, “Should the building not be completely destroyed; the tanks will finish the job.
Should no one surrender and the drones find warm bodies in other locales; those buildings will also be destroyed.
This same plan of attack will be utilized for each mosque in the Cleveland area. The second phase will begin at the top of the following hour.
That’s the basic plan. Are there any questions?”
The discussion continued for another twenty minutes until any wrinkles were ironed out. The staff was pleased to be able to utilize communication using the “prick 77s”. The meeting was adjourned, and the preparation for movement to contact was begun.
***
Chapter 9
Movement to Contact
18 July 1400
Cleveland
The movement to advance to Progressive Field crossed the Line of Departure (LOD) on time in bright sunshine creating an azure sky. The afternoon air seemed very cool when coupled with the chilly, stiff breeze off the lake.
As the column advanced, the only hindrance was the traffic jam; rather than taking twenty minutes to reach their destination it took the force two hours. Once onsite, the perimeter was established and secured while the control elements set up the FTOC (Forward Tactical Operations Center).
By 1800 the FTOC was operational and secure.
