by Jack Terral
A related story also appeared with the one about the Portuguese murderer. This one reported that two Falangist prisoners who were listed as deserters from the Chilean Army--Teniente-Coronal Jeronimo Busch and Sargento Antonio Muller had escaped from a military prison near San Bernardo, Chile. There were strong suspicions that the breakout was the result of both inside and outside collusion. A military police official stated that the men had undoubtedly been taken into the Falangist underground, where they would be inserted into an escape-and-evasion net. They would eventually end up at a hideout somewhere in Europe.
.
CORONADO, CALIFORNIA
THE BRANNIGAN RESIDENCE
5 FEBRUARY
1300 HOURS LOCAL
LIEUTENANT Bill Brannigan's wife Lisa sat at the table on the patio, sipping a glass of Chardonnay as she watched her husband turning the steaks on the barbecue. She was used to him being somewhat taciturn after coming back from a mission, but this latest operation had left him almost completely uncommunicative.
The official word was that he and his detachment had been on a highly classified training operation in which some new infiltration and exfiltration techniques had been tested. Some things had gone terribly wrong in which three men were killed in accidents and four injured, two of them quite seriously.
Lisa was a naval pilot stationed at North Island NAS in an EA-6B Prowler squadron, and she could read between the lines of the report. She quickly figured out there had been a supersecret mission of some sort that had taken place under some very heavy wraps. Whether it was a success or not would not be known for years if ever. Meanwhile, families might never be informed that their relatives were killed in action, nor would any medals be issued, and any acts of heroism would be hidden forever in files marked TOP SECRET. Only when the operation was officially declassified would the dead be properly honored and the brave receive the medals due them.
Now, in the peaceful atmosphere of the patio, Brannigan used tongs to grasp the steaks, slipping them on the plates. He walked over to the table and set one steak down for Lisa and the other for himself. She spooned out the salad and green beans as he took a chair and started to eat. Brannigan stopped with his fork halfway between the meat and his mouth. He looked at his wife in a special, meaningful way.
"Ain't this some shit?"
She smiled sadly but proudly, knowing exactly what he was referring to.
.
OFF THE SOUTHEAST COAST OF CUBA PRESIDENTS' DAY
BACK when Jimmy Carter was the President of the United States, floods of refugees from Cuba braved the dangerous crossing to Florida in attempts to get to America to start new lives under the blessings of freedom. Many people perished in vessels that were sometimes no more than inflated tractor inner tubes. President Carter was disturbed by these tragedies and made a deal to let the defectors into the U. S. A. if the Cuban leader Fidel Castro would lift the ban on their fleeing his autocratic government.
This became known as the Mariel Boat Lift, and 125,000 people left Cuba under its provisions. Unfortunately, Castro emptied prisons and insane asylums, inserting these undesirables into the flow of authentic refugees. This created a nightmare for everyone concerned when the truth was discovered. Undesirable Cubans ended up spending years in custody while decent Marielitos, as they were known, suffered the stigma of being associated with criminals and lunatics.
For Fidel Castro this was one big joke he had played on the American president.
.
0330 HOURS
OFF' in the darkness, the Cuban shore was shadowy and indistinct as a nondescript fishing boat stood by. A group of thirteen men slipped over the side into two rubber rafts for a very short boat trip. These individuals making ready to row to the beach were Gordo Pullini and his gang members. They had been issued handguns, clothing, and carried knapsacks with over $100,000 American packed in them. In this reverse of the Mariel Boat Lift, they planned to set up whatever illegal activities were available to Spanish-speaking, ruthless professional criminals within Cuban society.
Payback time, Fidel!
*
GLOSSARY
21C: Second in command
AA: Anti-aircraft
AFSOC: Air Force Special Operations Command AGL: Above ground level aka: Also known as
ARG: Amphibious ready group
ASAP: As soon as possible
ASL: Above sea level
AT-4: Antiarmor rocket launchers
Attack board (also compass board): A board with a compass, watch and depth gauge used by subsurface swimmers
AWOL: Away without leave, i. E., absent from one's unit without permission, aka French leave
BOQ: Bachelor officers' quarters
Briefback: A briefing given to staff by a SEAL platoon regarding their assigned mission. This must be approved before it is implemented.
BDU: Battle dress uniform
BUD/S: Basic underwater demolition SEAL training course
C4: Plastic explosive
CAR-15: Compact model of the M-16 rifle
CATF: Commander, Amphibious Task Force
CNO: Chief of naval operations CO: Commanding officer Cover: Hat, headgear
CP: Command post
CPU: Computer processing unit CPX: Command post exercise CRRC: Combat rubber raiding craft CS: Tear gas
CSAR: Combat search and rescue CVBG: Carrier battle group DPV: Desert patrol vehicle
Det Cord: Detonating cord
Draeger Mk V: Underwater air supply equipment
DZ: Drop zone
E&E: Escape and evasion EPW: Enemy prisoner of war ESP: Extrasensory perception
FLIR: Forward-looking infrared radar
French leave: See AWOL FRH: Flameless ration heater FTX: Field training exercise
GPS: Global Positioning System
H&K MP-5: Heckler & Koch MP-5 submachine gun HAHO: High altitude high opening parachute jump HALO: High altitude low opening parachute jump
HE: High explosive
Head: Navy and Marine Corps term for toilet; called a latrine in the Army
Hors de combat: Out of the battle (expression in French) HSB: High-speed boat
JSOC: Joint Special Operation Command
K-Bar: A brand of knives manufactured for military and camping purposes
'CIA: Killed in action
LBE: Load-bearing equipment
LSSC: Light SEAL support craft
Light sticks: Flexible plastic tubes that illuminate
Limpet mine: An explosive mine that is attached to the hulls of vessels
LZ: Landing zone
M-18 claymore mine: A mine fired electrically with a blasting cap
M-60 E3: A compact model of the M-60 machine gun M-67: An antipersonnel grenade
M-203: A single-shot 40 millimeter grenade launcher MATC: A fast river support craft
MCPO: Master chief petty officer
Medevac: Medical evacuation
Mk 138 satchel charge: Canvas container filled with explosive
MRE: Meal ready to eat
MSSC: Medium SEAL support craft
Intelligence staff
Operations and plans staff
NAS: Naval air station
NAVSPECWAR: Naval Special Warfare
NCO: Noncommissioned officer, i. E., a corporal or sergeant
NCP: Navy College Program
NFL: National Football League
NVG: Night vision goggles
OA: Operational area
OCONUS: Outside the continental United States OER: Officer evaluation report
OP: Observation post
OPLAN: Operations plan. This is the preliminary form of an OPORD.
OPORD: Operations order. This is the directive derived from the OPLAN of how an operation is to be carried out. It's pretty much etched in stone.
PBL: Patrol boat, light
PC: Patrol coastal vessel
PDQ: Pretty damn quick
PLF: Parachute landing fall
P
O: Petty officer (e. G., PO1C is petty officer first class) POV: Privately owned vehicle
PT: Physical training
RIB: Rigid inflatable boat
RPG: Rocket propelled grenade
RPM: Revolutions per minute
RTO: Radio telephone operator
SAW: Squad automatic weapon--M249 5.56-millimeter magazine or clip-fed machine gun
SCPO: Senior chief petty officer
SDV: Seal delivery vehicle
SERE: Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape SITREP: Situation report
SOCOM: Special operations command
SOF: Special Operations Forces
SOI: Signal operating instructions
SOLS: Special operations liaison staff
SOP: Standard operating procedures
SPECOPS: Special operations
Special boat squadrons: Units that participate in SEAL missions
SPECWARCOM: Special Warfare Command
TDY: Temporary duty
UN: United Nations
Unass: To jump out of or off of something
Watch bill: A list of personnel and stations for the watch WIA: Wounded in action
FB2 document info
Document ID: b244f524-4414-48db-bc61-315b9bbd1f32
Document version: 1
Document creation date: 14.9.2012
Created using: calibre 0.8.67, FictionBook Editor Release 2.6.6 software
Document authors :
Jack Terral
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