Easy Day for the Dead
Page 26
Pancho laughed. “I sure hope she said yes, because if she didn’t I might just ask her myself,” he said.
Over the blare of the approaching sirens, Cat held out her left hand to show Pancho and John her engagement ring. She rotated her hand, using the diamond to catch and refract the red and blue lights of the first police car pulling into the parking lot.
“I haven’t had time to register for gifts yet,” Cat said, “but I’m thinking Heckler and Koch.”
GLOSSARY
The Activity: See ISA.
AK-47: The name is a contraction of Russian: Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1947 goda (Kalashnikov’s automatic rifle model of year 1947). This assault rifle fires a 7.62x39mm (.308) round up to an effective range of 300 meters (330 yards) and holds thirty rounds. It was developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov in two versions: the fixed-stock AK-47 and the AKS-47 (S: Skladnoy priklad) variant equipped with an underfolding metal shoulder stock. The modern version is the AKM (M: Modernizirovanniy).
AKM: Modern version of AK-47.
AKMS: Modern version of AKS-47.
AKS-47: See AK-47.
AT-4 CS: An 84mm, one-shot, light antitank rocket designed to operate within closed spaces. Salt water absorbs much of the back blast, so it doesn’t fry teammates.
Basij: Paramilitary militia in Iran who police morals and stop opposition to the government or Ayatollah. Individual members are called basiji. Regular members are unpaid. Active members are volunteers with additional training who are paid. Special members are paid as members of both the Basij and the IRGC army.
Blowout kit: First-aid kit.
Bouncing Betty: See M16 mine.
BUD/S: Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training.
Burqa: Traditional clothing worn by a number of Muslim women to cover themselves from head to toe.
Civvies: Civilian clothes.
Claymore mine: Anti-personnel mine that is sometimes used against unarmored vehicles. Can be fired by remote control or rigged as a booby trap. Mostly used for ambushes and defense of a stationary position. Fired forward like a shotgun, blasting nearly seven hundred steel balls in a sixty-degree arc out to about one hundred meters.
CO: Commanding Officer.
C-130: Lockheed C-130 Hercules. Large military plane often used to transport troops.
HAHO: High altitude, high opening. Parachutist jumps from 25,000 to 35,000 feet and deploys parachute within seconds, then glides miles to the target. Useful tactic for avoiding enemy detection such as radar.
Helo: Helicopter.
Hezbollah: Terrorists trained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Hezbollah’s headquarters is in Lebanon, where they recruit mostly from Shiite Muslims. Hezbollah mainly serves Iranian and Syrian interests to control the region and has received recognition as a political party in Lebanon.
IRGC: See Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
ISA: Intelligence Support Activity, nicknamed the Activity. Tier 1 unit that provides intelligence mainly for SEAL Team Six and Delta. Same as Team Six and Delta, ISA is commanded by JSOC.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) serves as Iran’s military and squashes internal opposition to the Iranian government or the Ayatollah. Their army, navy, and air force are made up of about 125,000 troops. In addition, they command approximately 90,000 Basij militia.
JSOC: Joint Special Operations Command, located at Pope Air Force Base and Fort Bragg in North Carolina. After the 1980 failed attempt to rescue fifty-three American hostages at the American Embassy in Iran, it became clear that the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines couldn’t work together effectively on Special Operations missions. In 1987, the Department of Defense grafted all the military branches’ Special Operations onto one tree—including Tier 1 units like SEAL Team Six and Delta. SEALs, Rangers, and Green Berets are truly special, but only the best make it to the top tier: Team Six and Delta. JSOC is Team Six’s boss.
Kit: Team Six word meaning gear.
Klick: Military slang for kilometer.
KLS-7.62: Iranian copy of the Russian AKMS.
Knot: One knot equals roughly 1.15 miles per hour.
Maghnaeh: A scarf that conceals the hair and neck.
MBD21: Madagascar Black Death 21. An advanced strain of Black Death crossbred with pneumonic plague that can be transmitted by fleas, human coughing, or sneezing. MBD21 is immune to antibiotics.
MPT-9KPDW: The Iranian copy of the German MP5K-PDW short submachine gun.
M16 Mine: Nicknamed the Bouncing Betty. When an enemy trips the trigger, there is a delay for the enemy to step past the mine before the mine launches into the air about three feet and explodes, showering shrapnel 360 degrees. After the M16 has been tripped, troops have dived to the ground and avoided the blast of shrapnel.
Niqab: Veil to cover the face.
NOD: Night Optical Device. Used for seeing in the dark.
NSA: National Security Agency. Collects foreign communications and signals intelligence and protects U.S. government communications.
PT: Physiology technician.
Quds Force: Quds Force is the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s special operations unit. Quds Force trains and assists terrorists such as Hezbollah to influence governments abroad. Quds Force reports directly to the Ayatollah.
RHIB: Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat. A thirty-six-foot-long Naval Special Warfare boat designed primarily for inserting and extracting SEALs. The RHIB travels at speeds of over forty knots (sixty-four kilometers an hour). It is also tough enough to operate in heavy seas and high winds. Armament can include a 7.62 machine gun, .50-caliber machine gun, and 40mm grenade launcher.
RPG: Rocket-propelled grenade.
SEAL: The U.S. Navy’s elite SEa, Air, and Land commandos. During World War II, the first Navy frogmen were trained to recon beaches for amphibious landings. Soon they learned underwater demolitions in order to clear obstacles and became known as Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs). In the Korean War, UDTs evolved and went farther inland, blowing up bridges and tunnels. Years later, after observing communist insurgency in Southeast Asia, President John F. Kennedy—who had served in the Navy during World War II—and others in the military understood the need for unconventional warriors. The Navy created a unit that could operate from sea, air, and land—SEALs—drawing heavily from UDTs. On January 1, 1962, SEAL Team One and SEAL Team Two were born. By the end of the war, the military decorated SEAL Teams One and Two with three Medals of Honor, two Navy Crosses, forty-two Silver Stars, 402 Bronze Stars, and numerous other awards. For every SEAL killed, they killed two hundred. Over time, because SEALS could do both UDT and SEAL jobs, the UDT Teams were absorbed by the SEALs. The SEAL Teams expanded. Currently, the odd-numbered teams—One, Three, Five, and Seven—are stationed on the West Coast at Coronado, California. (Team Nine hasn’t been created, but if the Teams expanded, it would probably be next.) The even-numbered teams—Two, Four, Six, Eight, and Ten—are located on the East Coast at Little Creek, Virginia.
Shiite: Followers of one of the two main sects of Islam. Iran is predominantly Shiite, and although Syria is mostly Sunni, Shiites control the government, including the military and police.
SIG Sauer P226 Navy 9mm: SIG stands for Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft, which is German for “Swiss Industrial Company.” The P226 pistol has phosphate corrosion-resistant finish on the internal parts, contrast sights, and an anchor engraved on the slide. Holds fifteen rounds in the magazine. Designed especially for the SEALs.
Sunni: Followers of the more popular of the two main sects of Islam. Lebanon is predominantly Sunni, and although Iraq is mostly populated with Shiites, under the rule of Saddam Hussein, Sunnis controlled the country.
XO: Executive Officer. The second in command, under the CO.
Zoaf: Iranian knockoff of the SIG Sauer 9mm pistol (see SIG Sauer P226 Navy 9mm).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank God for my success and my blessing at being born an American. As
I never thought I would live past forty, I am in awe of my world being seen through fifty-year-old eyes. My first grandchild, Emma, has changed and inspired me and has made life seem even more precious.
Special thanks to Jo-Ann and Harley Grove. Without their input and editing skills there is no doubt that my part of the project would not have been as constructive.
Last, thank you to the hundreds of thousands of you who have bought and enjoyed our books. You have both humbled and inspired me.
God bless America and our troops.
Dr. Howard E. Wasdin D.C.
I’d like to thank Reiko, Kent, and Maria for their emotional support and inspiration. Also, I appreciate Carol Scarr for her excellent editing advice for earlier drafts of Outcasts and Easy Day for the Dead.
Stephen Templin
DR. HOWARD E. WASDIN graduated with BUD/S Class 143. He was awarded the Silver Star for his valor during the Battle of Mogadishu. He medically retired from the Navy in November 1995 after twelve years of service. He makes his home in Georgia. Visit his website at www.howardwasdin.com.
STEPHEN TEMPLIN completed Hell Week, qualified as a pistol and rifle expert, and blew up things during Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training. He lectured as a tenured university professor in Japan for fourteen years, where he also practiced the martial art aikido. Currently, he lives in the Dallas—Fort Worth area.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the authors’ imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Howard E. Wasdin and Stephen Templin
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First Gallery Books hardcover edition December 2013
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ISBN 978-1-4516-8297-7
ISBN 978-1-4516-8298-4 (ebook)