Soldier Up

by Unknown

  The Soldiers were integrated into existing Army units, the Sailors were sent over to the Seabee’s who were on drill and now integrated with everyone else. Much of their equipment worked, many of their vehicles were EMP hardened and or many of their vehicles were all engine and didn’t have any modern electronics. The Air Force personnel went out to the airfield where they were able to get half dozen planes to work or that already worked.

  As of a week ago they had one Marine, now there were almost twenty-five and out of that was a Captain and a couple of Lieutenants, there was one Gunnery Sergeant that was Force Recon the rest were lower enlisted. They now formed their own platoon, almost all of the Marines were combat MOS’s, some had families but most didn’t.

  One of the issues was there were mess facilities on post and there were US Military Mess personnel there but not enough to handle the large influx of people on post. This is where the military spouses really stepped in to help.

  There were schools being set up for the kids who may have thought that with everything going on school was over forever. Nope, the families were reaching out to the school district, well what was left of it and getting teaching materials such as books and other supplies. If the schools were empty they simply took the items they needed and left notes behind telling them where it all went and who they could contact.

  Over the last few days patrols had been reporting looting especially the gun shops those were emptied. Colonel Clayton didn’t want to get into looting but he also felt that if they didn’t secure as much as possible it would be gone and most of it wasted. He talked to his staff and they all agreed they needed to secure as much as possible to bring it on post for use by them and the local civilian population, he sent out the two platoons of the 184th, the Marine platoon and some of the Soldiers from the 91st. They sent them out to secure the Costco and Walmart’s in town as well as any others that were close to town. Once they secured the stores they started to haul it all back to the camp and put it into the warehouses, they also hit the pharmacies, many of them had been looted, but there were areas of the pharmacies that were secure the looters couldn’t get into but the US Army could.

  Things were starting to get a little scary after the first week out of the wire, the teams and squads running patrols were taking fire, it was unfortunate for the people that fired on the Soldiers and then tried to stand their ground they were quickly outgunned and cut down. Anyone exiting the wire with weapons had rules of engagement, which were primarily defensive.

  Colonel Clayton was very big on showing the flag and the presence of the US Army, he even found a couple of buglers that could play Reveille in the morning as the flag was raised by the guard detail and retreat in the evenings as the flag was lowered. As far as the Colonel was concerned as well as the Officers and NCO’s, it may have been the end of things as we knew them, but the US Military would continue to drive on and do their Job.

  As they entered the third week a convoy of vehicles with 105mm Howitzers arrived from Walnut Creek, the unit was the 1st Battalion, 143rd Field Artillery. The vehicles where M35A2 2.5 Ton trucks, some POV’s and a few other military vehicles that they had gotten to run. They brought everyone and everything with them and the kitchen sink. The unit had been contacted by one of the three man teams from the 19th Special Forces Group that Colonel Clayton had put together to reach out to other military units, regardless of branch. The purpose was to consolidate what units they could and convince others to come to Camp Parks. The Colonel reasoned that they as a group needed the military might of the US concentrated in at least one area for now to be able to project power.

  One of the three man teams was sent to make contact with the Marines Reserve, 4th Battalion Force Recon, 4th Marines in Alameda but there had been no word from them in days. Another team went to San Bruno to make contact with the Marine Reserve, 4th Marines, there is a rifle company, a HQ company and a UAV company (not that they have a lot to do now). No word from them either, but it had been a couple of days so the Colonel was doing his best to be patient.

  There were eight-hundred and fifty-three Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Air Force personnel at Camp Parks now many with families. It was a sizable force but it was a big camp it could handle more, with more service members coming in everyday.

  As for the Dublin Police Force, after they had gotten their new squad cars a few weeks ago they started patrolling a bit more but were severely restricted by their lack of fuel. They hadn’t quite gotten the hang of getting fuel out of their own fuel tanks that were located on the Police lot, however they had gotten real good at syphoning fuel from other cars. They turned to more foot patrols and bike, but when they got into trouble they really couldn’t call for back up. The civilian population was in one way becoming more dangerous, there were lots of guns on the street, but the amount of ammunition was finite. The gangs were still there and still fighting over turf, which was stupid because there really wasn’t much to fight over, but their numbers were dropping, when one was wounded in a shooting or knifing, they died, there was no ambulance coming to rush them to the hospital. Some of the gangs had run out of ammunition and were now fair game to other gangs that had some.

  Other people who were somehow still waiting for the Government to come and rescue them, these people had also become gang bait; people the gangs preyed on for their own survival. These people didn’t ever believe in guns had done their best to vote them out of the State of California and were in total denial. Even though they could see people dying almost every day in front of them, it was sad really.

  Some neighborhoods had joined together for mutual defense which was so far the best civilian strategy there was. Those neighborhoods were well armed, well organized and in some cases trained as very small militias, but who knows what would happen when they were challenged. Some of the teams and squads form Camp Parks had gone into these neighborhoods to make sure everything was going ok. Most of the civilian neighborhoods were very happy to see the Military patrols, they knew when the patrols were present anyone that was looking to hurt them was far away. The military had vehicles and firepower and could call for backup; some of the gangs had tried to take them on, when that happened Colonel Clayton sent one of the infantry companies to clean out the entire neighborhood. In some cases the military leveled the neighborhood when there was a large gang presence that was threatening other areas.

  The ValleyCare Medical Center the first two weeks suffered horribly, every person who was in an ICU or a child that was in the PICU died, there was no way to keep them alive. Tom Lowell resigned as the CEO because he found it devastating hard to make many of the life and death decisions, even though it wasn’t his job. The senior staff found it equally hard to make the decisions believing there could be legal ramifications if they allowed someone to die, they still didn’t get it that the legal system they knew was gone.

  The issues were huge; there was only so much medication to go around, such as insulin. The quandary is who do you give it to? A child who has potentially many years of life ahead of them or the elderly that had potentially a few years left, where do you draw the line when you have to pick. Several wanted to give out the medication to everyone hoping more would somehow turn up, others wanted to give it to everyone and when it runs out it runs out they all die, most believed they should be giving it to the young because they had the most to lose, which was the final decision

  It was difficult for the medical staff to go from advanced medical care where they depended on computers and other advanced electronics to treat people and keep many alive, to treating people using techniques from sixty years or so ago. For Cancer patients who needed radiation therapy that died when the power did and patients with pacemakers some lived and some died, it all depended on the pacemaker and how much metal shielding it had.

  Colonel Spears brought in temporary butane refrigerators so blood and medicines that needed refrigeration got it. He also had butane stoves brought in; lantern’s anything and everything they could
think of. There were plenty of butane containers throughout the area that weren’t looted so they were gathered up by the Soldiers and stockpiled specifically for the hospital. The military generators were still running and providing light and other services. Some of the Marines had come up with an ingenious idea for a new pump that would allow them to get the fuel they needed out of the gas stations and other fuel storage devices.

  Word was spreading about Camp Parks and what it might be able to offer people, it offered them hope.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  A week later the two teams that Colonel Clayton had sent out to find the Marines in Alameda and San Bruno came rolling back in the main gate in their DPV’s. Behind them was military vehicle after vehicle it looked like it went on for miles and probably did. They rolled up to the Camps HQ were Colonel Clayton was waiting for them, the guards at the gate had telephoned and let him know there was a shitload of vehicles on their way.

  The SF Soldiers arrived first and exited their vehicles, marched up to the Colonel, came to attention and saluted, the Colonel returned the salute. “Get lost boys?” the Colonel asked.

  The Soldier’s smiled at their Commander, “Sir Oakland and San Francisco are hell, literally hell,” said Master Sergeant Healy. “People are doing their best to get out of the cities, there’re thousands and thousands of refugees heading out in every direction. We had to work our way through them, people were stopping us everyone and asking for help, especially help for their kids. When we arrived at Alameda the Marines were under attack by huge gangs that were running everyplace. It’s like the city has been divided up by the gangs and they are now hundreds strong.”

  Master Sergeant Healy was looking at all the trucks roll in before continuing, “Sir it was bad still is, we fought are way in and hooked up with the Jarheads, but damned if it wasn’t a lot easier to get in then out. Once we got in they wanted to know where the hell we came from. I told them all about what we have here and gave their CO your letter Sir.”

  Colonel Clayton said, “Well you got them here, that’s what’s important.”

  “Not everyone Sir they lost about a dozen or so men defending the place and getting out.” said Master Sergeant Healy.

  “How’d you get out?” asked the Colonel.

  “Well Jake and I here, went over the wall one night and planted all sorts of explosives around the Marine Barracks, then we took up sniper positions. The main force of the gangs attacked at sunrise and we blew the shit out of them, and then started picking them off. That’s when everyone in the Marine Barracks made a break for it, as they exited they were firing at everything that moved. I gotta believe Sir when they broke out, they left hundreds dead.”

  The Colonel nodded his understood, “Sir not to be the bearer of bad news but all those refugees a lot of them are heading this way.”

  “How many?” asked the Colonel.

  “Thousands Sir Thousands.” said the Master Sergeant.

  The Colonel turned to Sergeant First Class Peterson, “What’s the story in San Bruno?”

  “Pretty much the same Sir. The Marines there were holding their own, but it was pretty grim there too. There’re refugees’ there were heading out in all directions including our own, their looking for food and water. Sir, we saw a lot of killing and rapes, we tried to stop it when we could but there was only the three of us and it wasn’t the mission.”

  “Try not to worry about it Sergeant Peterson, you’re right it wasn’t the mission, always mission first. So how many came with you?”

  “Sir,” said Master Sergeant Healy. “A hundred Marines and about a quarter have families.”

  SFC Peterson replied, “Four hundred Marines and a quarter with families.”

  “What’s going on at Moffett?” asked the Colonel.

  Master Sergeant Healy said, “Sir we couldn’t get close there were so many refugees there it was unbelievable. There were probably a dozen or so armed gangs mixed in with all of the people there. The base was being overwhelmed.”

  “Do you think it would make sense to fly into it and see if we can make contact with them that way?” asked the Colonel.

  “That would be an option Sir, but if we have to evac by land we will have to fight our way in and out.” replied the Master Sergeant.

  “I don’t have a problem with that but let me think on it.” said the Colonel. “Alright guy’s thanks for the update I appreciate it.”

  “Colonel, me and Peterson were talking something over. We noticed on our way out and back in that there are a lot of RV dealerships with all them empty RV’s, Campers and trailers just sitting there. Why don’t we start towing them in and using them for housing?” said the Master Sergeant.

  The Colonel raised his eyebrows, “Thank you Master Sergeant we hadn’t considered it if anything we might be able to provide some housing to the refugees gathered in front of the gate. Thanks again guy’s, get the vehicles turned in, weapons cleaned, and grab some chow.”

  Once the Colonel was notified that the Marines were on their way in he contacted the Marine Captain, Captain Jack Shultz, and told him that some of his brethren were getting ready to join him and for him to high tail it over to HQ. Captain Shultz was a bit confused who exactly his brethren were but he was ordered were to report to HQ so he hustled over there. Once there he saw hundreds of Marines rolling onto post, he was one happy Marine.

  Over the last few weeks outside of the main gate hundreds if not thousands of refugees had settled there. They were living in tents mostly; some only had sleeping bags and were camping out under the stars. It was a very large refugee camp and they were there mostly for security, there were unsavory types in the refugee camp who tried to riot and overwhelm the main gate onto post. But Colonel Clayton and his Senior Staff had recognized early on that areas around the post could be breached by large groups of refugees who would knock down the gates. They sent out the Seabees to reinforce the areas throughout the post which had kept them very busy. It was a very large job and it required help from other units on post.

  That was accomplished by the end of the week; every week a different unit was relieved of their current duties, unless essential to the running of the camp, and rotated in to help the Seabees. The refugee agitators were dealt with harshly by the military as a whole, if armed and they started anything, they were arrested and sent packing, they were told if they returned they would be killed, if they tried to fight they were killed.

  With the help of the Dublin Police Department an office was opened at the refugee camp to help the military control the refugee problem which was growing daily. There wasn’t enough food and water to feed everyone. Some people had serious medical needs and were sent over to ValleyCare but there was only so much they could do too.

  Colonel Clayton ordered as many GP Medium and Large tents set up in the refugee area that they could spare. He had holes dug for latrines and then structures built over them; they set up a local government within the camp to help with the communication between Camp Parks and Dublin. The current Mayor of Dublin didn’t really like this, but he was the fifth Mayor in just three months, so he wasn’t taken as seriously if Majors weren’t changing like someone changed underwear. Three Mayors had been shot and killed when they tried to mediate when food riots broke out, one Mayor just up and left never to be seen again.

  Dublin had gone from a population of over 79,000 people to about (estimated) 15,000 which included the refugees around Camp Parks. People left when they couldn’t get any food or water they headed out to other parts of the country by foot, bike, motorcycle or a car if they had one that ran. How far they got in a vehicle was unknown. Most of the people left within the first three weeks and didn’t realize then that Camp Parks would become the security for the region, what security it could provide.

  The large tents that were set up were to be used for families first, two families per GP medium and three to GP large. He also had tents distributed to singles and couples that they had taken from the stores around tow
n. Now the military being the military wasn’t going to let them set things up any old way they wanted, they had the tents set up dress right dress. They had small trenches dug around each tent for water drainage.

  They were using the military generators at night only to provide lights; there were butane lanterns, refrigerators, and stoves. Many of the refugee families had food but most didn’t or water. The Seabees and other engineers that the Colonel had been able to recruit to help, the trade was they could live post, got to work on solving the water problems. They got down to the Dublin Water Authority and looked over all of their schematics for the area. Again, they came up with ingenious ideas to get water flowing into town with the tools they had, they all figured the Romans did it two thousand years ago and were able to bring water to millions. Two thousand years forward they were sure they could come up with better ways to get water and they did.

  It took time to get some water flowing to the Camp but they did via aqueducts they built, using windmills to get at ground water and more. They had water which was the good news but there were still careful and conserved when possible. In the refugee camp they had taken another lesson from ancient technologies. They built several fountains throughout the refugee camp which were turned on at certain times of the day where people could get water. At first the military provided five galleon containers to people so they could get water and keep it. That lasted as long as the supplies of those containers lasted, but one thing people found was that those were generally not items looted and found them at local sports stores still in stock.

  Regardless people found ways to get the water from the fountain back to where they were staying. The next obstacle that was how to feed everyone long term, that was partially solved by growing crops, they had plenty of seeds to grow anything they wanted. They had enough food, plenty actually, to get through the first winter, then they were plowing up any fields they could with the help of the Seabees.