Retribution (Soldier Up - Book Five 5) Page 2

  The Platoon Sergeant, SFC Cary Dittmyer, was a 22-year veteran of the Army National Guard. He’d never seen any combat and he ducked every single deployment. SFC Dittmyer was bringing up the rear where he felt most comfortable. SFC Dittmyer was a coward through-and-through. He had originally joined the National Guard for the educational benefits, by which he obtained an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts. He found a liking to the easy pay check the National Guard gave him with minimal work, and he also found that as long as he kept his nose clean he didn’t really have to do much to advance in rank. He was lazy.

  SFC Dittmyer and 2nd Lieutenant Wills were polar opposites. The Lieutenant was a hard charging 2nd Lieutenant that really had no idea what he was doing while SFC Dittmyer was lazy and cowardly. These were the two men that were leading First platoon. Unfortunately the men in the platoon recognized the leadership problem. There were two Staff Sergeants in the platoon that were Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and had been regular Army but both had left to pursue college. They were SSG Jesus Arroa and SSG Ben Danes, both good men that looked after and took care of the men in their squads. Both SSGs knew what it took to survive in combat and took measures to ensure the men under their command were trained properly regardless of what SFC Dittmyer and Lieutenant Wills wanted.

  SSG Arroa’s squad would be the lead element in first platoon, meaning that the squad would be the first down the path cleared by the M1271 and into the main gate. Also if it was all a trap they would be the first to be hit. As they approached the entrance to the path SSG Arroa raised his right arm in an l-shaped position with his fist closed signaling to the rest of the squad to halt. SSG Arroa then motioned using hand signals for the squad to take a knee in place and stay alert. The following squads reacted in the same manner, Lieutenant Wills now wondering what the hell was the hold up and SFC Dittmyer not really caring either way.

  SSG Arroa didn’t like what he saw up ahead. He wasn’t positive that all of the mines had been cleared. He’d seen it before in Afghanistan, where the M1271s were used to clear out swaths of area and then the engineers claimed it was safe, when it really wasn’t. It was always the infantry that had to find out just how cleared it wasn’t; many men lost their lives to ‘cleared’ paths. SSG Arroa moved down the path by himself. It wasn’t easy because there wasn’t much light available, which thankfully it was a full moon, which in this case was good so he had some light to inspect by. It was bad because if he could see the ground and what to look for, people on the fort could see him and his men.

  SSG Arroa moved slowly and thoughtfully moving from side-to-side of the path, stopping and kneeling to inspect certain spots. He carried small flags with him and he placed them as he went creating his own path within the path that he knew was cleared. He moved cautiously around the main gate. He was looking for booby-traps that the M1271 couldn’t find. He found two that were set with grenades and strung across paths created by the soldiers on post that forced any incoming soldiers down those paths. He cleared two more by the time he was done. He made his way out, back out the gate and the path he had personally cleared. He made his way back to his squad signaling for them to stay put. SSG Arroa headed over to talk to the Lieutenant about what he did and found.

  “What the hell? Staff Sergeant!” Lieutenant Wills said.

  “Sir I’ve been down this road before in Afghanistan a few times. You can’t trust the M1271, they don’t always get everything and we end up getting killed for it.” Replied SSG Arroa.

  Lieutenant Wills took in what SSG Arroa said, “Alright Staff Sergeant,” said the Lieutenant. “Find anything?”

  “Yes sir, I personally cleared a path and marked it with flags so have everyone stay within the flags. I also found several booby-traps around the main gate and a little beyond it. Make sure everyone stays alert because I’m sure there are more.”

  Lieutenant Wills stared at SSG Arroa for a moment definitely impressed by him, “Roger that Staff Sergeant. I’ll make sure everyone knows. Can we get moving now?” Lieutenant Wills said.

  SSG Arroa moved back to his squad and signaled for them to move out, but to stay behind him and not move out from between the flags.

  Chapter Three

  General Moon had ordered the Special Operations Groups around post to open up all of the underground storage facilities. He noted that SFC Harris from 19th Special Forces Group had let the cat out of the bag and General Portson was not a happy camper. General Portson wanted the helicopters out ASAP, checked out and verified that they still ran. There was still plenty of fuel for them over at Pope AFB, granted it would run out sooner or later, but for now they were set. He wanted the birds up and flying by NLT 1500 that day. General Moon kindly pointed out to General Portson that he didn’t come under his command. General Portson kindly retorted that he still outranked his ass and until someone else came long more senior to him he had damn better well execute his orders. General Moon saw that General Portson had a point and realized that at some point, in fact, some one more senior to both of them would happen along. He’d rather be seen as part of the solution instead of part of the problem and decided on working with the post commanders instead of fighting with them.

  General Moon had notified the Special Operations Aviation Command on post of the availability of the aircraft. General Moon was going to obey General Portson’s orders, but he was going to give USASOAC first crack at the aircraft. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) nicknamed the Night Stalkers was well aware of the stash of aircraft in the underground storage facilities primarily because they had helped move them there many years ago. They had also ventured to these facilities on a regular basis to maintain them. It was not like they could park them there and let them be, because everything deteriorates over time without proper maintenance. When word came down to get them out the Night Stalkers were well aware of the status of the aircraft and were happy to hear they had first pick.

  Although the 160th Headquarters and the majority of the battalions were located at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, 2nd Battalion had been on loan to the Special Forces command at Fort Bragg at the time the event happened. Essentially the battalion was stranded with no mission because they had no aircraft. They were then made responsible for the maintenance and care of the aircraft in the underground facilities that kept most of the pilots and mechanics busy. Others were given the opportunity to join their Special Forces brethren, and become snake eaters. The commander of 2nd Battalion was Lieutenant Colonel Forest Zane. He’d been in aviation his entire career, which had spanned twenty-two years so far. He knew that prior to the event he was stuck in a rut in his career and should have advanced to full bird colonel by now. He had a DUI when he was a Major, which was largely covered up by his command back then. Normally he would have been kicked out of the Army for it. The DUI had followed him and continued to affect his advancement. He also knew that prior to the event he was on his way out. It was either move up or move out as far as the Army was concerned. When the event happened the Army, what was left of it, needed all of the officers it could get and keep. In addition, his personnel records were back at Fort Campbell and even if he was back there those records were computerized.

  Lt. Colonel Zane was more than happy to omit his DUI conviction from said 201 file, giving him mostly a fresh start of it. Lt. Colonel Zane was alcohol free and had been for many years. He’d lost his marriage and kids over it and almost his career; that’s when he hit rock-bottom. For the past couple of years he’d thrown himself into his career and did well enough to be assigned to the prestigious 160th Special Operations Regiment as a Battalion Commander. The pilots were ecstatic when the order came down to pull the aircraft out of storage, but a bit crestfallen when they found out they would only be keeping a handful of the Blackhawks and little birds. This meant that they had more pilots than aircraft and flight time would be spread thin between every pilot.

  General Portson, General Moon and the commanders of the 82nd Airborne and 18th Airborne worked on
a plan to distribute the aircraft to each division. They agreed that Special Operations would get the bulk of it. It was expected that they would be carrying out the majority of the missions for the time being to gather intelligence against Colonel Magnus. They also recognized that aviation operations would be somewhat limited as the only refueling points for the aircraft at this time was Pope AFB, something that needed further study. At 1500 three little bird and two Blackhawk helicopters took off from Pope AFB and circled the airfield and Fort Bragg, then flew over Fayetteville. It was a wonderful sight to see all through the area. In Fayetteville people came out of their shelters to stare at a sight they thought they would never see again.

  All of the senior commanders from Fort Bragg were present at Pope for the flight as all of them were anxious to hop on-board one of the aircraft for a ride. However, it wasn’t to be. General Portson posted an order that there would be no joy rides primarily because they didn’t have the fuel to be giving every swinging dick a ride that wanted one. The order went as far to say anyone caught taking a joy ride would suffer severe consequences under the UCMJ. Over the next several days the aircraft were moved from storage and distributed to their respective units. Within two weeks at the deliveries Colonel Ester Perez USAF notified General Portson that she was halting all refueling of aircraft. They were burning through fuel far too quickly and if they continued down this road in six to eight months the fuel would be gone. When asked for an explanation Colonel Perez stated that although he had banned joy riding they were getting around it by stating they were ‘familiarity’ operations. The pilots hadn’t flown in over a year and needed to hone their skills.

  “Hone their skills my ass!” General Portson said. “I’ll take care of it. At this time Colonel no aircraft flight time at all unless you talk to me first.” General Portson was fuming from the report. The commanders had put the security of the nation, what there was of it, to play around with their new toys. General Portson pulled out some paper, wrote out an order, called in his aide, “Joe, we have a limited ability to make some copies correct?” asked the General.

  “Yes sir we do, the copier on the second floor is still working, but we don’t have any toner replacement for it,” Joe said.

  “Please make copies of this then have it distributed to every single commander on Bragg and Pope ASAP,” General Portson stated.

  “Yes sir will do,” replied the General’s aide, as he took the hand-written order and left.

  On to new business this morning with General Moon to discuss the two trains that had been recovered at the Transportation Museum as well as several working Cessna and Piper cub aircraft they had found at Pope AFB. General Portson had asked General Moon and his Special Operations staff to come up with a plan using all of the resources that were currently available on Fort Bragg and Pope. As the two generals and their respective staff sat down to open the meeting there was a loud disturbance outside the conference room, then the door swung open, and all eyes were staring. “How’s it hanging boys?” chided one Colonel Lambert, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment out of Washington D.C., better known as the Old Guard.

  I’ll be damned, General Portson said under his breath. “What the hell are you doing here? How’d you get here?” the General asked.

  “It’s good to see you too General, been a while,” Colonel Lambert said. Colonel Lambert had worked for General Portson several years ago as his adjutant. General Portson stood and stepped toward Colonel Lambert extending his hand, both men shaking hands. “I thought you were in D.C.?” General Portson asked.

  “Well I’m the commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment there, so yeah,” Colonel Lambert replied.

  General Portson was very confused, “Let me explain.” said Colonel Lambert. For the next forty minutes Colonel Lambert explained how they recovered the combat train from the Smithsonian, its preparation, their departure and various stops along the way and to their final arrival here at the Fort. Everyone in the room sat mesmerized as Colonel Lambert told the story. Once the Colonel completed his story he looked around the room, and not a word was spoken.

  “I’d love to see that train,” General Moon said.

  General Portson looked at General Moon and started to laugh breaking the tension in the room. “Damn good to see you Colonel, damn good!” General Portson said.

  “Do you have a shortwave radio?” asked Colonel Lambert. “I need to report that we have successfully arrived at the fort or they’re going to send in the cavalry.”

  “The cavalry?” asked General Portson.

  “Yes sir, I’ve got an infantry company on the train. I told them that if I don’t report in within two hours of my departure, well asked, more like it, that if they could find the time to come and get me.” Colonel Lambert stated.

  “I’m sorry Colonel, we don’t have any shortwave radios because we’re unaware they would work,” Colonel Moon said.

  Colonel Lambert looked at them quizzically for a moment thinking they were supposed to be the best and brightest. “Sir Shortwaves with tubes work fine; you just need a power source and if you don’t have any AC you can get a hand-generator to power them.”

  “I’ll be damned,” mumbled General Portson.

  Colonel Lambert looked around the room, chuckled to himself, turned and stepped out for a moment. He returned with two soldiers each carrying two moderately sized boxes. The two soldiers without any further orders began to unpack the boxes. To everyone’s surprise in the room, except for Colonel Lambert of course, it was a radio and a hand cranked generator.

  “Colonel is that what I think it is?” General Portson asked.

  “Why yes sir it is, we brought three of them with us, one for Quantico, another for Oceana and this one for you. We will train soldiers of your selection on how to find, fix and repair the radios. Do you happen to have a steady power source we can plug into? If not we can use the generator,” responded Colonel Lambert.

  “We’ve have power established; it runs twelve hours a day and then it’s shut-off and the generators go through the daily maintenance checks,” Lieutenant Colonel Perry said.

  Colonel Lambert looked over at Lt. Colonel Perry. General Moon’s adjutant had remained steadily quiet up to this point and nodded. The two soldiers paying attention to the conversation turned to look for an electrical socket, found one and plugged the radio in.

  “Sir?” Sergeant Butler said.

  Colonel Lambert signaled to the Sergeant to go ahead. Sergeant Butler powered on the radio. They could hear white noise over the speakers they had installed. Sergeant Butler tuned the radio and set the frequency. Then using the call sign for the commander Fort Bragg he made the call back to the train. The RTO back at the train answered promptly allowing Sergeant Butler to check in with the proper authentication that everything was good and they would be home soon. Everyone in the conference room watched in silence. Sergeant Butler turned to Colonel Lambert, “Sir, are you ready for the next call?”

  “Yes Sergeant let’s do it,” Colonel Lambert replied.

  The officers in the room wondered what other call they were talking about, but they knew they were about to find out.

  “Papa Oscar Uniform Sierra One this is Delta Tango Niner Six Yankee, over,” Sergeant Butler said into the microphone. General Portson recognized the call sign to POTUS and couldn’t believe it if it was true.

  The far end responded, “Delta Tango Niner Six Yankee this is Papa Oscar Uniform Sierra One, authenticate over.”

  “Papa Oscar Uniform Sierra One I authenticate Romeo Tree Foxtrot, over,” Sergeant Butler stated.

  “Roger that Delta Tango Niner Six Yankee wait one for POTUS, over,” the far end replied.

  Everyone in the conference room sat stunned ‘was this really happening?’ most of them thought.

  “Delta Tango Niner Six Yankee here’s POTUS,” the far end stated.

  “Who do I have the privilege of speaking to?” President Washington asked.

  “Sir this is Colonel
Lambert. We have made it to Fort Bragg as ordered.”

  “That’s good news Colonel. May I get a status report, please?” the President asked.

  “Yes sir, “Colonel Lambert said. “In the room is General Portson the commander of Fort Bragg, as well as the commanders of Special Operations, 82nd Airborne Division and 18th Airborne Corps.”

  “Welcome back to the fold gentlemen,” President Washington said. “Would it be possible for you General Portson to give me an update on what’s going on down there?”

  General Portson had met President Washington several times and recognized the man’s voice, “Yes sir of course.” For the next thirty minutes General Portson gave the President a summary of what had happened since the event. President Washington was astonished to find out about the underground facilities that were kept by Army Special Operations. On the other hand, he was extremely happy to hear about the helicopters and equipment. Happy, but not impressed. “Colonel have you told them about Camp Parks?” the President asked.