Re: Going to War II (AU,CC,Mature)A/N 4/10/11
Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 6:01 pm
Needless to say. Very AU. No Aliens. CC, but only in passing. This is M/L all the way. You might want to read the first chapter for all the background. Katims thought them up but abused them. I am just doing this for fun and revenge on him. For those not familiar with the military this site will help you with military acronyms and abbreviations
http://www.all-acronyms.com/cat/2
Liz found that the only place she could really get away from the facts of her life were in the air and at home. Outside of those two areas, her reputation and fame tended to get in the way. Her new copilot was fresh from Flight School, WO1 Roger Sikes. He was a real newbie; fresh from WO school right to Flight school. He had one tour of Iraq with the 10th Mountain as a regular ground pounder. But he had been pretty lucky and had been in a quiet area. So he had not seen much action. He was also in serious awe of Liz. It was sweet in some ways but annoying in others. She could not deny that being treated like someone really special did feed her ego or make her feel better when other things dragged her down. But it was a bit much and from a cold practical point of view was a problem
Ted had been willing to argue with her; and was not afraid to point out when she made a mistake. Which is one of the primary functions of a copilot. Roger was too intimidated and too unsure as a pilot to say as much as boo to her.
She decided to talk to Scooter Winston, the Battalion XO about this. He still commanded C company, so he was still a regular flyer. How long that would stay that way no one knew. Usually the paperwork and the rest gradually pried someone out of the cockpit.
“Jim, I really worry about Roger as my copilot. He is so in awe of me that he is afraid to even point out mistakes I make. And you know how dangerous that can get.”
Jim leaned back with a sigh. He could see her point of view; but he also was not really willing to push for the kids reassignment. Hah. The Kid. He was actually only a year younger than Liz was. But in this world he was a kid.
“Liz, you need to give him some more time. He has only been your copilot for a few weeks. Outside of the hero worship, do you have any other problems with him?”
“Outside of him being really green, not really. Any deficiencies he has right now will probably disappear after more time and training. I just worry if he has the assertiveness you need to be a pilot. Or even a copilot. The ability to make snap judgments and decisions fast; to see how the situation is going soon enough to be able to react and respond.”
“And that should come with time.”
“I hope.”
Luckily, Liz’s guardian angel was once again at work.
Ted had been noticing that Liz was a little put out by her copilot; as her wingman he was in a position to see more than most. And knowing her helped as well. So one day he was in the mess hall and noticed her copilot by himself, studying a flight manual. He decided the kid needed some help.
Roger looked up as Ted sat down. Ted looked at the manual.
“Roger, you do not have to study 24/7. You are allowed to eat without it.”
He blushed. Ted sighed inside. This kid was so young.
“I know, but I still have so much to learn. And I don’t want to disappoint Liz. She deserves the best copilot she can get.”
Ted blinked. Now he began to see the problem.
“Every pilot deserves the best copilot he can get, Roger.”
“But Liz deserves better than me.”
“Do you really think that Liz went right into flight school and started tooling her Apache around like she does now?”
“But she is so good. She is better than my instructor was at Flight School and he had 10 years as an Apache Pilot. Liz is much better and she has only a little over 2 years.”
“Liz had problems early on; we talked about it. She had to work real hard to make it; and even harder to get to where she is now. She was not a natural pilot; she had to learn it all. Combat really teaches you a lot; I was lucky in that because of various things I got a fair amount of time as a pilot over there in combat conditions. So when I was formally promoted I had a big edge over most copilots. And of course watching Liz helped. But I was her copilot from day one; and I saw a very good pilot with rough edges. Who worked like her call sign to file them down. And who kept getting better because of how hard she worked. BUT it takes time and you will not learn as fast when not in combat. You need to take a deep breath and relax a little. And talk to Liz about it.”
At that his eyes got big then he dropped them. “I don’t want to disappoint her.”
“She will understand. More than most will because of who she is. You do know that she hates all the attention she gets, right?”
“Yeah it’s kind of hard to miss. When I was told I was going to be Captain Parker’s copilot the guys told me I was lucky but that I would be in a tough place. I am figuring out what that meant now. I feel like I have to run as fast as I can to just stay in the same place.”
Ted slowly nodded. Yeah this kid and Liz needed to talk.
“Well when you are finished I will scare up Liz and you two will talk. You both need to hear each other.”
As a company Commander Liz got her own office; it was not big but it was hers and she liked being able to shut the door.
So when someone knocked she was a little bit annoyed; but at the same time interrupting paperwork was rarely a bad thing.
“IN.” she had seen that in a movie and had liked it.
Ted stuck his head in the door.
“You got some time?”
Liz grinned at him. “For you always.”
“Well not for me.” He then reached out of sight and dragged her copilot in and plunked him down in the chair in front of her desk to her raised eyebrows.
“You and Roger need to talk before the kid burns himself out. He does not realize that we were all newbies at one time.”
Liz sat back with a sigh as Ted left and closed the door behind him. She looked at Roger. This needed to get done, she knew that.
“Roger, If I have shown impatience with you then I should not have and I apologize. Ted was right; all of us were newbies at one time. None of us sprouted from flight school as master pilots. We all have to work at it all the time.”
Roger screwed up his courage.
“Liz, I just want to be the copilot you deserve.”
Liz sat for a moment trying to figure out how to do this.
“You are doing pretty good for being as green as you are. And there is no quick fix for that; just time and flight time. You know the basics; you know the foundation of what you need to learn. You just have to build on it. And a lot of that is my responsibility. I was spoiled having Ted; he was already an experienced copilot when I got him. But I bet he told you I was nowhere near as good when I first arrived in Campbell as I am now. And I had a diversion while I was first here that took a couple of months of flight time away from me and I had to catch up. And Ted helped there. So I need to make sure that you are learning while I am polishing; you see that is the difference between us. I have the time and the combat time in the Apache under tough conditions so that I had to learn quick or die. That is one HELL of a motivator. You have not had that. There is no way you will be able to learn things like I learned in Combat here. Just not possible. So clear your mind of the feeling you have to be great. You are learning. All Pilots continue to learn for their entire career; if they do not then sooner or later that will catch up with them. I am at probably 90% of what I can learn in the apache and maybe higher. You are about 50%. You just keep learning and working and you will catch up. I can only get slightly better in comparison. So you will make up the distance.”
Roger took a deep breath, and felt some of the tension that he had been feeling ever since becoming her copilot leaving. He looked at her.
“Thanks, Liz.”
“I should have had this talk with you without Ted having to force it. That was my failing. I should have noticed that you were scrambling. But it is also the duty of the copilot to tell the pilot that he is having trouble and he needs help. So we both screwed up. I just have less of an excuse. Now I am always happy to ignore paperwork but we have reason. So let’s head out to the bird.”
They spent the next several days working together and Roger did begin to make up the ground.
Both Ted and Jim Winston watched with satisfaction.
Liz found that being company commander added lots of other ‘little’ duties that when put together sucked up the time. But she made a point of working with Roger as much as she could; and getting more flight time. Rather evilly she started palming off some of that to Lt Rivers. Who was not appreciative.
“Come on Liz, this is BS.”
“Of course it is, Sam. But it’s BS that has to get done and since there is too much for me you get your share. Comes with being the Company XO.”
One other thing Liz did not like about being company commander was that she had to evaluate everyone in the company from pilots to the ground crews. And also if anyone screwed up it landed on her desk first.
So when a tech on a ground crew got himself drunk and arrested for it, she was the first one called. So she went by Security and the base clink and proceeded to rip him a new one. Which was OK in one way as it allowed her to let off some steam. However it highly entertained a number of people in Security.
“It was funny as hell. He had to be easily a foot taller and 100 lbs heavier and she just ate him up and spit him out.”
“Yeah, I heard her call sign is Doberman.”
“I believe it now.”
Liz then proceeded to convince the JAG to let it go as company punishment. Then had him do every dirty detail for a whole month straight. And she got very creative about dirty details. Which had the whole Battalion talking.
“I heard he just about begged to be sent back for Court-martial.”
“Gotta admit I never saw that done by hand; can see why now.”
It got to the point where his crew chief talked to Grunt.
“Man, is there any way you can get her to let up on the poor jerk. I ain’t never seen anyone that miserable in 11 years in the Army.”
“He survives this and it does not go on his record. Seems pretty fair to me.”
But it was noticeable that little incidents tended to not happen to those in A company after that.
“What unit you with?”
“Company A, 1st Battalion, Aviation Brigade”
“Wow. I heard you have Doberman Parker as your CO.”
“You heard right and that is why you can go drinking on your own. I saw what she did to the last guy caught drunk and it ain’t gonna happen to me.”
Max had started his job, which while not exactly challenging did have him around the flight line most days. So they got to eat lunch together most of the time.
Aliya was dropped off at the MWR Children’s center where she would be spending her days during the summer until school began. At first there were not many around as everyone else was in school; but she was busy as Liz had talked to the center personnel about her unique needs to become more familiar with life in the US. So some at the center took her in hand and worked so that she learned English and other facets of modern life.
The fact that Aliya had been adopted by Liz flew under the radar for quite a while; it was not until they had been at Campbell for over 3 months that the media twigged on that.
For some time the Army just flat out would not say where she was. When the media began to get very persistent they were then told she was in the US. But not where. Finally some reporters put two and two together and began to visit Campbell. It took them several more weeks to finally spot Aliya at the MWR Children’s center. It was the middle of June and school had just gotten out. So Aliya got to meet more of the children. She had met some from the immediate housing area, but right around where she lived there were not many of her age. Liz had gotten a rather good place and the officers around her were somewhat older; and those that had children were mostly older than Aliya; or younger.
The two reporters, from newspapers out east, had agreed to work together so as to cover more ground. It had mostly been a hunch when they came to Campbell. Since this was where Captain Parker was, they were acting on rumors of how close she had gotten to the little girl whose life she had saved. One day they went to the Children Center since just about any kids of her age would be there and they spotted her.
Aliya was shy; but luckily for her she happened to meet some girls who were not as shy and very friendly. The girls were still too young to really understand her situation. Aliya just told them she came from Afghanistan and had been adopted. Her English was not too bad; and the 3 girls who she got to be friendly with thought she sounded interesting. So they began to pump her for details about her life in Afghanistan. She stayed away from talking about what had happened to her. She just told them she had been adopted by her new mother and she had married a man so she had a new father as well.
The two reporters were not allowed to speak to any of the children nor take pictures which was frustrating. Captain Parker was still a pretty hot news item. She had gotten the Presidential Medal of Freedom only a month earlier. And she had refused hundreds of requests to speak to the media and the Army made it clear they would not order her to.
However they were very sure that that little girl was Aliya. And that Captain Elizabeth Parker had adopted her. Which made the story even juicier. But they had to confirm it.
The Division PR officer was an old hand at dodging questions and giving answers that said nothing at all. But when two reporters have the facts and then dare you to deny them there is nothing a good PR officer can do but try and fall back on the old chestnut, “NO COMMENT.” Which as all PR officers know is admitting that the reporters have the story correct.
So the very next day headlines in two midsized Newspapers in the Eastern US have front page stories about the fate of Aliya. The story was identical in both papers; just which reporter listed first changed.
“Over the last several months there has been a great deal of speculation over the fate of Aliya, the young Afghan girl that most of the world saw shot by a Taliban official. For some time the US Military has refused to give her location. Finally they did confirm she was no longer in Afghanistan. After more delays it was admitted she was in the US. It was thought that she had been adopted somewhere in the US. And it turns out that was true. What these reporters have been able to find out is that Aliya was adopted by Captain Elizabeth Parker, the Apache pilot that rescued her, currently stationed in FT Campbell, Kentucky as commander of A Company, 1 St Battalion of the 101st Aviation Brigade. Captain Parker, who was recently married to a former Marine that had been working at the Air Field at Bagram, apparently adopted the child soon after she was released from the base hospital. We have been able to ascertain that after leaving the base hospital she stayed with Captain Parker in her quarters; then left Afghanistan with her adoptive mother when Captain Parker redeployed back to the US in March of this year. Aliya Parker is now just one of the young girls that live on Ft Campbell with their parents. She seems to be fitting in very well.”
The story went on to talk in detail about how apparently the President had made a personal request of the President of Afghanistan and that it had all been carefully kept quiet.
Liz got a call early the next morning. It was the Division PR officer.
“Captain Parker, I am sorry to tell you that the media found out about you adopting Aliya. And the story is in the newspapers out East. I am sure the networks will pick it up quickly. You still refusing to meet with them?”
Liz sighed. “Yes.”
“They are not going to quit.”
“They are not allowed to take pictures of dependents, right?”
“No they are not.”
“Then let them squawk. Another story will come along. I am not feeding that monster.”
She hung up and then called Max.
“Max. The media has printed a story about Aliya being here and adopted by me. Could you get off work and go get her and take her home?”
“No problem, Liz. At least it’s a Friday. That gives them a whole weekend to get tired of it.”
“True. Thanks, Max.”
“Why thank me? She is my daughter too.”
Max stopped by the center and saw that Aliya was with three other girls and seemed to be talking and seemed comfortable. He decided to wait; and went to one of the workers. She was one that knew about Aliya. Max figured a whole lot of people on Campbell knew; but none of them had said anything.
“A couple of newspapers have printed a story talking about Aliya being her and being adopted by Liz. I was going to take her home just in case but she seems to be getting along well.
“We keep an eye on her; and yes she appears to be making friends. She is learning English very quickly; and beginning to fit in.”
“Liz and I work on her English every day at home; so I guess it’s no surprise. She is a smart girl.”
“Yes she is. And the more she interacts with other children, the better it will be for her in the fall when she starts school.”
Max went off to the side where he could watch her without being seen and called Liz.
“Good news. It is looking like she is already making friends and right this moment is talking with three girls about the same age. I am just going to wait here until they leave then take her home.”
Liz smiled. That was the best of all possible things; Aliya making friends with other young girls her age.
As it turned out Liz was able to get free a little early and headed for the Center. Nice thing being a Company CO you could do that. She came into the center and looked around. Aliya saw her and immediately ran to her and Liz picked her up and swung her around.
“Honey. How are you doing?”
“made friends, Mommy. Come see.” And Aliya dragged her over to meet her new friends.
Max had started to go over and decided to wait as at almost the same time 3 women headed for the same spot.
Becky Jackson was the wife of a Sergeant in the 1st Brigade, her daughter was Sandy; Ruth Winston was the wife of a sergeant in the 2nd Brigade, and her daughter was Ann; Susan Willis was the wife of a sergeant in the 2nd brigade and her daughter was Nancy. They immediately knew who Liz was.
Aliya quickly introduced her friends, who were a little awed by Liz as they recognized officers by now. The three mothers then moved in and introduced themselves. Liz smiled at them.
“I am so glad that Aliya is making friends. That will help her so much.”
Since their daughters had known each other for years, the three wives had become good friends as well. Susan was the most direct and outgoing of the three and she started things off.
“It was an incredible thing you did for her. And then adopting her? It’s like out of a Hollywood movie. Our three have been friends since they started school here; we all got here just over 3 years ago. So if they want Aliya as a friend, which means something. Liz, we know how tough being a mother is. And you are brand new at it. So if you have any problems at all call one of us.”
“Thank you all so much. It is different being a parent out of the blue; but I love her so much. And to have good friends is another great thing. Especially if their mothers don’t mind a phone call now and then asking stupid questions.”
“What may sound like a stupid question to you won’t be to us. Don’t worry about it.”
Liz then spotted Max hovering and called him over. The three mothers had an appreciative eye for Max. Liz saw that and grinned evilly.
“Ya, he is good eye candy, isn’t he?”
They grinned and Max felt himself start to blush which had Liz peeling with laughter.
“OOhh, Maxy is very red.”
They all then headed to their cars and Liz promising that she would indeed call.
Later that evening the three wives were talking to their respective husbands.
Susan: “Met Liz Parker today; her daughter Aliya is becoming friends with Nancy and the others. I guess the media has the story now on where Aliya is and that Liz adopted her. “
Her husband, Ralph, cocked his eye at her. “So the POSSE has decided to get to know her?”
She gave him the evil eye which got a smirk from him.
Becky: “Met Liz Parker today. Aliya is becoming friends with Sandy and the others.”
Her husband, Sam, nodded. “Having friends will certainly help her get used to things here.”
Ruth: “Ran into Liz Parker at the center; I guess Aliya is becoming friends with Ann and the others.”
Her husband, Joe, grinned. “So you guys are going to make Liz Parker into a stepford mom?” And ducked the roll thrown at him.
Liz went home with Aliya and Max and had a good evening. The next morning she was wondering what they would do that weekend. She got a call at around 9AM from Susan.
“Liz, this is Susan Willis. Our girls really want to see Aliya. I guess curiosity has taken over. “
“Well that is great. Where and when?”
“We were thinking of having a get together at Wilkes Park. Everyone brink pot luck around noon. Spend the afternoon since today is supposed to be good weather.”
“Even better. Just tell me what I need to bring besides Aliya and the ball and chain.”
Susan laughed hard. “Oh, I got to tell the girls that. Grab drinks. There will probably be about a dozen of us all together including our worst halves.”
“No problem. We will be there.”
Then Liz had a thought and called the Crew.
Vicki answered at their apartment; they had decided they needed more and went for outside the base housing.
“Vicki, this is Liz. You guys doing anything today?”
“Not really – this week was kind of hard and we are looking at kicking back.”
“Well I just got invited to Wilkes Park at noon; some of the mothers of some girls that Aliya has become friends with; and their husbands. Its Pot luck. But their hubbies are all ground pounders and I think Aviation needs reinforcement. Waddya Think?”
“Let me see what the other two are thinking.”
A minute later.
“They are game. What should we bring?”
“Snack stuff.”
“Gotcha.
“See Ya there.”
Aliya was intrigued at the idea of a picnic. Max was happy to be with Liz anywhere so he was in. They swung by the Commissary and brought a batch of drinks and a couple of coolers and Ice. It would be in the upper 70’s.
Max blinked as he saw Liz in shorts and tank top. And sandals. She looked like she was barely 21. With a baseball cap on she was the cutest thing he had ever seen.
They got there about 1145 and Susan and her family were already there. Just behind them Liz spotted Becky. They greeted each other as they parked their SUV and began to unload. About 5 minutes later came Ruth and hers. And dead on at noon came the Crew. Liz greeted them and they all proceeded to spread out the food and dived in.
They had barely finished eating when the girls wanted to go out and talk. Indulgently the mothers and Liz let them go. Becky had a two year old boy and Susan had a one year old that they put in porta cribs and they proceeded to sleep.
Meanwhile Max and the guys started talking NASCAR and Baseball while Liz and the Crew and the mothers proceeded to girl talk. They were all about the same age, with Liz being just slightly the youngest and Susan the oldest by a year.
Liz looked around a while later and realized just how comfortable she felt. This was life. It was a good two hours later that the talk seemed to inevitably turn to the war and deployments. The mothers had had to stay at home and worry while their husbands had been in Iraq twice.
Liz sensed that Ruth was the most worried of them, just by nature. So she made a special effort to emphasize to her that with the current situation, Iraq would be breeze for the next deployment, scheduled for spring of the next year.
“Way things are, we may be doing very little the next deployment. For us Aviation types it might be a little more busy. For me odds are not much at all. Probably not all that much of a demand for air support.”
Vicki chimed in. “Yeah we might still be busy, but the ground pounders and Liz might be bored to tears. Of course Liz seems to be able to find situations that are downright hairy but that is just her.”
“Hey. I am not that bad.”
Jesse and Ellen rolled their eyes. The mothers grinned. Liz then noticed that Ruth seemed to want to ask a question but was shy about it. Liz reached over and touched her arm.
“Ask us anything, Ruth. It won’t bother us.”
“It is something that I always wanted to know. You said in that press conference that you were going after Aliya no matter what. Weren’t you worried at all about getting in trouble?”
Liz got quiet, and then shook her head. “Did not even occur to me. When I got the first report about that POS locking her in that shed, I knew for certain she was in danger. The Spec Ops guys knew me pretty well by then; they did not hesitate and one of the Crew there was not worried either. When I was close and heard they were beating her, If I had to level half that village I would have done it. I was looking through the 30MM sight when I saw that bastard shoot her. My only regret was that he didn’t suffer enough; though I believe he is roasting nicely in hell. I remember holding her as Ted redlined our bird towards the medcenter. Praying she would make it. Then sitting in that waiting room. The next morning when I saw her in that bed, so thin and pale and hooked up to all the machines, I think at that moment somehow inside me the decision to adopt her was already made. She was my child now. And now she is.”
The guys had come up just in time to hear that and Max sat next to Liz and put his arm around her.
“My warrior Princess.”
Ralph, deciding things were much too serious, proceeded to put an ice cube down Susan’s neck which earned a squeal and a can of coke poured down his shirt. That definitely broke the atmosphere. And the talk became general again.
Late that night as Liz curled up with Max in bed, she smiled thinking back on the day.
“I think Aliya is going to be fine now that she has made some friends.”
“So have you; getting to know some other mothers is good for you.”
The next few weeks things went pretty well; the media was not allowed to bother them and things gradually settled down. The group began to almost every Saturday gather there and get together. Liz noticed that the Crew were regular attendees as well. She began to notice a few other unmarried soldiers seemed to start showing up as well with the Crew in their sights. OR they were in the Crew’s sights; it was hard to tell. But fun to watch.
Aliya blossomed with the close friendships that she was making with the three girls. Her English seemed to get better by the day and she was acting more and more like a typical American pre-teen girl.
Roger was steadily improving both in his skills and his maturity; he began to question Liz on things that reassured her that he would make a good copilot.
The relaxed times ended in early August when word came they were going back to Afghanistan; this time to the south to Kandahar Airbase. The entire division would be there; though some would get there before others. The 101st aviation brigade would deploy in March of 2010. The good news, such as it was, was that the deployment would be only 12 months not 15. Liz got the news at a briefing for the Brigade before most others knew. The Brigade Commander made a point of talking to her right after.
“Captain Parker, you should know that there was some talk about not deploying you for obvious reasons. I made the call and put it to the Division commander who took it upstairs. The final decision has not been made.”
Liz nodded then set herself. “Thank you sir. I belong with my company and my battalion. Wherever they go.”
He nodded. “I knew that would be your response. We should know in the next few days.”
Liz left the meeting and headed back to her office where she made a phone call.
“Captain Elizabeth Parker; I would like to talk to the Congressman.”
Not a minute later he was on the phone.
“Liz, I am guessing something has happened.”
“They are sending my unit to Afghanistan. South this time to Kandahar. There is talk they will not send me. I go with my company and my battalion. Sir I am calling in that favor.”
The congressman sat back. Calling in a favor to GO to war; that was a new one. But not surprising considering who he was talking to.
“I will get right on it Liz.”
He looked at his aide. “I need to talk to the SECDEF.”
CENTCOM was looking at his XO. “This is getting up here? That is a decision at Division Level.”
“Yes sir. Apparently the Brigade wants her to go; the Division does not.”
“So I get to be the tie breaker?”
“Basically.”
“Congressman, I sense there is something urgent here.”
“Somewhat MR Secretary. A officer I admire very much has been told she might be left behind when the 101st Aviation Brigade is deployed to Kandahar. She is not happy about that; she is very clear that she belongs with her company and her battalion.”
SECDEF did not need to ask who this was about.
“Normally I leave that to the unit commanders, Congressman.”
“Who would not usually bow to political pressure or appearances.”
SECDEF got the message.
“I am sure that Captain Parker will be with her unit. May I ask if she called you to make sure she went with her unit?”
“About five minutes after she was told she might not go.”
SECDEF smiled. “That is definitely in her character. We need more like her.”
“That we do. And they belong leading in the field; or in this case above it.”
“That they do. You can assure her that she will be going.”
CENTCOM was wondering in this case whether he might have to take it higher; when he was told the SECDEF was calling.
“Mr Secretary. Is there a problem?”
“Not as long as Captain Parker is going with her unit to Kandahar.”
“Sir I was going that way but with all due honesty I was going to call you about it.”
“She is most adamant about going and we need leaders like that.”
“I certainly agree.”
The Brigade commander answered the phone.
“I am guessing Captain Parker used her pull as I was told by CENTCOM that the SECDEF expected her to get her wish.”
The Brigade commander nodded. “That did not take her long. It is a very different thing when someone uses their pull to go INTO combat.”
“I am told that that happened a lot more in the past then it does now. Which is sad.”
“I guess it is. Thank you for acting quickly, sir.”
The Battalion commander answered his phone.
“This came from VERY high up. Captain Parker goes with her unit.”
“Thank you sir.”
“Captain Parker.”
“Captain, you are going. This came from HIGH up.”
“Thank you sir.”
Liz then emailed the congressman.
“Thank You.”
Liz then went home after making sure her whole Company knew the score.
After she left Ted looked at Grunt.
“I was worried they would not let her go. If they had done that her resignation would have been on the Battalion commanders desk 15 minutes later.”
“Would not have taken that long. I think she keeps a resignation letter that is not dated or signed in her desk.”
Liz dreaded telling Aliya and Max; who would have to stay behind. She knew if they did not have Aliya Max would find a way to go there.
Max had picked up Aliya at school and as they came through the door they saw Liz sitting on the sofa looking at them soberly. They both knew right away that something had happened. Max sat on one side and Aliya on the other. Liz put an arm around each.
“Afghanistan, Kandahar, in March for a year.”
Aliya moved closer to Liz who tightened her grip on her.
Max sighed. “I had hoped for Iraq which is pretty quiet.”
Liz nodded. “We go where it is hottest; and that is Afghanistan now.”
Aliya softly said “As long as you come back.”
Liz cuddled her daughter and smiled. “That is a big 10-4.”
The next gathering at the park was quieter and less joyous. Liz knew the wives had been counting on Iraq and a less stressful deployment.
Ruth was very quiet and Liz once again made a special effort to reassure her.
“This is the best unit in the US Army ground forces; you have to remember that. And me and my company and the other Apache’s will be there as well. And the Crew and the others will make sure they get there and back.”
Ruth nodded. “I know, Liz. But it is still war. I am going to try and talk Joe into going into recruiting. That is a three year assignment and hopefully when that is over with this will all be over.”
Liz sighed. Actually she thought that Joe would be good at recruiting, but doubted he wanted to be one. And he would not walk away from this next deployment.
A little later the three wives got Liz off to talk to her away from the others. Liz suspected that they had recruited the crew to distract their husbands by having their boyfriends get a serious NASCAR debate going.
As usual Susan took the lead.
“Liz, you know Afghanistan. What are we looking at?”
“Well I was up north at Bagram. But we did talk about Kandahar while I was there so I do know a few things. The Country is lower; the mountains are to the north and most of the fighting will be to the south. Kandahar city will be mostly the Special Forces area; I doubt regulars will be used much. So I am figuring that the ground pounders will be mostly doing garrison duty with some units taking part in attacks to clear areas. Those units will rotate the duties. Even now the Taliban does not like to actually fight our forces because they lose. And they know it. Realistically the biggest threats will be IEDs and bombs. Most of the toughest fighting will be done by special forces. That is pretty much as it is right now; though that could change in the 7 months to go before we deploy.”
Becky and the others nodded.
“Thank you for giving it to us straight Liz. The guys will try and sugar coat it to try and make it easier for us.”
“I know it is dumb but that is what guys do that love their women. We kick their asses for it but it’s in their DNA.”
The three smiled at that and agreed. Liz hoped that she had helped.
Interestingly not long after that the Guys cornered Liz and asked her if the girls had wanted details about Afghanistan.
“Yes they did and I gave it to them straight. Anytime they ask they will get the truth. They know you guys will try and make light of it if you can.”
Which left the guys with nothing to say.
The Crew was sitting with their boyfriends, all grunts from the 1st and 2nd Brigades. Jesse and Vicki and Ellen pulled Liz down and surrounded her.
Liz looked around and muttered
“It is so nice to be popular.”
Jesse grinned some but the smile slid away.
“Liz, we know this deployment will be different than Bagram. Everything we have heard says it will be harder and more dangerous.”
Solemnly Liz nodded. “Yes it will be. But honestly I think overall you guys might be in the most dangerous positions.”
Vicki and Ellen blinked and Jesse cocked her head.
“What do you mean?”
“The Taliban and everyone else don’t even try and ambush apache’s anymore. Even their dumbest know better than that. The ground pounders are realistically going to be somewhat limited in their missions. More security and guard and garrison duties than anything else. Probably not that many missions where they will really be in a hairy situation. BUT because of how tough it is to run anything on the roads anymore because of IEDs, more and more resupply is done by helicopter. And most assaults are done the same way. And hawks are the easiest target to be had. So in a lot of ways it’s you guys that will be in the crosshairs more than anyone else.”
They all considered this and Liz noticed that their guys had all pulled them in a little closer. Jesse looked at hers.
“You agree?”
He nodded. And so did the rest of them.
Liz sat for a moment. She then looked around. “I promise you guys that A Company will not fall down on the job. We WILL be there if called. As a matter of fact the whole 1st Battalion will be there as well. We got good pilots and good commanders, modesty aside. You guys call and we will get it done. Take that to the bank.”
Liz was not aware of how she appeared. The smallest adult present, in shorts and tank top, sandals, looking barely old enough to vote let along take a drink. But suddenly she stood very tall.
The training regimen began to speed up and intensify. They still had 6 months, but they figured that by the end of January their birds would be in the process of being packed; early February at the latest. And there would be Christmas Leave to factor in. So most of the training had to be done before Christmas. They could do some after but it would not be all that much. Ft Carson training would come in October. While the likelihood was that they would do a lot less mountain flying in the South versus the North as last time, the newbies still needed that training. There had been some discussion about doing that training in January, which would have probably been better, but in the end it stayed in October.
Liz was not very happy about leaving Max and Aliya; she had wanted more time with them to bond as a family. But what was was. So she made it a point of trying to spend as much time with them as she could.
A Company, even to Liz’s somewhat jaundiced eyes, was doing well. Sam Rivers was a good XO and leader of 2nd Platoon. He had experience in Afghanistan as well. Liz had made a point of pulling out maps for the area around Kandahar province and having all the pilots and copilots study them until they were familiar. Then every chance she got she would throw scenarios at them; various possibilities of missions. What do you do under this situation in this area; and so on.
The Battalion Commander was talking to his XO, Ed Griffith on the companies.
“So how do they look to you?”
“Pretty good. C Company is still a little rough, but then they also had the highest turnover. They are coming along. B Company is solid; Scooter Winston has them well in hand. A Company is doing very well; Liz is pushing them hard. She has them constantly working on scenarios. Which is something we need to have all the Companies doing.”
“Still wish you were flying?”
“Of course; but the reality is anymore that neither one of us can spend the necessary time staying sharp with all the administrative crap we have to do. And it is stupid and selfish to try and fly when you have not put in the time staying ready.”
“Glad you think that way. It took me a while to admit that. When you reach our level it has to be what is best for the mission and the unit, not what we want.”
Ed cocked his eye. “Why do I feel there is something else in that?”
“Because I got early word that my promotion to Brigade XO will probably happen some time after we deploy. Which is lousy timing. That means that you will probably get a quicker promotion than you might have expected. Which is what happens in wartime. Scooter will probably become your XO. I know we try and keep pilots in these slots but sometimes that is not possible. Scooter Winston is too junior to get bumped up into Major but that is the way it could be.
Ed grimaced. “Well the extra pay is nice and making light colonel is good; but otherwise that sucks. I see how much administrative shit you deal with and I do not want it.”
“Suck it up.”
The other companies started doing more complex scenarios as well; Scooter kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner.
It seemed time flew and they were heading to Ft Carson. Luckily that was uneventful. The training was tougher this time because they all were pushing harder. Just about every prior veteran from Afghanistan seemed realize that this would be a rougher deployment. Liz had her people simulate battle damage and practice auto rotations at higher altitudes; it got hairy a couple of times.
Sam was talking to his copilot.
“Liz is really pushing hard. It is like she has an idea of what is coming.”
“Ted was telling me that at the start of that mission she did the barrel role on, she had a feeling something bad was coming. She never said anything like that again. And that was by far the closest they came to getting splattered. So maybe she has a hunch again.”
Liz was addressing the company after the last training flight in Ft Carson.
“OK, people, I think we are about as ready for the mountains as we could get”
She looked at her people and felt very proud. She knew they were sharp and ready. “Hustler” Rivers, “Whistler” Logan, “Stomper” Simpson, “Lobo” Dugan, “Slinger” Wilson, “Hammer” Jones, “Pug” Terrel. She had in her platoon Whistler, Lobo and Pug.
She had decided after the Christmas break that they would try and get as much flight time as they could for the Copilots. They were all pretty green.
November went by and the Christmas season came close. Nancy and Ed would be coming to visit. She had also been determined to visit Maria, Tess and Isabelle. They, interestingly, all settled in Savanna. Liz was amazed that everyone was able to get jobs there considering the state of the economy but all three families were doing well. Liz, Max and Aliya would be visiting them for a few days between Christmas and New Years. The three women had all gone into the reserves to finish out the rest of their enlistment.
Aliya was very wide eyed at her first Christmas. Liz loved showing her the holiday season for the first time. She was truly a joy. And she and the three girls had become as thick as thieves; one of the reasons Liz figured Aliya was doing so well in her first real school. She had adapted very well to life in America.
“So, Chica, how do you feel about this deployment?”
As usual Maria cut to the chase. Liz and her family had just gotten into town; they were all gathered at Maria’s house, since she had gotten ambitious and found a big older home that needed work. One lucky thing about the bad economy was that homes were cheaper than ever. All three had found good ones. The home had been built in the early 20’s, and was three stories high and had been modernized some in the 80’s. Maria was just looking at finishing it. Michael had his own studio so he was happy. It had 7 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. Liz looked at it and cocked her eye at her friend.
“So just how many kids are you two planning on?”
Maria’s blush said it all.
But the good news is that there was plenty of room for Liz and her family, and Maria’s mom as well was there. Diane and Phillip were staying with Isabelle and Alex; and Kyle’s father was staying with him and Tess.
“It is going to be tougher than my last one; I just know it. I can feel it.”
Maria nodded; they had all gotten used to Liz just “knowing” things.
The girls made a point of spoiling Aliya rotten; which Liz loved to see.
The second night the men had all been exiled elsewhere and the ladies were in the massive living room of Maria’s mansion, as they had all taken to calling it.
Aliya had been worn out with all the shopping and was safely asleep on the third floor. So that left Liz and her three friends and Diane and Amy. Diane kept thanking Liz for getting Max to settle down. Much to the eye rolls of everyone else.
Amy voiced the main concern everyone there had.
“Just how dangerous will this time be, Liz?”
Liz considered the question.
“More dangerous for me? Probably not. This is a lower altitude area; most of the fighting is down on the plains. Kandahar City is not where Apache’s will be doing much if anything. Part of what made the northern area dangerous was we were at a higher altitude; which for helicopters is not a good thing. The Taliban has pretty much learned trying to shoot down Apache’s is not a smart thing. They have just about given up on that. Now they try and target the Blackhawks and the Chinooks. So for them it will be more dangerous. The only mountain fighting going on is pretty much done by Special Forces, and they usually have their own lighter and smaller attack helicopters. The reason we spent so much time escorting the Special Ops guys last time was that the range of the operations made it hard to use those smaller ones. And one of their Aviation battalions had been assigned to help others, actually down where we will be this time. I doubt we will be helping them out nearly as much. And most of the most hairy missions last time involved Special Ops. So for me personally overall it is probably not going to be as dangerous.”
Tess was shaking her head and Diane looked at her.
“What is it Tess?”
“What Liz is NOT saying is that since the Blackhawks and others will be under a greater threat, she will be taking her Apache’s in lower and slower to protect them.”
They all looked at Liz who proceeded to blush. Maria whacked her with a pillow.
“Chica, we expect the straight dope from you. No sugar coating.”
Liz sighed. “Guys, I guess it is no surprise to you that I already know this will be a hairy deployment. The only good thing about it is that it will be only a 12 month one, not 15 month. Apache’s are the big guns of the Aviation Brigade; it is up to us to protect the others and give support to the grunts. It goes with the territory.”
Diane decided to ask another question that she had asked Max, but he had not really known the answer.
“Liz, after what happened the last time, it was a pretty sure thing that you would not be going back to Afghanistan due to the fact that you had become the Taliban’s Public enemy #1. What happened?”
Liz blushed and Isabelle snorted.
“Liz used her pull with that congressman to make sure she got sent.”
Amy and Diane stared at Liz in shock.
Maria shook her head. “Liz has a very overdeveloped sense of responsibility. As Company Commander she was not going to have her people go in without her.”
Liz grimaced. “It is not just that. I am a very good Apache Driver. I have experience there. There is no excuse for me staying. I signed up with eyes wide open. I will not back out. That is not me. If I had stayed behind I would have resigned from the Army. I guess I could have requested assignment as an Instructor; and I might do that after this deployment. But I was not going to be forced into that decision.”
Amy shook her head. “I guess maybe you really are a warrior. Jim has said that a couple of times.”
Deciding she was getting too much attention, Liz then grinned at Amy.
“So how is the courting going, Amy? I hear Jim is getting pretty persistent.”
Maria glared at Liz. “I do NOT want to hear about this. Kyle as my step brother is a thought that does not BEAR to be considered.”
Tess protested. “Maria he is not as bad as he was. I have been working hard on civilizing him. He only burps at the table now and then and he has remembered to put the toilet seat down for several months now.”
They all laughed at that. And things eased up.
Diane was interested in how Aliya was doing.
“Aliya seems to be adapting well to life here.”
Liz smiled brightly at that.
“Ya. She really has. Making friends like she did early on has made a huge difference. She is no longer as shy or as timid. She is growing up and getting more confident. I just wish I had had more time with her before deploying again. But Max will be there for her.”
Diane shook her head. “Max told me that otherwise he would have found a way to find work with a contractor there. I am glad that he is staying here.”
“I will miss having him close. But I will also be happier with him here taking care of Aliya.”
Maria shook her head. “Enough depressing crap. Now for the good news.”
She blushed slightly. “I am pregnant.”
And that took care of depressing subjects for the rest of the night.
Going back to the base and preparing for the deployment was not the most cheerful thing to do, but as always Liz did what she needed to do.
True to her plan, the company spent a lot of time during the remaining month they had their birds getting as much flight time for the Copilots as they could. And practicing shooting everything. While 2.75 rockets were being used less and less Liz insisted that everyone keep practicing with them. She pushed for more live Hellfire shooting as well.
Finally they saw their choppers taken off of flight status and starting the process of preparing them for shipment. That left them with working on all the other details of preparing for a combat deployment. One thing that Liz had to do that she had not done much with last time was prepare a will. Before it would not have mattered as everything would have gone to her mother. But now with a husband and child things were much more complicated and she did a proper will.
One night Liz and Max lay in bed and Max realized that Liz had something to talk about. So he spooned her and whispered in her ear.
“Come on, Liz. Just get it out.”
“Max, if I don’t come back…”
“Liz, please…”
“No Max we have to talk about this. We need to make contingency plans just in case. I know for instance that you do not think much of your job. So you will quit it and find something you like. I think it would be best to try and stay in this area; Aliya needs continuity if that happens. And her friends are here. Between my savings and your savings and the increased Life Insurance I have taken out, there will not be any hurry for you to find something. So take your time. If you can stand it, I would like you to think about moving to Savanna where all my friends are and they would help take care of Aliya. After a year or so. I would hate for Aliya to lose her friends, but it might be better for her to go elsewhere where she would not be reminded so much. I know that kind of conflicts with Savanna but it will be your call. And you will not become a monk or hermit. You will give yourself time to grieve and then you will find someone else who can be a mother to Aliya and to give you children of your own. I want Aliya to have brothers and sisters if possible.”
Max was silent for a long time.
“Liz you cannot think you are so replaceable. I never really loved a woman until you.”
“Everyone is replaceable in one way or another. People remarry all the time. Just give yourself a chance. And think of Aliya as well.”
“OK. I promise I will try. Just please do not give me a reason.”
“I will try my hardest to make it back to you and Aliya, Max. You know that.”
This was a very different leave taking; before there was no one waiting for her back at the base; and that made it so much harder. Liz realized that now she had so much more to lose than just her life. She hoped that that realization would not affect how she led her company and fought her Apache.
Flying into Kandahar was much different than Bagram; Kandahar was so much more built up and busy. There was only one runway which was insane; although apparently another was in the works. One good thing was that the barracks and quarters were better than Bagram. They actually had some other amenities as well; though the current commander had run a bunch of the fast food places out of town so to speak. His name was taken in vain quite often.
Liz had quietly politicked to get quarters with the Crew, even though as a Captain she actually rated something a little better. As it turned out in their particular quarters she was the senior officer. Once again four to a room, and there were 12 rooms in the two floors of that building. It was built like a cheap hotel, though the rooms were better than that. Each room had its own shower and bath and a small kitchenette.
Rocket attacks and small arms fire at the perimeter were fairly common, and they were told most just sat them out rather than going to shelters. Liz told everyone that it was up to them; she would not order them to go to shelters.
While there was definitely a threat from the outside, Kandahar still offered far more than Bagram did. Jesse summed it up well: more risk and more reward.
The bubble idea had spread from Bagram and the hangers at Kandahar were full of them. Their helicopters had arrived just the day before and it would be at least a week before they were flyable. Then the Brigade would take several weeks to get a feel of things before they took over the duties of the Aviation Brigade about to leave. There were more facilities and better facilities that had just been built than Bagram had, so from that point of view things were better.
They took over the offices of the outgoing brigade, who were still operational, but who had moved temporarily so as to let the new brigade get up and running as soon as possible. Liz found that as a company commander she ended up at more meetings than she had before. Which was one more pull on her time. She was very grateful that Sergeant Alexander Roberts was still the E8, the First Sergeant, and was to her the unsung hero of any aviation company. He was the direct commander of the crew chiefs; he was technically a crew chief himself but rarely had the time to get his hands dirty.
In the so called glamorous world of Army Aviation, not much was ever said about the support units. Which sucked in Liz’s view because without them the helicopters became massive paper weights. The complexity of an Apache is staggering once you take a close look at it. Avionics (Aviation Electronics) for an Apache is the equivalent of any modern Airliner; with extra things like computers to keep track of multiple targets for Hellfire Missiles and the like. Encrypted communications; hardened for combat. And so on. That takes a lot of work to keep it running in friendly climates; for hot, dry, dusty Afghanistan it’s much harder.
One of the briefings early on consisted of a no holds barred dead straight evaluation of the current situation in Kandahar city and Province. To be blunt, it was not good. Sympathy for the opponents of the National Government (more honest then claiming they were supporters of the Taliban) was high. The National Government was not trusted. Neither was the military or the National Police. Part of that was due to tribal feuds and differences; but a lot of it was due to the plain fact that they were both incompetent and corrupt in all too many cases. Kandahar City was especially hostile. Outside of the City it was a little better. The current overall commander in Afghanistan had been pushing night raids that while better for the troops going in tended to cause more civilian casualties and overall was questionable in its value. What Liz got from all this was that basically the overall plan was just to wear down the enemy over time. And the 101st Aviation Brigade was going to be one of the primary parts of that wearing down; between moving the troops to and from and the Apache’s covering them.
Things began to accelerate as the choppers were made flight ready; vs combat ready. First they were flown to make sure that they had not broken anything on the way; then all their systems were tested; then practice at maneuvering, and firing. Weapon’s practice was a fair amount of fun. This took about three weeks before they were considered combat ready. So right at the beginning April, 2010, the 101st Aviation Brigade took over the aviation mission for the Kandahar Province. Now the Special Ops crews had their own aviation section that supported most of their efforts, but they just did not have enough assets to spread over all the areas that Special Ops covered in Afghanistan, which for all intents and purposes was the entire country of Afghanistan. So on occasion the 101st would be supporting them. Liz had a very good relationship with the SF in general, and had found out that Captain Forrest had ended up down here for his current tour. She had supported his teams on several fairly hairy operations. And then he came by shortly after they became operational. His visit was not by chance and had come from a meeting with the area commander of Special Ops.
“This is not any news to you I am sure.”
“Well, sir, I would have to have been dumb deaf and blind not to notice that we just do not have the organic aviation support necessary to perform all of our missions.”
“Very well put. Down here in this part of the country especially. There are plans to increase the 160th, but that is in the future. Now the good news is that the 101st Aviation Brigade is about to take over. And we have some friends there already, and most of their people worked with us in Bagram on their last tour. Now the real problem is that our friends in the Company pretty much trashed their reputation with the last Brigade here.”
“I was never aware the Company had a reputation that could be trashed.”
“Well that is the semi official story anyway. The problem was that the company nitwits in their typical way managed to screw some people in that brigade and from that point on no one wanted anything to do with them. Now I do not blame them at all; in their shoes I would have done the same. The problem is that I have no doubt that the new guys were very explicitly warned about doing anything for anyone from the company. So I will need someone from Special Operations to serve as the go between. So in addition to your regular duties when the company needs to get something done and neither it nor the units of the 160th here can do it, you will need to talk to them.”
“Well I can guess what kind of rep I will get after a couple of those missions.”
“We all have to make sacrifices, Captain.”
“Well, Captain Parker now has Company A of their Apache Battalion and I know her fairly well. Though I was really surprised they sent her back here, considering the size of the Bullseye the Taliban will have on her.”
“The word I got was that she had her tame congressman call the SECDEF and demand she go along with her unit.”
“You don’t see much of that anymore.”
“You don’t see ANY of that anymore is the factual answer.”
“Well then I guess I will have a talk with her and clue her in. Then ask her to talk to the Battalion Commander. That is probably the best we can do as regards having some Apache Drivers on our side.”
“Good Idea. Now to be brutally honest, Captain, I would prefer any favors asked to be for our people and not the company.”
“And if they say no to the Company that is the Company’s problem.”
“Now you get it, Captain.”
So when Captain Forrest stuck his head his head in her door Liz was quite happy to talk to him.
“So, Joe how goes the snake eating?”
“Try rattlesnake sometime; tastes like chicken.”
“I will take your word for it.”
He then got up and after a quick look down the hall closed her door and sat down in front of her desk. Liz raised an eyebrow.
“OK, so this is not just a meet and greet. I was there with you on more than a couple of interesting missions, Joe, so just give it to me straight.”
“Liz, this is a request from my area Commander. It’s not about any particular mission; what it is about is that in addition to all the other fun things I am doing here I am also now saddled with seeing to it that important missions for the CIA get support when our own or their own people are not available.”
Liz looked at him. “The outgoing brigade was very informative about CIA missions and their people.”
He snorted. “I bet they were. And they were right. The Company will screw anyone anytime anywhere. As they proved once again to the people in that brigade. I have no doubt that the 101st Brigade commander will refuse to have anything to do with them subject to a direct order from higher up. And then will do his best to delay obeying until nothing can be done. I do not blame him a bit and neither does my CO. But there are occasions when they actually do have good reasons to do something. What I am here asking is if you are willing to talk to your Battalion commander and agree to listen. I will be the point man – they will not come to you directly. So technically you will be responding to Special Operations requests for assistance. But you will know who really is involved. I can promise you right here and now that you will get the straight dope from me on any mission they are part of.”
Liz sat back and thought about it. Then looked at him.
“That is of course if they tell you the whole story.”
He grinned; no flies on Liz.
“There is always that possibility, but we have our ways of finding out things as well. Anything they come up with that really smells I will let you know. And give you the high sign if I think it’s a good time to have serious maintenance problems with your birds.”
Liz slowly nodded. Captain Forrest had always been straight with her.
“OK. Let us go have a talk with the Battalion CO and his XO, who used to be my Company Commander.”
The Battalion commander and Ed Griffith looked at Liz then at the SF Captain as they came into his office.
Ed shook his head. “Liz, I thought I taught you better about who to hang out with.”
Liz grinned. “Hey, what is a little conspiracy among friends?”
The Battalion commander rolled his eyes and signaled the Captain to close the door.
“I probably officially do not want to know but tell me anyway.”
Liz began. “Captain Forrest was always straight with me the last time I was in Afghanistan. I agreed to forward his request. You are on Joe.”
Joe then made his pitch. Ed just grunted and the Battalion Commander sighed.
“I understand your situation. But do you really understand the problems the Company caused for the last brigade here?”
“Yes sir I do. They got screwed royally. But then they should not have taken it personally; the Company will always screw everyone. It is not personal; it is just the way they are. I promised Liz that if I had any suspicion that they were pulling something I would let her know and she could find out that suddenly none of her birds were flight capable for various reasons. I agreed to be the go between. I will not, and I give you my word on that, screw you. If the Company finds out that they are not going to get anything that is their problem. It is not like they can complain to anyone that gives a damn.”
The Battalion commander slowly nodded. Then looked at Liz. “So you get to be the designated Liaison to Special Operations Command. That is the only way I can sell it to Brigade. Joe asks Liz who then decides if we need to get involved. If She says no that is final.”
Captain Forrest nodded. That was a pretty good deal and frankly better than he had hoped for. He figured Liz vouching for him counted a lot. And that is what he told his CO.
“Well, considering her reputation maybe that is not surprising. But it is also something to remember. If she thinks we screwed her or her people, I would not be surprised if she dropped a dime on us to her tame congressman. Who could really make us regret it.”
“I will just have to make sure that it was the Company and not us. I have never done it and will never do it knowingly.”
Flying her Apache was still the most enjoyable thing Liz did with her clothes on; before Max it was #1 period. Early April in Southern Afghanistan was not much different than early April in Northern Afghanistan. Getting hotter, still as dusty and still as dry. But up in the air, 3000 feet above the ground, in her Apache, it was a very different world. This day was the last one before they began to support combat operations. The entire company was flying with her, as they practiced some formation flying. And she got to enjoy one last fairly carefree day in the air.
That afternoon came the briefing for their first mission. Two FOB’s would be resupplied by Chinooks from 6 Battalion; Liz would take 1st platoon and cover one while Hustler took the other platoon for the other mission. The entire Battalion was out covering supply missions this day. Actual assault and combat missions would start pretty quickly.
“Well there you have it. Pretty simple really. At least until the bullets start flying. Targets of opportunity are well known; but you do not leave your area unguarded just to pot shoot a couple of insurgents. They could be doing that specifically to lure you away and leave the Chinooks vulnerable. For you newbies, I will remind you all once again that sacrifice for the hard core Taliban means to them a sure path to paradise. Just like the Japanese Kamikaze’s of WW2. No real difference. Those of you that were here in the last deployment learned that the hard way. We were very fortunate that last tour by not having one single Apache seriously damaged let alone shot down. But they came close as Lobo and I can FORTUNATELY testify to. Do not relax; do not take anything for granted ever. You let down, you relax, you get careless the Gods of War will strike you down. Which will be only SLIGHTLY worse than what I will do to you if you are lucky enough to survive.”
The mission began early, before dawn, which would be the usual pattern; less chance of anyone seeing which direction they have gone and maybe getting out warnings. The FOB was about 40 minutes flying time from Kandahar; the Apache’s had one external fuel tank. One good change in procedure was that now it was up to the Company Commander how much fuel they took on any single mission. No more having to go to Battalion. Liz intended to go with at least one aux tank on every mission; and if it was much longer on this one, two. One hellfire pod and one 2.75 pod would be standard. The number of Hellfires shot in Afghanistan had dropped significantly; more and more work was done by the 30MM, which was the most accurate weapon they had. With so much attention on civilian casualties, the pressure was always on to be more precise.
Liz checked the area as they got close; the FOB reported the area clear; it was just dawn. She took her platoon down low and over flew the landing area before taking station at 1000 feet while the Chinooks landed and began unloading. Liz tended to have her people alternate around, switching places and generally trying to be unpredictable in their movements. It took about an hour for the Chinooks to unload. So far nothing. Liz took them down low and buzzed the area then moved out and hovered; watching as the Chinooks took off. Once the Chinooks got to 2000 feet they took off towards Kandahar and Liz kept her Apache’s flanking them. There was no real need to stay around once the Chinooks got to that height; the Taliban had very few SAM’s and most of them were over age Soviet models that were not very effective. Still it just made everyone feel a little better to stay together. The flight back was happily uneventful.
That days flying had been very much routine; no one had really had to deal with anything bigger than some insurgents trying to pot shoot at ranges far beyond the capability of their AK-47’s.
That afternoon came the briefing for an assault mission on a village about 100 miles from Kandahar, slightly north in the foothills before the mountains. A company from the 1st Brigade would hit it; they would be flown in by 14 Blackhawks of A and B companies, 5th Battalion. 6 Blackhawks would be in reserve, 2 of them Medevac. The Crew would be in the lead choppers. Once again A company would be their escort. Since it was thought that they might have more time on the ground, Liz would have her birds take 2 aux tanks.
The Company commander wanted the ships to land right at Dawn, with no flyover by the Apache’s. He wanted his people in that village before most of them woke up. The Division Commander did not agree with the night raids the Theatre Commander preferred and would go that way until ordered not to. It was a lot harder figuring out the real Taliban from civilians as it was, without throwing the dark into it. Now if someone shot at you, they got bullets right back. No matter whom they were. As usual a unit of the Afghan Army would go with them to interpret and to make it clear that this was not just Americans coming to visit.
0500 and they were in the air; Dawn was about 0630. If they got near the target early they would hover and wait; better too early than too late.
As usual the flight there was uneventful; later on in the tour when the machines began to get worn down by the constant missions, it would not be unusual in an assault this big for one of the choppers to have engine trouble. Which could cause all sorts of problems depending on the severity. If it had to turn back one of the reserves would have to go with it as well as one Apache as escort in case it had to land short of the base. As the machines got more worn down more reserve choppers would be going along.
They did get in the area a little early and hovered for 10 minutes 10 miles out before continuing. Liz had her platoon as low cover while Hustler had his as high.
The 16 Blackhawks swooped in and landed on all four sides of the village and the Troopers poured out and swept in. Liz, listening in, did not hear anything out of the usual and the Blackhawks took off and came back to altitude. The Apache’s stayed at 1000 feet, watching everything in the increasing light.
For the first few minutes not much appeared to be happening; then Pug called out.
“Have six armed firing at troops from wash”
“Can you clearly identify them?”
“Roger. One has RPG.”
“Take them.”
“Roger used 30MM they are took.”
That apparently turned out to be the only armed fighters in the village; and subsequently showed to be the only Taliban there. So using a full company was definitely over kill. The good news was that no civilians were wounded. The only shots fired beyond the Apache’s were a few that tore down a door on a shed that was locked; in it were found arms and ammunition that was probably Taliban. After a hurried conference with the Afghan Military, it was decided to leave them. There were so many AK-47’s and so much ammunition floating around Afghanistan that why bother with a few. Besides that might be the villages only protection against bandits. So only 45 minutes after touchdown the Commander ordered dust off. The Hawks came in and in one hour they were all heading home.
The next day came two smaller assaults on smaller villages; Liz split the company up with 1 platoon for each. Once again there was very little opposition and this time the Apache’s did not fire a shot in either case.
Other units were not so fortunate and there was some heavy fighting. But no one was killed and no choppers were more than slightly damaged.
The next two weeks were pretty much the same; Liz had yet to fire her weapons which really surprised her. Everyone else had. But all the 101st Brigade missions were successful, though not without loss. No choppers had been lost; or pilots or crew killed. But several Troopers were. And some of the flyers were wounded if only slightly.
One month into the combat part of the tour, early in May, came the first mission where it got a little hairy for Liz’s company.
IT was another larger assault; this time half a company in 8 Blackhawks and 4 in reserve with 2 Medevac. This village was not that big but rumor had it that it was fully Taliban. The thinking was that there were probably no civilians in this one; but of course no one could be sure of it. But the predators had been watching it for several days and no children or women had been seen. It was over 150 miles from Kandahar. There were two ways to handle this one; everyone have maximum auxiliary tanks or have a refueling point set up. Just about everyone preferred a refueling point and that was the way it finally went; Liz pushed a little when Battalion was hesitant. They picked an open area about 40 miles from the target and kept a watch on it with UAVs. Then at 0400 they headed to that point; with two Chinooks carrying fuel and a security detail. The landed at that point at 0445 and were refueling at 0500. By 0545 they each had been topped up and they headed for the target. The Apache’s had one external tank; the Blackhawks none.
Like the pattern was at this time, the Blackhawks came in with the Apache’s; this time Liz let Hustler take the low road. They landed on both sides of the village and the troopers poured out and headed in. They started taking fire early on and returned it, steadily pushing in. Due to the previous intelligence, Hustler was cleared to fire on any armed personnel they saw as long as not accompanied by women or children. Unarmed were NOT to be fired on.
Then the troopers started to take RPG fire and Hustler’s platoon moved in close to assist. More and more it appeared this was a Taliban stronghold.
Liz took a careful look around the village in the increasing light and spotted no movement towards it from any direction. With that she brought the rest of the company down; the blackhawks had all pulled back. Then the word came in for MEDEVAC and the first one began to land. Liz and Lobo moved down to cover them; and as it landed several Taliban rose up to fire at it; Liz and Lobo blew them away with their 30MM before they could cause damage to the MEDEVAC. Several injured troopers were carried to the first medevac and it took off immediately. Liz detailed Pug to escort it.
More Taliban popped up and were hosed by the Apache’s. Then word came in for the other Medevac. Command indicated that resistance had just about ended. Liz and the others stayed low and watchful. Then the call for Dustoff came for most of the troopers. The other medevac left and Liz had one of Hustler’s people go and he sent Whistler. The troopers had quickly gone through the village and found some arms and weapons caches and set demo charges on them. Nothing else had been found of interest. They were all in the process of taking off when word came back from the refueling point that they thought some enemy forces might be coming close. Making a quick decision Liz left Hustler with the escort duty and took her two remaining Apache’s with her at full throttle. It took only 20 minutes to get there and they did indeed find some moving in and Liz and the others went down low and hosed them. Fuel reports indicated that everyone could get back comfortably with current fuel load so the refuel point rather quickly packed up and took off. They were only a little behind the rest of the flight and Liz stayed with them.
That was the most action they were to see for a few weeks; the other companies got more.
One day just after a couple of milk runs Captain Forrest stuck his head in Liz’s door. She looked at him and sighed; he came in and closed the door.
“The Company has an operation going and needs some heavy support; everything we have is already committed.”
“What kind of operation and where.”
“They know where a Taliban official is and want to bag him. But they want the Taliban to think he got blown up. So they want to place a body there dressed appropriately and have the building he is in blown up. The Idea is to have the Taliban find traces of the guy and figure he is in many pieces. Now to do this they want an Apache there to use Hellfires; that way the Taliban does not suspect the charges will be set on the ground; you will fire the hellfire and a couple of others and big booms. This place apparently is a bomb making factory so big booms would not be surprising. And this is a full night operation.”
Liz rolled her eyes. “Complicated much?”
“That is their specialty and you are right. But this one is pretty high priority. Liz, I think you ought to take this one yourself; they want as little known about it as possible.”
Liz looked at him. “Like I would send anyone else. So how are we going to do this?”
“You load up and fly out this evening and to one of their bases. About midnight we hit the place. The buildings to be blown will be laser designated by a predator; you just have to make sure the Hellfires are locked on and let them go.”
“Why not use a predator?”
“Because they want to blow up four separate buildings; and if it is done clearly by a helicopter the Taliban will be less suspicious.”
“OK. I will talk to the Battalion commander.”
Right after dark they took off and flew on a precise heading for one hour at near maximum speed. Roger was kind of excited about this; Liz just shook her head and told him he would learn. At one hour they were called and given directions from there. They landed in the middle of what appeared to be a cleared area surrounded by old milvans. After landing and instructions they both got out. Liz told Roger to stick with the bird and she followed a man dressed in civilian clothing into one of the milvans that had been set up as a HQ.
Once inside the door closed and a dim light was switched on. Liz figured it was no coincidence that the only light focused on a map on a table. The faces of everyone was dimly seen at best; almost certainly on purpose. One of the men did all the talking.
“Captain Parker here is the area; you will be here at exactly 1250. At 1300 the operation should be ready and you will wait for the laser designator and then fire four hellfire’s as directed by the lasing. After firing you will fly low over the area and then return to Kandahar. With a full tank from here you should have an excellent margin. You are further directed to not mention this mission to anyone anytime in the future. You will make that clear to your copilot as well. Am I understood?”
Liz calmly looked at him and said. “Yes.”
“Very well you may return to your aircraft and wait; take off will be in approximately 3 hours.”
Liz turned and walked out the opened door and followed the company man back to the chopper. She saw Roger supervising the filling of the one auxiliary tank that they had. After it was done and they had checked that the cap was shut and tight she told him to just sit down and wait. Which they did. Liz nodded off after about half an hour. 30 minutes before taking off Roger woke her up.
Hovering and waiting, Liz waited for the word to drop down to 500 feet where she would fire. The word came at 1305; she lowered from 1000 and took position; the designator buzzed and one by one she fired the Hellfires. 4 very nice explosions. She waited a couple of minutes to let debris settle then flew over the village at about 100 feet. No one would mistake that. At that point she turned the bird on a bearing for Kandahar and took off. She let Roger fly them back to give him some experience in night flight.
Once they got back they just gave blank looks to anyone that asked where they had been. They got back in at 0300. Luckily her company had no missions that morning so she was able to sleep in some; they had a milk run that afternoon, a supply run to two separate FOB’s. Nothing happened. So she was able to get a full nights sleep that night.
The next few weeks were a steady pattern; some milk run resupplies; other escort operations.
There still was the occasional rocket attack, but nothing had ever come close to their building. IT was actually fairly comfortable there compared to the time in Bagram; there was more variety of things to do and get. Liz tried to spend some time in the gym, to stay fit. Vicki and the others were frankly Jealous as Liz seemed to have no problem staying small. They were all comfortable with each other; and that was good. Liz emailed Max and Aliya every day or so, keeping them informed of things. And they emailed back with details of their everyday life that Liz clung to. She was coming to the conclusion that while flying her Apache was the best; the rest of the job was not so great. And she was seeing it more and more as a job. The paperwork and other BS that she as a company commander had to wade through was a real downer.
Liz was seriously thinking that before her next deployment she would request a transfer to the Aviation school as an instructor. With a little luck she could make that assignment last several years. By then she would be a Major and be looking at becoming a Battalion XO. Her active flying days would be about over. Another possibility was to bite the bullet and start taking college courses. But that would inevitably lead to staff positions and the like. She would rather be a flight instructor and then run her string out. Then get out and fly in the civilian world. Without modesty she knew she could just about write her own ticket. She just was not sure how far to take her military career.
It was the beginning of June and the campaigns really began to heat up. Special Ops were all over Kandahar City; that was a real tough nut to crack. The rest of the Division had just about arrived; for the first time in a very long time all the 101st Airborne was deployed in the same place at the same time.
Max picked up Aliya and took her home; Ft Campbell was very empty. Basically only bare bones military left; just dependents mostly. Aliya was doing well; she was worried about Liz of course but the constant emails helped. Liz was usually able to call once a week as well. Max was very lonely without Liz; he began to finally comprehend the feelings of other military men who had left their wives home on deployments. Only for him it was the other way around.
The Special Forces senior command had made the expansion of the 160th SOAR a priority; but that still took time. A new whole unit was being planned as well; many grumbled that this had been obvious for a long time and ignored. Which was true.
Women had been allowed in Special Forces only for staff positions for a long time; but that was gradually changing. They were slowly infiltrating all areas; and aviation was one of the first. Command was actually beginning to consider recruiting them.
One special project was an attack helicopter that was more survivable then the current models. The Direct Action Penetrator version of the Black Hawk had been one. But a tougher more heavily armed helicopter was needed. A new design would take 10-15 years before it could fly. And no one had made any kind of a major breakthrough that would make it worthwhile. So the geeks started to look at taking what was already out there and significantly improving it. They kept coming back to the Apache; but with some modifications. Making the tail rotor a fenestron; more particularly an electric one. With the new generations of electric motors so much more efficient and powerful, you would not need to bleed power from the main engines; the generators on the Apache already had the necessary extra power. And that kind of tail rotor was less vulnerable to enemy fire. With two separate cables to run power to the motor, which would also make it less likely to be damaged. The tail boom could be significantly narrowed; weight savings. Going titanium for the frame and the body while very expensive would save over 1000 lbs and maybe more; using more powerful engines. A complete upgrade of the aircrafts avionics and communications. The engineers went to their computers and figured that they could overall gain 20% on range; and add 15% on speed. Maneuverability would also increase. New glassine based Kevlar armor would give greater protection for less weight. It would be expensive; but it would outclass easily anything else in the world. An extendable air refueling boom. New composition rotors that would be stronger and more rigid. The stub wings would be articulated fully; the pods built into them, which would then allow auxiliary tanks to be added while not losing any firepower. And tied into the control system would allow better high speed maneuverability.
This project had been started in 2007; by 2010 the first model was ready to fly. And the initial flights exceeded expectations. Veteran Apache pilots test flew it and loved the new bird.
It was now late June and there were multiple missions almost every day. All the helicopter crews were being run ragged as the new offensive against the Taliban demanded more and more support. Several Blackhawks had been badly damaged and two had been destroyed; but the 101st Aviation seemed to lead a charmed life as regards no one getting killed. But with the tempo and the demands, that was just a matter of time. So far the Apache’s had escaped with only minor damage on a few occasions.
It was the second mission of the day; and the second mission where the entire company was out on a mission. This was another major assault on a Taliban village over 150 miles from Kandahar. This was considered the limit for various reasons. They would base out of a FOB that was only 50 miles from the target. That meant they had to load up and fly there first; refuel and then hit the target and maybe refuel on the way back. 6 Battalion would supply the Blackhawks; and two full companies were involved. As usual with an assault this big, a full company of Apache’s would accompany them. The first mission had been a resupply that ended at 1200; by 1500 they were heading to the FOB where they would land and refuel and wait until just before dawn the next morning. The FOB was primitive and you were stuck sleeping in a tent; which in the very hot weather of near mid summer was not easy to do. A dinner of MRE’s did not make it better.
Liz and the others got what rest they could; she did manage a few hours of sleep. She had a uneasy feeling about this mission. At 0430 they woke up; at 0515 they were in the air and hit the target right at 0545. 14 Blackhawks from two sides dropped off the company of troops; and then flew off to wait; joining the 2 MEDEVACS and 4 reserves. Liz had her platoon down low this day while Hustler went high. The troops surged into the village; from what Liz could see there was very little if any resistance. She told Roger “this is a little suspicious; no resistance.” “Yeah. Not a good sign for what was supposedly a very serious Taliban village.”
The troops found only a few fighters; and not much else. No arms caches; explosives or much of anything. The village looked just about abandoned.
Liz’s bad feeling got worse.
“Spectre lead to Assault; looks like an empty house.”
“Assault to Spectre Lead. Nobody home. Will be pulling out soon.”
Liz did not like it. “Doberman to Hustler; scout the immediate area.”
“Hustler to Doberman Roger that”
Liz kept her platoon with the Blackhawks, watching everywhere at once.
A few minutes later “Hustler to Doberman; nothing.”
“Roger”
Liz was still worried. When the commander called for Dustoff she ordered everyone down low; 1 platoon to each side, and to keep a sharp eye.
The Blackhawks came in and landed and the troopers poured out of the village and began to board. Liz got tenser; if they were going to do anything it was now.
And sure enough out of concealed areas a group of Taliban popped out. It was clear now that they had kept them going there every night so as to be ready for a dawn assault. And they had gotten lucky in that the 101st had come calling.
The Apache’s jumped right on them pouring 30MM fire and some used Hellfires and 2.75’s. Liz had Roger hose one group with the 30MM and she fired several 2.75 HE’s at another; some of the Taliban were getting hit from multiple Apache’s.
But unfortunately they were not able to get them all in time. An RPG hit the rotor of one Blackhawk just as it was about to take off; it luckily did not explode as the rotor shredded and destroyed the engine in the process. Further in luck no one on the Blackhawk was seriously injured. In an instance of absolute chance another RPG went right through the open doors of another Blackhawk and did not hit anything and kept on going. But their luck ran out as another RPG hit a Blackhawk that had just taken off; it hit the right engine and exploded; the rotor shredded and the Blackhawk fell straight down and over turned, laying on its side. Several others were hit with small arms fire; but only a few were wounded; only one other Blackhawk was damaged enough so that it could not fly. The only Blackhawks left were the three damaged ones.
“Doberman to Hustler; Wipe that village!”
“ROGER THAT!”
2nd platoon proceeded to use up most of its Hellfires and 2.75’s.
The medevacs were already on the ground as were the reserve Blackhawks.
6th Battalions XO had come along to command; he ordered that the damaged blackhawks be assessed. In 10 minutes the word came back that the two hit by RPG’s were just about totaled. The less damaged one could be repaired if they could get a crew to it. He then called base; if a Chinook was handy they would send one; if not they would get a repair crew and parts and bring them in.
Liz considered the situation; this would take hours either way. They had about 2hrs flight time left.
“Doberman to Assault Lead; recommend all undamaged head to FOB; I can have one platoon go with and refuel”
“Assault Lead to all craft; head to FOB. Doberman are you staying?”
“Roger.”
Liz pulled the Apache’s up to 1000 feet and hovered. If fuel looked like it could become a problem she would land and idle. It would not take more than 30 minutes for them to get to the FOB; probably about an hour at most to get refueled. Probably not that long. She had to stretch things.
“Doberman to Whistler and Pug; land and idle down.”
“Roger.”
The medevacs left soon after; the reserve Blackhawks took off as well; no one would be left on the ground. If they were going to repair it the pilots could come back; if the Chinook came they would not need pilots.
Word came back soon that no Chinooks were available; a repair crew would have to come from the base. ETA was 3 hrs.
So they waited; Liz contemplating how this could have happened. Clearly this was an ambush; but how could the Taliban have known this village would be the one hit? Only the mission planners had known; and no one knew which village would be hit when. The Afghan military was not told either. So Liz began to think that they had just had a routine for some time established that they would wake up around an hour before dawn and move to their spider holes. With the level the campaign was at, this village would be hit sooner or later. Liz had seen several come out of holes that had a foot of sand on top of them; there was no way even with infrared they could have been detected prior. Sophisticated Sniffers probably could; but those were very expensive; only the Special Ops had any. And she was not sure that they worked from any distance. She wondered if the really sophisticated infrared could help?
After an hour Liz and Lobo switched out. At the end of the second hour she heard the good word.
“Hustler to Doberman, ETA 15 mikes”
“Roger that Hustler.”
She took off and waited for the others to arrive. When she got to the base it was empty; the rest must have headed back home. She frowned a little at that; it was policy that no group of blackhawks went any distance without attack escort. She landed and got out. She went to the FOB command tent and poked her head in.
“They left without escort?”
The FOB commander was clearly not happy. “Yes. Good news is that the repair crew is inbound. ETA at the target is one hour.”
Liz shook her head and went back to the chopper. They were done refueling in just less than 45 minutes; Liz waited until the repair chopper and the spare coming with it were in sight before taking off. She got to the site and told Hustler to take off and refuel and then head home. She had Whistler and Pug land while they stayed up. It took two hours for the repairs to get done; and the repaired chopper took off with the other two; charges had been set in the totaled Blackhawks to totally destroy them, particularly their electronics. They blew as the rest of them left the scene. They all stopped to refuel one more time before heading home. They got in about 1400. Liz found the Battalion commander waiting for her.
“Were you told about the flight heading back to Kandahar without escort.”
“nope.”
“Well, I am going to the Brigade commander on this; the 6th Battalion CO does not think it is a big deal.”
“I think it was really stupid and an unnecessary risk.”
“That is what I think the Brigade commander will say. I know he has not been happy with the leadership of 6 Battalion.”
Liz was at dinner that evening; she ate in the mess hall a few times a week depending on what was going on.
James Winston and Ed Griffith found her and pulled her into a quiet corner.
“The Brigade commander just relieved the Battalion commander and his XO; they will be on the next plane out.” Came from Winston.
Liz blinked at them. “I am a little surprised he moved that hard and fast.”
Griffith shook his head. “He has been looking for a reason for a while; this way he got both of them at one shot when the Battalion commander said he would have done the same thing.”
“So who is taking over the Battalion and who is his XO?”
“XO of 5 Battalion is going to take it; Scooter is moving to his XO. I will move up to Battalion XO and will get my promotion. One good thing is that the planned move of our Battalion Commander to XO of brigade will not come until after we get back home.”
“So are you going to keep flying, Ed?”
“For as long as I can. That makes you more than likely the senior captain –will have to check for sure.”
Liz sighed. “So I am 3rd now?”
“Probably but I will make sure.”
Two days later weather grounded everyone and the Brigade commander called a senior officer meeting; every captain and above. The reverberations were still coming from the relief of 6 battalions Commander and XO. Liz had talked to the Crew about it.
As usual Jesse was the blunt one. “About time for both of them.”
Vicki nodded and Ellen snorted. “I am surprised that it took this long.”
Liz was a little puzzled. “I know he was not well liked; I certainly did not; but I had not heard he was that bad.”
“Actually neither one of them was really incompetent; they just were assholes and got too fast and loose with things. Good riddance. Our XO is a good Joe; and you said Scooter Winston was a good guy.”
“He is a good guy. Sorry to lose him Scooter will do fine. Bad thing about that is that I am now senior Captain in the battalion- at least among the pilots. The company support captain is senior but he is a non pilot. That inevitably means more work for me. And brings the day closer when I get bumped up to Battalion XO and start getting buried in paperwork.”
The meeting was rather short and to the point.
“Let me make something clear about the actions of the last day. Relief for cause will happen if I am not satisfied with your performance. And I want this to be absolutely clear; no helicopter goes more than 20 miles from this base without escort. No solo runs at all. And the only way there is no Attack or Armed helicopter escort is if there are none available and it’s a critical mission.”
The Kiowa’s had been used for recon and light attack and escort duties; it was decided to prioritize the Apache’s for the most risky and demanding missions. One problem the Kiowa’s had was they were not as capable at higher altitudes as the Apache was; and they did not have external tanks, though they had better internal tank range than the Apache. They would be used almost exclusively for the shorter range missions and especially anything that concerned Kandahar City.
6 Battalion was lucky in that the unflyable weather lasted for 3 days and allowed them time to accept and get used to the command change. The rest of the Brigade did not complain as it was the first real multi day rest they had gotten since April and the start of operations. 3 straight months was a load. This also allowed the ground crews to catch up on maintenance and then catch up on their sleep.
So it was a rested and more ready Brigade that started operations again. Which was a good thing as some hairy missions came fast.
“So the prototype exceeded all expectations and did not have any major bugs. That is pretty rare.”
“Well, most of the individual improvements have been tested elsewhere; the new engines, most of the avionics and communications gear. The air frame is just stronger than it was; the fenestron is well proven as regards tail rotors.”
“True but sometimes when you put all those components together for the first time unexpected things pop up.”
“Apparently not this time. What does the funding look like?”
“We are lucky; Special Operations still gets the special treatment for funding. Though the congressmen winced when told of the $80 million price for each; more than double a regular Apache. So we will probably get at most 2 companies; 48.”
The first day flying again there were 3 separate FOBs that required resupply; and all the Brigades Chinooks were split between the three. They were also over 100 miles from Kandahar. So Liz made sure that they had two auxiliary tanks for their mission. It was partialed out one company for each mission. Possibly overkill but you never knew. And on this day it turned out to be a good idea. After noticing that there were bases that had not been resupplied, the Taliban figured out which ones were most likely to get some the first flyable day and had sent in groups to cause trouble. With the beginning of July it was now at the height of summer and very hot and very dry and very dusty.
At two of the FOB’s, the Taliban were not as stealthy as they thought they were and the personnel there spotted them; warned the Apache’s came in and hosed the area and took them right out of the fight. Liz listened to this over the battalion net; she called ahead to their target. All three resupply missions had left at the same time but the one Liz was covering was the farthest away.
“Spectre Lead to FOB Jakob; any activity noticed? Those people are busy at the other bases.”
“FOB Jakob to Spectre Lead, nothing seen or heard here.”
“Roger.”
Liz had not had any premonitions before this mission as she had before others that had turned hairy. But she decided to take no chances.
“FOB Jakob, just in case we intend to fumigate your perimeter. Will let you know when we are within 5 miks.”
“FOB Jakob to Spectre Lead, Roger that.”
“Doberman to Hustler, take the North side and we will take the south side. Use up your 2.75’s.”
“Roger that.”
“OK People get ready.”
“Spectre Lead to Jakob, 5 miks to a belated July 4”
“FOB Jakob to Spectre Lead; we don’t have any beer or popcorn but we will be watching.”
“Doberman to all units; FIRE!”
In ripples each helicopter fired 19 2.75” rockets, all HE, for a total of 152 that pretty much covered a great deal of the perimeter of the landing area. That raised up a lot of dust that took a few minutes to clear. Then Liz led her people down to 300 feet after it cleared and hovered, waiting to see if anyone else showed up. The Chinooks came in and landed and began to unload; the Apache’s hovered, waiting. But no one showed. The FOB sent out squads to look over the area the Apache’s had hit. Just before the Chinooks were done and about to leave the word came.
“FOB Jakob to Spectre Lead; we did have visitors; and they have been greeted properly. Thanks.”
“Spectre Lead to FOB Jakob, we are an all services included package. Fumigation included.”
At the mission debrief held for all three at the same time, it was bandied about that maybe in the future for resupply runs that the Apaches should pop some at the perimeter all the time. There was some debate about the increased usage of munitions, but overall the sentiment was to shoot first and ask questions later. The Battalion commander took that to Brigade and it was approved; it would be up to the escort to do so on a case by case basis.
Talking with some of the others, Liz thought that using 2.75’s without any reason was probably overkill; so popping some 30MM first to see if that stirred up things was agreed on. And from that time on it became SOP.
The Brigade commander had taken that up to division and it was debated some; but most agreed that using some 30MM to sanitize the perimeter was probably a good idea. Maybe the most dedicated and disciplined Taliban would continue to hide and wait, but most others would not be able to resist doing something.
So from that time on no resupply was done without first treating the area around the LZ to some preventative pest control. And that did have an impact; incidents during resupply runs to FOB’s dropped significantly.
As August began to go by, the pace of combat began to slacken. The new theatre commander changed some tactics and it seemed to help. The Brigade was just happy to have things ease so that they could properly rest and relax between missions, and the maintenance personnel could get their jobs done and still get enough sleep.
But most of the Afghan vets knew that it would pick up again, especially starting in September when things would start to cool off.
Meanwhile Liz was thrilled to hear that Maria had had a baby girl; and accordingly she and the Crew poured over the baby pictures. It was a nice distraction. Then she found out that both Isabelle and Tess were expecting as well.
“The congressman was kind of pointed, wasn’t he?”
“Well he has believed in this for some time and of course what he has seen personally has had an effect.
The SECDEF pondered on this. How much of this was because of that? Not that it mattered why; it was a view that was gaining ground. And personally he had nothing against it.
“Very well, schedule this for the briefing for the President on Wednesday. I am going to have the Joint Chiefs way in on it and present their view to him. Some may consider this a small change, but it is significant.”
The President read the memo and the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“Very well. Make the change.”
“Just got this from SECDEF. Read it.”
“Well, sir that is not a big change.”
“But it is one for us, though some did not know that some of that was already being done.”
“Because we did not exactly advertise. But this does impact some of our other future plans.”
“Yes it does. Well I am going to draft up a memo for the groups. Basically telling them to start looking and examining candidates.”
“They have to apply first.”
“True, but that does not mean we can sound out some we think belong in SF.”
“What about the 160th?”
“I have a feeling, since this was coming from a certain congressman, that it might just have more to do with aviation than anything else.”
“You think that is what this is about?”
“Partially. But can you blame him? And especially for the 160th, it is due.”
“They have women there.”
“Staff positions, though that is rather loosely interpreted there. But no pilots.”
“Do you wonder if she is prodding him?”
“From everything I have heard, no.”
“Our first operational SAH-64 will be ready next year. I am wondering if that figured at all?”
“Well, she certainly would be at the top of my recruit list.”
As September waned, and the temperatures began to cool off; the tempo of Combat started to warm up. While the new ways of starting off resupply missions had helped there, assault missions were still usually way more interesting than anyone wanted them to be.
It was late September. They had only one mission scheduled that day, which was nice. Another pre dawn assault. A big one. A full company from the 3rd Brigade would be hitting a fairly good sized village that was reputed to be mostly Taliban. Once again two full companies of the 5th Battalion, A and B, would be involved. 14 going in, 6 in reserve and due to the size and the way things had been going, 3 MEDEVACS. Liz was happy that this time the Crew would be in the reserve choppers. Still she was starting to get a bad feeling. Considering how accurate that had been, she quietly told Hustler that she was getting bad vibes and the word spread. The whole company by now took her inklings very seriously.
Things seemed normal as they formed up and headed out; the strike headed out with no problems. The target was about 80 miles out. Just 10 minutes in, one of the Blackhawks reported engine problems; it quickly landed and one of the reserve choppers took their troops. The mission commander, 5th Battalion CO, ordered everyone to continue on; another Blackhawk was already on its way to escort the wounded bird, which thought they could make it back to base. Liz felt her foreboding increase. The entire flight had continued on and the backup bird caught up. They made up the time and were on schedule. As usual they were going to hit the village from two sides. It was on the foothills, but the terrain was not that rough. Liz decided to listen to her feelings and had the whole company down low, watching, flanking the Blackhawks as they came in. They hit the ground and the troopers headed for the village. As far as Liz could see, surprise was total. The troops all unloaded and the Blackhawks took off. So far so good. Listening to the troopers, they were meeting increased resistance. Liz, listening to her feelings, had not pulled the Apache’s out yet. Even though procedure was to do so in this kind of situation. They were still very low, at about 300 feet.
“Hustler to Doberman; we have hostiles moving in from the west; am engaging.”
“Roger that, Hustler but leave two behind.”
“Roger”
Looking around she could see nothing. Then
“Pug to Doberman, hostiles coming from the east”
“Doberman to Pug, take Whistler and engage.”
“Roger.”
Liz knew something else was coming. Working on instinct, feeling that the Taliban were trying to divert the Apache’s, she ordered everyone even closer to the village, they were about half a mile out. Looking into the village, the troopers had split it in two and were trying to drive to each end, which would mean they had covered the entire village. The Taliban were resisting fiercely. Then she noticed some buildings that did not look right; if she had not been this close she would have missed them.
“Spectre Lead to Assault Lead, there are concrete bunkers right near your front points. On each end of the village.”
“Roger – will advise.”
The company commander was looking at one. It looked fairly normal until you got right close to it; or saw it close from the air. He noticed that the door looked solid; as did the window. He began to get a bad feeling. He ordered the men there and the ones on the other end to back off; he pulled them back to more than 100 yds away from them and behind some stone buildings.
“Assault Lead to Spectre Lead; have pulled back; take those buildings out.”
“Assault Lead, pull back a little farther please.”
“Roger we are.”
“Doberman to Hustler are you back?”
“Roger.”
“See that strange looking building at the end of that lane?”
“Roger. It does look different.”
“Take it out with a Hellfire- but make sure you are at angels 10.”
“Roger.”
Liz pulled back to 1000 feet and aimed a Hellfire at the building.”
“Doberman to Hustler; FIRE!”
They launched almost together and their missiles hit the buildings- which blew up with considerably more force than empty buildings should have. Even at 1000 feet and probably a quarter mile away linearly, the blast buffeted Liz.
“Spectre Lead to Assault Lead; how are you guys?”
“Assault lead to Spectre lead, a little dusty but no serious injuries. We are pulling out; requesting DUSTOFF.”
The other Taliban fighters had either been killed or had fled or were hiding; the extraction was quick; the CO did not request MEDEVAC so the injuries must have been minor. In 15 minutes everyone was heading home.
At the mission debrief some photographs of the buildings were examined. They had clearly been build specifically to focus the blast outwards; the walls were thin but the roof had been very heavy. It would have acted as a tamping measure, forcing more of the blast and debris outward rather than upwards. Which would have been very deadly for the troops. Clearly the idea was to have let the troops advance until the two buildings were right where the front line was, where most of the troopers would have been close to. Then without a doubt a radio controlled detonation would have occurred. They might have lost half the company.
The Company commander looked at Liz. “What tipped you off?’
She was a little embarrassed. “I had a real bad feeling something was up; then when those forces outside the village started to make trouble something told me that it was a diversion, what could they do, they were fully exposed. So to me it seemed they were trying to keep the Apache’s from getting too close. Because from the air the difference in the buildings was pretty clear. Once you spot them they really stick out.”
“Well I can say without a doubt you saved a lot of Troopers today, Captain Parker.”
The Battalion commander looked at Ed. “Commendation?”
“Definitely. If she had not been so sharp, so paranoid one can say, we could have lost half a company of men today.”
That got around the division fairly quickly. The Crew made it a point of thanking Liz; one of those she might have saved was Ellen’s current boyfriend. In her own quirky way she made her point.
“Gee, Liz, you just kept me being able to get laid. Thank you.”
The Battalion commander noticed that A company was getting more requests to fly escort than any of the other companies. It had been that way somewhat, before; but after the exploding building mission it got very pronounced.
“Liz’s company is getting very popular.”
“Word gets around. Someone figured that no one had yet been killed on any mission that A Company escorted. Either in flight; landing or taking off; or fighting on the ground.”
“I can see why that would get the soldiers attention.”
On the first of October the Brigade held a ceremony and several people got commendations and medals. Liz got another Air Medal. The company that was there that day was in full attendance and made their appreciation well known.
Afterwards the Crew and she were quietly talking in their room. Jesse looked at Liz.
“I did a little checking, Liz. Now maybe some Special Operations type has gotten more, but from what I was able to find you are the most decorated US Army soldier of the last 10 years.”
Liz blinked. “I think you might be wrong. There are some chopper pilots that have gotten seven or eight air medals. I have gotten 3. So odds are that there are others with more.”
Vicki looked thoughtful. “Just counting here; you have the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Presidential Unit Citation, DSC, Legion of Merit, Soldiers Medal, Purple Heart, 3 Air Medals and your other medals. You might not be. But you are not far off either.”
Ellen grinned at a clearly embarrassed Liz. “Suck it up, Hero.
Liz just hoped her luck held; for the rest of the tour anyway.
The word went out to look for that sort of thing again; but no one figured the Taliban would try something that had failed and was now known about again. But the possibility of that happening was mentioned and from that time on no uncleared buildings would be passed by.
October came and things were still pretty warm on the battlefield if starting to really cool off elsewhere. Towards the end of that month Liz got another request from Special Forces; though this time it was for them and not the Company.
“Satellite is pretty sure but the angle is wrong.”
“Predator?”
“Supports the premise.”
“That is pretty high. Nothing can hover at that altitude.”
“Nope. But there are two rock outcrops nearby; just big enough for a Blackhawk.“
“Anyone staying at that altitude, 16,000 feet, would take weeks to acclimatize to that. Even in this country.”
“True, but a great place to hide things. And easy to keep an eye on from below.”
“OK talk to the Rotor heads.”
“Sir, all our birds are too big for that ledge that can get to that altitude. We figure that there is at most 25, maybe 28 feet clearance to the mountain side. Everything that can go that high has a bigger rotor than that.”
“What can?”
“Well an Apache has a rotor that is 5 feet less diameter. That could make it if you have a real good pilot that is nuts.”
“So that is the story sir.”
“OK, let’s have the satellite take real good pictures and get a very precise reading on that one ledge. Make sure it is possible before asking our favorite Apache pilot to try. We would send our guy as the copilot so that he can go in and look.”
When Liz saw the Captain she sighed and motioned him into her office.
“OK, what is it this time?”
“Well it is a special one for sure. We think only an Apache can do it. So we would like you to come by and let us know what you think.”
Later on at the Spec Ops compound in the Commanders office she looked at the proposal.
“You guys are truly nuts. I kept hearing that but until now I really did not believe it. 16,000 feet; have to come up over an 18,000 foot peak and then drop down and land on a ledge that has at most a two to three foot clearance for my rotors. My front seat is occupied by a intelligence weenie who goes in there and looks for something Al Queeda might have hidden there. Then we leave and hope to fly safely down to the valley below.”
They just looked at her. She sighed and looked at the satellite photos.
“They are sure there is rotor clearance?”
“Yes.”
Liz sat for several minutes thinking about it. But part of her could not resist the challenge. And what they might find could be huge. This was thought to possibly be the squirrel hole for the whole organization. This had been rumored about for some years. She shook her head and grinned slightly.
“I guess I am just as crazy. I need to talk to someone with Boeing on this for that kind of altitude.”
“We have a conference call set up for one hour from now.”
Liz rolled her eyes at their confidence.
Liz looked at the numbers. All pods off the aircraft. 100 rds of 30MM her only armament. A half full internal tank and nothing else. It would take over 20 minutes to get over the top of the mountain. But she figured her weight, counting her passenger, would be very light. That should help. The target was over 200 miles away. She would fly to a Spec Ops post that was about 30 miles away. She decided that she needed company and talked them into allowing her to bring one other Apache with her. She chose Lobo of course.
The Battalion commander looked at Liz. “This request came from high up, really high.”
Liz sighed and looked at him. “Cannot say more sir. It is a pretty wild mission.”
“OK. Just come back.”
“Roger that.”
Ted was not happy when Liz gave him some details. But he knew that it had to be very important for her to take such a risk. Roger was not told much; she would drop him off at the base.
It was scheduled for two days later; Liz flew two missions before she left that evening for the Spec Ops base. Grunt was not happy when she told him to unload all but 100 rds and take off all the pods and not put on any auxiliary tanks. It was a long flight and the base was not much. She shut it down and got out. Then they waited. They put just enough fuel in to make a half a tank. She met the weenie, who looked like a staff puke. Glasses and the whole nine yards. It was good that he was not very big. She had a hunch she would be thankful for every pound saved. He seemed friendly enough; Josh Dummel, a captain in Intelligence.
She took off at 0700 and began the climb, holding the chopper on a steady course towards the mountain, climbing to 10,000 and holding till she got close; then she began to climb; as lightly loaded as the Apache was she did well until just over 15,000 when it was clear she was struggling; at that point both she and Joe put on emergency oxygen masks. She pushed it to just over the top of the mountain and started to go down the other side, curving around to maintain as good a forward speed as possible, this was way above what an Apache could do as regards hovering. She spotted the ledge and moved right to it, knowing she could not miss; as she got close to it she could feel the ground effect; and a plus was an updraft; she had hoped for one and that definitely helped. Her altimeter read 16,455 as she closed in on the ledge. Carefully with her telling Joe to watch the top of the rotors she moved closer and closer and then taking her heart in her hand began to set down; and then she was down. Slowing the rotor down carefully, prepared for the bird to start to slip, and she got to idle. She let out her breath in the mask and told him.
“Go for it Joe.”
He gave her the thumbs up and opened up the hatch and carefully made his way to the cave entrance. Liz concentrated on not thinking about things as she waited; 15 minutes, then 20. Then 25. Then she saw him coming lugging some bags of papers; he had thought to bring plastic supermarket bags, he put them in and got in as well and closed the hatch.
“Not sure what I got; but I think it’s going to be valuable.”
Liz then began to add power until she felt the aircraft start to move then she headed over and started to go down; the first few seconds were scary as she was dropping fairly fast but she increased the horizontal speed and that got better and as they passed by 10,000 she was able to take the mask off; she was drenched in sweat. Then she headed for the Base. They got in with about 20 minutes of fuel left. She landed it and shut down and began to shake from the effects of all the adrenaline. She then opened her hatch; Joe had already opened his and there were several Company looking types waiting for him. Roger and Ted came towards her; Ted handed her a cold water bottle that she drained in about 10 seconds.
“I am never doing THAT again.”
SECDEF looked at the report. Then at the president.
“This answers a whole lot of questions we have had over the years. Who started Al Queeda and most importantly who was helping them that we did not know about. Using this as a base of knowledge, we can now trace the organization all the way back; and just as importantly go from there and trace these people mentioned, some of whom were never suspected.”
“I believe another medal is owed to Captain Parker.”
“Yes sir. Though it will have to be a classified one. I agree with the Special Operations recommendation for a Distinguished Flying Cross.”
“It is so approved.”
Captain Forrest was back a week later and right away told Liz
“No mission. Just a little thank you if you can come by tonight.”
“Well in that case OK.”
Liz managed to close her mouth when the Commander of US Special Operations Command pinned the Distinguished Flying Cross to her uniform.
“Congratulations Captain Parker.”
“Thank you sir.”
The local Special Operations commander then told her. “You can wear the medal at ceremonies requiring full dress and decorations; and it will go in your service file but that is all the attention it can get.”
“Understood sir.”
Frankly, Liz was kind of hoping they would forget about her for the rest of the time she was there. While it was an honor they came to her, she really did not think that she liked the rate at which the missions kept getting tougher.
The rest of the month was not as tough as the first part had been; and she was happy things seemed to be slowing down as combat typically did as the weather got colder, especially at night.
Things still got a little tough now and then but the charmed life of A Company and those they escorted continued.
Liz could not help but hope that their luck would continue. Luckily things had settled down in that part of Afghanistan. Even Kandahar City had cooled off.
“When will we be able to go operational with the SAH-64?”
“Rate of production is scheduled for 2 per month starting in December. So realistically in 4 months we could have a company if we stay with the current 8 per company TOE. But it would probably be best until we have 16 for 2 companies and that would be, including time to set everything else up, sometime late in the year. That is of course if there are no delays. Which you usually have.”
“So pencil in the likelihood of not until Jan 2012?”
“That would be a reasonable expectation, sir.”
November started cold in the weather but hot in combat as the Taliban apparently decided to make one more big statement before most combat ended for the winter. However Allied Command also decided that the pressure should be kept up.
Actual Taliban attacks were not very common; outside of Kandahar City. Either pressure was being applied from above or some local commanders decided to try and impress higher command; whatever they did go after some of the Patrol Bases.
This allowed the Apache’s to respond and go after them; and the Taliban were to find out that in colder weather the night vision goggles and infrared sensors of the Apache worked better.
It was actually on the 8th of November, or rather the very early morning of that day, that Liz and Company A got a chance to really do some damage.
Liz groaned as the phone in their quarters rang; Vicki groaned and put her head under a pillow; Jesse kept on sawing logs and Ellen suggested where whoever was calling at 0100 could put that phone. Liz answered.
“mmfh Parker.”
“Captain Parker you have an alert for an immediate combat reaction mission.”
Liz woke up quickly. “Understood.”
She rolled out of bed and quickly dressed. Her roommates were already back to sleep. She got to the operations room in 20 minutes. Beating most of the men in.
“3 Patrol Bases are under attack; One UK and One US Marine and One US Army. “
Liz looked around. “What is available?”
“Your company and the 2nd Platoon of C Company. Right now the rest of the Apache’s are undergoing maintenance.”
She grabbed Hustler and the 2nd Lt that had 2nd Platoon of C company, Gonzo Jones.
“Gonzo, You take the Marine Base –its closest. Hustler you take the Army base And I will take the UK base since its farthest. Let’s rock.”
They were in the air 30 minutes later. Liz firewalled the Apache’s as word came back that the Taliban were really serious.
The Captain of the Welsh Guard had pulled his people back into the inner perimeter of their Patrol Base which was in an abandoned village. He figured he was outnumbered at least 2-1. Maybe more. He hoped those yank choppers got there soon.
“Spectre Lead to Patrol Base, What is your situation?”
“Patrol Base to Spectre Lead-we have pulled back into the inner perimeter; anyone you see running right now or moving is the enemy. I will throw an incendiary outside our center position.”
“Roger that- will be there in 5 Mikes”
“OK People look for the incendiary burning. Outside of that area smoke anyone moving. Pug. You and Whistler take the outer area; Lobo and I will do the inner.”
“Roger that.”
Liz hovered at 200 feet right over the village; she could see the incendiary easily with the night vision goggles. She saw figures farther away moving in and Whistler and Pug started shooting at them. She carefully looked away from the incendiary; the night vision goggles were working well.
“Roger take the stick-I will be shooting.”
“Roger.”
Liz carefully picked her targets; one by one she popped them with 30MM HE; after about 5 minutes and 11 shots she could not see anyone to target.
“Doberman to everyone; what are you seeing?”
“Pug no more targets” “Lobo no more targets” “Whistler no more targets”
“Spectre Lead to Patrol Base, what is your situation now?”
“Patrol Base to Spectre Lead; I think you got them all.”
“Roger That we will stay and look around for a bit. Will let you know when we leave.”
“Roger and Thank You.”
“You are more than welcome. Spectre Lead out.”
The Captain waited until the Yanks left then poked his head out. He saw nothing then ordered a sound off. Every man answered. He decided to wait until light before moving out of the inner perimeter.
Liz checked fuel status; they were more than half full; then called to the other units.
“Doberman to Hustler, what is your status?”
“Headed home”
“Roger that.” “Doberman to Gonzo, what is your status.”
“Gonzo to Doberman, still engaged.”
“Will be there in 15 Mikes.”
“Roger.”
Liz got her platoon moving at speed. C Company had had things a little rough; their Commander was good but the rest of the Company just was not as good as the other Companies in the Battalion. But that was reality.
They got close and saw that the Taliban were still trying; this was a good sized base and they had committed quite a few in the attack. The C Company detachment was working the far end. Liz would have had split them and had the other two elsewhere; it looked like two of the Apache’s were just hovering and watching. Liz shook her head and then ordered her platoon to tackle the far end.
The Taliban were moving towards the base and were easy to see; Liz kept the choppers at 500 feet as they did not need to go lower.
“OK Guys lets line up and start shooting.”
In just a few minutes the Taliban figures were running; which was stupid since that made them all that more obvious. Liz had the three others go after strays and seeing a group of them decided a little more was appropriate; as at the other base she had Roger take over the stick.
She sent a half dozen 2.75 rockets at the group and blew them to pieces. In just a few more minutes no targets were visible. She called out to the other unit.
“Doberman to Gonzo, what is your status?”
“Gonzo to Doberman, no more targets available, Bingo 30MM.”
“Return to Base, Gonzo, we will stay for a bit and then go.”
“Roger, Doberman.”
“Doberman to base; any more business to be had?”
“Base to Doberman; glad you showed up. No more business.”
“We will do a quick patrol of your perimeter; if we find nothing else we will go.”
“Roger and thank you, Doberman.”
They spent 10 more minutes slowly circling the perimeter but found nothing moving. Then they headed home.
Liz went to the debrief and listened quietly. Gonzo did not seem like a bad pilot or leader; just not a really good one. She remained behind when he left. She looked at the Battalion commander. He shook his head.
“I know. Jackman is pushing but I think it’s just the matter of not having that good a group of pilots. Outside of him and his wingman, that Company is just average.“
“I saw neither good shooting nor good procedures. He had two of his people just hovering when they could have been responding to other attacks on the perimeter.”
“Probably 4 of them will be transferred out of Apache’s.”
“What about their copilots?”
“I think two of them could be good.”
Liz went back and tried to get a couple more hours of sleep. Her ground crews would be busy for a good part of the morning; so they would not be flying anyway.
That morning the commander of the UK fire base called in to commend the Apache support they got; they had found 35 bodies they were pretty sure the Apache’s had taken care of.
The Army base also commended the Apache’s.
The Marine base was not so happy.
“That first group of Apache’s were slow to respond and did not seem to want to spread out and take care of the various threats. The second group, Doberman and her people, really got the job done. That first group was fairly inaccurate as well from what we could see when it got light.”
The Battalion commander prepared his report to Brigade.
Later that morning the Brigade Commander looked at his XO.
“C Company whenever Jackman is not right there just does not perform well.”
“Nothing new; I do not think its Jackmans fault as much as it is we got some Dud Apache drivers there.”
“Get the Battalion Commander and his XO up here.”
The Battalion commander was not surprised at the summons; and Ed Griffith wasn’t either.
The Brigade commander got right to the point.
“2nd Platoon of C company is not good. What can we do to fix it?”
“Do you want to take real action sir?”
“Yes.”
“Then I recommend taking Rivers out of 2nd Platoon of A company and making him head of 2nd Platoon of C company. Demote Richards and Hulman and put them on the ground. Promote Charles and Dixon to pilots; they are certified as ready. We have two former copilots of Apache’s in 6 Battalion, put them back in as copilots for the rest of the tour.”
“Who replaces Rivers?”
“I need to talk to Parker on that.”
“Start the paperwork and talk to her,”
Liz sat in the Battalion Commanders office. She sighed when told. Not that she was terribly surprised; she just hated to lose Rivers. She looked at him.
“Whistler for 2nd Platoon commander, I think he is ready. I take it we get one of the upgraded copilots?”
“Fireman Charles. He is ready.”
“OK.”
“Fireman” Charles was happy to get out of C Company and get an Apache with A company. Going from the worst to the best was good anyway; but everyone knew that Parker just had the touch and best of all was lucky. Liz called him into her office.
“First off welcome to A Company. You will be Pug’s Wingman. We will probably have a mission this afternoon so we will have you sit it out while you and your copilot will get to know each other. You will fly this afternoon. I will need to evaluate you before you become operational. We are lucky in one respect that the weather looks bad for tomorrow and the next day. But we probably could fly local.”
It was just a resupply mission that afternoon, but Liz did not like flying with only 3 in her platoon. Whistler got a milk run to get used to leading 2nd Platoon. Liz sighed; this was not something calculated to reduce stress.
Liz got back in time and then immediately took Fireman and his copilot up to start running them through things.
The weather was bad for the next two days but Liz was able to take up Fireman and start getting him used to things. She worked him hard for the next two days; and Whistler as well getting him used to Platoon command.
The evening of the third day the Battalion commander came to talk with her.
“How are they doing?”
“Whistler is doing well; I think he will be fine. As long as he is not operating on his own on anything really tricky. I can see that he will be fine; he just needs to work on being a leader. Time will be his friend.”
“That is good. How about Charles?”
“I think he will be OK. His copilot is solid and that helps. Pug is a good teacher, I think. So the early signs are good.”
The next couple of weeks were fortunately fairly quiet; Liz was very grateful as she worked to bring her company back to the level it had been. The good news was that C Company was looking better.
Of course after that things heated up again as the Taliban seemed to not want to just fade away during the winter as they usually did. And then more fun came from another source.
Liz had just written up her latest Eval on Fireman; Pug seemed to think he was coming along well and Liz saw no reason to doubt it. Whistler seemed to be picking up command well. So naturally just as she started to relax Captain Forrest stuck his head in her door.
“Liz, I know you have been busy lately reworking your company, but something has come up.” Then he motioned her to follow him back to the Spec Ops compound.
She walked into the Spec Ops head shed and then almost stopped and stared.
Well this was going to be interesting.
“Captain Parker, welcome and take a seat.”
“This is Wing Commander Simmons of the Royal Air Force and Major Rosythe of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Pleased to meet you, Captain Parker.” “Good to meet your Captain Parker; and just refer to my Unit as the 2nd Scots.”
“To make this short and sweet there is a special operation going on in Helmand Province. RAF and 2nd Scots will be taking it to a Taliban stronghold. The Problem is that the Apache’s that normally would be supporting them have had some maintenance problems that showed up suddenly. Some parts were faulty and unfortunately they are parts that are unique to the Brit Apache’s. It will be at least a week until they are flying again. Which is a couple of days longer then they think they can delay this operation. It would have gone on in two days. If we can get things going it still will. The SAS will be transporting them and the 2nd Scots will be getting it done. They are used to operating with Apache’s which is why you are being called in.”
Liz nodded. “What base will we be operating out of?”
“Bastion”.
This got sorted out quickly and the very next morning A Company was on its way to Bastion. The RAF had come in and picked up Grunt and the other crews and a batch of spare parts. It was clear that due to the lowered tempo around Kandahar and the upped Tempo in Helmand that they would be there for a while.
Liz had a quiet conversation with the Brigade commander before she left.
“Captain, you were requested by Name for this mission; and it did not originate from Spec Ops but the British. You apparently impressed them a couple weeks ago and also at Jakob earlier. I think there is a good chance you might spend most of the rest of your tour there. With C Company finally shaping up and things slowing down around here, we can probably spare you. And they need you.”
When they got to Bastion and were situated, the RAF Wing commander made it a point to talk to Liz privately in his office.
“Captain, I believe your Brigade Commander informed you of the likelihood that you would be here for more than just this mission?”
“Yes Sir he did.”
“We have lost the Dutch Apache contingent and all the others. So even when our Apache’s are up and running again we will need you. The Marine attack helicopters are very busy supporting other operations; so we need more than the one company of RAF Apache’s. We will get more Apache’s here in 2 months but until then you are stuck here.”
“I am not surprised sir; and it will be different which might be a good thing; we might have been getting a little complacent at Kandahar.”
“Very good to hear, Captain. You are already well known here and trusted. And that is important.”
Needless to Say the quarters were not as good as Kandahar; a tent. But it was a pretty good tent and had a heater which worked. So for this time of year it was not too bad. And they had been good enough to put the entire contingent from Kandahar in the same area. Meals were interesting since there was a real mixture available due to the multinational makeup of Bastion. There seemed to be someone from just about every NATO member and from some that were not. Liz decided that while she was here she would try to sample different things and get to know people from different countries. One of the down sides was that she was unable to email Max and Aliya. She got around that by figuring out how to contact one of the Crew every day or so and have them email her family.
They got put right to work the next day on the operation with the RAF and 2nd Scots. They had a fairly long meeting the night before with the entire company so as to make sure there were no missed communications. Liz noted that at Kandahar and with the US Army units, language had gotten fairly informal. The 2nd Scots and the RAF were more by the book. Which was probably best.
They took off at 0800; no dawn attack. That had been explained that since a dawn attack was expected, hitting a couple hours later had the advantage of surprise. Liz was not totally sure about that, but they might have a point. That was to be seen.
The RAF used Merlins for the assault; pretty good sized. Bigger than Blackhawks and tougher; not as big as Chinooks. 4 of them covered by Liz and her company, which might have been overkill. After talking things over, Liz and 1st Platoon would approach from the west and hover just outside the Village; and then the 2nd Scots would land and move in from the west. It was hoped that everyone would be fixated on the Apache’s. 2nd Platoon would stay with them and flank them as they came in.
It worked like a charm. Liz watched as a number of armed Afghans took positions facing her Apache’s; behind walls. Watching. Liz then slowly brought them in closer. She could see the Merlins land and the Scots move into the camp. Then she could see the moment that the Taliban realized they had been duped and turned towards where the Scots were already in the middle of the village.
“Doberman to 1st Platoon; use your 30MM and pot shoot them.”
Roger had been getting better at shooting so this time he was working the cannon.
Caught between the two fires the fight went out of the Taliban and they tried to run. Which did not help them any. In 15 minutes it was all over.
“Ground Force to Spectre Lead; area secure.”
“Spectre Lead Roger that. We will patrol the perimeter.”
By habit Liz checked her fuel and saw that they were fine; this was only 40 miles from Bastion. By habit they now carried one external tank, so they had more than 2 hrs of flying time left.
Half an hour later they got the word for the Merlins to come in and pick them up. No casualties. Do to the closeness to Bastion, it had been decided not to have a MEDEVAC with the group. And today none was needed.
The mission debrief was indeed brief. The 2nd Scots commander said it all.
“They were so busy watching the Apache’s that they never saw us until we opened fire. Caught between the two of us, it was all over quickly.”
At noon that day Liz went to a mission briefing for that afternoon.
The same RAF unit would be doing this one; but those involved were SAS. Liz had heard that a fair number of the RAF really did not like to have much to do with the Crazy SAS. She could sort of see that there in the meeting. It was very stiff and proper on both sides. Only two Merlins and 2 troops of the SAS would be in this operation. Liz lingered after the meeting to talk to the Wing Commander.
“Forgive me if this is not polite, but I saw some serious tension between the RAF personnel and the SAS.”
The Wing commander paused for a second, and then nodded.
“There have been problems. Both sides are at fault. But I can assure you that they will work together. It will not affect their performance. And you were right to ask.”
“Thank you sir for your honesty.”
This was more of a Recon so Liz took just the 1st Platoon. The 2nd platoon would remain on call.
It turned out to be pretty much a bust; the village they went to was completely empty; Liz and Lobo buzzed it first and saw nothing; then the SAS moved quickly through it and also found nothing. In half an hour they were on the way back to base. As she got close she was told that 2nd Platoon had responded to a call for help from a patrol that had been ambushed. They had taken casualties and a MEDEVAC was about to leave; checking her fuel status Liz told them they would accompany the MEDEVAC.
Whistler was tense; the patrol had taken casualties; they had gotten there in time to catch a large number of the Taliban out in the open and Whistler had let them all use some 2.75’s which took care of the problem. Now they had to cover them. When he heard that Liz and the rest of the Company would be there he relaxed slightly. He was still not comfortable in a command situation.
Liz kept an eye on the fuel, but they were still good when they arrived to wear the Unit was waiting to have their wounded taken out. Whistler sounded glad Liz was there; he was not yet comfortable with command. Liz was going to quietly let him know that it was a danger sign when one became comfortable in command in a combat situation; that bred arrogance and carelessness.
The MEDEVAC took the four wounded and Liz told Whistler to escort them back while she stayed with the Patrol as they headed back to their patrol base.
The LT looked up as the American Apache’s buzzed the area. They had really come in the proverbial nick of time. It was right uncomfortable there for a bit.
Liz was able to stay with the Patrol right to its base before they had to get back to camp. She kept 2 of her people right with them while she and Lobo wandered around the area, looking for anything suspicious. Nothing was seen.
After the debrief Liz made it a point to talk to Whistler.
“If you are worried about when you will become comfortable in command it might take a long time. I have never gotten there. And after talking to some experienced commanders, I have come to the realization that if you are you are more than likely to be in trouble of becoming complacent and careless.”
No more missions were mentioned that afternoon and Liz decided to look around and see what the Camp had to offer. It did not take long for her to realize that the Marines in the camp next to Bastion, called Leatherneck, had it a lot tougher than she had it here. Yes she was in a tent; but there were a lot of amenities around that were not in Leatherneck.
She got back to her tent in time to find a message for her to come to Operations. That was a pretty good sized building that had been completed not too long ago. Up to now everything had been talked about at the tents near the airstrip. She had a feeling this was a more formal meeting. She was proven right when upon being shown the conference room she saw the Camp Commander and several other very high ranks. All British.
The Colonel in command stood up and greeted her.
“Pleased to meet you, Captain Parker. Very glad to have you and your company here.”
She found that the Wing Commander was there along with a Group Captain, who was the overall RAF aviation commander there. And the head of the SAS detachment there, a colonel; and the commander of the 2nd Scots, another colonel. She felt very junior.
The Group captain started it off.
“This is a meeting to formulate an operation to take control of the situation around Pashkar which has deteriorated lately. The intent is to knock the Taliban back on its heels. That is simple to say, less simple to do.”
What came out of that meeting was a plan for multiple attacks on known Taliban strongholds to last about a week, depending on results. The SAS and 2nd Scots would both be involved hitting different targets. Liz would split her company to cover both. The targets had been identified and a tentative schedule agreed on. It would start the following day. A pre dawn strike by SAS at one stronghold followed by a morning strike on another by the 2nd Scots. Then an afternoon hit by the 2nd Scotts and the SAS on separate targets. 12 had been identified; it was decided to try and hit four on the first day and then see what the second day brought; it was thought two at least. A signal by the Group Captain kept Liz behind after everyone else left.
“The Wing Commander informed me that you noticed the problems with the SAS and the RAF. It is not something that will be solved soon, let alone here. Now as the company commander it is us to you to assign your assets as you see fit. But I highly recommend that you accompany the SAS on their strikes.”
“I had already decided to do that, sir. My second platoon commander is new to his command after a situation with another company required some transfers and mine was raided for my XO, who was 2nd platoon commander. He is learning and getting better but he is green. I had already intended to send him with the Scots.”
“Very good. I can see the decision to request your company was the correct one.”
Liz reflected that sometimes it was not altogether healthy to have a reputation.
The next 5 days were extremely busy; it was all Grunt and the others could do to keep their Apache’s up and running. In addition to the 12 missions eventually performed, they had also gone out on four immediate responses for Air Support.
The first day started out well as both assaults had no casualties and did hurt the Taliban some, if not as much as had been hoped. The second attack with the Scots also went well. The second assault that afternoon with the SAS was not so good.
Liz definitely noticed the difference with the SAS; she had heard that the US Marine Recon teams were much the same way. Both thought faster was better in assaults. She noted with interest that the US Army Special Forces did not seem to be as aggressive; more cautious.
The attack on the second target was right at 1400, and they had to fly up a valley some to get to it, between two fairly good sized foothills not far from the Mountains; this was an assault that went out 75 miles so she decided on 2 aux tanks. There had been thought of not taking many hellfire’s; of maybe only having one chopper in each platoon carry any; but Liz had resisted that. Due to the distance a British MEDEVAC had accompanied them; she had a hunch the SAS felt somewhat insulted by that. It was a good thing they had. As usual Liz had brought in Pug and Fireman to buzz the village while she and Lobo accompanied the assault. That had worked initially, but it was clear early on that resistance would be much greater here. All four of the Apache’s did some sniping, but the SAS and Taliban were too close for much else. It looked like a very vicious firefight and it was. The SAS smashed through the Taliban but it cost. Liz was right on top of the fight at the end, and used her 30MM to support the SAS as it finished off the Taliban. The MEDEVAC was called in immediately and took off with 9 wounded out of the 34 SAS that had landed. The rest of the SAS pulled out an hour later. Liz had sent Pug and Fireman back with the MEDEVAC.
Liz was very happy to hear that none of the wounds were life threatening when she got back to the Base. In the debrief she noted that the SAS commander was very blithe.
“They stood up and came right at us; which is much preferred. I am obliged to Captain Parker and her Apache’s for very good close support. It clearly had an effect on them as they tried to watch the sky while at the same time trying to fight us. Did not work too well.”
Personally Liz felt that the SAS had had some unnecessary casualties. She quietly talked to the Wing Commander later.
“Sir, it seemed to me that the SAS was happy to stand and fight with the Taliban.”
He shook his head. “Lately we are getting that too much. I am very obliged as well, Captain Parker, for your ground support. I have no doubt the SAS casualties would have been markedly higher otherwise.”
The responses for immediate air support had been nerve wracking; two of them had come at night; responding to assaults on small forward patrol posts. Liz had taken both of them. They had been a little hairy, especially the second one which had her personally taking out 4 Taliban fighters that has some members of the Welsh Guards pinned down. They had been within 10 feet or so of the Soldiers, who reported that they felt the blasts and were splattered some of the remains.
The other two were handled by Whistler while she was out on other assaults. They had not been as tough, and Whistler had done well. She could see his growing confidence in himself as a commander.
At the end of the 6th day, the weather got bad enough to ground everyone and Liz was able to actually take a breath. She had been glad to see Ellen on the 5th day, who came in with more spare parts for the Apache’s as well as more of Liz’s clothes and other things which she had asked for when finding out she would be there for a while. Of course she had had to take off on another mission after only getting a few minutes to talk with Ellen.
“And on the seventh day HE rested.” Ted grinned at Liz as they sat in the mess hall on the morning of the seventh day; it was raining some and windy and overall not flyable. Apache’s could have if necessary, but no one did anything on days like this; they were so rare. Even the Taliban sat home snug.
“Well I will take it. Being able to sleep in this morning was REALLY nice.”
Ted nodded. He had been a little concerned about Liz; she insisted on taking the night missions while still flying the day missions as well. Grunt was barely able to keep her bird flying. She looked tired, but at least this morning she was looking more rested. He noticed the interesting Looks Liz was getting. There were very few women at this camp; and frankly Liz was clearly the youngest and best looking he had seen. Apparently the rest of the male population agreed.
“So what do they think was the results of the operation?”
Liz shrugged. “Too early to tell. The SAS commander was happy. The others seemed reasonably content.”
Ted shook his head. “You hear how crazy special ops types are supposed to be; but most of the ones I have seen did not appear that way. But these SAS’s here do.”
“Yeah. They are definitely closer to the edge. I have not worked with Marine Recon but I hear they are about the same.”
“They like you though.”
Liz rolled her eyes. Things got around so fast in a war zone, she had found. The SAS had invited her to dinner one night after their mission. From what Liz had gathered that was VERY rare for them to do. It had been interesting; the SAS were not as wild out of a fight as in it, but you could see the edge there even when supposedly relaxing. They had coaxed her into talking about her time in Iraq at the convoy fight. After describing what she had done, the SAS Colonel had nodded approvingly.
“Considering you had truck drivers there, that was very well thought out and done. Letting them lay there and scream was a very good touch. I have no doubt that sapped the resolve of the others and did buy you time.”
As she left she was told by several of them that she would do well with them as a Trooper. She realized that that was high praise from them.
The bad weather lasted for two days and everyone was happy for the rest. Grunt especially. He told Liz that if she tried that many missions in such a short period of time again, her Apache would not hold up. Liz told him she would try and remember that.
When operations resumed after that, the tempo definitely had slowed down. It was the beginning of December, and the weather was very distinctly getting colder. Especially at night.
Liz liked only doing a mission a day; but she did not like so much having to send Hustler off on his own as much as she had to. But so far he had done well. What was not fun was the continuing silent feud between the SAS and the RAF. And it was worse as both at the unit level tried to put Liz and her Apache’s in the middle. Each subtly trying to get her closer to their point of view on operations and thus support them in mission planning. She saw both points of view, and tried to be even handed. It was tiring. She found that at least her efforts were appreciated by all sides. The Wing Commander especially.
“I realize that it is not right that you have to be the mediator, but it is working well. I want you to know that it is very much appreciated here and at the higher levels.”
So Liz sucked it up and played the game. As was her wont, she put together a plan on how to do this. She kept notes on what worked and did not work from each point of view, and then gave serious thought to combining them the best that she could. Within a couple of weeks, those planning sessions became about as choreographed as Kabuki Theatre; or professional wrestling on a good day. The SAS would propose this and the RAF would counter; or vice versa. Liz would then take part of each proposal and combine them as much as possible.
One good thing was that after two weeks, the RAF Apache’s were operational again and that took the load off. In a meeting with the detachments CO, it was agreed that the RAF Apache’s would respond to emergency calls for air support, and only if they were not available would Liz’s people go. In return A Company took most of the daytime missions. The Dutch were due back with their Apache’s in January, so that was figured as the time when A Company could return to Kandahar.
The SAS continued to have the most dangerous missions, but even that had decreased some since Liz had become a buffer. They liked that she was quite willing to take her Apache’s in first and draw the enemy attention. While that tactic had never worked quite as well as it did the first time, it was still quite effective. What they also tried was one group come in and hover and the second come from another direction, and then the real assault came from a third. Misdirection seemed to work well on the Taliban. The SAS commander believed that it came from being inflexible fanatics. Liz thought that had validity.
Since Liz had made it a point to take as many of the SAS missions as she could, Hustler spent more time with the 2nd Scots. And that time allowed them to work well together; Liz was glad to see that his confidence as regarding command continued to increase.
Christmas came, and the camp had a big Christmas Eve party. Which also had a dance. Liz found that there as a grand total of 21 women there and about 1000 guys. She was glad the weather had turned bad for the next day, as she was absolutely worn out from dancing with about 50 different men. It started at 1800 and went to midnight, and 6 hours of dancing will wear anyone out. Ellen had sent Liz a simple black dress that fit her; and would not tell her where she could have possibly found it. Liz looked great in it; which was bad in a way as she found out that she was the only woman in a dress there. She was very definitely the belle of the ball. Ted told her that the MP’s had to break up about a dozen fistfights from guys that wanted to dance with her but got cut out. Liz really thought that was BS but she found out that a little of that at least was true. She saw a couple of black eyes in the next few days.
They did not start flying again until the 27th, and had to make a bunch of resupply runs. Not much happened that day. But on the 28th came another mission that Liz would have as soon avoided.
As per usual it seemed, it was an SAS mission into the foothills. Another believed Taliban stronghold. 4 Merlins, one Medevac and Liz’s company. Since only one mission was scheduled that day Liz decided to keep them all together; plus this had not happened much in the last month or so and she wanted to see firsthand how Whistler was doing as a Platoon commander.
It was very cold; but clear. They left at 0600 and intended to hit the target one hour after dawn. The target was 90 miles away; so Liz had them put on two auxiliary tanks. One pod of 2.75 and one of Hellfires. Liz took her platoon in high and visible; the village was in a sort of crook and could only be approached really from one direction; but after looking at satellite photos and maps, it had been decided that her Apaches and the MEDEVAC would be seen coming from the expected direction; the MEDEVAC definitely behind and safe but visible; while Hustler and the Merlins would come over the hill and hit the village from the rear.
So Liz made it obvious but still came in fast then stopped and hovered at about 500 feet just past the boundary of the village. And that is when it all hit the fan.
Liz was looking to see if any movement could be spotted; and so some people running, some with weapons. At that moment the windshield in front of her cracked and then felt like someone had hit her helmet with a sledgehammer – dazed, she called for Roger to take the stick. Shaking her head her vision cleared as she heard Ted call to her.
“Lobo to Doberman, what is your condition?”
“Doberman to Lobo, windshield hit. Did you get it?”
“Lobo to Doberman. I plastered it with 30MM.”
“Where was it?”
“That slightly taller building on this end of the village; you can see dust rising.”
Liz blinked and while her head was hurting her vision was clear. She identified the building and then told Roger. “Going to take out that building with a Hellfire.”
And she did. Making a nice explosion. Her windshield was cracked all over and had a couple of holes in it. Must have been a 23MM down there; nothing smaller could have done that. It would take several hits from a 12.7MM in the same place to do the same amount of damage a few 23MM would do. She put her hand up to her helmet and found part of it missing and probed with her hand a little and brought it down; it was covered in blood. She pulled off her helmet-and that HURT- and took a cloth scarf she had and quickly tied it over where it hurt the most. Then put her helmet back on, carefully.
“Spectre Lead to Ground Pounders, what is your status?”
“Ground to Spectre Lead, objective almost secured.”
“Doberman to Hustler, what is your status?”
“Hustler to Doberman, no targets left; village looks secure.”
Liz took a deep breath; her head really was hurting. She ought to order Roger to take them back to base; but for the moment she would wait.
Ted was able to get a good look at Liz’s Apache; the pilot’s windshield was a mess. “Lobo to Doberman, how are you?”
“Doberman to Lobo, I think I picked up some glass fragments. My windshield is toast. Otherwise operational.”
“Roger, Doberman.” He was going to keep a sharp eye on her.
“Liz, how are you?” came from Roger.
“I am OK. But as messed up as my windshield is you will be flying back and landing.”
“Roger that.”
“Ground to Spectre Lead, target secured. MEDEVAC requested.”
“Roger, Ground.”
Liz waited as patiently as she could with her head hurting like it did; but it did not seem as bad. She found closing her eyes helped. It was fairly bright and her visor was broken so the sun was annoying. She sent Hustler off with the Medevac. 15 minutes after it left the SAS was ready to go.
The trip back was OK as long as Liz kept her eyes closed. As they got close she called the Base to inform them that they needed to contact her Crew chief so that he could order a new pilots windshield. Liz had figured that she had taken some glass to the side of her head above her right ear. So when base asked her condition she was rather blasé about it.
“The glass took a chunk out of my helmet and gave me a cut to the side of the head. It is not bad, though.”
So when Roger landed and they moved to the normal parking spot, she noticed not only Grunt but some medics there as well. Talk about over reaction. Oh well.
Grunt looked hard as Liz’s Apache came in; the windshield did look like it had been hit several times. No other damage apparent. He was right there as soon as Roger shut down the engine with the British Medic right beside him. He got the hatch open and stood for a moment, stunned.
As soon as roger shut the engine down Liz carefully took off her helmet, and looked at it. Well, need a new flight helmet. The right side about just above the ear was mostly gone in a gouge that was a good 2-3 inches wide. She looked at that and realized that this was a Kevlar helmet; glass could not have done that.
Grunt stared at his pilot who had taken off her helmet; the scarf was tied around her head above her ear and it was blood soaked; it had been a light tan scarf. He quickly stepped forward.
“Liz, this looks bad. Let me help you out.”
“It is probably looking worse than it is; I have a headache but that is all. I can get out on my own.” But Grunt insisted on helping her out. The Medic pounced on her as soon as she was on the ground, examining her.
The other pilots and copilots of her company were crowding around, shocked. Liz looked like something out of an old war movie. There was blood all over her head and the scarf was soaked and there was some on her flight suit as well.
Hustler saw a big box and he and his copilot grabbed it and hustled and forced themselves through the crowd and placed it right next to the Chopper and the medic forced Liz to sit on it while he looked over the wound.
Off to the side a BBC Camera crew had been filming; but this looked much more interesting as they noticed the medic; and then one of them pointed out the Apache with the busted windscreen. They got a good shot of her being helped out of her ship and the two other pilots bringing a big box for her to sit on while the medic checked her out.
Liz kept her eyes closed while the Medic pocked and prodded and asked questions. Liz answered the first ones then said
“Enough about me, Grunt how is my chopper?”
“Liz….”
“Oh, come on this is not bad. How bad is my bird?”
He sighed. “Well until the crowd leaves I cannot see for sure. If it is only the windshield we have spares at Kandahar and they can get one to me in one day. Now the adhesive filler will take one day to cure. So figure two, maybe three days.”
“Well, nuts, I will have to steal one then for the time being. I have to be with my company. I can’t stay on the ground.”
“Well, that is going to keep you on the ground for a couple of days anyway.”
The medic then spoke up. “Yes it will. Now you will be coming to the hospital for XRays and to have that stitched up. We will need to make sure there is no glass in the wound, though I doubt it. You were grazed more likely by a bullet.”
“Yeah, when I saw the helmet I thought that might be the case.”
Grunt reached in and pulled her helmet out. There was a collective gasp as they saw the gouge in its side and the blood on it. The BBC cameraman also caught that and the reporter had gotten close enough to catch almost all the conversation as well.
So Liz was bundled aboard the ambulance and driven to the Hospital.
Ted was about to go when he noticed Roger standing there, shaken. He went to him and pulled him away.
“She said take the stick; then she shot that hellfire and blew that building up. She seemed fine. I did not notice a thing.”
The BBC man caught that as well.
Grunts call to Kandahar went right to the Battalion commander who immediately ordered a spare windshield set to be taken to Bastion that day.
Word spread and Jesse convinced her Battalion commander to let her fly it to Bastion. She was in the air in 3 hours and got to Bastion by noon. She got right to Grunt who was waiting at the strip.
“Liz got a huge chunk taken out of her helmet above the right ear; I found a 23MM rd, TP, embedded in the armor plate right behind her. Funny, if it had been explosive it would have detonated on the windshield and just blown a hole in it. Would have caused a lot less of a problem. It missed taking off the side of Liz’s head by about an inch.”
With nothing else to do but wait Grunt had already gotten the shattered pieces of the windshield off and he and his crew began to replace the windshield.
Meanwhile Liz had been sat down and the wound carefully cleaned and then stitched up after they took an XRAY to make sure there was no other foreign bits in the wound area. Then they made her lie down and rest.
The word spread to Liz’s friends and they all began to try and find out what had happened and how she was. Her new friends at Bastion began to gather at the Hospital. One of the doctors noted this.
“Whoever this yank is she is very popular.”
“You remember a couple of years ago that American pilot saving that young girl that had been shot?”
“That is her?”
“Yes.”
“She is so small!”
Meanwhile the doctor in charge had to give in and allow some of her friends to visit. That consisted of Ted, Roger and Hustler.
Liz was lying there with her eyes closed; seeming very small and vulnerable. They stopped, wondering if she was sleeping.
Liz heard someone come into her room and she opened her eyes; her head was not hurting as much but they had told her that only minor pain medication was indicated for the time being. She spotted them and smiled.
Liz opened her eyes and looked at them and smiled and suddenly the room got a lot brighter. She seemed clear eyed and if not for the bandage around her head she would have looked fine; she was not in a gown but just had her tank top on in the bed with the covers pulled up.
“Hi Guys.”
She got a parade of visitors after that; the SAS and RAF and 2nd Scots.
Then a couple of hours later when the Doctor had said enough visitors Jesse managed to talk her way in.
“Liz; you look comfortable.”
She opened her eyes and smiled at her friend.
“Hey, room service and peace and quiet and a soft bed. This is not so bad.”
The Brigade commander talked to the 1st Battalion Commander.
“Not sure how long she will be out; it will take a day or two to fix her Apache.’
“Knowing her they might have to tie her up to keep her on the ground.”
“The problem would be if they have to do a mission for the whole company; there is no one there who can do it. 2nd Platoon commander is way too green.”
“That is true. I can send Griffith over and if necessary he can take one of the other Apache’s.”
Meanwhile the BBC camera crew and reporter were getting background as fast as they could. Once they realize the injured pilot was Captain Parker, THE Captain Parker, they pulled out all the stops. They got the PR officer of Bastion to ok the story. It got sent to the London studio where it went on the 6PM news.
There the director had scared up a Apache pilot from the RAF to talk about it.
“News from the war in Afghanistan. Now some think that the talk of this war being a coalition war being a put on, should visit Camp Bastion in Helmand Province. American Army Apache’s supporting British RAF and Ground forces. Today, actually just hours ago, we received some very descriptive pictures and sound from that base. To give the background, this morning a SAS troop assaulted a suspected Taliban stronghold; once they attacked they found out that it was not suspected at all; it was true. The American Apache helicopters, from 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade normally stationed in Kandahar but this company, Company A, has been supporting British troops and the RAF at Bastion for the past two months. This company is commanded by Captain Elizabeth Parker, famed for the saving of that Afghan 8 year old girl shot by a Taliban official in footage seen many times over the last two years. Captain Parker adopted that girl; and she is back in Afghanistan on her second tour. Here is our reporter on the scene.”
“We do not have all the facts but we do have this footage of when Captain Parker returned to this base.”
They then showed the Apache coming to rest, zooming in on the shattered windshield, and then the hatch opening up and Liz getting out of the helicopter, blood stained scarf and blood on her flight suit. They saw two of her fellow pilots manhandle a big box for her to sit on. And then her damaged and bloody helmet. And they heard clearly her conversations.
Then the picture switched back to the studio where a former RAF Apache pilot told the audience what was what.
The American Media was not slow to pick this up and demanded answers. At that particular time there was no American Media at camp Bastion or next door at Leatherneck. So they copied the BBC account and ran with it on the late news and then the morning news.
Nancy Parker got a call from Maria; they got the BBC news on their satellite and had been tipped off by friends about it. Max found out when the PR officer at Campbell called him to inform him that his wife had been wounded but only slightly.
The SAS commander was nudged by Captain Forrest to come by and offer Liz the use of a satellite phone. She called Max; and talked to him and then Aliya; assuring them she was going to be fine. It had been two months since she had been able to talk to them. She then called her mother and reassured her. Then Maria and Isabelle and Tess. Finally done she thanked the SAS commander.
He responded by saying simply “We take care of our own.”
Liz was cheered up first by the visit with Jesse then the phone calls home. She began to pester the doctor about getting out of there and was told if she was ok in the morning she would be let go. She convinced Jesse on her way out to have Grunt come by and tell her the condition of her chopper. He came by and told her that nothing else was busted and that they already had the new windshield in place, just needed 24 hours for the seal adhesive to cure and harden. So she would only miss one day if the docs cleared her. She convinced Ted when he came by later to call Kandahar and tell them she would miss one day and that is it. He grudgingly agreed but only if she promised to stay put and rest that night. That was easy as the Doctor gave her a stronger pain med and she was soon asleep.
The Brigade Commander called the Battalion commander.
“Talked to one of her pilots; her apache will be down for just tomorrow and odds are she will be back flying the next day.”
“Then I will keep Griffith here.”
Liz woke up the next morning, a little confused and still a little woozy from the medication. She lay there slowly remembering things. After a little while a nurse came in and noticed she was awake. She wished her a good morning and told Liz that she would get the doctor. Liz looked for a clock and saw it was around 0700. She had been conked for 11 hours. No wonder she was woozy.
The doctor came in and checked her over.
“Well, you seem very alert and if you have only minor discomfort then we can let you out.”
Liz grinned. “That is good news. I need to check on my company and my chopper.”
About half an hour later Ted showed up with her jacket and took her to the mess hall where she proceeded to eat a huge breakfast. Ted was amazed at what she put away.
“Liz you must have a hollow leg- because there is no place else you could have put that much food.”
“Hey, I ate nothing from a quick MRE yesterday morning until now.”
They then headed down to the flight line; he told Liz that as far as he knew right now there was no mission. The only one he knew about the RAF Apache’s would be covering. They found Grunt checking out her chopper.
“So will it be ready for tomorrow?”
“Yes, in a pinch it would be ready tonight.”
“Well that is good. I guess I can bum around today. It is really nice not being buried in paperwork like I would be at Kandahar.”
Liz found herself talking to a lot of people who seemed to know what happened; finally one of the RAF pilots told her that the BBC had done a bit on her. Liz wondered if there was someone UP THERE that just liked to mess with her; talk about lousy luck.
Going to the mess hall was not a lot of fun; luckily her whole company was with her. She felt like the prize attraction at a zoo.
The Brigade Commander and the 1st Battalion commander were looking at the official report. The Battalion commander shook his head.
“That is about as close to it as you can get and walk away.”
The SAS Commander and the RAF Commander were having a talk.
“She deserves some kind of commendation; she never lost control or command.”
The RAF commander nodded.
“I am going to mention that in the report to the 101st Brigade Commander. And add to that the fact that she has comported herself tremendously her whole time here. Her company has performed at the highest standard possible.”
“I heard something that I checked out; and contacted someone I know in Special Forces to confirm it. Not one allied person has died in any mission that she and her company have been part of. Not one pilot, crewmember, soldier, trooper, anyone.”
The RAF Commander blinked at that.
“And her company from all accounts has been involved in as many if not more operations as any other attack helicopter company.”
“I think that fact needs to be elevated.”
The next day the Brigade Commander looked at the report. Then called in his XO.
“I want this checked.”
Later that day his XO reported to him.
“It is true sir. Remarkable.”
“I think she must be a favorite of the Gods of War.”
The next day came and they had two missions; as usual it seemed one for the SAS and one for the 2nd Scots. As usual Liz took the SAS and Hustler took the 2nd Scots.
It was almost the identical mission as the one she had been wounded on; but Liz forced herself to not think about it. This village was only 50 miles from Bastion, and it was in more open terrain so there were more choices of approach. Liz took her Apache’s around and came from the opposite direction that Bastion was and came in at 1000 feet and obvious. And hovered; just like last time. This time nothing happened except a movement of armed men to that side of the village facing the waiting, hovering Apaches. And the SAS came from the other side and poured into the village. When the armed men began to turn to face the other way and fire, Liz and her platoon cut loose. In 15 minutes the call came.
“Ground to MEDEVAC, respond. Target secured.”
Liz ordered Hustler to send two with the MEDEVAC when it took off.
30 minutes later the call came in for extraction. And they headed back; then Liz got a call from Bastion that a Patrol base needed help about 50 miles away. Liz ordered Hustler to stay with the flight and she took her platoon off to hunt.
The patrol base was almost identical to the one that she had gotten wounded at; and the Taliban were all around it. Liz took Lobo to the right while Pug took Fireman to the left.
“Spectre Lead to Patrol Base, what is your position?”
“Patrol Base to Spectre Lead, we are concentrated in the village center, everyone on the perimeter is unfriendly.”
“Roger that, we will see if we can even up things.”
“Doberman to all, use 2.75’s on perimeter; let’s see if we can run them off”
Liz told roger to lay down 2.75’s along the perimeter while she started pot shooting Taliban. Liz became Nemesis, putting her mark on one after another. In 20 minutes it looked like they had done as much as they could.
“Spectre Lead to Patrol Base; what is your situation? We have thinned out the perimeter.”
“Patrol Base to Spectre, we have no more incoming fire.”
“Roger that, we will patrol the perimeter and look some more”
“OK, people, lets circle the perimeter and look for unfriendlies. Snipe them if you see them.”
After another 15 minutes Liz looked at the fuel situation and knew they had to leave.
“Spectre Lead to Patrol Base; we are at bingo on fuel. Will have to go.”
“Patrol Base to Spectre Lead, we are secure and Thank You.”
“Roger Patrol base, we are gone.”
So they headed back to base. The wound on the side of her head itched and hurt a little, but otherwise Liz felt fine. She had to work some to scrounge up another helmet.
Meanwhile the story about Liz percolated for a couple of days in the US and then would have died if FOX NEWS had not gotten the interesting tidbit about the record of Liz and her company. They never admitted where they got that from but there were suspicions since Fox News had very close ties with Special Forces.
This is Fox News Tonight. Captain Elizabeth Parker, Commander of A company, 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade, currently stationed at Kandahar Airfield, but at the moment assisting the UK forces at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, was once again in the news for this time surviving a very near call. This is courtesy of the BBC.” Then they showed the report.
“Captain Parker is someone that seems to be around where the fire is hottest; in Iraq, in Northern Afghanistan, and now Southern Afghanistan. She has been decorated more times for Valor then all the other women in American History combined. She is by some counts the most decorated member of the United States Military since 2001. But one achievement dwarfs all the others: counting the fight defending the convoy, no American or allied soldier, Marine, Airman, anyone, has died while in her command or under the protection of her Company of Apache attack Helicopters. That includes all the missions that she has escorted and all the missions she and her company has responded to for fire support to bases under attack. Including the time she rescued the young girl that she eventually adopted. If she is there, our people do not die.”
The DOD PR chief happened to see that personally; he groaned. That was the universal response that everyone in any PR function had to that report. Fox News on occasion spread it very thick; this one was several feet thick. And yet it was true.
The SECDEF was told this; and groaned. The Congressman was told this; and nodded. CENTCOM groaned; and so on down the chain.
The Brigade commander put down the phone. He sat there and thought. Then he called in his XO and his PR officer.
“Fox News had a little Blurb about Captain Parker. I want this checked out with a fine toothed comb.” And then he told them. His XO looked thoughtful. The Brigade Commander glared at him. He put up both his hands.
“Sir, I heard this bandied around just lately. I thought it was interesting but I was not sure it was true. But the more I thought about it, the more I began to think that it might be true.”
“Well then CONFIRM IT!”
The President was informed of this and demanded the same thing. This order went down the chain of command.
Commander, Bastion, put down his phone. Pondered for a while, then called in his chief of security.
“I want a protection detail assigned to Captain Parker. With the notoriety she is getting, I do not want to take any chances.”
At a hastily called meeting of the Commander of the RAF Regiment there at Bastion, as well as the Commanders of all Ground units and the SAS, he informed them of his directive. At that point both the commanders of both the SAS detachment and the 2nd Scots requested the honor of forming that detail. It was then agreed to trade off; each would take responsibility every other day. The SAS then demanded the honor of the first day, since she was usually working with them. It was agreed.
Liz was finishing up the paperwork that seemed to find her no matter where she was at a borrowed desk in operations when four members of the SAS marched up to her. She looked at them with raised eyebrows then stood and returned their rigid salute.
“Captain Parker, by order of the MOD, we are your protective detail.”
Liz sighed. “Very well. Grab a seat; I should be done in a few minutes; after which I will eat then retire for the evening.”
They did not sit; instead two members were stationed outside the office door and two others were stationed inside.
Liz felt very ridiculous with her detail following her everywhere.
Needless to say, Ted and the others got a kick out of it. Especially when the four members, who were switched out every 4 hours, stationed themselves outside her humble tent.
Of course before long people were taking pictures of it.
The next day was New Years; and there were no missions scheduled. And luckily no requests for support came in. So they had a nice day overall; Liz feeling hunted.
The President read the report. Then looked at SECDEF.
“Remarkable.”
SECDEF nodded. “I had this researched and from what has been found to this point, no other Company matches that record. None appear to come close. Now there have not been that many Apache Companies overall; but starting in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2001, there are still a fair number that have been deployed. Now it is very possible that some deployed in Afghanistan from 2002 on might have the same record; for a while it was pretty quiet there. I have some people checking into that. But that just underscores what A company of the 1st Battalion has accomplished in two tours in Afghanistan combined. Both coming during times of very high intensity warfare. And furthermore, there has not been one instance of anyone claiming that that company has killed an innocent or a civilian. That is certainly possible; but no one has come forward.”
“I want this thoroughly researched.”
“Yes sir.”
That fact about Liz percolated the media for a while longer, while there was some serious digging into reports in more than a few areas to see if possibly anyone else could make such a claim. But several military authorities agreed that accomplishing this during a time of intense combat was nothing short of remarkable.
Maria and the others were talking one day at a get together. Maria was unusually pensive.
“We all felt that Liz was very special. We knew it from just about the first day we met her back in 2001. I think we are just now finding out how special.”
The Crew was quietly contemplating that same thing New Years Day.
Vicki was wondering how this could happen. Ellen was contemplative.
“Of course part of it is luck. No one could say otherwise. But then how much of it is because of how much she cares; and how hard she works?”
Jesse nodded.
“Most of it. She outworks just about anyone I have ever met. And you remember a couple of times that Liz has mentioned the Gods of War. Just maybe those gods have favorites. And they bless their favorites with just a touch of luck. Just enough so that a bullet wounds instead of kills.”
Combat resumed on the 2nd day of 2011. Resupply was the name of that day; and the British Apache’s shared the load with Company A. Three separate resupply missions to FOBs. But very little trouble was found. Liz was quite happy with that.
That night, a call went out for fire support and as per the agreement the RAF Apache’s went out and got it done. That meant that the next day the load fell on A Company. Once again the SAS and 2nd Scots hit villages. As per usual Liz went with the SAS. It was a small village and it ended up virtually empty. Liz was happy about that. The Scots had a more difficult time but still cleaned theirs out without casualties. When Liz got back she picked up her detail and then went to the Debrief; after it the RAF commander spoke to her.
“The Dutch are arriving with 8 Apache’s in a week. And we will probably get some others in a few weeks after that. With the relative quiet period we have at this time due to the weather, you should be able to head back to Kandahar in two weeks.”
“Sir I will be happy to be in a more comfortable place; but I will be sad to leave those I have fought beside here.”
“I can guarantee, Captain Parker, we will miss you.”
And two weeks later Liz and A Company headed back to Kandahar. A very fine party was thrown by the SAS, RAF and 2nd Scots for them. Liz was extremely sad to leave Bastion and the very good friends she had made there. Each of those had made her and her company honorary members.
Those two weeks had been rather sparse in missions; hardly any of the Apache’s had fired anything.
Liz was happy to be back at Kandahar for several reasons: a more comfortable place to sleep; being with the crew; and not having a protective detail. She was quite glad her greeting was low key. She would not have been glad to know what was going on high over her head.
SECDEF looked at his aide.
“This has been confirmed.
“Yes sir, even during the very quiet periods in Afghanistan it did not happen. In both you could find some that lost no Americans on their watch; but allies were lost. In its current tour, A company has not had one single death of anyone that was not an enemy. Not a civilian or innocent that we can find. If you look at the period just operating with the British, they have not lost anyone during that period either, and they had until A Company arrived a rather high casualty count when you looked at the percentage of troops involved. Now this current tour of the 101st Airborne has been remarkably absent of casualties; but they have had some. Every single one happened on someone else’s watch. Special Operations while A Company has been involved had no casualties as regards KIA. Or even killed in accidents. In her last tour Captain Parker was heavily involved with Special Operations Missions; and none were lost there either. It can be put no other way; Captain Parker has the touch of Midas; only instead of gold her gift is life.”
The Battalion commander had called a meeting of his Unit Commanders.
“Combat operations will cease on 15 February, just one month from now. It looks like we should all be home on or about 10 March. At this time there is minimal combat, but we cannot relax or grow complacent. I expect 100% effort and efficiency right through the last combat mission.”
Liz was back to her office very happily and greeted her first sergeant.
“Now I am really glad to be back. I have someone to dump paperwork on.”
He grinned at her. “Paperwork? Never heard of it.”
Liz was a little surprised how easily she slipped back into the swing of things; but she was not going to complain. 17 January and they were back to business as usual; a 2nd Brigade assault on a suspected Taliban stronghold near the mountains. It was big enough that Liz was told to take her whole company. In the mission planning; she asked to do the same as they had been doing at Helmand; using a platoon as a diversion. It was agreed.
5th Battalion had 14 hawks in the assault with 4 in reserve and 2 MEDEVACS; Liz realized that she had gotten used to the lesser resources at Bastion. But she was happy to have them. The Crew was in the assault group so Liz was a little tenser than usual but one would not have known by looking at her. Hustler came in from the west while the rest of the assault came in from the east and it worked very well indeed. There were not a lot of Taliban to begin with and most of them obediently lined up and got themselves taken out by getting caught in the crossfire from the Apache’s and the troopers. There were a few minor casualties but nothing serious.
There were a few supply runs but nothing else for several days. Then Captain Forrest showed up again. Liz looked at him and sighed.
“If I had any sense at all I would just shoot you now.”
“I come in peace.”
“I should send you out in pieces.”
“How about a visit to our compound?”
“Why not? It’s not like I am not in a war zone already.”
She went with him and upon entering was taken to the office of the Commander. Captain Forrest then left, closing the door and the Commander offered her a seat. Liz sat down; wondering what was coming this time.
“No mission, no Company mess, nothing like that.”
“Now I know I should run like hell.”
He handed her a file that was marked TOP SECRET. Liz felt something shift inside of her and she opened the file. Began to read. Then actually felt herself start to drool.
The commander watched all this with satisfaction. He doubted he would need to do much to convince her.
Liz spent 10 minutes reading and memorizing the file then handed it back to the Commander who promptly put it in a safe and locked it. She observed all this.
“Why am I being told? I can guess that this is being built now but VERY quietly.
“It is being built as a black project. And we have been able to keep it very quiet; one reason is that parts of it are being built by people who have no idea what those parts are for. The body and frame parts are basically identical to the standard parts only they are being made out of titanium. Other parts are being made as replacements for current parts. Only the avionics are unique. Even the engines are standard in one respect; they are the same as the WAH models. The first ones will be assembled starting in May. They are making the parts and then will assemble the aircraft. That is another way we are hiding it. The first company will be operational in February of 2012. By the end of that year we will have two battalions. We want you to be not only our first pilot; but the commander of the first company. You only have to ask for transfer to 160th SOAR.”
“I thought that was men only.”
“A new directive came out in September from SECDEF. We have not publicized it yet. Aviators are no longer male only.”
Liz thought about the super Apache. She knew she had to fly it.
“You said Feb of 2012?”
“That is the goal; it probably will slip a few months.”
Liz considered that. She had plans but it might still work. But there was no other decision she could make. She knew she should tell Max first but he would understand. She looked at the commander.
“How do I do this?”
“You are agreeing?”
“Yes. I must fly that chopper.”
“Then you need to do nothing until you redeploy.”
Liz went back to her quarters and lay on her bed and thought. While her decision had been somewhat impulsive, it was also true to herself. Flying was her goal; it was what truly interested her and made her eager to leave her home and family. It made her willing to sacrifice heavily to do it. ‘Find something you love to do and then find a way to get paid doing it’ was something she had read as a child and had always remembered. She had and she had. Taking a deep breath she then headed out to where you could make commercial phone calls; now she wished she had gone ahead an gotten a satellite phone. It took more than an hour, but she was able to get through to Max’s work number and she was in luck as he was at the office.
Max was finishing up some paperwork; this job was not as bad as he had thought it was; not particularly good just not bad. He had been quietly checking around for something better and had some good prospects. Hopefully in six months or so he would have something he liked doing. His phone rang and he answered it.
“Max Evans”
“Max, it’s Liz.”
“Liz! Great to hear from you honey! How are things going?”
“Well I have some news for you.”
“Well if it is big I am sitting down.”
“I guess that is good. I had a meeting with the local Special Forces Commander today and he gave me some very interesting information. It made me decide to join the 160th SOAR when I get back from deployment.”
Max was very still for a moment.
“Liz, they deploy a lot. More than anyone else.”
“I know. But what was offered me I could not pass up.”
Max thought hard. What in the world could make Liz jump from the frying pan to the fire?
“Liz you talked about applying to become an instructor so we could start a family.”
“We can still start one when I get back. I went off the pill 6 months ago.”
“But that means if you are pregnant you are grounded; so what is the point of joining the 160th right after you get back?”
“So I am first in line. What I want to be flying won’t be available for a while.”
So that was it- something new. He had not heard about any new Helicopters coming out that would make Liz want to do this. So it had to be something really Black. Well it was Special Ops. And they had made a point of offering it now to Liz. Well that was no surprise; with the reputation she had earned they would be stupid to not do that. Liz loved the Apache; so it had to be something that would blow the Apache away. If that was the case no wonder she had jumped on the offer.
“I think I understand now, Liz. At least you will still be based here. So we will manage. I am so looking forward to you coming home.”
“So am I. To you and Aliya.”
“She is very proud of you and so am I. She is doing well; and staying here will be good for her, too.”
“Love you and give her a kiss for me. Have to go.”
“Love you too Liz.”
Max sat back and thought about things. Then got onto his computer and started to go to some of those forums that speculated about Black Projects. A couple hours later he stopped; even in that most paranoid and conspiracy driven area, there was only a very slight amount of speculation about a new attack helicopter for Black Ops. They had done a real good job of hiding this. And on the regular forums for aviation there was really nothing on a new attack helicopter for the military.
Liz went back to her quarters and once again lay down and thought. She was rather lucky that the Crew was out. She would let Battalion know right after they got home. That would give them time to figure out a replacement for her. She smiled at the thought of ‘working’ on starting a family. She wanted that very much. If she was lucky she would get pregnant quickly. She hoped her guardian angel was listening.
There were less than four weeks to go before they stopped flying. The replacement brigade would be flying in the next week. They would have three weeks to get ready before they relieved the 101st. One of the Brigades, the 2nd, would also be leaving at the same time; the 4th Brigade was already home. The next two brigades would be leaving in the next few months. Liz knew that everyone was beginning to get the short timers attitude; which had its good and bad points. The Bad was that people would try and skate and do as little as possible; the Good was that people would be more cautious and take fewer risks.
The next day there were some supply runs that were uneventful. C Company had really shaped up and was now maybe as good as A company. Liz privately doubted it, though. B Company had always been solid; not inspired but solid. So that area meant things were good. And with it being this time of year the pressure was off on combat anyway. Liz had no doubt there would be a few more assaults but not that many. The 2nd Cavalry’s Kiowa Scouts, attack/recon, handled most of the calls for quick reaction air support. When the fixed wings were not called, anyway. Only when they were not available or the call came from too far away were the Apache’s brought in. There was a lot less pressure here then there was at Bastion. They really needed more attack helicopter support there; what was there was badly stretched. Liz had written a report on operations there and had stressed that in it. It had gone to Brigade; she hoped it went higher.
Just one week before the end of flying came another mission that had the look of not being fun. It was a Special Operations mission, so naturally Liz was contacted. She followed Forrest as usual to the Special Ops compound.
There it was outlined. A good sized village in a mountain pass almost 150 miles north of Kandahar. There were intelligence indications that several mid-level Taliban leaders were there. It would be hairy as due to the height of the mountains, above the level any Apache could make, or any other helicopter for that matter, so they would have to go right up the valley and had to withdraw the same way. This operation clearly had to be a night attack. There was a place 50 miles from target that would be used as a refueling point; 2 Chinooks would go there with a Special Ops security team, and the attack force would refuel and then launch the assault. They would leave at night; arrive there and refuel; and then hit the target. 6 Battalion would be the transport unit; it would be a full company of SF in 6 Blackhawks, with 4 in reserve and 2 Medevacs.
It was speculated that the village could be defended by one or more 23MM AA cannons, like the one that had just about punched Liz’s ticket. However its use at night would be very limited. This was a no moon period so that there would be no light at all; and all the US Helicopters would be very difficult to see as they had been designed for night operations. However anyone could get lucky so they would be watching for it. The only other possible defense that could worry anyone was if someone down there had an operational man portable SAM like a SA-7 or the like. It was possible they had a more modern version as a SA-7 was very ineffective against a modern US helicopter. It had been established that the Taliban had no remaining operational Stingers; the shelf life for all of them and especially for their batteries had expired years ago. There was no realistic chance any of them would work at this date.
So the mission was planned for the Blackhawks to quickly land the Special Forces teams at the outskirts of the village and then quickly move away to stay out of range of any possible AA weapons. It was probable that there would be 12.7MM MGs – but they had a limited effective range.
The Apache’s would move in as cover and watch for anything; and use their 30MM to take out any identifiable threats. They would then quickly move back as well. This operation would succeed or fail on the Special Forces troops.
Liz had no forebodings as they took off at 2000 the next night. But then she had had none when she had been wounded, either. Apparently it only worked when others were under threat. The trip to the refueling point was uneventful; as was the refueling. They took off for the target at 0030 and arrived at 0100 as scheduled. Liz took her entire Company in over the Blackhawks as they landed; this was a lot tougher than it sounds at night. The night Vision Goggles were the latest version but it was still nowhere near as good as daytime. So there was no choice but to go slower than you would have during the day.
It was not long before they began to receive incoming fire; mostly AK 47 but also some 12.7MM Tracer was spotted; but they were quickly silenced as the Apache’s could see them easily once they fired. And they fired at the Apache’s who were mostly impervious to 12.7MM anyway.
Liz was tensely watching; Roger had control of the stick while she was concentrating on the 30MM. She had not yet fired a shot as someone beat her to it when she spotted something worth shooting at. There were 8 of them watching for anything so that was no surprise. In the cold air it was easier to see the figures trying to move and shoot. The IR contrast helped immensely. Then Liz spotted a figure standing on top of a building with what looked like a RPG, or maybe a SAM. Either way she exploded him quickly. Then heavier tracers started to come towards them and they all reacted quickly to what had to be 23MM; two separate ones were each targeted by 2-3 Apache’s and quickly taken out. Then came the word that the Blackhawks had unloaded and were now a safe distance away.
“Doberman to all ships; let’s back away as planned.”
So they all flew backwards about half a mile or so, each watching the other so that no one got too close to anyone else. There they hovered and waited and watched.
In the village the SF teams had a huge advantage as they all had night goggles and the Taliban did not. Still it was not easy and they slowly fought their way from one end to the other. As agreed once they reached the far end of the village they called the escort.
“Ground to Spectre Lead; we have reached objective three.”
Spectre Lead to Ground; understood.”
Then as agreed Liz and 1st Platoon at a height of 1500 feet moved over the village to its far end; there to see if anyone tried to flee. This would be tricky because they did not want to shoot any women or children. Anyone carrying a weapon was considered fair game. But still they wanted to be sure.
Liz looked hard and long through her sight on the 30MM on the trail leading deeper into the valley from the village. It was not long before there were indeed people starting to run up that trail. Liz was more concerned when she noted what appeared to be women among them. But she did not see a single child.
“Doberman to all ships; I will take any shots; no one else shoots. Acknowledge.”
One by one the others acknowledged.
Liz kept watching; then began to drop down closer to get a better look. There were only a couple figures carrying AK 47’s; really not worth a shot probably. Then a bigger group came out of the village and there were 8 men in it; 3 were carrying AK 47’s; one in front and 2 in the rear. She looked closer and two of the figures in the clump of 5 looked better dressed as near as she could tell. Making a decision she fired a burst at them; killing them all. Then more armed figures came running out of the village shooting back towards it. Liz hosed them as well.
“Ground to Spectre Lead; village secured. Have 4 wounded; not badly.”
“Spectre Lead, took down most of the armed subjects leaving village; a group that appears to have targets taken down as well just past the end of the village.”
“Roger Spectre Lead will take a look.”
In a few minutes Liz saw more armed subjects leaving; clearly the Special Forces soldiers. They checked the ones Liz had blown away then looked at the clump. Liz saw the flashes of pictures being taken.
“Doberman to all ships; back up to angels 15.”
15 minutes later the call for Pickup came and the MEDEVACs dropped down as well.
Liz spread out the company looking for any possible attacks and waited; in less than 15 minutes they were away.
And that turned out to be the end of the combat for the Aviation Brigade.
With the end of the combat role and flying, the choppers were taken over by the maintenance crews to prepare them for transport. But that did not mean the pilots had nothing to do; but now all of it was paperwork. Reports right and left for everything and anything. Liz had to do end of deployment evaluations on everyone; and sign off on every report and all the reports of survey for everything lost or expended not previously accounted for.
All that took up the next two weeks; but it was finally MOSTLY done. There was not a lot of personal gear to pack up so that would not take long. So by the beginning of March just about everyone outside of the Company Commanders on up had a fair amount of free time. Which most used to catch up on sleep and relax; since once they got home most would be taking their 30 day leave right away and would want to do things, not rest. Liz and the other commanders had more to do since they were also briefing in the new brigade about everything.
After the final meeting, Liz was talking to Ed and Jim.
“So, guys, what next for you?”
Ed shrugged “I will probably get the Battalion in the next few months when the Battalion commander finally moves up to Brigade XO.”
Jim sighed; “They are talking giving me 5 Battalion as he moves up.”
Liz looked at them. “Neither of you sound joyful about it.”
Ed nodded. “Command is not what it is cracked up to be, as you have already found. But the paperwork at Battalion level is about 5 times what you have at company level.”
Jim winced. “And that might be underestimating it. But worst of all flying is just about done.”
Liz nodded. “That is why I am thinking of instructor.”
They both nodded. “You can stay an instructor for a long time if you want; 5 years or more. But then you are pretty much stuck being a part of the school after that. Your chances at promotion are pretty much gone.” ED stated.
Jim nodded. “Now if you are just wanting to run out the string to retirement at 20, that would work. You would not get a command or anything like it. The Bottom line in the military is keep rising or get out. Even if you are great at what you are currently doing, they will not let you stay there for too long no matter what.”
Ed sighed. “Liz, you are a superb pilot and company commander. If the military had any brains they would leave you alone right at that position. But they cannot do that; or more to the point won’t. It is like an animal that cannot ever not eat; it thinks if it stops feeding for one day it will die. That is where the US Military is today. Instead of transferring people and promoting them every couple of years the smart thing to do was when you found someone outstanding at doing something is leave them there to keep doing it. When you have too many great ones at that position then start promoting them. And gradually you fill from the bottom up. It is not done.”
Nothing of what they said came to Liz as anything like a surprise. It was all things she had seen and thought herself. From two that she very much respected to have said it, just confirmed what she already knew. And that made her decision that much easier. It was either what she had already decided to do or become an instructor; and while that would have meant she could keep flying, it would have been treading water. She did not like the feeling that she was running as fast as she could just to remain in the same place.
So when Liz got on the plane on March 10 to return to the US, she had yet to tell anyone outside of Max what she was going to do.
Coming home this time was so much like it was last time; Max and Aliya and her mom waiting for her; in exactly the same place. And it was just as good. The very next day she got a chance to speak to the Crew where she let them know where she was going; just not why.
They were not as surprised as she thought they would be. Ellen said it best.
“You love flying that Apache, Liz; and not a desk. So flying anything other than a desk is what you should do. And I don’t think you would like being an instructor as much as you might have thought you would. Dealing with so many just wanting to do enough to get by, would have gotten you sooner or later. And having to wash some out that really want to would have made it worse. And we know you too well to think you would like playing all the political games and doing all those courses to get a list checked; so for me its fine.”
Liz told her mom the next day; and she sighed and nodded.
“I have come to terms with the fact that I have a warrior daughter; someone who does not want the picket fence and the safe lifestyle. Whatever you do as long as you want to do it I will always love and support you.”
It was a little different a few days later when they went down to stay with Maria and the others for a week. Isabelle understood the best, then Tess. Maria was silent. Liz looked at her friend.
“It is what I want to do Maria.”
Maria had her head down then slowly raised it up and they all saw the tears.
“Liz, I got the shakes that night I saw you come out of your Apache dripping blood. I am so afraid that sooner or later I am going to get that phone call telling me that finally you pushed it too far or your luck ran out. And flying for Special Operations is even worse than regular combat. But I know you; I have known you for almost 10 years though not as well the last 5. This is who you are. I think you are the finest person I have ever met; and I dread the day you are no longer here. I want it to happen in about 60 or 70 years. Not next year or the year after.”
Tears in her own eyes Liz hugged her friend. There was nothing more to be said.
She and Max had been ‘working’ on what he called their joint project from the first day. They made it a point to ‘work’ on it at least once a day.
Aliya had grown both inwardly and outwardly. Gone was the too skinny child; now 10, she was starting to sprout up. She might end up a fair amount taller than her adoptive mother. And from the shy and timid girl she had first adopted had come the much more open and confident pre-teen that more and more appeared to be the everyday American girl. In one respect Liz saw that anyway that they could stay here longer would be so good for her; she had very close friends and was comfortable and happy. It had been good seeing the Posse as well. Susan had been very blunt.
“Thank you for making sure our men came back to us.” While the 1st Brigade was not yet back, it was done with combat.
Ruth had just hugged her and whispered to her “I knew you would keep your promise.”
Becky had hugged her and told her that Sam had been able to email her and let her know that his unit had just finished their last mission before coming home.
The three of them then took off for 10 days of traveling to several different parts of the country like the Northeast; NY and Boston; then Florida and Disney World. Finally with a week left they came home. And just stayed together; Sam had left his job and the next one would not start for a month. So they got a chance to know each other.
Finally Liz called the number that the Special Forces Commander in Kandahar had given her. She was told to head over to the 160th SOAR HQ in Campbell.
While in a different compound with more security, it did not seem that much different. But going inside the HQ building Liz could feel a difference; an energy that was unlike anything she had seen anywhere else, even the Spec Ops in Afghanistan had. She was directed into an office where a full Colonel waited.
“Captain Parker; I am Colonel Ballard, commander of the 160th SOAR.”
“Pleased to meet you sir.”
“I am pleased to meet you Captain. I am glad you have decided to join us.”
“When I saw that bird, I had to fly her. Just that simple sir.”
“Well you will get that chance. However, the schedule has slipped due to some problems that cropped up. Nothing serious but it will add about 6 months to operational status.”
“Well that is good sir, since I was looking to have a baby before I started flying her.”
He raised an eyebrow then grinned. “I was told you did not mince words, Captain and I am glad that you are being fully honest here. So that is your latest project?”
Liz blushed slightly. “Yes Sir and I am giving full attention to it like anything else that is important.”
He grinned wider. “As any good Special Operations warrior should. Well that will work out well if you can manage to start your project in the next few months. You will have to go through our own special preparation course, but it is nothing that frankly should give you too much trouble. As organized as you are reputed to be.”
Liz smiled at him. “Ya gotta have a plan.”
“You will be going through a special version of that course for the simple reason of your record and accomplishments. Some of the regular parts would be redundant and waste time; you will only be doing what you need. We try to tailor all our prep work that way.”
Liz was already liking this. No cookie cutter crap; no trying to force round pegs into square holes.
“How long would that course take?”
“Probably about 12 weeks.”
“Well sir, If I can get my current project started, how much of what I need to do can I do before I cannot see my feet?”
He laughed out loud at that. “If that is not too the point I do not know what is. I would say about half of it.”
“Sounds like a plan, sir. Where do I sign?”
He reached for a folder on his desk and handed it to her. In about 10 minutes she had signed everything. Most of it had been pre filled out. When she finished it, she looked at him.
“So what next?”
“Inform your command about your intentions. Special Forces has another position they would like you to fill while we are all waiting for the birds to get done.
Liz blinked for a minute then sighed. “Don’t tell me; their ASP.”
He grinned again. “No flies on you. Makes sense; that is the other area you have excelled in. And they are losing their commander next month.”
And that was that. Liz headed back home and let Max know that it was done. The next day she went to the 101st Brigade HQ and talked to the head of personnel there.
“Captain Parker, what can I do for you?”
“Here are my transfer papers to the 160th SOAR.”
She did enjoy the look on his face.
Not two hours later she got a call from her Brigade Commander.
“I don’t suppose there is any way I can talk you into staying, Captain?” Was his statement to her when she came to his office.
“Sir do you know about the new bird they are getting?”
He looked at her and slowly nodded. “So that is why. I guess I cannot blame you. We will be very sorry to lose you Captain.”
“I am sorry to leave sir, but we both know I would not have been in that cockpit for that much longer here.”
“I am not going to BS you so no you would not have. Your promotion is in the works and you would have been Battalion XO fairly soon. You should know that you will be getting another commendation.”
Liz sighed. “Now what?”
He smiled suddenly. “I just got the word today. Company A, 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade will be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for actions in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces, Afghanistan from March of 2010 through February of 2011.”
Liz blinked but smiled. “So everyone that served in A Company in that time period is included.”
“Yes.”
“That is very good. I do not mind this one.”
“Thought that would make you a bit happier. I am very sorry to lose you but I do understand why. It has been an honor and pleasure to have you in my command, Captain.”
“Proud to have served in your command, Colonel.”
Liz came back to their house and found Max and Aliya preparing lunch. She smiled at this. She had not eaten much that morning, her stomach had been a little queasy so she was very hungry now and proceeded to devour two large sandwiches. Aliya had wide eyes at that; Liz laughed at her.
“You have seen me eat big meals before.”
“Momma, it always surprises me.”
After lunch Aliya went off to the center; this was her last day off before going back to school. A lot of children had not been in school since the division had come back. The school there was used to it. Max came back after dropping her off and found Liz just sitting and smiling.
“What has you happy?”
“The Brigade Commander informed me that A Company is getting the Presidential Unit Citation.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah this is one I do not mind. Of course it is my second; sometimes I forget about the one I got for being in the 3rd ID during the initial assault on Iraq.”
The next week when the Brigade reported back the Company was given the word; the award would be made within the next few weeks. After that she told them that she would be transferring to the 160th SOAR.
They pretty much all said the same thing; that they were not surprised and that they understood. She knew they were disappointed she was going but that was all.
Liz felt like she was in limbo and really did not know what to do until the transfer was formalized. Then another thought occurred to her that kind of took precedence. She realized she was late and remembered the slight nausea she had had on and off the last week or so. She wasted no time in going into town in civilian clothes and getting a pregnancy test. She came back to the house; glad that Max was looking over his new job; they were working on renovating the main air field and he had gotten a job with the contractor as supervisor of the work crews. She knew he would like that job better than the last. She read the instructions and followed them. Not ten minutes later Max came home and found her smiling again.
“OK, what this time?”
She showed him the test.
They spent the next hour making love. Then talking about things.
Aliya came home from school and was told; she was big eyed and asked a lot of questions. Liz very early on told her that she would be the big sister and thus would have some responsibility.
That evening Liz called her mom, then Maria and the others. Then the Crew, and finally the Posse. The crew and posse called for a party at the park the coming Saturday.
Liz quietly called the commander of the 160th SOAR and told him her news.
“Congratulations on the baby, Captain. Good timing. Very efficient.”
Liz laughed and thanked him.
On Saturday the Posse proceeded to make sure she did various things. Liz loved this time; the Crew were just as happy. And had some announcements. They were all getting married in the next few months.
That of course required much consultation on all matters marriage.
Back home that evening Liz cuddled with Aliya and Max on the sofa. They just sat there and enjoyed being together.
That Monday Liz was notified formally that her transfer had been accepted. And that she would be detached in two weeks to take over the ASP for Special Operations. And that the Presidential Unit Citation would be held in the White House Rose Garden on May 14. She was not pleased when told that the only ones listed were the Copilots, Pilots and Sergeant Rogers. She immediately called Brigade and they told her they were working on it. Liz then emailed her congressman.
“The Presidential Unit Citation currently leaves out the Crew chiefs and crews that kept our choppers flying. That is wrong.”
The reply came back in an hour. “I am on it.”
SECDEF really did not have time for this and proceeded to chew out his Undersecretary for Personnel who was supposed to take care of screw ups like that.
Liz cleaned up her office; then made sure all necessary paperwork was done, and then looked around. Ted came in and proceeded to pull her to where they had put together a going away party for her. Liz would miss them; she had spent more time with them than any other unit and that counted for a lot.
She reported to the 5th Group the following Monday and talked to the Commander.
“Captain Parker, you will find that no one is left from the group you trained over two years ago. So that is why you have been assigned TDY here. The new commander designate has decided to leave the army so it will be a while before we can scare up a replacement. I was informed of your condition and it should be no bar to this assignment. The 160th SOAR will be your PCS move technically even though you remain on the same installation.”
“Understood Sir. I have a fair amount of time before I reach the point where I will be completely desk bound. I see no reason that the ASP cannot be well in gear before I leave.”
Liz headed down to the SF ASP Office and walked in the door and looked around. There was no one there. She walked around and noted that the key cabinet was not secured. There was no one in the office at all. Beginning to get steamed she called up the 5th Group G4.
“Sir, this is Captain Parker. I am down here at the ASP office and there is no one in the building and it is not secure. I thought the Commander was not due to leave yet?”
“He was not as far as I know, Captain. I will send security ASAP.”
Liz went through the building and did not like what she found. A quick look at the SOP’s showed that they had all been last updated one year after she had left; not since. Virtually everything she saw screamed sloppiness and taking short cuts.
Within 10 minutes of her call upstairs, two vehicles loaded with SF Security appeared. The lead sergeant approached Liz.
“Sergeant Gunderson. Was told by Group to report to you on a security breach.”
“That is correct sergeant. You will have half your men secure this building; the rest and you will come with me to the ASP.”
“Yes Maam. Sergeant Wilson, take your team and secure this building.”
“Understood Sergeant.”
“Sergeant Wilson, you will hold anyone that comes in until I return.”
“Yes Maam.”
“Let’s go, Sergeant Gunderson.”
Liz got into the Hummer and the Sergeant took the wheel and they headed towards the ASP.
“Sergeant, I have reason to think I just inherited a cluster fuck. I may need more of your men to do a sweep of the ASP.”
“Understood Captain.”
He then called into HQ for more men.
Meanwhile the G4 had contacted the Group Commander and filled him in.
“Damn, this sounds bad. What about the current Commander?”
“Sir, I have not been able to find a leave slip. He is not due to process out for 2 weeks. His quarters do not answer.”
The Group Commander thought for a moment.
Then the G4’s phone rang, and he answered it.
“Yes it is. What? OK keep me informed.”
“Captain Parker just asked for reinforcements.”
“I want an alert RIGHT NOW. Get the reaction force rolling for the ASP.”
Liz and the Security detachment rolled up to the Group ASP. The gate was open and the guard was not there. Liz got out and looked around- saw a porto potty.
“Sergeant, secure this gate, check that porto. Call HQ and declare a security breach right now.”
“Yes MAAM! Jones and Brandon, check that potty. People we are on alert; weapons locked and loaded and ready to fire; safeties off. Smith, close that gate.”
Liz thought she might be over reacting but she was taking no chances; she wished she had a side arm but then again she had not expected this and had no reason to.
The potty was empty and the two security people unlocked the back of the vehicles weapon storage and produced M4’s. Liz was glad to see they had more and took one and two magazines and quickly readied it for action.
Liz looked around and still saw nothing. She looked at Gunderson.
“Sergeant, any moving vehicle will be stopped one way or another. Deadly force is authorized.”
“Understood, Captain.”
Liz thought for a minute and pulled out her cell phone and punched in a number.
“1st Battalion.”
“Sir, this is Captain Parker. We have a situation at the Group ASP; probable security breach. Possibly worse. Is there anyone immediately available and armed?”
“Negative; only scouts available.”
“Need eyes in the sky, sir.”
“Understood; 10 minutes.”
“Yes sir, have them contact us on Group Security.”
“As soon as we can Captain.”
10 minutes went by and they heard sirens coming from the main area. Then approaching sirens. They could see flashing lights as the security vehicles approached. 4 Hummers approached; 2 with 50’s on mounts and two with flashing lights.
At the same time came from Gunderson’s radio
“6 Battalion, Ferrer, for Captain Parker.”
Liz grabbed the mike “This is Captain Parker; I need a sweep of the Group ASP and tell us what you see.”
“Roger that, Captain.”
The Lead vehicle stopped and a LT came hustling forward. He saluted Liz.
“Told of a security breech; Group has called an alert. Was told to follow your orders, Captain.”
“I want a sweep of the ASP. I have a hawk upstairs looking right now and will give us the situation.”
“Ferrer to Captain Parker; I have four magazines open; one vehicle in front of one magazine; no personnel in sight.”
Liz thought about the layout of the ASP.
“Ferrer which magazines are open?”
“All the magazines on the 3rd row.”
“Where is that vehicle?”
“Third magazine from your right as facing the magazines from the gate.”
“Thank You Ferrer, keep looking and if anything changes sing out.”
“Roger that, Captain.”
Liz looked at the Lt.
“I went to the ASP HQ and the building was empty and unsecured. We got here and the gate was open and nobody present. I want you to move in and check those magazines for intruders or anyone else; detain and secure anyone you find. I checked the planographs for the open magazines and there are no AT weapons in them. The one magazine with the vehicle in front has only small arms ammunition. Deadly Force is authorized.”
“Understood Captain.”
He then gathered his sergeants and quickly briefed them.
Then more sirens and two vehicles approached; one looked like a commanders Hummer and the other was another security Hummer.
Liz looked at the LT. “LT, just in case those are not who they look to be.”
“Yes Sir.”
Then gave orders and the two hummers with 50’s turned to cover the oncoming vehicles. Liz and the others moved behind their hummer and watched.
The two vehicles stopped and out of the second came the 5th Group commander, Colonel Collins.
Everyone relaxed as he quickly came forward.
“Captain, brief me.”
“Sir we arrived 20 minutes ago. The gate was open and unmanned. We secured it; the reaction force arrived. I called the field and they rushed a Blackhawk” she pointed at the hawk hovering at about 2000 feet “and it reported four magazines open and one vehicle in front of one; no personnel in sight. I just ordered the LT to move in and secure the area; to detain and secure anyone found. He was about to do so when you arrived.”
He nodded. “Well done Captain. The ASP commander is missing. Has anyone shown up at the ASP HQ?”
“The Sergeant there has secured the building and will alert us if anyone appears; anyone that does will be detained. We have received no communications from him.”
He thought for a minute then looked at the LT.
“Lt Anderson, are you ready to move in?”
“Yes sir my people are briefed and we are ready.”
“Then do so.”
“Yes sir.”
Liz broke in “Sir, I authorized deadly force if necessary.”
The Colonel nodded. “Per those orders, move in.”
“Yes sir.”
They moved out 2 minutes later, two vehicles going each way to the far end of the rows of magazines in view; there were 4 rows of 4 magazines laid out in a square.
Liz moved back to Gunderson’s vehicle and took the mike. “Captain Parker to Ferrer, any change?”
“Negative, Captain. The security vehicles are approaching the first open bunkers; two troopers are going in to check; with two outside covering; “
A couple of minutes went by.
“first two open magazines are closed now; one unit is checking the third open bunker; the other is waiting.”
Another couple of minutes.
“third magazine closed they are moving towards the magazine with the vehicle.”
“They are going in the magazine.”
“They are pulling out four uniformed personnel out of the magazine and are handcuffing them. They are staggering, barely able to stand.”
“Security to Group Commander, have secured the situation. Have arrested four personnel who are apparently under the influence of drugs.”
Everyone relaxed. Liz shook her head. “Stoned out of their gourds probably.”
The Group commander reached for his phone. “Call off the alert. Contact CID, we will need a full investigation team.”
He looked at Liz. “You reacted correctly, Captain. And it looks like we have a much bigger mess than I ever suspected.”
“Yes sir. Before we left the building, I looked around. The Key cabinet was open and unsecured; everything I saw indicated a very sloppy and careless attitude. The SOPS were all out of date.”
He nodded. “Right now I think a full replacement of all personnel is going to be required.”
Liz looked up as a vehicle approached with flashing lights; it was a command Hummer. It approached and stopped and a Major came out and approached the Colonel and saluted.
“Major Fresnel, Security. IS the situation under control, sir?”
“It is. But I will need this ASP secured and the guard on duty is either missing or is one of the four we have found who are under the influence.”
The Major blinked and nodded.
At that point the Security Force came up to the gate. LT Anderson got out and approached the group and saluted the colonel.
“Four personnel apparently severely under the influence, sir; we could smell a large amount of marijuana smoke in each of the magazines; the one the personnel were in reeked with it. They are so bad they can barely stand and are completely incoherent.”
“Take them straight to the Base Hospital for testing; you know the procedures.”
“Yes Sir.”
Major Fresnel spoke up. “I want 4 personnel here for the immediate future until relieved, Lt Anderson.”
“Understood sir.”
Liz also spoke up. “Did you lock the magazines, Lt.?
“No captain; I was not able to find any locks or keys.”
Liz shook her head. “Will need to get spare locks from the office, and we will need to reset the IDS.” Suddenly she thought of something and looked at the LT.
“Shouldn’t the IDS have gone off; If I recall the system it has to be keyed every hour the door is open or it alarms. I doubt those characters have only been stoned for an hour.”
His eyes widened as did Major Fresnel, who called into his office and wanted to know what his board showed. He paled as he looked at the Group commander.
“The IDS board shows all those magazines as secured; and have not opened today.”
Liz sighed. The others looked at her. “They must have bypassed the IDS so that it never alarms no matter what happens. That is not something easily done.”
Major Fresnel shook his head. “No it’s not.” He looked at the group Commander. “Sir this is very serious.”
The Colonel nodded. “It is getting more serious by the minute.”
He looked at Liz. “Captain, as of right now this ASP is on lockdown. Closed until further notice. You will perform a 100% inventory starting tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we will have security on each row 24/7.”
“Yes sir.” Then Liz headed towards Gunderson’s radio. “Captain Parker to Ferrer; situation secured and thank you. Head for the barn.”
“Roger that Captain Parker.”
The Colonel looked at Liz. “Good thinking there, Captain. Let us proceed to the ASP office and we will discuss this. I will call the G4 and have him come down. I will also call the Base Commander and have the head of his ASP head over as well; we will have to use his people for the inventory.”
They all trooped down to the ASP Office except for the detail going to the base hospital or back to the Barracks. Liz unloaded her weapon and gave it back to the Sergeant to be locked away. The Colonel noted that she was very precise and competent with the weapon.
In the office Liz immediately checked the keys in the Key cabinet. The Colonel and Major noted her frustration.
“Just how bad is this, Captain?”
“Sir this is a mess. We have CAT 1 and 2 keys mixed in with all the others; a major security violation as they must be separated so that no one person can draw both keys…oh hell. IT looks like only one lock on the Cat 1 bunkers. Damn. I see some of the keys are missing. This keeps getting better and better.”
She closed the cabinet that had a combination type lock on it; then stopped and looked in the cabinet next to it and found a key lock still in the box; she took that lock out and locked the cabinet with it and took both keys and placed them in the safe. Then stopped. “Damn. Need to change the combination to this safe.” She looked at the lock. “Well good you can change the combination.” She fiddled with it. Then locked it. She looked at the Major. “Sir, I will give you the combination and I will have the combination and no one else.” She looked at the Colonel and he nodded and stepped away. Liz whispered to the Major “8 4 76”
He nodded. “Got it.”
Liz then looked around and poked at some boxes on the floor. “Jesus. Here are the spare Magazine locks. They are supposed to be secured as well.” She picked them up and opened the safe and checked the lower drawer and dropped 6 locks in it and closed the safe again and put the closed sign on it.
Both the Major and the Colonel shook their heads.
The Group G4 came in and looked around. The Colonel beckoned him over.
“What did the base commander say?”
“The Ordnance Company commander resigned his commission 3 days ago and has already cleared post. The 2 LTs are still on leave. They have been unable to contact them.”
Liz shook her head. “Jesus H Christ. The Ordnance Company was in great shape when I left.”
The G4 shrugged. “All the personnel that you trained are gone. Over a year ago the last one left. Remember, Captain, it was almost 4 years since you left here.”
The Colonel was also shaking his head. “With the increased emphasis that the Ammunition Mission has been getting; since the new SECDEF kept up the pressure the last one had been applying, I cannot believe that it collapsed here.”
The G4 looked uncomfortable. The colonel glared at him. The G4 sighed.
“Sir I had been hearing some things about the ASP on main post; but I had heard nothing about this ASP. The Last inspection conducted before we left, 18 months ago, did not seem to find anything wrong.”
Liz looked at him. “Who did it?”
“The Main post ASP office.”
Liz was quiet for a moment. “How much do you want to bet that the last inspection for THEIR ASP came from THIS ASP.”
The three officers winced. The Colonel sighed. “We are not dumb enough to take that bet.”
He thought for a moment and reached for a desk phone. Dialed a number.
“Colonel Simms. I think you need to have your ASP checked immediately. IT was a disaster here; and the last inspection done 18 months ago was by the main post ASP and there are things here that should have been caught even then. And were not. I am at our ASP office; frankly the only officer on this installation who has an idea how bad it might be is Captain Parker here. She was supposed to take over the ASP and found a Major Security Breech.” “Yes. That Captain Parker; she is TDY for the moment here prior to her joining the 160th SOAR. She will clearly be busy here; and I think we might have to have her take over all the ordnance company functions on this installation. Yes I agree. We will head over in a while; 1300 is a good time for a meeting in your office.”
Liz checked her watch. It was 1130. Only 90 minutes had passed since she left the Group HQ to come here.
The Colonel looked at the officers present. “Meeting at the base commanders office at 1300.” He looked around. “Captain Parker, how many people should be here?”
“Sir, TOE is 1 Captain, 1 LT, 2 Sergeants and 6 specialists. We know the Captain is missing; the LT has transferred out. One of the four was the gate guard who is in security; the other three were 3 of the specialists. So that leaves both sergeants and 3 specialists unaccounted for.”
He looked at Major Fresnel. “I want them found. At this time I want them detained.”
“Yes sir I will send out an alert.” They began to discuss that.
Liz had wandered over to the Captains office and looked inside. She saw an envelope lying on his desk. She went in and picked it up. She brought it out to the main office area where they had been talking.
“Sir this was laying on the captain’s desk. It is labeled for Personnel.”
He took it and opened it. Pulled out some papers. Looked at them. “His resignation effective today. IT is dated last Wednesday.”
Liz shook her head. “Well that explains his absence but not much else.”
The Colonel looked around. “Check all the offices. See if any more like this are around.” They all started to poke around but found nothing but more evidence of an incredibly sloppy operation. Liz did find the keys to the door to the building. The Colonel told them to close the doors and for Liz to secure it.
“Major, I imagine you have quite a report to start on.”
“Yes sir and I need to start on it ASAP.”
“Then go do so.”
He looked at Liz and the G4. “We have time for lunch; we will go to the officers club and we can discuss this over food.” Liz had the keys to the ASP office vehicle that had been brought back from the ASP; she decided to take it instead of the base car she had been using.
After they went to the Officers mess and had taken seats in the senior officer section the Colonel looked at Liz.
“Just how bad do you think it is?”
“Sir this is about one step down from apocalyptic. I have no doubt we will find everything wrong. The Ordnance company mostly did not deploy due to where the 101st was; the ASPs are permanent there and manned by other units. So they stayed here; with very little to do since the whole division was gone. The Special Forces ASP also has had little to do due to how much of 5th Group is deployed and once again not many of them went. The old saying that while the Cat is away the mice will play has been already proven here.”
The G4 shook his head. “You left a trained and competent ASP here and on Main post. But I am willing to bet that the senior people were gone within 2 years at the most; with the others steadily going. We probably got the dregs here from elsewhere; why I do not know but I bet that was what happened. Somehow we became the dumping ground for the bad Ordnance types here. With that increased emphasis on Ammunition, everyone wanted to get rid of their bad apples. Looks like we got more than a few. And since we did not need them, nobody noticed in the past year how bad it had been getting.” His cell phone rang and he took the call. Listened for a bit then told them OK and keep digging.
“That was personnel. Of the 2 sergeants and 3 missing Specialists, it turns out that the three specialists left over 6 months ago and the Captain did not bother to get replacements. One of the sergeants also transferred to the NG two months ago. The remaining sergeant is still unaccounted for. The LT transferred out and his time in ran out last month and he left the military.”
Liz sighed. “So we have one missing sergeant who could very well be out somewhere drunk. I would not be surprised if he had something like that in his record. One of the sergeants offices looked somewhat empty; the other had his trash can full of beer cans.”
The Colonel looked up at the ceiling. “I cannot believe that I did not hear about this from somewhere.”
The G4 also shook his head. “I had heard vague things but had no idea of this goat rope. That is why I wanted Captain Parker to take over here for the time being.”
Liz shook her head. “I have NO one then I can start with. I will need bodies. And if the Main ASP is anything like this, and right now there is no reason to not think so, there might be very few there that I can use.”
The Colonel grunted. “Well, let’s eat. And try and enjoy the meal.”
At 1245 they headed to the Base Commander’s office.
The Base commander, Colonel Sims, the Division G4, Colonel Allen, and the Base Security Commander were waiting in the office. After introductions the Base commander nodded to Colonel Allen to start.
“Ordnance Company. Captain Jenkins resigned. Lt Johnson has had his transfer approved and is on leave in Europe. Lt Dunkin has been found in his quarters passed out drunk. He was supposed to be on leave and apparently was just drinking in his room. 4 sergeants. 2 are transferring in and are not Ordnance qualified; but seem competent from their records. 2 slots were empty and have been for 6 months. The two coming in are due on base next week. They both have families and are in route. 8 specialists for doing paperwork; and the TAMIS system. 4 slots empty. The other slots are filled with personnel that are barely competent. None of them were evaluated at more than satisfactory and that was probably a stretch. Effectively at this time this ordnance section is an empty building.”
Liz was thinking hard and the Group Commander noticed. “What is it Captain?”
“Sir none of them include the personnel that did come with us to Afghanistan.”
He looked at the G4. Who nodded. “Due to the realignment, the Ordnance company is permanent post so that if one or more of the brigades stay they can be taken care of. We do have the people who were deployed. Some sergeants and specialists.”
“So what do we have from them?”
The Colonel pulled out a file and checked it. “4 sergeants, 2 89B’s. 8 specialists, 4 of which are TAMIS qualified. All attached to their various brigades.”
The Base Commander nodded. “Well they will not be needed so we can put them in the Ordnance Company permanent post.”
Liz nodded. “I can also grab the two sergeants extra and I have something to start with at the SF ASP. If we can take two of the specialists, one TAMIS, there is a core to build around. One of those sergeants need to be one of the 89B’s.”
The atmosphere lightened up now that there was some light at the end of the tunnel.
The Base Security commander then interjected. “I think the absolute first thing will be to have a 100% inventory.”
The group nodded and the Base Commander looked at Liz. “Captain Parker, since this will be your responsibility, I think you need to let us all know what you will need first.”
Liz took a deep breath and pulled out her notebook that she had been making notes prior to the meeting.
“As was pointed out, 100% inventory. No records previously used will be considered as anything but unreliable. I will need to talk to the QASAS here. I wonder why they did not say anything; they should have caught this long ago.”
The Division G4 sighed. “One QASAS recently retired; the other just got here last month and has just started duty. The AMMO LAR retired 2 months ago and has not been replaced. The new QASAS is very inexperienced.”
Liz blinked. “We need either an immediate LAR or QASAS that is experienced at Camp or Post.”
The Division G4 nodded. “I will contact the Career Office and request an immediate fill. But that means it will be several months.”
Liz shook her head. “We need QASAS help now; tell them to send some TDY.”
The Group and Base Commander both nodded. Group commander was blunt.” If the Career Office is hesitant, I will have SOCOM demand one ASAP.”
Liz looked at her notebook. “Need to have those brigade sergeants and specialists tomorrow if possible; ASAP anyway. Also I need the authorization to issue ammunition per regulation; need to cancel all previous permissions as well.”
Group nodded. “I will have your authorization to issue by tomorrow NOON.
The Base Commander also nodded. “For the rest of the base tomorrow by NOON as well. Your appointment as Ordnance company commander is already being worked on by my office.”
Liz sighed. “Someone probably needs to let 160th SOAR know about this. I am going to be here a lot longer than originally thought.”
Group nodded. “I will take care of that.”
The Base Commander mused. “I know Captain Parker left the Ordnance Company in very good shape and that was only four years ago. It is remarkable to me that it was allowed to deteriorate like it did, especially in the new climate as regards Ammunition. I only took command 3 months ago, but Colonel Johnson did not seem the sort to allow it to happen.”
Division G4 sighed. “It is more our fault than anyone else’s. With the new organization, technically we should have been keeping a closer watch but we just plain did not.”
Group shrugged. “No point in worrying about blame; but we do need to make sure it does NOT happen again. If Captain Parker had not decided to go looking this morning rather than waiting for tomorrow, that ASP might have been left wide open until nighttime; and we would not have known about the IDS system.”
The Base Commander looked at him. “There is something wrong with the IDS system as well?”
Base Security grimaced. “Technicians are right now looking over the system; their preliminary report I got just before this meeting indicates the SF ASP had over rides placed on the IDS so they would not register as open unless specifically entered in the keyboard on the magazine control board.”
The Base Commander was shocked. “How long?”
“Not known at this time.”
Group sighed. “All involved will be given bad conduct discharges unless we find that there are serious shortages. In which case the CID will have even more to look for. Which is another reason the Inventory must be done ASAP.”
Liz had an ugly thought. “If the Main Post ASP has been working with the SF ASP to cover things up like it looks, is it possible they did the same thing to the Main Post ASP IDS?”
Everyone at the meeting had their jaws drop, fall off, and roll on the floor.
The Base Security chief pulled out his cell phone. “Thompson. I want those techs checking the Main Post ASP IDS ASAP. Yes for the same thing.”
The Base Commander closed his eyes, Group leaned his head back. The Division G4 was very quiet. “It will be next to impossible to keep this from hitting the media.”
Group G4 looked at Liz. “Captain, there is a chance that by this time next week you might be the only one at this meeting with a job.”
The meeting ended not too long after. Liz sat and thought for a while; then picked up her notebooks and headed home for the day. There really was nothing more she could do.
She came in the door and realized that Max was at his job and Aliya was still at school. So she just relaxed. The tension of the day got to her and she dozed off.
Max and Aliya came into the house and saw Liz on the sofa asleep. Max put his fingers to his lips and Aliya tip toed by and up to her room. Max quietly began to prepare dinner.
The smell of food woke Liz. She smiled and stretched and padded to the kitchen and sat at the table watching Max prepare dinner. He was a pretty good cook.
Max looked up and noted Liz at the table.
“Have a nice nap?”
“Ya. Needed it after today.”
“What happened?”
“Remember what I told you about the ASP here when I first came to the Aviation Brigade?”
“Yeah.”
“Today I found both in even worse shape.”
He turned and looked at her and saw that she was very serious. At that point Aliya came in and Liz started to ask her about her day. He saw that she did not want to talk about it and did not bring it up again.
Liz before going to bed dug out all her old Ammunition reference material and packed it ready to take to the base in the morning.
Liz opened up the SF ASP office at 0600. She took a better look around and made notes on what needed to be done. At 0630 she locked it up. Left a sign on the door for anyone to call the number to the main ASP office, which doubled as the Ordnance Company office. She headed there.
Liz walked into the office of the Main Post ASP and found the expected personnel from the Brigades sitting in the break room. She went into the office area and found no one. Went back to the break room and asked those there
“Did any of the regulars from this office show up?”
A sergeant stood up. “No Captain. Security let us in to wait for you.”
She looked at him. Memory niggled. “Sergeant, I think you were in my 89B class.”
“Yes Maam. Jason Engler.”
“Where have you been posted?”
“Ist ID, Ft Riley for 5 years. Then here since.”
“Good. We will need your experience.”
“Who is the other 89B?”
“Here , Captain. Tom Simpson. Took 89B in 2007 and was sent here after.”
“OK here is the deal; one of you will be going to the SF ASP and one will stay here. Do either of you have a preference?”
“I would like to try the SF, Maam.” Came from Engler.
“Very well. Now I want to hear about the rest of you. How much experience each of you have.”
The answers were pretty good; none of them were fresh from training, all had some experience. All had been deployed at least once.
“Here is the situation. I don’t have to tell you that this ASP and the SF ASP are in sad shape or you would not be here. The Ordnance Company at this installation at this time consists of the people in this room. The remaining former members of it are either up on charges or will be transferred for cause. Two more sergeants, not 89B’s, will be in next week as transfers. One will go to SF and one will come here. More specialists will be brought in but you people and the two sergeants will be doing the work. Replacement officers will be brought in but unless I miss my guess none of them will have worked Ammunition. So you will have to train them alongside me. This will be the second time I had to rebuild the Ammunition Mission on this installation in the last 5 years. So I know the route.”
Her official cell phone went off; she had gotten it yesterday.
“Parker.”
“Yes Sir. Understood sir.”
“Ouch. When it rains it pours.”
“Well that is good anyway. We will need them. What about replacements for here?”
“Yes sir. If anymore collapses occur I will inform you.”
Liz sighed. “Well the bad news is that the only QASAS on post resigned suddenly to take a position with a contractor elsewhere. The good news is that he will be replaced by an experienced set of QASAS. For the time being two Senior QASAS will be sent here TDY. So when they show up they will be helping out here; and training everyone. So the technical assistance problem will be taken care of. So there is light at the end of the tunnel and it is not an oncoming train. Officer replacements will be here by next week. But none of them have ammunition experience, just as I figured. The first thing we will be doing is a 100% inventory of both ASP’s. We will start here and then do the SF ASP. I was informed by Group G4 and Division G4 that there will be no critical training scheduled for at least the next few weeks. So any issues that would have to be done will be emergency ones. Which I will do. Any receipts of ammunition coming in we will handle. No shipments are scheduled. So we can concentrate on doing the inventory and getting the system fixed. One major factor will be the SOP’s; they are all out of date. The good news is that they were originally written by me at Ft Stewart then brought here the first time that I had to fix this place. So I know those SOPs. We just have to make sure they are up to date, which should not take long. We will do them right after we complete the inventories.”
At that point several officers came into the ASP. Liz went to meet them, Major Fresnel was with them.
“Captain Parker, this is Captain Jamison of CID. And four of his officers. They will be conducting the investigation. The technicians confirmed that the IDS here was modified the same way the SF ASP IDS was compromised. The Division Commander has insisted that charges be filed on this and anything else serious found. So they and the technicians will be looking at the IDS for every magazine on base; then they will be accompanying you on the Inventory, which will be done as soon as the IDS is examined and any evidence removed. Then the IDS will be returned to its correct configuration.”
Liz nodded. “Very well. Is there an estimate how long that will take before we can begin the inventory?”
“They have been ordered to have it done by 0600 Thursday.”
“So I can expect to start the inventory at 0600 Thursday.”
“If not sooner.”
“Understood sir. Right now I intend all the personnel here to start examining our SOP’s to bring them up to date. We should have them done by Thursday and ready for staffing.”
“Get them started on that and then show the CID people here what the problems were.”
“Yes Sir.”
Liz turned to the 89B’s. “OK, you two split up the SOP’s and start going over them with everyone in two groups. When you are each done with redoing your set, exchange them so that each group can go over the other half of the SOP’s. That way everyone sees all of them.”
She then motioned the CID people to follow her into the main office area.
“We will start with Key Control. Here is the AR 190-11, the parts on it that deal with Keys and Key control.” She had been given the combination to the safe by the Base Security Chief the previous afternoon. She then opened the safe and took out the keys to the key cabinet and opened it. They then counted the keys and found several missing. Liz looked in the cabinet and at the bottom of it inside its ledge were several keys. She found the key list and it was out of date, naturally. It did seem like they had keys to all the locks on the magazines, but would not know until it was checked. One of the CIC Lts had taken the pages Liz had copied and was taking notes on which parts of it the ASP was in violation. The list was growing steadily. None of the CAT 1 bunkers had two locks as it appeared; another major violation. The keys were not separated in two cabinets; one more. Liz looked around the office.
“When I left here 4 years ago there was a second key cabinet for magazines with two locks. It is no longer here- it used to be right next to it.” She showed where it appeared a second cabinet used to be but no longer was. She then went to the safe and opened all the drawers and pulled out 4 spare locks still in their original boxes.
The Main ASP gate was locked and two guards on duty. Liz told them to lock it after they got in and no one was allowed admittance. They then started on each magazine beginning with Mag 1. The first two rows all the mags had locks that opened to keys on the list; but they did not all match up. The 3 CAT 1 Magazines on the second row – containing items like Stingers and AT-4’s- all had only one lock, though that lock was correctly listed. So Liz added a second lock and entered that on a new key list. She was listing the magazines and locks on another key list. The third row was ok until the last one; its lock was not on the list and none of the keys Liz had would open it. She told the CID that a lock smith would have to be called to see if he could open it; if not a welding torch would cut the lock off.
After some discussion it was decided to do the same with the SF ASP, so they went back to the ASP office and Liz locked the cabinet and the safe. They then headed over to the other ASP office. Liz opened the building and went to the safe, opened it and pulled out the key to the key cabinet. She turned to the CID officers.
“Yesterday this was open; I changed the lock and the combination to the safe; only myself and Major Fresnel know it.” There was a key list in the safe; it did not seem to follow what was listed on the hooks on the cabinet. There were keys on the bottom of the cabinet that Liz took as well. There were 2 Cat 1 bunkers; and like at the main ASP there appeared to be only one lock. There was also no second key list or second cabinet for a Cat 1 set of keys. Liz looked in the safe and took out the 6 new locks she had put in there the previous afternoon. She got a new key list and put it on another clipboard. They then headed out to the SF ASP. The gate was open but guarded by two guards; they informed Liz that the technicians were working on the IDS systems. Liz took the crew and they began to check the magazines. The first 4 were correctly listed; the next row 2 of 4 were listed; the other two were not correct and the keys on the hooks did not work; but fortunately two of the keys on the bottom did work. The third row, with the magazines without locks, was where the technicians were working on the IDS. They told Liz that simple jumper clips had been put on the terminals inside the box to bypass the IDS sensor on the door. They could not explain how this was done without Security finding out. Captain Jamison closely questioned him on it and was clearly not happy with the explanation. After they left that magazine he told Liz that it should not have been that easy. She agreed. She suggested that maybe they better call in some techs from another company and double check all this; he agreed and called up the Base Security commander who also agreed and would get on it. They did put a lock on each door so that now basic security was restored. The final row had the same problem as the second row; but Liz was able to find keys to unlock them. They then went back to the SF ASP office.
Captain Jamison looked at the list one of the LTs had been making at where the violations were in the AR 190-11. He looked at Liz.
“8 Major Violations and 6 minor ones. Not counting the IDS. Pretty evenly split between the two ASP’s. I have never seen nor heard of anything this bad ever.”
Liz nodded. “Neither have I. But the Brass are going to have to decide whether to prosecute and thus make it much more likely the media gets a hold of this, or try and keep it quiet.”
They then headed back to the main ASP office and locked up the SF ASP office.
There Captain Jamison told Liz they would be writing up their preliminary report and would be waiting for her to start the Inventory.
Liz then went into the office for the commander and called first the Division G4 then the Group G4 and gave them the latest. She was told a meeting with the Division Commander was set for Weds at 1300 when he arrived back from DC where he had been at a Commanders conference.
Liz checked on the SOP progress and saw that it was good. Then she got a call from Base Security; the missing Sergeant had been found; he was in the drunk tank at a nearby town. He would be taken care of by the Base and would not be a problem for her. She thanked them for taking something off of her back.
Liz sat down at the desk and thought about things. It amazed her that it got this bad here and that no one had noticed; and this was something that had not happened overnight; it had taken at least a year and probably two of steady deterioration. How all the signs had been missed was nothing short of incredible; and then she started to think about the interesting coincidence that both the ASP officers in charge had resigned from the military only days apart. Then she looked up as Major Fresnel came in and close the door behind him. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He did not look happy.
“Captain Buchanan, the SF ASP commander, was not SF. Just regular Army. His quarters were checked and they are empty; all his personal effects are gone. His personal cell phone has been canceled; supposedly none of his personal contacts know anything about him leaving the service or where he is. Captain Sanders, the Main Post Ordnance commander, cleared post on Friday. Just one week after resigning. He also seems to have vanished. Captain Jamison is of the opinion that this is all too coincidental and I have to agree.”
“I was just thinking about that. For them to up and disappear that fast, tells me that they knew the jig was up; might have gotten a hint of someone starting to check up on things. Now they could be counting on the Army not wanting publicity and just letting them go; or it could be something else. They had to know they were facing court martial and time in Leavenworth. Maybe they were doing more than just doing as little as they could and ignoring anything that would have made them actually work. I have a nasty feeling that we might find a fair amount of inventory missing and no paperwork describing where it went. I hate to suggest this, we might need to contact the FBI and ATF and see if there were any large amounts of military ammunition suddenly showing up in the black market.”
Major Fresnel had gotten a little paler as Liz described her worry. He then pulled out his cell phone.
“Sir, have you been told about the two Captains missing and no one being able to contact them? Captain Parker is thinking that we might have to start thinking of a worse possibility then what we have so far been looking at; that those two might have been selling ammunition. Yes sir. If anything more comes up I will let you know.”
Liz had been going further down that dark road. When he hung up she quietly asked him about the LT that had transferred out and was supposedly in Europe and the Lt that had left the military one month ago.
“Maybe all of this is just making me paranoid, but what if all four of them were working together?”
“I keep wondering how this can get worse. I need to stop doing that. We need to get that Inventory done ASAP.” He then left the office and Liz began to start digging into the files for Receipts and also for inventory records and a stock count showing what was supposed to be in storage.
She went out and got a quick lunch and was back in the office digging into things. Then she went to the SF ASP Office and did the same. Finally getting back to the MAIN ASP office she looked at the stock accounts and began to see if she could find anything noticeably wrong. That did not take long. At 1500 her phone rang.
“Parker.”
“Captain Parker, this is Captain Jamison. I just got off the phone with CID HQ in FT Belvoir and they do not like what it is beginning to look like. Col Green, the Chief here at Campbell, just got back from Leave and wants a full briefing. I would like you to be there; he just got in and is looking over what we have so far. Could you come down to the Office?”
“Yes, I have been looking at some records and stock reports and there are indications that it might have been happening. I can be there in about 20 minutes.”
Jamison hung up the phone and looked at his CO. “She said she would be up here in about 20 minutes and that from looking at the records so far there are indications that it may have happened.”
Col Green shook his head. “Captain Parker; THE Captain Parker?”
“Yes sir.”
“She does seem to find the sticky end of things all too often for one person.”
“Yes sir, but on the other hand she is extremely competent.”
Liz got her paperwork into a folder and headed out to the office area where they were all still going at it on the SOP’s.
“I am going to a meeting at CID. If I am not back by 1800 close up and send everyone home for the night. But have everyone back at 0600 tomorrow” to Sergeant Engler.
“Yes Maam.”
Liz got to CID HQ and was directed to the CO’s Office. She went in and was introduced to Col Green by Captain Jamison.
Col Green got right down to it.
“This whole thing reads like a damn conspiracy nuts book. So far we have been unable to track down either captain or the two Lts that have also slipped from sight. The one in Europe has not followed the itinerary that he provided when he went on leave. He was supposed to go to England and then Germany; he went to England but the trail ends there. He was scheduled to pick up a rental car two days ago and then drive to Germany and then back a week later. He never showed up for the car. All efforts so far to find the other officers have come up empty. The LT drunk here says he knows nothing; his record shows alcohol problems but he was requested by Captain Sanders and was transferred here 18 months ago. My suspicion is that Captain Sanders wanted a drunk at that position so that he would not notice anything. We just have been able to get permission to check their bank accounts and nothing suspicious showed up on any of the four.”
Liz opened her folder. “Sir, a large amount of 7.62 X 39 ammunition was in the SF account to be used for various purposes including training on AK 47’s for covert operations. I was able to find old files going back 5 years. The usage went up drastically about 14 months ago; just about the time the 5th Group sent out a lot of their personnel for deployment. Which on one hand would make sense; issue to take with and to use in training before they left. However the usage remained constant for the next 12 months only dropping off a month ago; just when many of the units got home. A large amount of the same ammunition was transferred to the SF account on paper and not online where it can be traced by higher HQ. JMC and the WARS report each show a much higher amount of that ammunition here at Campbell then the latest stock report –once again not the online official report-shows. If what I think is correct 500,000 rds is missing.”
Col Green sighed and nodded. “Captain Parker, from your experience in Ammunition operations, how hard would that be to hide?”
“Sir I am willing to bet that we will find few if any documents for that ammo; and those that we do will only have the signatures of those four officers on them. SF is known for doing strange things; SOCOM is basically its own world; so it would be easy to claim that it is because of that that that the ammo use is not unusual for THEM. If they were halfway careful, no one would notice. Especially if they kept it constant and steady so that it seems normal after a while. And since those four officers did the entire so called inventory for the SF ASP as both inspectors and checkers, no one else would know.”
“What about CAT 1 items and CAT 2 items such as demolition charges?”
“Sir I checked them first; it is very hard to do anything with CAT 1 items due to the monthly inventory requirement and constant worldwide over sight. Nothing looks suspicious there. Same with those CAT 2 items. Any change is very visible. But once again if all 4 were in on this; and the only other one a drunk everyone ignores and probably never sees, it could be possible. If something was done there they just put them in a truck and haul them out. No issue documents at all. One of the sergeants was a drunk as well. Would not be hard to forge his signature on inventory records as well. Or Catch him when he is hung over and just have him sign something he does not even remember signing. Same with the drunk Lt.”
Col Green was quiet for a minute then picked up his phone. “Colonel Sims, this is Colonel Green CID. I am here talking with Captain Parker and what she has already dug up indicates that selling ammunition was almost certainly happening. Clear signs of small arms ammunition. But what worries me is that from the way the system is designed, if all 4 of our missing officers were in on it, we could also be seeing CAT 1 and CAT 2 items gone as well. Yes sir. I agree.” He hung up.
“He wants a meeting now at Divisional HQ. The General just got in; he like I think this cannot be put off.”
Liz got her papers together. “Sir, is the 5th Group Commander in on this?”
“He did not say. You better call him.”
Liz pulled out her official phone. “Colonel Collins, this is Captain Parker. Sir that apocalyptic possibility I mentioned yesterday? It is looking more and more like that might have happened. There is a meeting with the Base Commander and Col Green of CID and the Division Commander who just got back that will happen basically as soon as everyone gets there. I would say 20 minutes.”
Col Green and Captain Jamison were looking at her. Col Green spoke first.
“Apocalyptic?”
“Sir at that time I was being slightly facetious. But I mentioned the possibility.”
“It is not a joke or even close to one now.”
“No sir.”
Liz got in her vehicle and they got in the Colonels vehicle and headed to Divisional HQ.
Liz was thinking as she drove; could they have been selling Stingers? She had heard rumors that some had hit the black market; but that had always been thought to have come from somewhere other than the US. Maybe they had come from here.
They all headed to the HQ building and as they pulled up the 5 Group Commander and his G4 arrived at the same time. They all headed into the building and to the Divisional HQ office. They were shown right into the office where the Base commander and Divisional G4, as well as Major Fresnel and the Base Security Commander were already present. Introductions were made and everyone sat down; the Divisional commander indicated that Liz sit beside him at the table in the conference room adjoining the office. He started off.
“I came in early after I got the initial report yesterday. I get here and the story gets worse by the hour. Colonel Green, start off.”
He described the situation as they had talked earlier. The Divisional commander sat with a stone face then looked at Liz.
“Captain Parker, I want you to do an inventory on all CAT 1 and 2 items ASAP. As soon as this meeting is over I want that started. Who do you need?”
Liz had been thinking about it. “The 2 89B’s and one specialist with TAMIS experience. We should be able to get a count very fast and I can compare it with the WARS report. That can probably be done for the 4 MAGS in the MAIN ASP and the 3 MAGs in the SF ASP in about 20-30 minutes each. A total of 4-5 hours.”
“Very well. I want this done tonight.” Liz nodded and pulled out her cell phone and called the ASP. “This is Captain Parker; I need Sergeant Engler.”
“Sergeant Engler, I have been ordered to do an immediate Inventory on CAT 1 and CAT 2 Items tonight. I am at a meeting and will be down soon as it is over. You and Sergeant Simpson as well as one of the TAMIS specialists. Pick one. Send everyone else home and wait there for me.”
The General looked around the room. “People we have to face the facts that we are all going to have to carry part of this can. No one here will be considered not partly to blame except Captain Parker. Myself because I am senior here; Base and Group commanders because of their commands. G4’s as this is supply. Security and CID for not finding out something was going wrong for quite a while. All we can do is make it right as best we can and accept the consequences. I am going to call the SECDEF and let him know the situation; so this will be going to the White House. I have no doubt it is a matter of time before the media twigs on this overturned garbage can stinking up the base. Captain Parker, what do you see missing at this point?”
“Sir right now I am fairly sure of 500,000 rds of 7.62 X 39. It is more than likely that is the bulk of the problem unless we find CAT 1 or 2 Material missing.”
He then looked at Col Green. “IF a Stinger is missing, how much could one sell that for on the black market?”
“Sir, one would have to have contacts for that to get any real money. But if you could reach someone, the price could be anywhere from $100,000 to a million each.”
“So that is the worst possibility?”
“Yes sir a missing stinger would be the worst possibility.”
“Then we find that out first. Captain Parker, get started on it. I want to know the minute you suspect a Stinger is gone.”
“Yes Sir.” Liz picked up her folder and left the room and got to the Office in 15 minutes to find the three waiting for her.
After she left the general looked at Col Green. “Send CID with her.”
“Yes sir” and he looked at Captain Jamison who nodded and left.
Liz motioned them to follow her. She went into the office and opened the safe, then the key cabinet and pulled out the keys to the CAT 1 and 2 magazines. She then closed the cabinet and then the safe. The three had clipboards and the TAMIS clerk had a copy of the latest WARS report. They were just leaving when Captain Jamison drove up and poked his head out of his hummer.
“I get to watch.”
Liz nodded and headed to the ASP. They got to the first magazine which had CAT 2 items in it. They opened it up and quickly started to count. After 20 minutes they looked at the count and the latest planograph report and it matched. The clerk was keeping a running count on the items found. They went to the next magazine that had AT-4’s and other AT missiles. Once again the count was good. Then they went to the next magazine that had Stingers in it.
Liz noticed that none of the stinger boxes were strapped to their pallets. She looked at Sgt Engler. “I have not been in a Stinger Mag for years; but I remember that usually they were strapped down.”
He nodded. “Yes Maam.”
Liz went to the first one and tried to lift it; the weight felt right. She looked at the two sergeants and they checked every box in the magazine. All appeared to be of the right weight. Liz then had them check the seals on the boxes. All appeared intact. She checked the count on the planograph and it matched. She looked around and saw nothing suspicious. Then motioned them to go out.
As they locked the door she looked at Engler. “We will band them to pallets later.”
“Yes Maam.”
The next magazine had Stingers as well and it also looked good though it also had none of them banded to pallets.
That finished the MAIN ASP. They went back to the office and put the keys away. It was 1900 and getting dark. They headed over to the SF ASP. Got to the office and opened it up. Liz went through the routine and got the keys. They headed to the SF ASP. They went to the one CAT 2 magazine first and checked it; it looked good. Liz then went to the TAMIS clerk and checked the running accounts.
“Looks like CAT 2 lines up with the WARS report.”
“Yes MAAM.”
Then they went to the CAT 1 MAG, Stingers and AT-4’s. They found the same there; not banded but looking good with seals and the weights were right as regards trying the boxes. The AT-4’s were properly banded and sealed and looked good; the count matched. So they locked up the mag and headed to the last. By now they were more relaxed as it looked as if the worst possibility was not going to happen.
The last Magazine was a mixture of US and foreign CAT 1 missiles. They first did the AT missiles; some us AT-4’s and some Russian ones. The count looked good. There were a dozen Stingers; they were banded to pallets at 4 to a pallet. The seals on the boxes looked good. Then there were some Russian SA-7’s; banded and sealed. Then there were some Russian SA-14’s. In loose boxes. Liz looked at them and the seals seemed good; she lifted a corner on one and the box came up easily.
Too easily.
She took a deep breath and looked at Sgt Engler. “Get those tools; we are opening this up.” He nodded and went out to the truck that Liz had been using; it had some basic banding tools and other tools that could be used to open boxes and containers. Meanwhile Liz went to the pallet of Stingers and pushed at it; it seemed heavy enough. Captain Jamison came over and gave it a push as well and it still seemed heavy enough. They went over to the SA-7’s and it also seemed heavy enough. Meanwhile Engler came back in and he and Simpson began to open the box. It took about 5 minutes and they pulled it open and all five of them looked inside.
At an empty box.
Liz then looked at them; “ALL of them now.” Then she went outside the magazine and called the General.
“General we have an empty SA-14 box right now; we are opening the others. All the Stingers look good and the SA-7’s as well.”
“Call me as soon as you have opened all of them.”
Liz looked at the TAMIS clerk. “Use that camera; take pictures of each box that we find empty.”
Captain Jamison had been making a call as well. He finished and looked at her.
“Now what?”
“We see how many are gone. There are supposed to be 8; they each have everything in the box to fire; missile, control and BCU.”
In 20 minutes they were all open; all were empty. Liz made the call.
“General we have 8 SA-14’s missing from boxes that were sealed. There is no indication anything else CAT 1 or 2 are missing.”
“That is enough. Did they have everything to fire?”
“Yes sir. These are fairly new ones, so the life of the BCU will probably be good for several more years.”
Liz was thinking about things as they left the Magazine and closed it up for the night. She talked to Captain Jamison.
“They did this probably on a weekend when no one was around. I would bet that they had been selling the small arms steadily in a way no one would notice; this would be their big score. I imagine they could get $100,000 or more for each one. They probably bundled them out in the back of this truck under a tarp. Then transferred them to one of their vehicles. Then crated them up and somehow shipped them to Europe where that LT is right now. And where I bet all the others are by now as well.”
“Two places in Europe; one Spain and sell to the Basque Separatists but that is tough to do so I doubt it. The other is the former Yugoslavia; somewhere down there. Then there is the possibility of trying to sell them to the Chechnyans for use against the Russians.”
“Or farther to Turkey to sell to the Kurdish separatists.”
“True. But every case there they would have to make contact with someone in each group.”
“Which would be very risky; I bet they managed to find an arms dealer and they sold them to him for resale later to the highest bidder.”
“I agree.”
“The AK ammo could have been sold at Gun Shows and the like; so much of that around and a lot of it are sold in the original Russian boxes. So it would not be noticed. Probably get $500 a box. That would be 200 boxes or $100,000. I would not be surprised to find out more of other types are gone as well. Probably been doing this for the last year and a half. I think Buchanan panicked and took off; he probably felt and rightly so he would be arrested for all of this before we even found the shortages.”
“There is already a worldwide alert for all four of them on Interpol.”
“If one is going to mess up my money is on Buchanan; the others had time to make arrangements. He had to move fast.”
“He is the one we have the best chance of finding.”
It was 2000 and another meeting was being held at the Divisional HQ.
“I have talked to the SECDEF and he is not happy to say the least. He wants all the CAT 1 containers opened up so that we can visually confirm they are there. How long would that take, Captain?”
“If we have some help, forklifts and other support, and personnel to do the banding and rebanding and the like, multiple crews can get it done in one day easily.”
“Make a list and you will get it.”
“Yes sir.”
“I want this started at 0600 tomorrow morning.”
“I have some good news sir.”
“Well I need some what is it?”
“The IDS systems have all been restored; turns out there was a fundamental flaw in the design that allowed a simple bypass to work. Every IDS system of this design worldwide will have to be modified to prevent this. We would not have found that out otherwise.”
“Small comfort, Captain Jamison.”
“Yes sir.”
“No point in extending this meeting any farther; we might as well all go home and start working on our resumes for our next jobs. As you pointed out, Captain Parker in a month will be the only one with a job with the US Army.”
Liz thought about that as she went home. Some would call that unfair; but they had been here while it was happening. Even the 101st people had been there before deployment. The Base Personnel though would catch it the worst.
Liz got in and found Max waiting for her. He went into the kitchen and started to warm up something for her. She had not eaten anything since lunch and was very hungry.
“How bad?”
Liz debated for a moment and then figured it would get out sooner or later.
“At least half a million rds for AK-47’s and 8 SA-14’s.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah.”
Liz had given the G4 the list for the next day; 8 forklift operators 4 each for 2 Crews, 6 people for banding and unbanding for each crew; she would have one TAMIS specialist and one of the 89B’s on each crew.
The next morning Liz got up early and was at the Main ASP at 0530. Getting ready. The people started coming in before 0600. After thinking about it some more she left both 89B’s with the MAIN ASP crew and took the SF crew herself.
The Main ASP crew was opening magazines at 0700. Actually Liz opened all 4 of them and left the keys with them. She then headed to the SF ASP. By 0800 they were at it there. IT went faster than Liz had hopped; each box was opened and the SN verified with what was on record and on the box. By 1400 they were done and nothing wrong was found.
The worldwide alert worked; in Paris the French spotted Buchanan. He was using his civilian Passport. He had flown to England on Friday and had rented a small car and had driven to Paris where he had gotten there on Sunday. Wednesday morning the French got lucky as he rented another vehicle and had to use his Passport for identification and that rang bells. They followed him as he left Paris and drove south then East and entered Switzerland. There the Swiss took over as he kept going East into Austria and then into Hungary where he stopped in Budapest. The Hungarians had him and watched him as he met with three other men. They were identified as the ones most wanted. They tracked them to a meeting with an arms dealer and bagged the whole lot Thursday afternoon. Faced with prison in Hungary they gave up the location of the missiles; a crate shipped to France two weeks earlier. The Arms dealer had assisted them in doing it; he had met Captain Sanders when he had been in Germany on a tour the year before he was sent to the 101st. All four of them would be shipped back to the US for trial.
Liz got the news that they had been caught and the missiles found just as she gave the report to the General.
“Well, did they ask about the small arms?”
“Yes. They had been, as you surmised, selling it box by box at gun shows steadily for over a year. We got a list of what they sold; some US ammo as well; but mostly that AK ammo and other Russian Ammo.”
“We will still need to do a full inventory just to make sure the records are straight.”
“Get started on that on Monday. You did say you wanted the SOP’s done.”
“True. We can get those done on Friday.”
The SECDEF was giving the good news to the President.
“This could have been a lot worse, sir. This is the worst incident of this kind in almost 40 years.”
“And again Captain Parker was instrumental?”
“Yes sir. By starting to check the ASP when she did the whole ball started rolling. Otherwise it would have been at least 12 hours later before we knew anything was wrong. Captain Sanders had recruited most of the people specifically because they were drunks and drug users and unmotivated and unreliable. That in the end is what caught them. And if Captain Parker had not mentioned the possibility of the CAT 1 and 2 problem, that inventory would not have happened that day. If she had not thought to check the boxes for weight, it would not have been found as they were all properly sealed. I believe the French would not have pushed so hard if we had not told them the SA14’s were missing. One more day and the deal would have been done and they would have been gone to who knows where.”
“It seems like an almost monthly occurrence that she does something.”
“Does seem that way sir.”
“I take it she will get recognition for this?”
“I believe her promotion to Major would be coming this year anyway with her record.”
“See to it she has that promotion by the day she and her unit are recognized at the White House.”
“Yes sir.”
“I can expect a report and recommendations on how this can be prevented in the future when?”
“Within the month sir. Though I would say the chances of this being pulled off again are very remote.”
“Still it did happen once.”
“Yes sir.”
That Friday they did manage to get the SOP’s done by the end of the day and Liz sent them out to be staffed after she read each one.
The Saturday Liz thought about resting but the weather was beautiful and she and the rest of the Posse and the Crew had their usual twice a month Saturday picnic.
Liz was buttonholed right away after eating and the children were running around.
Ellen started it off.
“OK, Liz. Spill. Something happened; half the installation is buzzing. Everyone knows that the ASP’s are all screwed up and you have to fix it. But it is more than that, isn’t it?”
“Yes something happened and No I am not talking about it.”
And they got nothing else despite every trick and entreaty tried. Max also refused to say a word.
Starting the Next week Liz got in 2 LTs for the Main ASP and 1 LT for the SF ASP. The two sergeants processed in. Some more specialists were made available and except for the two commanding officers the TOE was full. 3 more 89B specialists from the next class would be sent in June. So Liz was confident that by July or August at the latest the Ordnance Company and both ASP’s would be fine. On Friday she was summoned to the Division HQ for a meeting with the General.
“How are things going, Captain?”
“Except for the new 89B’s arriving next month and the new commanding officers, we are complete as regards TOE. I have good personnel who just have to learn the ropes. We will be starting the 100% inventory on Monday and hope to have both ASP’s done by Friday.”
“Excellent. By the way you will need these to add to your class A’s.” And proceeded to take off her Captain’s Bars and replace it with the gold Oak Leaf signifying a Major.
Liz blinked. He smiled. “You would have gotten that this fall but it was accelerated by order of the President so that when he gives you your Presidential Unit Citation, you will be wearing them. Now head down to Personnel to finish the paperwork. Good day, Major.”
“Thank You, sir.” Said a slightly dazed Liz.
She was smiling as she got home. She wondered how long Max would take to recognize it. It turned out that Aliya beat him to it. When she got home from school she hugged Liz as usual then stopped and stared at her.
“What is it honey?”
“When did you get promoted?”
They had fun that weekend just staying home and being a family. Even though Liz still had almost 7 more months to go Aliya wanted to start looking at baby names.
It was interesting Monday when Liz came to the Main ASP to start the 100% inventory. Everyone was caught off guard by her promotion. She had made it clear they would be starting at 0600 and would be in the first magazine by 0700 and she pushed and prodded to get it done. The CAT 1 magazines had been done already; the CAT 2 magazines were quickly done as it was a matter of making sure that all the MDC’s were updated and the items were correctly palletized and the magazine was orderly. The two TDY QASAS were also present; one of them would be checking each magazine for its semiannual inspection. They also made sure that all condition code tags were correct and noted any packaging that would need to be replaced. Of the 30 magazines, 14 of them were done by the end of the day. By the end of Tuesday 22 were done. The rest were done Wednesday. Thursday they started the SF ASP and 10 of them were done on that day. By 1400 Friday they were all done. Most of the MDC’s had to be updated or replaced; but the overall counts were not far off. The missing small arms correlated to what had been admitted by the felons. Liz would spend the next week writing up the reports and making sure all the quantities were correct on the WARS report.
Liz made the first report to the General, G4 and Base Commander; the second for the SF to the Group Commander and the group G4. At 1800 a C-40 landed at Campbell and picked up A Company and related personnel and family members; around 110 total to take them to DC for the award ceremony. Liz was happy to be with the pilots and ground crew; they were happy to see her promotion; and they like everyone else tried to get her to talk about what really had happened at the ASP. Everyone knew about the stoned incident; and that something else had happened that was big. But the details had not gotten out which had surprised Liz; the two sergeants and the specialist had kept their mouths shut.
Nancy and Ted had scheduled a vacation in the NE at that time so they would be there as well; Liz made sure they got their invitations. Nancy had surprised Liz with a quick marriage to Ted that previous Christmas; Liz had wanted to be there but Nancy told her it was a spur of the moment thing. Liz was glad her mother was no longer alone and she liked Ted.
When Liz had checked her Class A uniform, making sure everything looked right and all her ribbons were correctly done, Max had been very quiet. She had just made sure her gold flight wings were correct when she noticed Max had not said anything. She turned towards him and noticed a look on his face she had never seen before.
“What is it Max?”
He got up and pulled her to him and sat down on the bed with her on his lap. Then he very quietly said
“It just hit me as I saw you there with all those ribbons and I realized that I have never told you just how proud I am to be your husband. You are just coming up on 10 years in uniform and you have easily twice the ribbons I got in 20. And you earned every one. There are full generals who do not have as many. And very few have the ones you do; Presidential Medal of Freedom, DSC, DSF, 2 Presidential Unit Citations, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and all the rest; 20 of them. And every single one of them you absolutely earned by what you did. I love you and I will always be proud to be your husband.”
Liz was a little misty eyed at that. Aliya had looked at her when she showed her uniform and quietly said
“The girls at school said you have more medals than any woman ever has. Are you a hero?”
Max had placed his hand over Liz’s mouth before she could say anything.
“Honey, it is not right for a hero to say it herself. It is for others to say. And yes your mother is a hero.”
Liz was thinking of that. The ceremony would be at 10; then there would be pictures and a quick press conference then the whole crowd of awardees and family would have a formal lunch at the White House. Liz dreaded the press conference but had been told it would be short. IT was all carefully choreographed.
Liz stood back with the unit as she waited for the signal. She would lead them up to the area and then stand at the center while the rest would file in behind her. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. Tripping and falling would just be something to make you want to die.
Then she was signaled and she marched out and went right to the spot that had a very small X on it and stood at attention there. The rest of company A and their crew chiefs and ground crew filled in behind her; 56 in all. The National Anthem was played by the Marine Band.
The President gave a short speech; then stood beside the flag and Liz marched up to him, Saluted and stood at attention. He nodded to her and he gave her the plaque for the Unit. She shook his hand and with it at her side in her left hand took two steps back and saluted again and remained at attention.
“From the period 30 March 2010 through 15 February 2011 Company A, 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade, United States Army conducted 275 missions in Afghanistan in Kandahar and Helmand provinces. In support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Company A escorted and supported the forces of the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Special Forces, British Army, Royal Air Force, Royal Marines, and Special Air Service. In those 275 missions not one single member of the Allied coalition lost their life. That is a record unmatched in modern History. In those missions they severely damaged the Taliban and Al Queeda. In recognition of that achievement, their Commander, Major Elizabeth Parker, and the Pilots and Copilots of Company A and their ground crews that ensured their Apache Helicopters would fly, are hereby awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for unparalleled achievement during Combat in the face of the Enemy.”
Liz then marched out with the company behind her to the rear of the Rose Garden where they collected. Liz looked around and gave a whistle that got everyone’s attention.
“I think it is more than likely, that we will never again all be together as we are today. Sad but true. You guys were the very best any one could ask for to fight alongside of. I was honored to be your commander. Good luck and god bless all of you.”
Ted Dugan yelled “Three cheers for Doberman!”
And they did. Then Liz made them line up and she saluted, then shook the hand then hugged every single one of them.
Unknown to all of them, this was caught by a FOX News camera crew that managed to wiggle past the normal restrictions.
Then Liz was taken as the official sacrificial lamb to the Press Room for questions and pictures.
Liz made quite a picture; petite and very cute; and ribbons out the yang. There were dozens of flashes.
Then the questions.
“Major Parker, were you surprised that your command managed to make it through all of those missions with the loss of a single life?”
“Of Course. Anyone would be. The worst part of it was at the very end when that got out; the last few missions were very nerve wracking.”
“Major Parker, is it true you have transferred out of the 101st Aviation Brigade?”
“Yes. I asked for and received a transfer to the 160th SOAR.”
“Major Parker, doesn’t that make you the first woman pilot of the 160th SOAR?”
“I believe so.”
“Major Parker, how do you feel about that?”
“Well, someone has to be the first.”
“Major Parker, is it true that you had to force your way back to Afghanistan; that you were originally going to be left behind?”
“There was some discussion of that for various reasons but in the end the US Army realized that a commander should go with her troops into combat.”
At that point much to her relief the questions were cut off and she escaped to the dinner.
As their commander Liz was placed to the right of the President at the long table. Aliya was alongside and Max beside her. She had huge eyes at everything. Liz managed to keep small talk going with the president. Who mentioned something she had not talked about.
“Major, I was very interested in your mission to find those documents. It was explained to me but somehow I do not think they got it right. Exactly what maneuver did you do to land there?”
Liz took a deep breath. “Sir, the place I had to land was on a ledge at just over 16,000 feet. Now many people do not know this but it is just about impossible for a helicopter to hover at much over 10,000 feet. You have to be moving forward or you will drop. The Mountain was 18,000 feet high. I came over the top of the mountain then around it slowly losing altitude till I could land on the ledge. I had about 2-3 feet clearance from the tips of the rotor to the side of the mountain. And taking off was just as interesting since I had to be very careful or it would stall out; and at that altitude you are very vulnerable to any kind of wind. I unloaded everything in it except for 100 rds of 30MM and a main fuel tank at about 60%. That is something I really do not want to do again if I do not have to.”
“I think that would be wise decision.”
Liz did not realize that Max had heard that.
Eventually everything was over and they were able to escape at 1300. The C-40 would pick them up at 1600, so they had a couple of hours or so to make it to Andrews. The rest went in a bus but Liz, Max and Aliya went with Ted and Nancy who had rented a minivan. They went down the mall to the Viet Nam wall; and walked through the area. Finally getting in the van to go to Edwards. Liz was glad to spend some time with her mother. She walked with Aliya between her and Max as they headed over to get on the plane.
C-SPAN covered the ceremony so many on Campbell watched. The Posse instead to going to the park congregated with the Posse and friends at Susan’s house where they watched it. They cheered when Liz marched out leading her company. They were silent when the award was read. Susan looked at Vicki.
“Just how big is that?”
“No one getting killed? Huge. Everyone in the brigade knew Liz’s company was the best. Pretty soon the whole division knew it. You always felt better when A company and Liz were watching over you.”
Susan looked at her husband and he nodded. “Word got out; I know we always felt better when Liz was there. Getting towards the end of the tour I know it got almost to knife fighting for who would get her company as escort. When she spent that time taking care of the British it got us all down; we wanted her with us taking care of her own. When she got back everyone relaxed; you could feel it. Somehow we just all knew it was ok. We only lost a handful of people on that tour anyway; but no one had any doubt a lot more would have died if Liz and her company wasn’t there. B Company was solid and did well but not as good as A company, not close. And until the end of the tour NO one wanted C Company.”
Jesse nodded. “C Company had problems; their commander was good but he had some dud pilots. Finally the word got out that after a mission Liz went to the Battalion Commander and flat out told him that something had to be done. SO they grabbed Liz’s XO and fired a couple of the pilots and the company got a lot better. Some of the pilots felt if Liz had not gone and raised hell nothing would have been done.”
Ellen chimed in. “You could feel it at the mission brief. The first thing we always did was see who was the escort; if it said A company you relaxed. Anyone else and you were tense until you got back from the mission.”
Ruth was quiet. Then she said
“I have convinced Joe to put in for recruiting duty. He expects to get it this fall sometime. He has a shot at getting duty around here so we do not have to leave. Enough is enough. Liz would not have been back even if she had not transferred; and I do not want my husband out there again.”
Becky sighed. “We have been talking about it; if we do not get Iraq for the next deployment he is finding a way out.”
Susan nodded. “Same here.”
Ellen looked at the others. They nodded. “Same with us. We are not going back to Afghanistan a third time.”
In a big house in Savanna, three friends watched the ceremony.
Isabelle blinked at a close up of Liz. “Wait a minute, she has the ribbon for a DFC; when did she get that?”
Maria and Tess looked at each other and shrugged.
Tess looked thoughtful. “She did not have it after the last tour; she did not have it when she got the Medal of Freedom. So it happened on this tour and they do not give that out easily.”
Maria was thinking hard. “Liz said something about having to do a couple of missions for the Company, the CIA. Wanna bet she had to pull some spook out of trouble and that is how she got it?”
Isabelle and Tess nodded. “Probably.” They chorused.
“Liz sure does have a lot of fruit salad. And she will get a lot more when she starts flying for the 160th SOAR.”
By the end of June, Liz felt that the situation with the Ordnance Company and the ASP’s was pretty much taken care of. The two new captains had been selected and while not Ammunition types, were solid officers. The rest of the personnel were doing well. The new 89B’s had arrived and that helped as well. Liz was making sure that all the ammunition personnel were getting training by the new QASAS, who were both very experienced.
SECDEF had ordered a review and a report on the situation; and was looking for suggestions on how to make sure nothing like that could happen again. Liz felt personally that as usual the military was over reacting to a once in a lifetime situation by trying to double lock the barn door long after the horse had been stolen. Also as usual when a team is picked, it is very senior people who have not worked with ammunition or in an ASP for many years if ever. When they showed up at the beginning of June to talk to Liz, she was ready for them.
There was of course a general, a senior QASAS, a senior Ammunition Manager, and a couple of other senior types. They sat in the conference room at Division HQ and asked her for her observations.
Liz looked at them calmly.
“You are mostly not going to like what I have to say.”
The general looked at her. “Major Parker, that is an interesting statement. Care to elaborate?”
“I started out my career as an 89B before that MOS had any respect. I saw how the SENIOR Army leadership treated my MOS and Ammunition in general. Then I went into Aviation but got brought back temporarily to fix this installations Ordnance Company. Then 4 years later I have to do it again. BUT the situations had different causes. The first time was because of the general neglect of the Ammunition Field. The Second time had two reasons; one a once in a lifetime coincidence that had corrupt and dishonest multiple officers in one place. Sent here as a dumping ground. The other was the reorganization for what was either the second or third time in the last 10 years of the supply and support organizations of the Army. I have not bothered to keep track. It created a situation where once again you had permanent party personnel here at the ASP and in Ordnance. And that created the opportunity for the incident. Ammunition has a better situation overall in the US Army and the military then it has had for over 30 years. But of course there are still problems. There always will be. You solve one or two and create one or two more. And one of the biggest problems is right here in this review team. Basically its composition insures that there will be more rules and regulations that are not thought out and the critical input that could help will be ignored.”
The whole room got very still. The General said quietly “Major, are you saying that this review team is part of the problem and not the solution?”
“Yes Sir.”
“And why is that?”
“General, when was the last time you actually worked in an ASP?”
“Never have and you believe recent experience is that important?”
“Yes sir. Has anyone in this room actually worked at an ASP in the last 10-20 years?”
No one said a thing.
The General was silent for a moment, and then sighed.
“I was told that you probably would not respond in a way that we expected. I can now see that was a huge understatement.”
The Senior QASAS then spoke up.
“Major Parker, I am willing to bet that you already have proposals. So why not just tell us what they are?”
“Very well sir. Review teams are not a bad idea; how they are put together is where the failure is. You need less senior people with fairly recent experience at working at ASP’s. Now not saying no senior people but that the majority of the team should be younger and more in touch with how it is done down here and what the real demands and problem are. That will also help them talk to the people there without the intimidation factor. All too often a review team is given a carefully managed picture. Right now review teams are scheduled at least a year in advance. Gives the installation a full year to cover things up and make it look better than it really is. And then they know that it will be a minimum of two years before that team comes back. A perfect breeding ground for problems. I think a page needs to be taken out of the book written by General Curtis Lemay when he formed the Strategic Air Command. No notice inspections that could come at any time. Which was a big factor in why SAC has been shown to have been one of the best and most competent military commands of all time. Now we do not need to go to those extremes. Say a one month notice. Not enough time for the installation to really cover things up as long as a good team is picked.”
There was more silence in the room. Then the General spoke.
“I rather doubt that is all.”
“No sir. As regards something like what happened here, that would do a pretty good job on making sure it did not happen again. But I also recommend that at least once a year an independent inventory team comes to each installation and looks things over. And have the installation QASAS go with them looking as well. If both teams are put together correctly and used intelligently, then that would go a long way towards making sure nothing like this can ever happen again. We do not need a new system, or new regulations. Just a better process to catch problems before they get really bad.”
The senior Ammunition manager spoke up.
“You do not see the need for tightening anything up?”
“No sir. The Regulations are fairly clear; a process needs to be in place to make sure that they are obeyed. I happen to think that the situation in the Ammunition Community is much better than it was; this was a one off that almost certainly will never happen again. It would be foolish to over react to it.”
The General, she noticed, was smiling.
“It is rare that so many senior experts get told they are full of crap. But I cannot honestly disagree with anything you have said.”
The senior QASAS was smiling a little as well.
“I doubt I will see it again. Well, we are here so we might as well head down to the ASP and look things over.”
Liz took them to the Main ASP office first; where they looked at the records and that there was once again two key cabinets, correct procedures and paper work. Then to the ASP itself and the magazines and looked in a couple. Then to the SF ASP and did it all again. The Senior QASAS was looking at the SOP’s.
“Major, these look familiar.”
“They are all versions of the SOP’s I wrote at Ft Stewart when I was there. When I rebuilt the ordnance company the last time I used the ones I had there and just made necessary changes as regards being on a different installation. The basic tenets and regulations and rules are the same everywhere.”
The Ammo manager was looking at one of the reference books Liz had put together years ago. He called the QASAS over to look at it. Liz was showing the general what had been the situation when she showed up that first day.
The Ammo manager and the QASAS looked what Liz considered her Bible over. It was a primer on how to run an ASP; the basic regulations to be used; the basic procedures that had to be followed and what was done at an ASP and why.
“Major Parker, this reference here.”
“Yes Sir, that is something I put together over a period of years while a 89B after talking to some different QASAS and basing the needs on my experiences at a ASP.”
“Would it be possible to have a copy made of this?”
Liz went to a box on the floor and pulled out several similar binders.
“I had a batch of copies made. How many do you need?”
The general observed this and smiled.
After leaving the ASP the Team had a meeting to discuss their report.
The General started it off.
“Gentlemen, I think our report can be fairly concise. Major Parker’s suggestions and comments are so much to the point that I frankly do not feel that we have must of importance to add. Is there any disagreement?”
One by one they all shook their heads. The Senior QASAS mused
“I have rarely seen an Ammunition mission so efficiently organized. Her remarks about when was the last time any of us actually worked in one was brutal, but honest and to the point. We visit, look around at carefully staged operations if they even do any, and then leave and they go back to work as they normally do. She is absolutely correct that that kind of inspection is really of very little worth. And what she considers her bible for ASP operations is the best compilation and guide that I have seen anywhere. I would recommend that it be gone over and then used as just that.”
The SECDEF read the report and smiled slightly. This would be interesting when the various organizations that prided themselves on doing inspections read it.
The Division commander looked at his G4.
“So she basically called them stuffed shirts that would not know a real ASP if they fell over one?”
“Pretty much, sir. Not quite that blunt but not far off. What is astonishing is that they accepted it like schoolboys being chewed out by their teacher.”
“Which in all honesty is exactly what happened.”
“Yes sir. They took copies of her ‘bible’ and if the Senior QASAS has his way, is going to become truly the ASP bible for ASP’s everywhere.”
The General was pensive. “He told me that while he would not ask for my resignation, this would be my last position.”
“The Base Commander and myself were pretty much told the same thing. The Base Security Chief has put in his retirement papers. Have not heard what the story is with 5th Group.”
“SF might be a little more forgiving, but I wonder how hard the SECDEF will push on this?”
At the end of July Liz requested release from her TDY to leave for the 160th SOAR and it was granted. By this time, she was just beginning to show; on her petite figure it was more obvious than those of more ample proportions.
Colonel Ballard welcomed her to his office and she sat down on the chair indicated.
“Well, Major, it is a shame in one respect that you had to clean up that mess as you could have gotten a fair amount of what you will need to learn out of the way. But what is is. You can still do a fair amount before you are unable to do anything but sit behind a desk. I have talked with our Medical Personnel and they have recommended what you can do till after you have your baby. You can observe a lot; and read up on our documents and manuals. Also you can visit the area where they are starting to test the new models. The first production versions came out last month; 6 months behind schedule.”
“I would like that sir. I would also if it is possible to visit the plants making them; I think I could get a better feel for the differences if I did that.”
“The assembly area would be good for that; you can see all the various parts as well as units in the process.”
“Yes sir.”
“I think it would not come to you as any surprise that you are being considered for the command of our first Battalion.”
“Yes sir. The bad thing about that, sir, is that I would not get all that much chance to fly.”
“You might be surprised at how much our battalion commanders fly here in the 160th. But you do have a point. I think Battalion XO would be a better use of your talents. Your record as a company commander was superb and we would be fools not to make use of it. You would retain command of a company while XO.”
“That would be very good sir. I want to be able to fly them a lot; they will be very different than regular Apache’s and I need to understand those differences.”
“An excellent idea. If I may, what is your due date?”
“December 26, sir.”
“Well that is good. We do not believe our first company will be fully equipped until November at the earliest. Personally I think January or February is more likely. How much time will you be requesting off for maternity leave?’
“I intend to work right up to Labor, sir. After that, probably 4-6 weeks.”
“Speaking as a father that is probably about right. Of course that is as a father. My wife might have something different to say.”
“Sir, it will be hard enough to leave my baby and come to my mission. No point in drawing it out. Max has already decided to take a leave of absence starting at birth and going for 2 months. After that we will have to use day care. Not happy about it but that is the way it is.”
“Well that will work fine for us. Command has been aware that it would take some time to get the new units up and running.”
“Sir, I have been able to talk to some of the pilots of the Little Birds. I got a feel of their operations some while in Afghanistan. They are going to have to change if they want to use Apache’s, even the new ones, efficiently. There is no way you can do some of the things Little Birds can do with even a very much improved Apache. It is just too big and too heavy. And I would recommend as part of the training program that if possible any pilots transitioning to the new Apache’s from Little Birds fly and qualify with regular apache’s first. It is a hunch more than anything else but I think a number of them will have a hard time doing so.”
The Commander considered this. He had not flown Little Birds very much and had never flown an Apache. So he really could not say from his own experience how valid her concern might be.
“Well, for the moment you can still fly. I would suggest you get some time in Little Birds to make sure what you suspect is true.”
“Always happy to fly, Sir.”
Liz had been able to sneak some flight time in on Apache’s here and there; enough to keep current. So a chance to fly something different; small and agile was not to be passed up. She was taken to the field by one of the pilots, WO3 Sam Drake, and introduced to the very small helicopter. It had stubby wings on the side where a 4 missile pod of Hellfires or a 7 shot pod of 2.75 could be mounted; also a minigun or even a 30MM could be mounted as well. Used to much larger helicopters, Liz liked the Little Bird. Sam took her up and they tooled around the area; Liz after a while taking the stick.
To call it agile was to say the Pacific Ocean is deep. Comparing them was like comparing a go kart to a sports car. The Sports car is much bigger and faster; but the go kart can do things a sports car could not dream of.
When they landed, she smiled at Sam.
“Now that is a fun bird to fly.”
He agreed. “I have never flown an Apache; but I can guess it is a huge difference.”
“It is.” She gave him the analogy she had come up with and he nodded.
“So these Super Apache’s that are coming, will be like the regular apache except souped up?”
“That is what the specs say. Lighter but more powerful; even more sophisticated avionics. Stronger and tougher and better protected. But it will be hugely different from this.”
When she went back to see the Commander, he immediately noticed she was concerned.
“Were your suspicions correct?”
“I believe so. It is so agile and sensitive; absolutely nothing like a regular Apache. The Apache is a sports car and the Little Bird is a go kart. That would make it a little tough to transition from the Little Bird to a super Apache. So I really think that those that will be making the change need to get time on a regular Apache.”
He nodded. “Well here is your first assignment: write up a training plan for going from a Little Bird to an Apache to a Super Apache. And also work on one for going from a Blackhawk to a super Apache. Get familiar with the various ones we have here.”
“I would like to see the assembly plant first. And what about a simulator?”
http://www.all-acronyms.com/cat/2
Liz found that the only place she could really get away from the facts of her life were in the air and at home. Outside of those two areas, her reputation and fame tended to get in the way. Her new copilot was fresh from Flight School, WO1 Roger Sikes. He was a real newbie; fresh from WO school right to Flight school. He had one tour of Iraq with the 10th Mountain as a regular ground pounder. But he had been pretty lucky and had been in a quiet area. So he had not seen much action. He was also in serious awe of Liz. It was sweet in some ways but annoying in others. She could not deny that being treated like someone really special did feed her ego or make her feel better when other things dragged her down. But it was a bit much and from a cold practical point of view was a problem
Ted had been willing to argue with her; and was not afraid to point out when she made a mistake. Which is one of the primary functions of a copilot. Roger was too intimidated and too unsure as a pilot to say as much as boo to her.
She decided to talk to Scooter Winston, the Battalion XO about this. He still commanded C company, so he was still a regular flyer. How long that would stay that way no one knew. Usually the paperwork and the rest gradually pried someone out of the cockpit.
“Jim, I really worry about Roger as my copilot. He is so in awe of me that he is afraid to even point out mistakes I make. And you know how dangerous that can get.”
Jim leaned back with a sigh. He could see her point of view; but he also was not really willing to push for the kids reassignment. Hah. The Kid. He was actually only a year younger than Liz was. But in this world he was a kid.
“Liz, you need to give him some more time. He has only been your copilot for a few weeks. Outside of the hero worship, do you have any other problems with him?”
“Outside of him being really green, not really. Any deficiencies he has right now will probably disappear after more time and training. I just worry if he has the assertiveness you need to be a pilot. Or even a copilot. The ability to make snap judgments and decisions fast; to see how the situation is going soon enough to be able to react and respond.”
“And that should come with time.”
“I hope.”
Luckily, Liz’s guardian angel was once again at work.
Ted had been noticing that Liz was a little put out by her copilot; as her wingman he was in a position to see more than most. And knowing her helped as well. So one day he was in the mess hall and noticed her copilot by himself, studying a flight manual. He decided the kid needed some help.
Roger looked up as Ted sat down. Ted looked at the manual.
“Roger, you do not have to study 24/7. You are allowed to eat without it.”
He blushed. Ted sighed inside. This kid was so young.
“I know, but I still have so much to learn. And I don’t want to disappoint Liz. She deserves the best copilot she can get.”
Ted blinked. Now he began to see the problem.
“Every pilot deserves the best copilot he can get, Roger.”
“But Liz deserves better than me.”
“Do you really think that Liz went right into flight school and started tooling her Apache around like she does now?”
“But she is so good. She is better than my instructor was at Flight School and he had 10 years as an Apache Pilot. Liz is much better and she has only a little over 2 years.”
“Liz had problems early on; we talked about it. She had to work real hard to make it; and even harder to get to where she is now. She was not a natural pilot; she had to learn it all. Combat really teaches you a lot; I was lucky in that because of various things I got a fair amount of time as a pilot over there in combat conditions. So when I was formally promoted I had a big edge over most copilots. And of course watching Liz helped. But I was her copilot from day one; and I saw a very good pilot with rough edges. Who worked like her call sign to file them down. And who kept getting better because of how hard she worked. BUT it takes time and you will not learn as fast when not in combat. You need to take a deep breath and relax a little. And talk to Liz about it.”
At that his eyes got big then he dropped them. “I don’t want to disappoint her.”
“She will understand. More than most will because of who she is. You do know that she hates all the attention she gets, right?”
“Yeah it’s kind of hard to miss. When I was told I was going to be Captain Parker’s copilot the guys told me I was lucky but that I would be in a tough place. I am figuring out what that meant now. I feel like I have to run as fast as I can to just stay in the same place.”
Ted slowly nodded. Yeah this kid and Liz needed to talk.
“Well when you are finished I will scare up Liz and you two will talk. You both need to hear each other.”
As a company Commander Liz got her own office; it was not big but it was hers and she liked being able to shut the door.
So when someone knocked she was a little bit annoyed; but at the same time interrupting paperwork was rarely a bad thing.
“IN.” she had seen that in a movie and had liked it.
Ted stuck his head in the door.
“You got some time?”
Liz grinned at him. “For you always.”
“Well not for me.” He then reached out of sight and dragged her copilot in and plunked him down in the chair in front of her desk to her raised eyebrows.
“You and Roger need to talk before the kid burns himself out. He does not realize that we were all newbies at one time.”
Liz sat back with a sigh as Ted left and closed the door behind him. She looked at Roger. This needed to get done, she knew that.
“Roger, If I have shown impatience with you then I should not have and I apologize. Ted was right; all of us were newbies at one time. None of us sprouted from flight school as master pilots. We all have to work at it all the time.”
Roger screwed up his courage.
“Liz, I just want to be the copilot you deserve.”
Liz sat for a moment trying to figure out how to do this.
“You are doing pretty good for being as green as you are. And there is no quick fix for that; just time and flight time. You know the basics; you know the foundation of what you need to learn. You just have to build on it. And a lot of that is my responsibility. I was spoiled having Ted; he was already an experienced copilot when I got him. But I bet he told you I was nowhere near as good when I first arrived in Campbell as I am now. And I had a diversion while I was first here that took a couple of months of flight time away from me and I had to catch up. And Ted helped there. So I need to make sure that you are learning while I am polishing; you see that is the difference between us. I have the time and the combat time in the Apache under tough conditions so that I had to learn quick or die. That is one HELL of a motivator. You have not had that. There is no way you will be able to learn things like I learned in Combat here. Just not possible. So clear your mind of the feeling you have to be great. You are learning. All Pilots continue to learn for their entire career; if they do not then sooner or later that will catch up with them. I am at probably 90% of what I can learn in the apache and maybe higher. You are about 50%. You just keep learning and working and you will catch up. I can only get slightly better in comparison. So you will make up the distance.”
Roger took a deep breath, and felt some of the tension that he had been feeling ever since becoming her copilot leaving. He looked at her.
“Thanks, Liz.”
“I should have had this talk with you without Ted having to force it. That was my failing. I should have noticed that you were scrambling. But it is also the duty of the copilot to tell the pilot that he is having trouble and he needs help. So we both screwed up. I just have less of an excuse. Now I am always happy to ignore paperwork but we have reason. So let’s head out to the bird.”
They spent the next several days working together and Roger did begin to make up the ground.
Both Ted and Jim Winston watched with satisfaction.
Liz found that being company commander added lots of other ‘little’ duties that when put together sucked up the time. But she made a point of working with Roger as much as she could; and getting more flight time. Rather evilly she started palming off some of that to Lt Rivers. Who was not appreciative.
“Come on Liz, this is BS.”
“Of course it is, Sam. But it’s BS that has to get done and since there is too much for me you get your share. Comes with being the Company XO.”
One other thing Liz did not like about being company commander was that she had to evaluate everyone in the company from pilots to the ground crews. And also if anyone screwed up it landed on her desk first.
So when a tech on a ground crew got himself drunk and arrested for it, she was the first one called. So she went by Security and the base clink and proceeded to rip him a new one. Which was OK in one way as it allowed her to let off some steam. However it highly entertained a number of people in Security.
“It was funny as hell. He had to be easily a foot taller and 100 lbs heavier and she just ate him up and spit him out.”
“Yeah, I heard her call sign is Doberman.”
“I believe it now.”
Liz then proceeded to convince the JAG to let it go as company punishment. Then had him do every dirty detail for a whole month straight. And she got very creative about dirty details. Which had the whole Battalion talking.
“I heard he just about begged to be sent back for Court-martial.”
“Gotta admit I never saw that done by hand; can see why now.”
It got to the point where his crew chief talked to Grunt.
“Man, is there any way you can get her to let up on the poor jerk. I ain’t never seen anyone that miserable in 11 years in the Army.”
“He survives this and it does not go on his record. Seems pretty fair to me.”
But it was noticeable that little incidents tended to not happen to those in A company after that.
“What unit you with?”
“Company A, 1st Battalion, Aviation Brigade”
“Wow. I heard you have Doberman Parker as your CO.”
“You heard right and that is why you can go drinking on your own. I saw what she did to the last guy caught drunk and it ain’t gonna happen to me.”
Max had started his job, which while not exactly challenging did have him around the flight line most days. So they got to eat lunch together most of the time.
Aliya was dropped off at the MWR Children’s center where she would be spending her days during the summer until school began. At first there were not many around as everyone else was in school; but she was busy as Liz had talked to the center personnel about her unique needs to become more familiar with life in the US. So some at the center took her in hand and worked so that she learned English and other facets of modern life.
The fact that Aliya had been adopted by Liz flew under the radar for quite a while; it was not until they had been at Campbell for over 3 months that the media twigged on that.
For some time the Army just flat out would not say where she was. When the media began to get very persistent they were then told she was in the US. But not where. Finally some reporters put two and two together and began to visit Campbell. It took them several more weeks to finally spot Aliya at the MWR Children’s center. It was the middle of June and school had just gotten out. So Aliya got to meet more of the children. She had met some from the immediate housing area, but right around where she lived there were not many of her age. Liz had gotten a rather good place and the officers around her were somewhat older; and those that had children were mostly older than Aliya; or younger.
The two reporters, from newspapers out east, had agreed to work together so as to cover more ground. It had mostly been a hunch when they came to Campbell. Since this was where Captain Parker was, they were acting on rumors of how close she had gotten to the little girl whose life she had saved. One day they went to the Children Center since just about any kids of her age would be there and they spotted her.
Aliya was shy; but luckily for her she happened to meet some girls who were not as shy and very friendly. The girls were still too young to really understand her situation. Aliya just told them she came from Afghanistan and had been adopted. Her English was not too bad; and the 3 girls who she got to be friendly with thought she sounded interesting. So they began to pump her for details about her life in Afghanistan. She stayed away from talking about what had happened to her. She just told them she had been adopted by her new mother and she had married a man so she had a new father as well.
The two reporters were not allowed to speak to any of the children nor take pictures which was frustrating. Captain Parker was still a pretty hot news item. She had gotten the Presidential Medal of Freedom only a month earlier. And she had refused hundreds of requests to speak to the media and the Army made it clear they would not order her to.
However they were very sure that that little girl was Aliya. And that Captain Elizabeth Parker had adopted her. Which made the story even juicier. But they had to confirm it.
The Division PR officer was an old hand at dodging questions and giving answers that said nothing at all. But when two reporters have the facts and then dare you to deny them there is nothing a good PR officer can do but try and fall back on the old chestnut, “NO COMMENT.” Which as all PR officers know is admitting that the reporters have the story correct.
So the very next day headlines in two midsized Newspapers in the Eastern US have front page stories about the fate of Aliya. The story was identical in both papers; just which reporter listed first changed.
“Over the last several months there has been a great deal of speculation over the fate of Aliya, the young Afghan girl that most of the world saw shot by a Taliban official. For some time the US Military has refused to give her location. Finally they did confirm she was no longer in Afghanistan. After more delays it was admitted she was in the US. It was thought that she had been adopted somewhere in the US. And it turns out that was true. What these reporters have been able to find out is that Aliya was adopted by Captain Elizabeth Parker, the Apache pilot that rescued her, currently stationed in FT Campbell, Kentucky as commander of A Company, 1 St Battalion of the 101st Aviation Brigade. Captain Parker, who was recently married to a former Marine that had been working at the Air Field at Bagram, apparently adopted the child soon after she was released from the base hospital. We have been able to ascertain that after leaving the base hospital she stayed with Captain Parker in her quarters; then left Afghanistan with her adoptive mother when Captain Parker redeployed back to the US in March of this year. Aliya Parker is now just one of the young girls that live on Ft Campbell with their parents. She seems to be fitting in very well.”
The story went on to talk in detail about how apparently the President had made a personal request of the President of Afghanistan and that it had all been carefully kept quiet.
Liz got a call early the next morning. It was the Division PR officer.
“Captain Parker, I am sorry to tell you that the media found out about you adopting Aliya. And the story is in the newspapers out East. I am sure the networks will pick it up quickly. You still refusing to meet with them?”
Liz sighed. “Yes.”
“They are not going to quit.”
“They are not allowed to take pictures of dependents, right?”
“No they are not.”
“Then let them squawk. Another story will come along. I am not feeding that monster.”
She hung up and then called Max.
“Max. The media has printed a story about Aliya being here and adopted by me. Could you get off work and go get her and take her home?”
“No problem, Liz. At least it’s a Friday. That gives them a whole weekend to get tired of it.”
“True. Thanks, Max.”
“Why thank me? She is my daughter too.”
Max stopped by the center and saw that Aliya was with three other girls and seemed to be talking and seemed comfortable. He decided to wait; and went to one of the workers. She was one that knew about Aliya. Max figured a whole lot of people on Campbell knew; but none of them had said anything.
“A couple of newspapers have printed a story talking about Aliya being her and being adopted by Liz. I was going to take her home just in case but she seems to be getting along well.
“We keep an eye on her; and yes she appears to be making friends. She is learning English very quickly; and beginning to fit in.”
“Liz and I work on her English every day at home; so I guess it’s no surprise. She is a smart girl.”
“Yes she is. And the more she interacts with other children, the better it will be for her in the fall when she starts school.”
Max went off to the side where he could watch her without being seen and called Liz.
“Good news. It is looking like she is already making friends and right this moment is talking with three girls about the same age. I am just going to wait here until they leave then take her home.”
Liz smiled. That was the best of all possible things; Aliya making friends with other young girls her age.
As it turned out Liz was able to get free a little early and headed for the Center. Nice thing being a Company CO you could do that. She came into the center and looked around. Aliya saw her and immediately ran to her and Liz picked her up and swung her around.
“Honey. How are you doing?”
“made friends, Mommy. Come see.” And Aliya dragged her over to meet her new friends.
Max had started to go over and decided to wait as at almost the same time 3 women headed for the same spot.
Becky Jackson was the wife of a Sergeant in the 1st Brigade, her daughter was Sandy; Ruth Winston was the wife of a sergeant in the 2nd Brigade, and her daughter was Ann; Susan Willis was the wife of a sergeant in the 2nd brigade and her daughter was Nancy. They immediately knew who Liz was.
Aliya quickly introduced her friends, who were a little awed by Liz as they recognized officers by now. The three mothers then moved in and introduced themselves. Liz smiled at them.
“I am so glad that Aliya is making friends. That will help her so much.”
Since their daughters had known each other for years, the three wives had become good friends as well. Susan was the most direct and outgoing of the three and she started things off.
“It was an incredible thing you did for her. And then adopting her? It’s like out of a Hollywood movie. Our three have been friends since they started school here; we all got here just over 3 years ago. So if they want Aliya as a friend, which means something. Liz, we know how tough being a mother is. And you are brand new at it. So if you have any problems at all call one of us.”
“Thank you all so much. It is different being a parent out of the blue; but I love her so much. And to have good friends is another great thing. Especially if their mothers don’t mind a phone call now and then asking stupid questions.”
“What may sound like a stupid question to you won’t be to us. Don’t worry about it.”
Liz then spotted Max hovering and called him over. The three mothers had an appreciative eye for Max. Liz saw that and grinned evilly.
“Ya, he is good eye candy, isn’t he?”
They grinned and Max felt himself start to blush which had Liz peeling with laughter.
“OOhh, Maxy is very red.”
They all then headed to their cars and Liz promising that she would indeed call.
Later that evening the three wives were talking to their respective husbands.
Susan: “Met Liz Parker today; her daughter Aliya is becoming friends with Nancy and the others. I guess the media has the story now on where Aliya is and that Liz adopted her. “
Her husband, Ralph, cocked his eye at her. “So the POSSE has decided to get to know her?”
She gave him the evil eye which got a smirk from him.
Becky: “Met Liz Parker today. Aliya is becoming friends with Sandy and the others.”
Her husband, Sam, nodded. “Having friends will certainly help her get used to things here.”
Ruth: “Ran into Liz Parker at the center; I guess Aliya is becoming friends with Ann and the others.”
Her husband, Joe, grinned. “So you guys are going to make Liz Parker into a stepford mom?” And ducked the roll thrown at him.
Liz went home with Aliya and Max and had a good evening. The next morning she was wondering what they would do that weekend. She got a call at around 9AM from Susan.
“Liz, this is Susan Willis. Our girls really want to see Aliya. I guess curiosity has taken over. “
“Well that is great. Where and when?”
“We were thinking of having a get together at Wilkes Park. Everyone brink pot luck around noon. Spend the afternoon since today is supposed to be good weather.”
“Even better. Just tell me what I need to bring besides Aliya and the ball and chain.”
Susan laughed hard. “Oh, I got to tell the girls that. Grab drinks. There will probably be about a dozen of us all together including our worst halves.”
“No problem. We will be there.”
Then Liz had a thought and called the Crew.
Vicki answered at their apartment; they had decided they needed more and went for outside the base housing.
“Vicki, this is Liz. You guys doing anything today?”
“Not really – this week was kind of hard and we are looking at kicking back.”
“Well I just got invited to Wilkes Park at noon; some of the mothers of some girls that Aliya has become friends with; and their husbands. Its Pot luck. But their hubbies are all ground pounders and I think Aviation needs reinforcement. Waddya Think?”
“Let me see what the other two are thinking.”
A minute later.
“They are game. What should we bring?”
“Snack stuff.”
“Gotcha.
“See Ya there.”
Aliya was intrigued at the idea of a picnic. Max was happy to be with Liz anywhere so he was in. They swung by the Commissary and brought a batch of drinks and a couple of coolers and Ice. It would be in the upper 70’s.
Max blinked as he saw Liz in shorts and tank top. And sandals. She looked like she was barely 21. With a baseball cap on she was the cutest thing he had ever seen.
They got there about 1145 and Susan and her family were already there. Just behind them Liz spotted Becky. They greeted each other as they parked their SUV and began to unload. About 5 minutes later came Ruth and hers. And dead on at noon came the Crew. Liz greeted them and they all proceeded to spread out the food and dived in.
They had barely finished eating when the girls wanted to go out and talk. Indulgently the mothers and Liz let them go. Becky had a two year old boy and Susan had a one year old that they put in porta cribs and they proceeded to sleep.
Meanwhile Max and the guys started talking NASCAR and Baseball while Liz and the Crew and the mothers proceeded to girl talk. They were all about the same age, with Liz being just slightly the youngest and Susan the oldest by a year.
Liz looked around a while later and realized just how comfortable she felt. This was life. It was a good two hours later that the talk seemed to inevitably turn to the war and deployments. The mothers had had to stay at home and worry while their husbands had been in Iraq twice.
Liz sensed that Ruth was the most worried of them, just by nature. So she made a special effort to emphasize to her that with the current situation, Iraq would be breeze for the next deployment, scheduled for spring of the next year.
“Way things are, we may be doing very little the next deployment. For us Aviation types it might be a little more busy. For me odds are not much at all. Probably not all that much of a demand for air support.”
Vicki chimed in. “Yeah we might still be busy, but the ground pounders and Liz might be bored to tears. Of course Liz seems to be able to find situations that are downright hairy but that is just her.”
“Hey. I am not that bad.”
Jesse and Ellen rolled their eyes. The mothers grinned. Liz then noticed that Ruth seemed to want to ask a question but was shy about it. Liz reached over and touched her arm.
“Ask us anything, Ruth. It won’t bother us.”
“It is something that I always wanted to know. You said in that press conference that you were going after Aliya no matter what. Weren’t you worried at all about getting in trouble?”
Liz got quiet, and then shook her head. “Did not even occur to me. When I got the first report about that POS locking her in that shed, I knew for certain she was in danger. The Spec Ops guys knew me pretty well by then; they did not hesitate and one of the Crew there was not worried either. When I was close and heard they were beating her, If I had to level half that village I would have done it. I was looking through the 30MM sight when I saw that bastard shoot her. My only regret was that he didn’t suffer enough; though I believe he is roasting nicely in hell. I remember holding her as Ted redlined our bird towards the medcenter. Praying she would make it. Then sitting in that waiting room. The next morning when I saw her in that bed, so thin and pale and hooked up to all the machines, I think at that moment somehow inside me the decision to adopt her was already made. She was my child now. And now she is.”
The guys had come up just in time to hear that and Max sat next to Liz and put his arm around her.
“My warrior Princess.”
Ralph, deciding things were much too serious, proceeded to put an ice cube down Susan’s neck which earned a squeal and a can of coke poured down his shirt. That definitely broke the atmosphere. And the talk became general again.
Late that night as Liz curled up with Max in bed, she smiled thinking back on the day.
“I think Aliya is going to be fine now that she has made some friends.”
“So have you; getting to know some other mothers is good for you.”
The next few weeks things went pretty well; the media was not allowed to bother them and things gradually settled down. The group began to almost every Saturday gather there and get together. Liz noticed that the Crew were regular attendees as well. She began to notice a few other unmarried soldiers seemed to start showing up as well with the Crew in their sights. OR they were in the Crew’s sights; it was hard to tell. But fun to watch.
Aliya blossomed with the close friendships that she was making with the three girls. Her English seemed to get better by the day and she was acting more and more like a typical American pre-teen girl.
Roger was steadily improving both in his skills and his maturity; he began to question Liz on things that reassured her that he would make a good copilot.
The relaxed times ended in early August when word came they were going back to Afghanistan; this time to the south to Kandahar Airbase. The entire division would be there; though some would get there before others. The 101st aviation brigade would deploy in March of 2010. The good news, such as it was, was that the deployment would be only 12 months not 15. Liz got the news at a briefing for the Brigade before most others knew. The Brigade Commander made a point of talking to her right after.
“Captain Parker, you should know that there was some talk about not deploying you for obvious reasons. I made the call and put it to the Division commander who took it upstairs. The final decision has not been made.”
Liz nodded then set herself. “Thank you sir. I belong with my company and my battalion. Wherever they go.”
He nodded. “I knew that would be your response. We should know in the next few days.”
Liz left the meeting and headed back to her office where she made a phone call.
“Captain Elizabeth Parker; I would like to talk to the Congressman.”
Not a minute later he was on the phone.
“Liz, I am guessing something has happened.”
“They are sending my unit to Afghanistan. South this time to Kandahar. There is talk they will not send me. I go with my company and my battalion. Sir I am calling in that favor.”
The congressman sat back. Calling in a favor to GO to war; that was a new one. But not surprising considering who he was talking to.
“I will get right on it Liz.”
He looked at his aide. “I need to talk to the SECDEF.”
CENTCOM was looking at his XO. “This is getting up here? That is a decision at Division Level.”
“Yes sir. Apparently the Brigade wants her to go; the Division does not.”
“So I get to be the tie breaker?”
“Basically.”
“Congressman, I sense there is something urgent here.”
“Somewhat MR Secretary. A officer I admire very much has been told she might be left behind when the 101st Aviation Brigade is deployed to Kandahar. She is not happy about that; she is very clear that she belongs with her company and her battalion.”
SECDEF did not need to ask who this was about.
“Normally I leave that to the unit commanders, Congressman.”
“Who would not usually bow to political pressure or appearances.”
SECDEF got the message.
“I am sure that Captain Parker will be with her unit. May I ask if she called you to make sure she went with her unit?”
“About five minutes after she was told she might not go.”
SECDEF smiled. “That is definitely in her character. We need more like her.”
“That we do. And they belong leading in the field; or in this case above it.”
“That they do. You can assure her that she will be going.”
CENTCOM was wondering in this case whether he might have to take it higher; when he was told the SECDEF was calling.
“Mr Secretary. Is there a problem?”
“Not as long as Captain Parker is going with her unit to Kandahar.”
“Sir I was going that way but with all due honesty I was going to call you about it.”
“She is most adamant about going and we need leaders like that.”
“I certainly agree.”
The Brigade commander answered the phone.
“I am guessing Captain Parker used her pull as I was told by CENTCOM that the SECDEF expected her to get her wish.”
The Brigade commander nodded. “That did not take her long. It is a very different thing when someone uses their pull to go INTO combat.”
“I am told that that happened a lot more in the past then it does now. Which is sad.”
“I guess it is. Thank you for acting quickly, sir.”
The Battalion commander answered his phone.
“This came from VERY high up. Captain Parker goes with her unit.”
“Thank you sir.”
“Captain Parker.”
“Captain, you are going. This came from HIGH up.”
“Thank you sir.”
Liz then emailed the congressman.
“Thank You.”
Liz then went home after making sure her whole Company knew the score.
After she left Ted looked at Grunt.
“I was worried they would not let her go. If they had done that her resignation would have been on the Battalion commanders desk 15 minutes later.”
“Would not have taken that long. I think she keeps a resignation letter that is not dated or signed in her desk.”
Liz dreaded telling Aliya and Max; who would have to stay behind. She knew if they did not have Aliya Max would find a way to go there.
Max had picked up Aliya at school and as they came through the door they saw Liz sitting on the sofa looking at them soberly. They both knew right away that something had happened. Max sat on one side and Aliya on the other. Liz put an arm around each.
“Afghanistan, Kandahar, in March for a year.”
Aliya moved closer to Liz who tightened her grip on her.
Max sighed. “I had hoped for Iraq which is pretty quiet.”
Liz nodded. “We go where it is hottest; and that is Afghanistan now.”
Aliya softly said “As long as you come back.”
Liz cuddled her daughter and smiled. “That is a big 10-4.”
The next gathering at the park was quieter and less joyous. Liz knew the wives had been counting on Iraq and a less stressful deployment.
Ruth was very quiet and Liz once again made a special effort to reassure her.
“This is the best unit in the US Army ground forces; you have to remember that. And me and my company and the other Apache’s will be there as well. And the Crew and the others will make sure they get there and back.”
Ruth nodded. “I know, Liz. But it is still war. I am going to try and talk Joe into going into recruiting. That is a three year assignment and hopefully when that is over with this will all be over.”
Liz sighed. Actually she thought that Joe would be good at recruiting, but doubted he wanted to be one. And he would not walk away from this next deployment.
A little later the three wives got Liz off to talk to her away from the others. Liz suspected that they had recruited the crew to distract their husbands by having their boyfriends get a serious NASCAR debate going.
As usual Susan took the lead.
“Liz, you know Afghanistan. What are we looking at?”
“Well I was up north at Bagram. But we did talk about Kandahar while I was there so I do know a few things. The Country is lower; the mountains are to the north and most of the fighting will be to the south. Kandahar city will be mostly the Special Forces area; I doubt regulars will be used much. So I am figuring that the ground pounders will be mostly doing garrison duty with some units taking part in attacks to clear areas. Those units will rotate the duties. Even now the Taliban does not like to actually fight our forces because they lose. And they know it. Realistically the biggest threats will be IEDs and bombs. Most of the toughest fighting will be done by special forces. That is pretty much as it is right now; though that could change in the 7 months to go before we deploy.”
Becky and the others nodded.
“Thank you for giving it to us straight Liz. The guys will try and sugar coat it to try and make it easier for us.”
“I know it is dumb but that is what guys do that love their women. We kick their asses for it but it’s in their DNA.”
The three smiled at that and agreed. Liz hoped that she had helped.
Interestingly not long after that the Guys cornered Liz and asked her if the girls had wanted details about Afghanistan.
“Yes they did and I gave it to them straight. Anytime they ask they will get the truth. They know you guys will try and make light of it if you can.”
Which left the guys with nothing to say.
The Crew was sitting with their boyfriends, all grunts from the 1st and 2nd Brigades. Jesse and Vicki and Ellen pulled Liz down and surrounded her.
Liz looked around and muttered
“It is so nice to be popular.”
Jesse grinned some but the smile slid away.
“Liz, we know this deployment will be different than Bagram. Everything we have heard says it will be harder and more dangerous.”
Solemnly Liz nodded. “Yes it will be. But honestly I think overall you guys might be in the most dangerous positions.”
Vicki and Ellen blinked and Jesse cocked her head.
“What do you mean?”
“The Taliban and everyone else don’t even try and ambush apache’s anymore. Even their dumbest know better than that. The ground pounders are realistically going to be somewhat limited in their missions. More security and guard and garrison duties than anything else. Probably not that many missions where they will really be in a hairy situation. BUT because of how tough it is to run anything on the roads anymore because of IEDs, more and more resupply is done by helicopter. And most assaults are done the same way. And hawks are the easiest target to be had. So in a lot of ways it’s you guys that will be in the crosshairs more than anyone else.”
They all considered this and Liz noticed that their guys had all pulled them in a little closer. Jesse looked at hers.
“You agree?”
He nodded. And so did the rest of them.
Liz sat for a moment. She then looked around. “I promise you guys that A Company will not fall down on the job. We WILL be there if called. As a matter of fact the whole 1st Battalion will be there as well. We got good pilots and good commanders, modesty aside. You guys call and we will get it done. Take that to the bank.”
Liz was not aware of how she appeared. The smallest adult present, in shorts and tank top, sandals, looking barely old enough to vote let along take a drink. But suddenly she stood very tall.
The training regimen began to speed up and intensify. They still had 6 months, but they figured that by the end of January their birds would be in the process of being packed; early February at the latest. And there would be Christmas Leave to factor in. So most of the training had to be done before Christmas. They could do some after but it would not be all that much. Ft Carson training would come in October. While the likelihood was that they would do a lot less mountain flying in the South versus the North as last time, the newbies still needed that training. There had been some discussion about doing that training in January, which would have probably been better, but in the end it stayed in October.
Liz was not very happy about leaving Max and Aliya; she had wanted more time with them to bond as a family. But what was was. So she made it a point of trying to spend as much time with them as she could.
A Company, even to Liz’s somewhat jaundiced eyes, was doing well. Sam Rivers was a good XO and leader of 2nd Platoon. He had experience in Afghanistan as well. Liz had made a point of pulling out maps for the area around Kandahar province and having all the pilots and copilots study them until they were familiar. Then every chance she got she would throw scenarios at them; various possibilities of missions. What do you do under this situation in this area; and so on.
The Battalion Commander was talking to his XO, Ed Griffith on the companies.
“So how do they look to you?”
“Pretty good. C Company is still a little rough, but then they also had the highest turnover. They are coming along. B Company is solid; Scooter Winston has them well in hand. A Company is doing very well; Liz is pushing them hard. She has them constantly working on scenarios. Which is something we need to have all the Companies doing.”
“Still wish you were flying?”
“Of course; but the reality is anymore that neither one of us can spend the necessary time staying sharp with all the administrative crap we have to do. And it is stupid and selfish to try and fly when you have not put in the time staying ready.”
“Glad you think that way. It took me a while to admit that. When you reach our level it has to be what is best for the mission and the unit, not what we want.”
Ed cocked his eye. “Why do I feel there is something else in that?”
“Because I got early word that my promotion to Brigade XO will probably happen some time after we deploy. Which is lousy timing. That means that you will probably get a quicker promotion than you might have expected. Which is what happens in wartime. Scooter will probably become your XO. I know we try and keep pilots in these slots but sometimes that is not possible. Scooter Winston is too junior to get bumped up into Major but that is the way it could be.
Ed grimaced. “Well the extra pay is nice and making light colonel is good; but otherwise that sucks. I see how much administrative shit you deal with and I do not want it.”
“Suck it up.”
The other companies started doing more complex scenarios as well; Scooter kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner.
It seemed time flew and they were heading to Ft Carson. Luckily that was uneventful. The training was tougher this time because they all were pushing harder. Just about every prior veteran from Afghanistan seemed realize that this would be a rougher deployment. Liz had her people simulate battle damage and practice auto rotations at higher altitudes; it got hairy a couple of times.
Sam was talking to his copilot.
“Liz is really pushing hard. It is like she has an idea of what is coming.”
“Ted was telling me that at the start of that mission she did the barrel role on, she had a feeling something bad was coming. She never said anything like that again. And that was by far the closest they came to getting splattered. So maybe she has a hunch again.”
Liz was addressing the company after the last training flight in Ft Carson.
“OK, people, I think we are about as ready for the mountains as we could get”
She looked at her people and felt very proud. She knew they were sharp and ready. “Hustler” Rivers, “Whistler” Logan, “Stomper” Simpson, “Lobo” Dugan, “Slinger” Wilson, “Hammer” Jones, “Pug” Terrel. She had in her platoon Whistler, Lobo and Pug.
She had decided after the Christmas break that they would try and get as much flight time as they could for the Copilots. They were all pretty green.
November went by and the Christmas season came close. Nancy and Ed would be coming to visit. She had also been determined to visit Maria, Tess and Isabelle. They, interestingly, all settled in Savanna. Liz was amazed that everyone was able to get jobs there considering the state of the economy but all three families were doing well. Liz, Max and Aliya would be visiting them for a few days between Christmas and New Years. The three women had all gone into the reserves to finish out the rest of their enlistment.
Aliya was very wide eyed at her first Christmas. Liz loved showing her the holiday season for the first time. She was truly a joy. And she and the three girls had become as thick as thieves; one of the reasons Liz figured Aliya was doing so well in her first real school. She had adapted very well to life in America.
“So, Chica, how do you feel about this deployment?”
As usual Maria cut to the chase. Liz and her family had just gotten into town; they were all gathered at Maria’s house, since she had gotten ambitious and found a big older home that needed work. One lucky thing about the bad economy was that homes were cheaper than ever. All three had found good ones. The home had been built in the early 20’s, and was three stories high and had been modernized some in the 80’s. Maria was just looking at finishing it. Michael had his own studio so he was happy. It had 7 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. Liz looked at it and cocked her eye at her friend.
“So just how many kids are you two planning on?”
Maria’s blush said it all.
But the good news is that there was plenty of room for Liz and her family, and Maria’s mom as well was there. Diane and Phillip were staying with Isabelle and Alex; and Kyle’s father was staying with him and Tess.
“It is going to be tougher than my last one; I just know it. I can feel it.”
Maria nodded; they had all gotten used to Liz just “knowing” things.
The girls made a point of spoiling Aliya rotten; which Liz loved to see.
The second night the men had all been exiled elsewhere and the ladies were in the massive living room of Maria’s mansion, as they had all taken to calling it.
Aliya had been worn out with all the shopping and was safely asleep on the third floor. So that left Liz and her three friends and Diane and Amy. Diane kept thanking Liz for getting Max to settle down. Much to the eye rolls of everyone else.
Amy voiced the main concern everyone there had.
“Just how dangerous will this time be, Liz?”
Liz considered the question.
“More dangerous for me? Probably not. This is a lower altitude area; most of the fighting is down on the plains. Kandahar City is not where Apache’s will be doing much if anything. Part of what made the northern area dangerous was we were at a higher altitude; which for helicopters is not a good thing. The Taliban has pretty much learned trying to shoot down Apache’s is not a smart thing. They have just about given up on that. Now they try and target the Blackhawks and the Chinooks. So for them it will be more dangerous. The only mountain fighting going on is pretty much done by Special Forces, and they usually have their own lighter and smaller attack helicopters. The reason we spent so much time escorting the Special Ops guys last time was that the range of the operations made it hard to use those smaller ones. And one of their Aviation battalions had been assigned to help others, actually down where we will be this time. I doubt we will be helping them out nearly as much. And most of the most hairy missions last time involved Special Ops. So for me personally overall it is probably not going to be as dangerous.”
Tess was shaking her head and Diane looked at her.
“What is it Tess?”
“What Liz is NOT saying is that since the Blackhawks and others will be under a greater threat, she will be taking her Apache’s in lower and slower to protect them.”
They all looked at Liz who proceeded to blush. Maria whacked her with a pillow.
“Chica, we expect the straight dope from you. No sugar coating.”
Liz sighed. “Guys, I guess it is no surprise to you that I already know this will be a hairy deployment. The only good thing about it is that it will be only a 12 month one, not 15 month. Apache’s are the big guns of the Aviation Brigade; it is up to us to protect the others and give support to the grunts. It goes with the territory.”
Diane decided to ask another question that she had asked Max, but he had not really known the answer.
“Liz, after what happened the last time, it was a pretty sure thing that you would not be going back to Afghanistan due to the fact that you had become the Taliban’s Public enemy #1. What happened?”
Liz blushed and Isabelle snorted.
“Liz used her pull with that congressman to make sure she got sent.”
Amy and Diane stared at Liz in shock.
Maria shook her head. “Liz has a very overdeveloped sense of responsibility. As Company Commander she was not going to have her people go in without her.”
Liz grimaced. “It is not just that. I am a very good Apache Driver. I have experience there. There is no excuse for me staying. I signed up with eyes wide open. I will not back out. That is not me. If I had stayed behind I would have resigned from the Army. I guess I could have requested assignment as an Instructor; and I might do that after this deployment. But I was not going to be forced into that decision.”
Amy shook her head. “I guess maybe you really are a warrior. Jim has said that a couple of times.”
Deciding she was getting too much attention, Liz then grinned at Amy.
“So how is the courting going, Amy? I hear Jim is getting pretty persistent.”
Maria glared at Liz. “I do NOT want to hear about this. Kyle as my step brother is a thought that does not BEAR to be considered.”
Tess protested. “Maria he is not as bad as he was. I have been working hard on civilizing him. He only burps at the table now and then and he has remembered to put the toilet seat down for several months now.”
They all laughed at that. And things eased up.
Diane was interested in how Aliya was doing.
“Aliya seems to be adapting well to life here.”
Liz smiled brightly at that.
“Ya. She really has. Making friends like she did early on has made a huge difference. She is no longer as shy or as timid. She is growing up and getting more confident. I just wish I had had more time with her before deploying again. But Max will be there for her.”
Diane shook her head. “Max told me that otherwise he would have found a way to find work with a contractor there. I am glad that he is staying here.”
“I will miss having him close. But I will also be happier with him here taking care of Aliya.”
Maria shook her head. “Enough depressing crap. Now for the good news.”
She blushed slightly. “I am pregnant.”
And that took care of depressing subjects for the rest of the night.
Going back to the base and preparing for the deployment was not the most cheerful thing to do, but as always Liz did what she needed to do.
True to her plan, the company spent a lot of time during the remaining month they had their birds getting as much flight time for the Copilots as they could. And practicing shooting everything. While 2.75 rockets were being used less and less Liz insisted that everyone keep practicing with them. She pushed for more live Hellfire shooting as well.
Finally they saw their choppers taken off of flight status and starting the process of preparing them for shipment. That left them with working on all the other details of preparing for a combat deployment. One thing that Liz had to do that she had not done much with last time was prepare a will. Before it would not have mattered as everything would have gone to her mother. But now with a husband and child things were much more complicated and she did a proper will.
One night Liz and Max lay in bed and Max realized that Liz had something to talk about. So he spooned her and whispered in her ear.
“Come on, Liz. Just get it out.”
“Max, if I don’t come back…”
“Liz, please…”
“No Max we have to talk about this. We need to make contingency plans just in case. I know for instance that you do not think much of your job. So you will quit it and find something you like. I think it would be best to try and stay in this area; Aliya needs continuity if that happens. And her friends are here. Between my savings and your savings and the increased Life Insurance I have taken out, there will not be any hurry for you to find something. So take your time. If you can stand it, I would like you to think about moving to Savanna where all my friends are and they would help take care of Aliya. After a year or so. I would hate for Aliya to lose her friends, but it might be better for her to go elsewhere where she would not be reminded so much. I know that kind of conflicts with Savanna but it will be your call. And you will not become a monk or hermit. You will give yourself time to grieve and then you will find someone else who can be a mother to Aliya and to give you children of your own. I want Aliya to have brothers and sisters if possible.”
Max was silent for a long time.
“Liz you cannot think you are so replaceable. I never really loved a woman until you.”
“Everyone is replaceable in one way or another. People remarry all the time. Just give yourself a chance. And think of Aliya as well.”
“OK. I promise I will try. Just please do not give me a reason.”
“I will try my hardest to make it back to you and Aliya, Max. You know that.”
This was a very different leave taking; before there was no one waiting for her back at the base; and that made it so much harder. Liz realized that now she had so much more to lose than just her life. She hoped that that realization would not affect how she led her company and fought her Apache.
Flying into Kandahar was much different than Bagram; Kandahar was so much more built up and busy. There was only one runway which was insane; although apparently another was in the works. One good thing was that the barracks and quarters were better than Bagram. They actually had some other amenities as well; though the current commander had run a bunch of the fast food places out of town so to speak. His name was taken in vain quite often.
Liz had quietly politicked to get quarters with the Crew, even though as a Captain she actually rated something a little better. As it turned out in their particular quarters she was the senior officer. Once again four to a room, and there were 12 rooms in the two floors of that building. It was built like a cheap hotel, though the rooms were better than that. Each room had its own shower and bath and a small kitchenette.
Rocket attacks and small arms fire at the perimeter were fairly common, and they were told most just sat them out rather than going to shelters. Liz told everyone that it was up to them; she would not order them to go to shelters.
While there was definitely a threat from the outside, Kandahar still offered far more than Bagram did. Jesse summed it up well: more risk and more reward.
The bubble idea had spread from Bagram and the hangers at Kandahar were full of them. Their helicopters had arrived just the day before and it would be at least a week before they were flyable. Then the Brigade would take several weeks to get a feel of things before they took over the duties of the Aviation Brigade about to leave. There were more facilities and better facilities that had just been built than Bagram had, so from that point of view things were better.
They took over the offices of the outgoing brigade, who were still operational, but who had moved temporarily so as to let the new brigade get up and running as soon as possible. Liz found that as a company commander she ended up at more meetings than she had before. Which was one more pull on her time. She was very grateful that Sergeant Alexander Roberts was still the E8, the First Sergeant, and was to her the unsung hero of any aviation company. He was the direct commander of the crew chiefs; he was technically a crew chief himself but rarely had the time to get his hands dirty.
In the so called glamorous world of Army Aviation, not much was ever said about the support units. Which sucked in Liz’s view because without them the helicopters became massive paper weights. The complexity of an Apache is staggering once you take a close look at it. Avionics (Aviation Electronics) for an Apache is the equivalent of any modern Airliner; with extra things like computers to keep track of multiple targets for Hellfire Missiles and the like. Encrypted communications; hardened for combat. And so on. That takes a lot of work to keep it running in friendly climates; for hot, dry, dusty Afghanistan it’s much harder.
One of the briefings early on consisted of a no holds barred dead straight evaluation of the current situation in Kandahar city and Province. To be blunt, it was not good. Sympathy for the opponents of the National Government (more honest then claiming they were supporters of the Taliban) was high. The National Government was not trusted. Neither was the military or the National Police. Part of that was due to tribal feuds and differences; but a lot of it was due to the plain fact that they were both incompetent and corrupt in all too many cases. Kandahar City was especially hostile. Outside of the City it was a little better. The current overall commander in Afghanistan had been pushing night raids that while better for the troops going in tended to cause more civilian casualties and overall was questionable in its value. What Liz got from all this was that basically the overall plan was just to wear down the enemy over time. And the 101st Aviation Brigade was going to be one of the primary parts of that wearing down; between moving the troops to and from and the Apache’s covering them.
Things began to accelerate as the choppers were made flight ready; vs combat ready. First they were flown to make sure that they had not broken anything on the way; then all their systems were tested; then practice at maneuvering, and firing. Weapon’s practice was a fair amount of fun. This took about three weeks before they were considered combat ready. So right at the beginning April, 2010, the 101st Aviation Brigade took over the aviation mission for the Kandahar Province. Now the Special Ops crews had their own aviation section that supported most of their efforts, but they just did not have enough assets to spread over all the areas that Special Ops covered in Afghanistan, which for all intents and purposes was the entire country of Afghanistan. So on occasion the 101st would be supporting them. Liz had a very good relationship with the SF in general, and had found out that Captain Forrest had ended up down here for his current tour. She had supported his teams on several fairly hairy operations. And then he came by shortly after they became operational. His visit was not by chance and had come from a meeting with the area commander of Special Ops.
“This is not any news to you I am sure.”
“Well, sir, I would have to have been dumb deaf and blind not to notice that we just do not have the organic aviation support necessary to perform all of our missions.”
“Very well put. Down here in this part of the country especially. There are plans to increase the 160th, but that is in the future. Now the good news is that the 101st Aviation Brigade is about to take over. And we have some friends there already, and most of their people worked with us in Bagram on their last tour. Now the real problem is that our friends in the Company pretty much trashed their reputation with the last Brigade here.”
“I was never aware the Company had a reputation that could be trashed.”
“Well that is the semi official story anyway. The problem was that the company nitwits in their typical way managed to screw some people in that brigade and from that point on no one wanted anything to do with them. Now I do not blame them at all; in their shoes I would have done the same. The problem is that I have no doubt that the new guys were very explicitly warned about doing anything for anyone from the company. So I will need someone from Special Operations to serve as the go between. So in addition to your regular duties when the company needs to get something done and neither it nor the units of the 160th here can do it, you will need to talk to them.”
“Well I can guess what kind of rep I will get after a couple of those missions.”
“We all have to make sacrifices, Captain.”
“Well, Captain Parker now has Company A of their Apache Battalion and I know her fairly well. Though I was really surprised they sent her back here, considering the size of the Bullseye the Taliban will have on her.”
“The word I got was that she had her tame congressman call the SECDEF and demand she go along with her unit.”
“You don’t see much of that anymore.”
“You don’t see ANY of that anymore is the factual answer.”
“Well then I guess I will have a talk with her and clue her in. Then ask her to talk to the Battalion Commander. That is probably the best we can do as regards having some Apache Drivers on our side.”
“Good Idea. Now to be brutally honest, Captain, I would prefer any favors asked to be for our people and not the company.”
“And if they say no to the Company that is the Company’s problem.”
“Now you get it, Captain.”
So when Captain Forrest stuck his head his head in her door Liz was quite happy to talk to him.
“So, Joe how goes the snake eating?”
“Try rattlesnake sometime; tastes like chicken.”
“I will take your word for it.”
He then got up and after a quick look down the hall closed her door and sat down in front of her desk. Liz raised an eyebrow.
“OK, so this is not just a meet and greet. I was there with you on more than a couple of interesting missions, Joe, so just give it to me straight.”
“Liz, this is a request from my area Commander. It’s not about any particular mission; what it is about is that in addition to all the other fun things I am doing here I am also now saddled with seeing to it that important missions for the CIA get support when our own or their own people are not available.”
Liz looked at him. “The outgoing brigade was very informative about CIA missions and their people.”
He snorted. “I bet they were. And they were right. The Company will screw anyone anytime anywhere. As they proved once again to the people in that brigade. I have no doubt that the 101st Brigade commander will refuse to have anything to do with them subject to a direct order from higher up. And then will do his best to delay obeying until nothing can be done. I do not blame him a bit and neither does my CO. But there are occasions when they actually do have good reasons to do something. What I am here asking is if you are willing to talk to your Battalion commander and agree to listen. I will be the point man – they will not come to you directly. So technically you will be responding to Special Operations requests for assistance. But you will know who really is involved. I can promise you right here and now that you will get the straight dope from me on any mission they are part of.”
Liz sat back and thought about it. Then looked at him.
“That is of course if they tell you the whole story.”
He grinned; no flies on Liz.
“There is always that possibility, but we have our ways of finding out things as well. Anything they come up with that really smells I will let you know. And give you the high sign if I think it’s a good time to have serious maintenance problems with your birds.”
Liz slowly nodded. Captain Forrest had always been straight with her.
“OK. Let us go have a talk with the Battalion CO and his XO, who used to be my Company Commander.”
The Battalion commander and Ed Griffith looked at Liz then at the SF Captain as they came into his office.
Ed shook his head. “Liz, I thought I taught you better about who to hang out with.”
Liz grinned. “Hey, what is a little conspiracy among friends?”
The Battalion commander rolled his eyes and signaled the Captain to close the door.
“I probably officially do not want to know but tell me anyway.”
Liz began. “Captain Forrest was always straight with me the last time I was in Afghanistan. I agreed to forward his request. You are on Joe.”
Joe then made his pitch. Ed just grunted and the Battalion Commander sighed.
“I understand your situation. But do you really understand the problems the Company caused for the last brigade here?”
“Yes sir I do. They got screwed royally. But then they should not have taken it personally; the Company will always screw everyone. It is not personal; it is just the way they are. I promised Liz that if I had any suspicion that they were pulling something I would let her know and she could find out that suddenly none of her birds were flight capable for various reasons. I agreed to be the go between. I will not, and I give you my word on that, screw you. If the Company finds out that they are not going to get anything that is their problem. It is not like they can complain to anyone that gives a damn.”
The Battalion commander slowly nodded. Then looked at Liz. “So you get to be the designated Liaison to Special Operations Command. That is the only way I can sell it to Brigade. Joe asks Liz who then decides if we need to get involved. If She says no that is final.”
Captain Forrest nodded. That was a pretty good deal and frankly better than he had hoped for. He figured Liz vouching for him counted a lot. And that is what he told his CO.
“Well, considering her reputation maybe that is not surprising. But it is also something to remember. If she thinks we screwed her or her people, I would not be surprised if she dropped a dime on us to her tame congressman. Who could really make us regret it.”
“I will just have to make sure that it was the Company and not us. I have never done it and will never do it knowingly.”
Flying her Apache was still the most enjoyable thing Liz did with her clothes on; before Max it was #1 period. Early April in Southern Afghanistan was not much different than early April in Northern Afghanistan. Getting hotter, still as dusty and still as dry. But up in the air, 3000 feet above the ground, in her Apache, it was a very different world. This day was the last one before they began to support combat operations. The entire company was flying with her, as they practiced some formation flying. And she got to enjoy one last fairly carefree day in the air.
That afternoon came the briefing for their first mission. Two FOB’s would be resupplied by Chinooks from 6 Battalion; Liz would take 1st platoon and cover one while Hustler took the other platoon for the other mission. The entire Battalion was out covering supply missions this day. Actual assault and combat missions would start pretty quickly.
“Well there you have it. Pretty simple really. At least until the bullets start flying. Targets of opportunity are well known; but you do not leave your area unguarded just to pot shoot a couple of insurgents. They could be doing that specifically to lure you away and leave the Chinooks vulnerable. For you newbies, I will remind you all once again that sacrifice for the hard core Taliban means to them a sure path to paradise. Just like the Japanese Kamikaze’s of WW2. No real difference. Those of you that were here in the last deployment learned that the hard way. We were very fortunate that last tour by not having one single Apache seriously damaged let alone shot down. But they came close as Lobo and I can FORTUNATELY testify to. Do not relax; do not take anything for granted ever. You let down, you relax, you get careless the Gods of War will strike you down. Which will be only SLIGHTLY worse than what I will do to you if you are lucky enough to survive.”
The mission began early, before dawn, which would be the usual pattern; less chance of anyone seeing which direction they have gone and maybe getting out warnings. The FOB was about 40 minutes flying time from Kandahar; the Apache’s had one external fuel tank. One good change in procedure was that now it was up to the Company Commander how much fuel they took on any single mission. No more having to go to Battalion. Liz intended to go with at least one aux tank on every mission; and if it was much longer on this one, two. One hellfire pod and one 2.75 pod would be standard. The number of Hellfires shot in Afghanistan had dropped significantly; more and more work was done by the 30MM, which was the most accurate weapon they had. With so much attention on civilian casualties, the pressure was always on to be more precise.
Liz checked the area as they got close; the FOB reported the area clear; it was just dawn. She took her platoon down low and over flew the landing area before taking station at 1000 feet while the Chinooks landed and began unloading. Liz tended to have her people alternate around, switching places and generally trying to be unpredictable in their movements. It took about an hour for the Chinooks to unload. So far nothing. Liz took them down low and buzzed the area then moved out and hovered; watching as the Chinooks took off. Once the Chinooks got to 2000 feet they took off towards Kandahar and Liz kept her Apache’s flanking them. There was no real need to stay around once the Chinooks got to that height; the Taliban had very few SAM’s and most of them were over age Soviet models that were not very effective. Still it just made everyone feel a little better to stay together. The flight back was happily uneventful.
That days flying had been very much routine; no one had really had to deal with anything bigger than some insurgents trying to pot shoot at ranges far beyond the capability of their AK-47’s.
That afternoon came the briefing for an assault mission on a village about 100 miles from Kandahar, slightly north in the foothills before the mountains. A company from the 1st Brigade would hit it; they would be flown in by 14 Blackhawks of A and B companies, 5th Battalion. 6 Blackhawks would be in reserve, 2 of them Medevac. The Crew would be in the lead choppers. Once again A company would be their escort. Since it was thought that they might have more time on the ground, Liz would have her birds take 2 aux tanks.
The Company commander wanted the ships to land right at Dawn, with no flyover by the Apache’s. He wanted his people in that village before most of them woke up. The Division Commander did not agree with the night raids the Theatre Commander preferred and would go that way until ordered not to. It was a lot harder figuring out the real Taliban from civilians as it was, without throwing the dark into it. Now if someone shot at you, they got bullets right back. No matter whom they were. As usual a unit of the Afghan Army would go with them to interpret and to make it clear that this was not just Americans coming to visit.
0500 and they were in the air; Dawn was about 0630. If they got near the target early they would hover and wait; better too early than too late.
As usual the flight there was uneventful; later on in the tour when the machines began to get worn down by the constant missions, it would not be unusual in an assault this big for one of the choppers to have engine trouble. Which could cause all sorts of problems depending on the severity. If it had to turn back one of the reserves would have to go with it as well as one Apache as escort in case it had to land short of the base. As the machines got more worn down more reserve choppers would be going along.
They did get in the area a little early and hovered for 10 minutes 10 miles out before continuing. Liz had her platoon as low cover while Hustler had his as high.
The 16 Blackhawks swooped in and landed on all four sides of the village and the Troopers poured out and swept in. Liz, listening in, did not hear anything out of the usual and the Blackhawks took off and came back to altitude. The Apache’s stayed at 1000 feet, watching everything in the increasing light.
For the first few minutes not much appeared to be happening; then Pug called out.
“Have six armed firing at troops from wash”
“Can you clearly identify them?”
“Roger. One has RPG.”
“Take them.”
“Roger used 30MM they are took.”
That apparently turned out to be the only armed fighters in the village; and subsequently showed to be the only Taliban there. So using a full company was definitely over kill. The good news was that no civilians were wounded. The only shots fired beyond the Apache’s were a few that tore down a door on a shed that was locked; in it were found arms and ammunition that was probably Taliban. After a hurried conference with the Afghan Military, it was decided to leave them. There were so many AK-47’s and so much ammunition floating around Afghanistan that why bother with a few. Besides that might be the villages only protection against bandits. So only 45 minutes after touchdown the Commander ordered dust off. The Hawks came in and in one hour they were all heading home.
The next day came two smaller assaults on smaller villages; Liz split the company up with 1 platoon for each. Once again there was very little opposition and this time the Apache’s did not fire a shot in either case.
Other units were not so fortunate and there was some heavy fighting. But no one was killed and no choppers were more than slightly damaged.
The next two weeks were pretty much the same; Liz had yet to fire her weapons which really surprised her. Everyone else had. But all the 101st Brigade missions were successful, though not without loss. No choppers had been lost; or pilots or crew killed. But several Troopers were. And some of the flyers were wounded if only slightly.
One month into the combat part of the tour, early in May, came the first mission where it got a little hairy for Liz’s company.
IT was another larger assault; this time half a company in 8 Blackhawks and 4 in reserve with 2 Medevac. This village was not that big but rumor had it that it was fully Taliban. The thinking was that there were probably no civilians in this one; but of course no one could be sure of it. But the predators had been watching it for several days and no children or women had been seen. It was over 150 miles from Kandahar. There were two ways to handle this one; everyone have maximum auxiliary tanks or have a refueling point set up. Just about everyone preferred a refueling point and that was the way it finally went; Liz pushed a little when Battalion was hesitant. They picked an open area about 40 miles from the target and kept a watch on it with UAVs. Then at 0400 they headed to that point; with two Chinooks carrying fuel and a security detail. The landed at that point at 0445 and were refueling at 0500. By 0545 they each had been topped up and they headed for the target. The Apache’s had one external tank; the Blackhawks none.
Like the pattern was at this time, the Blackhawks came in with the Apache’s; this time Liz let Hustler take the low road. They landed on both sides of the village and the troopers poured out and headed in. They started taking fire early on and returned it, steadily pushing in. Due to the previous intelligence, Hustler was cleared to fire on any armed personnel they saw as long as not accompanied by women or children. Unarmed were NOT to be fired on.
Then the troopers started to take RPG fire and Hustler’s platoon moved in close to assist. More and more it appeared this was a Taliban stronghold.
Liz took a careful look around the village in the increasing light and spotted no movement towards it from any direction. With that she brought the rest of the company down; the blackhawks had all pulled back. Then the word came in for MEDEVAC and the first one began to land. Liz and Lobo moved down to cover them; and as it landed several Taliban rose up to fire at it; Liz and Lobo blew them away with their 30MM before they could cause damage to the MEDEVAC. Several injured troopers were carried to the first medevac and it took off immediately. Liz detailed Pug to escort it.
More Taliban popped up and were hosed by the Apache’s. Then word came in for the other Medevac. Command indicated that resistance had just about ended. Liz and the others stayed low and watchful. Then the call for Dustoff came for most of the troopers. The other medevac left and Liz had one of Hustler’s people go and he sent Whistler. The troopers had quickly gone through the village and found some arms and weapons caches and set demo charges on them. Nothing else had been found of interest. They were all in the process of taking off when word came back from the refueling point that they thought some enemy forces might be coming close. Making a quick decision Liz left Hustler with the escort duty and took her two remaining Apache’s with her at full throttle. It took only 20 minutes to get there and they did indeed find some moving in and Liz and the others went down low and hosed them. Fuel reports indicated that everyone could get back comfortably with current fuel load so the refuel point rather quickly packed up and took off. They were only a little behind the rest of the flight and Liz stayed with them.
That was the most action they were to see for a few weeks; the other companies got more.
One day just after a couple of milk runs Captain Forrest stuck his head in Liz’s door. She looked at him and sighed; he came in and closed the door.
“The Company has an operation going and needs some heavy support; everything we have is already committed.”
“What kind of operation and where.”
“They know where a Taliban official is and want to bag him. But they want the Taliban to think he got blown up. So they want to place a body there dressed appropriately and have the building he is in blown up. The Idea is to have the Taliban find traces of the guy and figure he is in many pieces. Now to do this they want an Apache there to use Hellfires; that way the Taliban does not suspect the charges will be set on the ground; you will fire the hellfire and a couple of others and big booms. This place apparently is a bomb making factory so big booms would not be surprising. And this is a full night operation.”
Liz rolled her eyes. “Complicated much?”
“That is their specialty and you are right. But this one is pretty high priority. Liz, I think you ought to take this one yourself; they want as little known about it as possible.”
Liz looked at him. “Like I would send anyone else. So how are we going to do this?”
“You load up and fly out this evening and to one of their bases. About midnight we hit the place. The buildings to be blown will be laser designated by a predator; you just have to make sure the Hellfires are locked on and let them go.”
“Why not use a predator?”
“Because they want to blow up four separate buildings; and if it is done clearly by a helicopter the Taliban will be less suspicious.”
“OK. I will talk to the Battalion commander.”
Right after dark they took off and flew on a precise heading for one hour at near maximum speed. Roger was kind of excited about this; Liz just shook her head and told him he would learn. At one hour they were called and given directions from there. They landed in the middle of what appeared to be a cleared area surrounded by old milvans. After landing and instructions they both got out. Liz told Roger to stick with the bird and she followed a man dressed in civilian clothing into one of the milvans that had been set up as a HQ.
Once inside the door closed and a dim light was switched on. Liz figured it was no coincidence that the only light focused on a map on a table. The faces of everyone was dimly seen at best; almost certainly on purpose. One of the men did all the talking.
“Captain Parker here is the area; you will be here at exactly 1250. At 1300 the operation should be ready and you will wait for the laser designator and then fire four hellfire’s as directed by the lasing. After firing you will fly low over the area and then return to Kandahar. With a full tank from here you should have an excellent margin. You are further directed to not mention this mission to anyone anytime in the future. You will make that clear to your copilot as well. Am I understood?”
Liz calmly looked at him and said. “Yes.”
“Very well you may return to your aircraft and wait; take off will be in approximately 3 hours.”
Liz turned and walked out the opened door and followed the company man back to the chopper. She saw Roger supervising the filling of the one auxiliary tank that they had. After it was done and they had checked that the cap was shut and tight she told him to just sit down and wait. Which they did. Liz nodded off after about half an hour. 30 minutes before taking off Roger woke her up.
Hovering and waiting, Liz waited for the word to drop down to 500 feet where she would fire. The word came at 1305; she lowered from 1000 and took position; the designator buzzed and one by one she fired the Hellfires. 4 very nice explosions. She waited a couple of minutes to let debris settle then flew over the village at about 100 feet. No one would mistake that. At that point she turned the bird on a bearing for Kandahar and took off. She let Roger fly them back to give him some experience in night flight.
Once they got back they just gave blank looks to anyone that asked where they had been. They got back in at 0300. Luckily her company had no missions that morning so she was able to sleep in some; they had a milk run that afternoon, a supply run to two separate FOB’s. Nothing happened. So she was able to get a full nights sleep that night.
The next few weeks were a steady pattern; some milk run resupplies; other escort operations.
There still was the occasional rocket attack, but nothing had ever come close to their building. IT was actually fairly comfortable there compared to the time in Bagram; there was more variety of things to do and get. Liz tried to spend some time in the gym, to stay fit. Vicki and the others were frankly Jealous as Liz seemed to have no problem staying small. They were all comfortable with each other; and that was good. Liz emailed Max and Aliya every day or so, keeping them informed of things. And they emailed back with details of their everyday life that Liz clung to. She was coming to the conclusion that while flying her Apache was the best; the rest of the job was not so great. And she was seeing it more and more as a job. The paperwork and other BS that she as a company commander had to wade through was a real downer.
Liz was seriously thinking that before her next deployment she would request a transfer to the Aviation school as an instructor. With a little luck she could make that assignment last several years. By then she would be a Major and be looking at becoming a Battalion XO. Her active flying days would be about over. Another possibility was to bite the bullet and start taking college courses. But that would inevitably lead to staff positions and the like. She would rather be a flight instructor and then run her string out. Then get out and fly in the civilian world. Without modesty she knew she could just about write her own ticket. She just was not sure how far to take her military career.
It was the beginning of June and the campaigns really began to heat up. Special Ops were all over Kandahar City; that was a real tough nut to crack. The rest of the Division had just about arrived; for the first time in a very long time all the 101st Airborne was deployed in the same place at the same time.
Max picked up Aliya and took her home; Ft Campbell was very empty. Basically only bare bones military left; just dependents mostly. Aliya was doing well; she was worried about Liz of course but the constant emails helped. Liz was usually able to call once a week as well. Max was very lonely without Liz; he began to finally comprehend the feelings of other military men who had left their wives home on deployments. Only for him it was the other way around.
The Special Forces senior command had made the expansion of the 160th SOAR a priority; but that still took time. A new whole unit was being planned as well; many grumbled that this had been obvious for a long time and ignored. Which was true.
Women had been allowed in Special Forces only for staff positions for a long time; but that was gradually changing. They were slowly infiltrating all areas; and aviation was one of the first. Command was actually beginning to consider recruiting them.
One special project was an attack helicopter that was more survivable then the current models. The Direct Action Penetrator version of the Black Hawk had been one. But a tougher more heavily armed helicopter was needed. A new design would take 10-15 years before it could fly. And no one had made any kind of a major breakthrough that would make it worthwhile. So the geeks started to look at taking what was already out there and significantly improving it. They kept coming back to the Apache; but with some modifications. Making the tail rotor a fenestron; more particularly an electric one. With the new generations of electric motors so much more efficient and powerful, you would not need to bleed power from the main engines; the generators on the Apache already had the necessary extra power. And that kind of tail rotor was less vulnerable to enemy fire. With two separate cables to run power to the motor, which would also make it less likely to be damaged. The tail boom could be significantly narrowed; weight savings. Going titanium for the frame and the body while very expensive would save over 1000 lbs and maybe more; using more powerful engines. A complete upgrade of the aircrafts avionics and communications. The engineers went to their computers and figured that they could overall gain 20% on range; and add 15% on speed. Maneuverability would also increase. New glassine based Kevlar armor would give greater protection for less weight. It would be expensive; but it would outclass easily anything else in the world. An extendable air refueling boom. New composition rotors that would be stronger and more rigid. The stub wings would be articulated fully; the pods built into them, which would then allow auxiliary tanks to be added while not losing any firepower. And tied into the control system would allow better high speed maneuverability.
This project had been started in 2007; by 2010 the first model was ready to fly. And the initial flights exceeded expectations. Veteran Apache pilots test flew it and loved the new bird.
It was now late June and there were multiple missions almost every day. All the helicopter crews were being run ragged as the new offensive against the Taliban demanded more and more support. Several Blackhawks had been badly damaged and two had been destroyed; but the 101st Aviation seemed to lead a charmed life as regards no one getting killed. But with the tempo and the demands, that was just a matter of time. So far the Apache’s had escaped with only minor damage on a few occasions.
It was the second mission of the day; and the second mission where the entire company was out on a mission. This was another major assault on a Taliban village over 150 miles from Kandahar. This was considered the limit for various reasons. They would base out of a FOB that was only 50 miles from the target. That meant they had to load up and fly there first; refuel and then hit the target and maybe refuel on the way back. 6 Battalion would supply the Blackhawks; and two full companies were involved. As usual with an assault this big, a full company of Apache’s would accompany them. The first mission had been a resupply that ended at 1200; by 1500 they were heading to the FOB where they would land and refuel and wait until just before dawn the next morning. The FOB was primitive and you were stuck sleeping in a tent; which in the very hot weather of near mid summer was not easy to do. A dinner of MRE’s did not make it better.
Liz and the others got what rest they could; she did manage a few hours of sleep. She had a uneasy feeling about this mission. At 0430 they woke up; at 0515 they were in the air and hit the target right at 0545. 14 Blackhawks from two sides dropped off the company of troops; and then flew off to wait; joining the 2 MEDEVACS and 4 reserves. Liz had her platoon down low this day while Hustler went high. The troops surged into the village; from what Liz could see there was very little if any resistance. She told Roger “this is a little suspicious; no resistance.” “Yeah. Not a good sign for what was supposedly a very serious Taliban village.”
The troops found only a few fighters; and not much else. No arms caches; explosives or much of anything. The village looked just about abandoned.
Liz’s bad feeling got worse.
“Spectre lead to Assault; looks like an empty house.”
“Assault to Spectre Lead. Nobody home. Will be pulling out soon.”
Liz did not like it. “Doberman to Hustler; scout the immediate area.”
“Hustler to Doberman Roger that”
Liz kept her platoon with the Blackhawks, watching everywhere at once.
A few minutes later “Hustler to Doberman; nothing.”
“Roger”
Liz was still worried. When the commander called for Dustoff she ordered everyone down low; 1 platoon to each side, and to keep a sharp eye.
The Blackhawks came in and landed and the troopers poured out of the village and began to board. Liz got tenser; if they were going to do anything it was now.
And sure enough out of concealed areas a group of Taliban popped out. It was clear now that they had kept them going there every night so as to be ready for a dawn assault. And they had gotten lucky in that the 101st had come calling.
The Apache’s jumped right on them pouring 30MM fire and some used Hellfires and 2.75’s. Liz had Roger hose one group with the 30MM and she fired several 2.75 HE’s at another; some of the Taliban were getting hit from multiple Apache’s.
But unfortunately they were not able to get them all in time. An RPG hit the rotor of one Blackhawk just as it was about to take off; it luckily did not explode as the rotor shredded and destroyed the engine in the process. Further in luck no one on the Blackhawk was seriously injured. In an instance of absolute chance another RPG went right through the open doors of another Blackhawk and did not hit anything and kept on going. But their luck ran out as another RPG hit a Blackhawk that had just taken off; it hit the right engine and exploded; the rotor shredded and the Blackhawk fell straight down and over turned, laying on its side. Several others were hit with small arms fire; but only a few were wounded; only one other Blackhawk was damaged enough so that it could not fly. The only Blackhawks left were the three damaged ones.
“Doberman to Hustler; Wipe that village!”
“ROGER THAT!”
2nd platoon proceeded to use up most of its Hellfires and 2.75’s.
The medevacs were already on the ground as were the reserve Blackhawks.
6th Battalions XO had come along to command; he ordered that the damaged blackhawks be assessed. In 10 minutes the word came back that the two hit by RPG’s were just about totaled. The less damaged one could be repaired if they could get a crew to it. He then called base; if a Chinook was handy they would send one; if not they would get a repair crew and parts and bring them in.
Liz considered the situation; this would take hours either way. They had about 2hrs flight time left.
“Doberman to Assault Lead; recommend all undamaged head to FOB; I can have one platoon go with and refuel”
“Assault Lead to all craft; head to FOB. Doberman are you staying?”
“Roger.”
Liz pulled the Apache’s up to 1000 feet and hovered. If fuel looked like it could become a problem she would land and idle. It would not take more than 30 minutes for them to get to the FOB; probably about an hour at most to get refueled. Probably not that long. She had to stretch things.
“Doberman to Whistler and Pug; land and idle down.”
“Roger.”
The medevacs left soon after; the reserve Blackhawks took off as well; no one would be left on the ground. If they were going to repair it the pilots could come back; if the Chinook came they would not need pilots.
Word came back soon that no Chinooks were available; a repair crew would have to come from the base. ETA was 3 hrs.
So they waited; Liz contemplating how this could have happened. Clearly this was an ambush; but how could the Taliban have known this village would be the one hit? Only the mission planners had known; and no one knew which village would be hit when. The Afghan military was not told either. So Liz began to think that they had just had a routine for some time established that they would wake up around an hour before dawn and move to their spider holes. With the level the campaign was at, this village would be hit sooner or later. Liz had seen several come out of holes that had a foot of sand on top of them; there was no way even with infrared they could have been detected prior. Sophisticated Sniffers probably could; but those were very expensive; only the Special Ops had any. And she was not sure that they worked from any distance. She wondered if the really sophisticated infrared could help?
After an hour Liz and Lobo switched out. At the end of the second hour she heard the good word.
“Hustler to Doberman, ETA 15 mikes”
“Roger that Hustler.”
She took off and waited for the others to arrive. When she got to the base it was empty; the rest must have headed back home. She frowned a little at that; it was policy that no group of blackhawks went any distance without attack escort. She landed and got out. She went to the FOB command tent and poked her head in.
“They left without escort?”
The FOB commander was clearly not happy. “Yes. Good news is that the repair crew is inbound. ETA at the target is one hour.”
Liz shook her head and went back to the chopper. They were done refueling in just less than 45 minutes; Liz waited until the repair chopper and the spare coming with it were in sight before taking off. She got to the site and told Hustler to take off and refuel and then head home. She had Whistler and Pug land while they stayed up. It took two hours for the repairs to get done; and the repaired chopper took off with the other two; charges had been set in the totaled Blackhawks to totally destroy them, particularly their electronics. They blew as the rest of them left the scene. They all stopped to refuel one more time before heading home. They got in about 1400. Liz found the Battalion commander waiting for her.
“Were you told about the flight heading back to Kandahar without escort.”
“nope.”
“Well, I am going to the Brigade commander on this; the 6th Battalion CO does not think it is a big deal.”
“I think it was really stupid and an unnecessary risk.”
“That is what I think the Brigade commander will say. I know he has not been happy with the leadership of 6 Battalion.”
Liz was at dinner that evening; she ate in the mess hall a few times a week depending on what was going on.
James Winston and Ed Griffith found her and pulled her into a quiet corner.
“The Brigade commander just relieved the Battalion commander and his XO; they will be on the next plane out.” Came from Winston.
Liz blinked at them. “I am a little surprised he moved that hard and fast.”
Griffith shook his head. “He has been looking for a reason for a while; this way he got both of them at one shot when the Battalion commander said he would have done the same thing.”
“So who is taking over the Battalion and who is his XO?”
“XO of 5 Battalion is going to take it; Scooter is moving to his XO. I will move up to Battalion XO and will get my promotion. One good thing is that the planned move of our Battalion Commander to XO of brigade will not come until after we get back home.”
“So are you going to keep flying, Ed?”
“For as long as I can. That makes you more than likely the senior captain –will have to check for sure.”
Liz sighed. “So I am 3rd now?”
“Probably but I will make sure.”
Two days later weather grounded everyone and the Brigade commander called a senior officer meeting; every captain and above. The reverberations were still coming from the relief of 6 battalions Commander and XO. Liz had talked to the Crew about it.
As usual Jesse was the blunt one. “About time for both of them.”
Vicki nodded and Ellen snorted. “I am surprised that it took this long.”
Liz was a little puzzled. “I know he was not well liked; I certainly did not; but I had not heard he was that bad.”
“Actually neither one of them was really incompetent; they just were assholes and got too fast and loose with things. Good riddance. Our XO is a good Joe; and you said Scooter Winston was a good guy.”
“He is a good guy. Sorry to lose him Scooter will do fine. Bad thing about that is that I am now senior Captain in the battalion- at least among the pilots. The company support captain is senior but he is a non pilot. That inevitably means more work for me. And brings the day closer when I get bumped up to Battalion XO and start getting buried in paperwork.”
The meeting was rather short and to the point.
“Let me make something clear about the actions of the last day. Relief for cause will happen if I am not satisfied with your performance. And I want this to be absolutely clear; no helicopter goes more than 20 miles from this base without escort. No solo runs at all. And the only way there is no Attack or Armed helicopter escort is if there are none available and it’s a critical mission.”
The Kiowa’s had been used for recon and light attack and escort duties; it was decided to prioritize the Apache’s for the most risky and demanding missions. One problem the Kiowa’s had was they were not as capable at higher altitudes as the Apache was; and they did not have external tanks, though they had better internal tank range than the Apache. They would be used almost exclusively for the shorter range missions and especially anything that concerned Kandahar City.
6 Battalion was lucky in that the unflyable weather lasted for 3 days and allowed them time to accept and get used to the command change. The rest of the Brigade did not complain as it was the first real multi day rest they had gotten since April and the start of operations. 3 straight months was a load. This also allowed the ground crews to catch up on maintenance and then catch up on their sleep.
So it was a rested and more ready Brigade that started operations again. Which was a good thing as some hairy missions came fast.
“So the prototype exceeded all expectations and did not have any major bugs. That is pretty rare.”
“Well, most of the individual improvements have been tested elsewhere; the new engines, most of the avionics and communications gear. The air frame is just stronger than it was; the fenestron is well proven as regards tail rotors.”
“True but sometimes when you put all those components together for the first time unexpected things pop up.”
“Apparently not this time. What does the funding look like?”
“We are lucky; Special Operations still gets the special treatment for funding. Though the congressmen winced when told of the $80 million price for each; more than double a regular Apache. So we will probably get at most 2 companies; 48.”
The first day flying again there were 3 separate FOBs that required resupply; and all the Brigades Chinooks were split between the three. They were also over 100 miles from Kandahar. So Liz made sure that they had two auxiliary tanks for their mission. It was partialed out one company for each mission. Possibly overkill but you never knew. And on this day it turned out to be a good idea. After noticing that there were bases that had not been resupplied, the Taliban figured out which ones were most likely to get some the first flyable day and had sent in groups to cause trouble. With the beginning of July it was now at the height of summer and very hot and very dry and very dusty.
At two of the FOB’s, the Taliban were not as stealthy as they thought they were and the personnel there spotted them; warned the Apache’s came in and hosed the area and took them right out of the fight. Liz listened to this over the battalion net; she called ahead to their target. All three resupply missions had left at the same time but the one Liz was covering was the farthest away.
“Spectre Lead to FOB Jakob; any activity noticed? Those people are busy at the other bases.”
“FOB Jakob to Spectre Lead, nothing seen or heard here.”
“Roger.”
Liz had not had any premonitions before this mission as she had before others that had turned hairy. But she decided to take no chances.
“FOB Jakob, just in case we intend to fumigate your perimeter. Will let you know when we are within 5 miks.”
“FOB Jakob to Spectre Lead, Roger that.”
“Doberman to Hustler, take the North side and we will take the south side. Use up your 2.75’s.”
“Roger that.”
“OK People get ready.”
“Spectre Lead to Jakob, 5 miks to a belated July 4”
“FOB Jakob to Spectre Lead; we don’t have any beer or popcorn but we will be watching.”
“Doberman to all units; FIRE!”
In ripples each helicopter fired 19 2.75” rockets, all HE, for a total of 152 that pretty much covered a great deal of the perimeter of the landing area. That raised up a lot of dust that took a few minutes to clear. Then Liz led her people down to 300 feet after it cleared and hovered, waiting to see if anyone else showed up. The Chinooks came in and landed and began to unload; the Apache’s hovered, waiting. But no one showed. The FOB sent out squads to look over the area the Apache’s had hit. Just before the Chinooks were done and about to leave the word came.
“FOB Jakob to Spectre Lead; we did have visitors; and they have been greeted properly. Thanks.”
“Spectre Lead to FOB Jakob, we are an all services included package. Fumigation included.”
At the mission debrief held for all three at the same time, it was bandied about that maybe in the future for resupply runs that the Apaches should pop some at the perimeter all the time. There was some debate about the increased usage of munitions, but overall the sentiment was to shoot first and ask questions later. The Battalion commander took that to Brigade and it was approved; it would be up to the escort to do so on a case by case basis.
Talking with some of the others, Liz thought that using 2.75’s without any reason was probably overkill; so popping some 30MM first to see if that stirred up things was agreed on. And from that time on it became SOP.
The Brigade commander had taken that up to division and it was debated some; but most agreed that using some 30MM to sanitize the perimeter was probably a good idea. Maybe the most dedicated and disciplined Taliban would continue to hide and wait, but most others would not be able to resist doing something.
So from that time on no resupply was done without first treating the area around the LZ to some preventative pest control. And that did have an impact; incidents during resupply runs to FOB’s dropped significantly.
As August began to go by, the pace of combat began to slacken. The new theatre commander changed some tactics and it seemed to help. The Brigade was just happy to have things ease so that they could properly rest and relax between missions, and the maintenance personnel could get their jobs done and still get enough sleep.
But most of the Afghan vets knew that it would pick up again, especially starting in September when things would start to cool off.
Meanwhile Liz was thrilled to hear that Maria had had a baby girl; and accordingly she and the Crew poured over the baby pictures. It was a nice distraction. Then she found out that both Isabelle and Tess were expecting as well.
“The congressman was kind of pointed, wasn’t he?”
“Well he has believed in this for some time and of course what he has seen personally has had an effect.
The SECDEF pondered on this. How much of this was because of that? Not that it mattered why; it was a view that was gaining ground. And personally he had nothing against it.
“Very well, schedule this for the briefing for the President on Wednesday. I am going to have the Joint Chiefs way in on it and present their view to him. Some may consider this a small change, but it is significant.”
The President read the memo and the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“Very well. Make the change.”
“Just got this from SECDEF. Read it.”
“Well, sir that is not a big change.”
“But it is one for us, though some did not know that some of that was already being done.”
“Because we did not exactly advertise. But this does impact some of our other future plans.”
“Yes it does. Well I am going to draft up a memo for the groups. Basically telling them to start looking and examining candidates.”
“They have to apply first.”
“True, but that does not mean we can sound out some we think belong in SF.”
“What about the 160th?”
“I have a feeling, since this was coming from a certain congressman, that it might just have more to do with aviation than anything else.”
“You think that is what this is about?”
“Partially. But can you blame him? And especially for the 160th, it is due.”
“They have women there.”
“Staff positions, though that is rather loosely interpreted there. But no pilots.”
“Do you wonder if she is prodding him?”
“From everything I have heard, no.”
“Our first operational SAH-64 will be ready next year. I am wondering if that figured at all?”
“Well, she certainly would be at the top of my recruit list.”
As September waned, and the temperatures began to cool off; the tempo of Combat started to warm up. While the new ways of starting off resupply missions had helped there, assault missions were still usually way more interesting than anyone wanted them to be.
It was late September. They had only one mission scheduled that day, which was nice. Another pre dawn assault. A big one. A full company from the 3rd Brigade would be hitting a fairly good sized village that was reputed to be mostly Taliban. Once again two full companies of the 5th Battalion, A and B, would be involved. 14 going in, 6 in reserve and due to the size and the way things had been going, 3 MEDEVACS. Liz was happy that this time the Crew would be in the reserve choppers. Still she was starting to get a bad feeling. Considering how accurate that had been, she quietly told Hustler that she was getting bad vibes and the word spread. The whole company by now took her inklings very seriously.
Things seemed normal as they formed up and headed out; the strike headed out with no problems. The target was about 80 miles out. Just 10 minutes in, one of the Blackhawks reported engine problems; it quickly landed and one of the reserve choppers took their troops. The mission commander, 5th Battalion CO, ordered everyone to continue on; another Blackhawk was already on its way to escort the wounded bird, which thought they could make it back to base. Liz felt her foreboding increase. The entire flight had continued on and the backup bird caught up. They made up the time and were on schedule. As usual they were going to hit the village from two sides. It was on the foothills, but the terrain was not that rough. Liz decided to listen to her feelings and had the whole company down low, watching, flanking the Blackhawks as they came in. They hit the ground and the troopers headed for the village. As far as Liz could see, surprise was total. The troops all unloaded and the Blackhawks took off. So far so good. Listening to the troopers, they were meeting increased resistance. Liz, listening to her feelings, had not pulled the Apache’s out yet. Even though procedure was to do so in this kind of situation. They were still very low, at about 300 feet.
“Hustler to Doberman; we have hostiles moving in from the west; am engaging.”
“Roger that, Hustler but leave two behind.”
“Roger”
Looking around she could see nothing. Then
“Pug to Doberman, hostiles coming from the east”
“Doberman to Pug, take Whistler and engage.”
“Roger.”
Liz knew something else was coming. Working on instinct, feeling that the Taliban were trying to divert the Apache’s, she ordered everyone even closer to the village, they were about half a mile out. Looking into the village, the troopers had split it in two and were trying to drive to each end, which would mean they had covered the entire village. The Taliban were resisting fiercely. Then she noticed some buildings that did not look right; if she had not been this close she would have missed them.
“Spectre Lead to Assault Lead, there are concrete bunkers right near your front points. On each end of the village.”
“Roger – will advise.”
The company commander was looking at one. It looked fairly normal until you got right close to it; or saw it close from the air. He noticed that the door looked solid; as did the window. He began to get a bad feeling. He ordered the men there and the ones on the other end to back off; he pulled them back to more than 100 yds away from them and behind some stone buildings.
“Assault Lead to Spectre Lead; have pulled back; take those buildings out.”
“Assault Lead, pull back a little farther please.”
“Roger we are.”
“Doberman to Hustler are you back?”
“Roger.”
“See that strange looking building at the end of that lane?”
“Roger. It does look different.”
“Take it out with a Hellfire- but make sure you are at angels 10.”
“Roger.”
Liz pulled back to 1000 feet and aimed a Hellfire at the building.”
“Doberman to Hustler; FIRE!”
They launched almost together and their missiles hit the buildings- which blew up with considerably more force than empty buildings should have. Even at 1000 feet and probably a quarter mile away linearly, the blast buffeted Liz.
“Spectre Lead to Assault Lead; how are you guys?”
“Assault lead to Spectre lead, a little dusty but no serious injuries. We are pulling out; requesting DUSTOFF.”
The other Taliban fighters had either been killed or had fled or were hiding; the extraction was quick; the CO did not request MEDEVAC so the injuries must have been minor. In 15 minutes everyone was heading home.
At the mission debrief some photographs of the buildings were examined. They had clearly been build specifically to focus the blast outwards; the walls were thin but the roof had been very heavy. It would have acted as a tamping measure, forcing more of the blast and debris outward rather than upwards. Which would have been very deadly for the troops. Clearly the idea was to have let the troops advance until the two buildings were right where the front line was, where most of the troopers would have been close to. Then without a doubt a radio controlled detonation would have occurred. They might have lost half the company.
The Company commander looked at Liz. “What tipped you off?’
She was a little embarrassed. “I had a real bad feeling something was up; then when those forces outside the village started to make trouble something told me that it was a diversion, what could they do, they were fully exposed. So to me it seemed they were trying to keep the Apache’s from getting too close. Because from the air the difference in the buildings was pretty clear. Once you spot them they really stick out.”
“Well I can say without a doubt you saved a lot of Troopers today, Captain Parker.”
The Battalion commander looked at Ed. “Commendation?”
“Definitely. If she had not been so sharp, so paranoid one can say, we could have lost half a company of men today.”
That got around the division fairly quickly. The Crew made it a point of thanking Liz; one of those she might have saved was Ellen’s current boyfriend. In her own quirky way she made her point.
“Gee, Liz, you just kept me being able to get laid. Thank you.”
The Battalion commander noticed that A company was getting more requests to fly escort than any of the other companies. It had been that way somewhat, before; but after the exploding building mission it got very pronounced.
“Liz’s company is getting very popular.”
“Word gets around. Someone figured that no one had yet been killed on any mission that A Company escorted. Either in flight; landing or taking off; or fighting on the ground.”
“I can see why that would get the soldiers attention.”
On the first of October the Brigade held a ceremony and several people got commendations and medals. Liz got another Air Medal. The company that was there that day was in full attendance and made their appreciation well known.
Afterwards the Crew and she were quietly talking in their room. Jesse looked at Liz.
“I did a little checking, Liz. Now maybe some Special Operations type has gotten more, but from what I was able to find you are the most decorated US Army soldier of the last 10 years.”
Liz blinked. “I think you might be wrong. There are some chopper pilots that have gotten seven or eight air medals. I have gotten 3. So odds are that there are others with more.”
Vicki looked thoughtful. “Just counting here; you have the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Presidential Unit Citation, DSC, Legion of Merit, Soldiers Medal, Purple Heart, 3 Air Medals and your other medals. You might not be. But you are not far off either.”
Ellen grinned at a clearly embarrassed Liz. “Suck it up, Hero.
Liz just hoped her luck held; for the rest of the tour anyway.
The word went out to look for that sort of thing again; but no one figured the Taliban would try something that had failed and was now known about again. But the possibility of that happening was mentioned and from that time on no uncleared buildings would be passed by.
October came and things were still pretty warm on the battlefield if starting to really cool off elsewhere. Towards the end of that month Liz got another request from Special Forces; though this time it was for them and not the Company.
“Satellite is pretty sure but the angle is wrong.”
“Predator?”
“Supports the premise.”
“That is pretty high. Nothing can hover at that altitude.”
“Nope. But there are two rock outcrops nearby; just big enough for a Blackhawk.“
“Anyone staying at that altitude, 16,000 feet, would take weeks to acclimatize to that. Even in this country.”
“True, but a great place to hide things. And easy to keep an eye on from below.”
“OK talk to the Rotor heads.”
“Sir, all our birds are too big for that ledge that can get to that altitude. We figure that there is at most 25, maybe 28 feet clearance to the mountain side. Everything that can go that high has a bigger rotor than that.”
“What can?”
“Well an Apache has a rotor that is 5 feet less diameter. That could make it if you have a real good pilot that is nuts.”
“So that is the story sir.”
“OK, let’s have the satellite take real good pictures and get a very precise reading on that one ledge. Make sure it is possible before asking our favorite Apache pilot to try. We would send our guy as the copilot so that he can go in and look.”
When Liz saw the Captain she sighed and motioned him into her office.
“OK, what is it this time?”
“Well it is a special one for sure. We think only an Apache can do it. So we would like you to come by and let us know what you think.”
Later on at the Spec Ops compound in the Commanders office she looked at the proposal.
“You guys are truly nuts. I kept hearing that but until now I really did not believe it. 16,000 feet; have to come up over an 18,000 foot peak and then drop down and land on a ledge that has at most a two to three foot clearance for my rotors. My front seat is occupied by a intelligence weenie who goes in there and looks for something Al Queeda might have hidden there. Then we leave and hope to fly safely down to the valley below.”
They just looked at her. She sighed and looked at the satellite photos.
“They are sure there is rotor clearance?”
“Yes.”
Liz sat for several minutes thinking about it. But part of her could not resist the challenge. And what they might find could be huge. This was thought to possibly be the squirrel hole for the whole organization. This had been rumored about for some years. She shook her head and grinned slightly.
“I guess I am just as crazy. I need to talk to someone with Boeing on this for that kind of altitude.”
“We have a conference call set up for one hour from now.”
Liz rolled her eyes at their confidence.
Liz looked at the numbers. All pods off the aircraft. 100 rds of 30MM her only armament. A half full internal tank and nothing else. It would take over 20 minutes to get over the top of the mountain. But she figured her weight, counting her passenger, would be very light. That should help. The target was over 200 miles away. She would fly to a Spec Ops post that was about 30 miles away. She decided that she needed company and talked them into allowing her to bring one other Apache with her. She chose Lobo of course.
The Battalion commander looked at Liz. “This request came from high up, really high.”
Liz sighed and looked at him. “Cannot say more sir. It is a pretty wild mission.”
“OK. Just come back.”
“Roger that.”
Ted was not happy when Liz gave him some details. But he knew that it had to be very important for her to take such a risk. Roger was not told much; she would drop him off at the base.
It was scheduled for two days later; Liz flew two missions before she left that evening for the Spec Ops base. Grunt was not happy when she told him to unload all but 100 rds and take off all the pods and not put on any auxiliary tanks. It was a long flight and the base was not much. She shut it down and got out. Then they waited. They put just enough fuel in to make a half a tank. She met the weenie, who looked like a staff puke. Glasses and the whole nine yards. It was good that he was not very big. She had a hunch she would be thankful for every pound saved. He seemed friendly enough; Josh Dummel, a captain in Intelligence.
She took off at 0700 and began the climb, holding the chopper on a steady course towards the mountain, climbing to 10,000 and holding till she got close; then she began to climb; as lightly loaded as the Apache was she did well until just over 15,000 when it was clear she was struggling; at that point both she and Joe put on emergency oxygen masks. She pushed it to just over the top of the mountain and started to go down the other side, curving around to maintain as good a forward speed as possible, this was way above what an Apache could do as regards hovering. She spotted the ledge and moved right to it, knowing she could not miss; as she got close to it she could feel the ground effect; and a plus was an updraft; she had hoped for one and that definitely helped. Her altimeter read 16,455 as she closed in on the ledge. Carefully with her telling Joe to watch the top of the rotors she moved closer and closer and then taking her heart in her hand began to set down; and then she was down. Slowing the rotor down carefully, prepared for the bird to start to slip, and she got to idle. She let out her breath in the mask and told him.
“Go for it Joe.”
He gave her the thumbs up and opened up the hatch and carefully made his way to the cave entrance. Liz concentrated on not thinking about things as she waited; 15 minutes, then 20. Then 25. Then she saw him coming lugging some bags of papers; he had thought to bring plastic supermarket bags, he put them in and got in as well and closed the hatch.
“Not sure what I got; but I think it’s going to be valuable.”
Liz then began to add power until she felt the aircraft start to move then she headed over and started to go down; the first few seconds were scary as she was dropping fairly fast but she increased the horizontal speed and that got better and as they passed by 10,000 she was able to take the mask off; she was drenched in sweat. Then she headed for the Base. They got in with about 20 minutes of fuel left. She landed it and shut down and began to shake from the effects of all the adrenaline. She then opened her hatch; Joe had already opened his and there were several Company looking types waiting for him. Roger and Ted came towards her; Ted handed her a cold water bottle that she drained in about 10 seconds.
“I am never doing THAT again.”
SECDEF looked at the report. Then at the president.
“This answers a whole lot of questions we have had over the years. Who started Al Queeda and most importantly who was helping them that we did not know about. Using this as a base of knowledge, we can now trace the organization all the way back; and just as importantly go from there and trace these people mentioned, some of whom were never suspected.”
“I believe another medal is owed to Captain Parker.”
“Yes sir. Though it will have to be a classified one. I agree with the Special Operations recommendation for a Distinguished Flying Cross.”
“It is so approved.”
Captain Forrest was back a week later and right away told Liz
“No mission. Just a little thank you if you can come by tonight.”
“Well in that case OK.”
Liz managed to close her mouth when the Commander of US Special Operations Command pinned the Distinguished Flying Cross to her uniform.
“Congratulations Captain Parker.”
“Thank you sir.”
The local Special Operations commander then told her. “You can wear the medal at ceremonies requiring full dress and decorations; and it will go in your service file but that is all the attention it can get.”
“Understood sir.”
Frankly, Liz was kind of hoping they would forget about her for the rest of the time she was there. While it was an honor they came to her, she really did not think that she liked the rate at which the missions kept getting tougher.
The rest of the month was not as tough as the first part had been; and she was happy things seemed to be slowing down as combat typically did as the weather got colder, especially at night.
Things still got a little tough now and then but the charmed life of A Company and those they escorted continued.
Liz could not help but hope that their luck would continue. Luckily things had settled down in that part of Afghanistan. Even Kandahar City had cooled off.
“When will we be able to go operational with the SAH-64?”
“Rate of production is scheduled for 2 per month starting in December. So realistically in 4 months we could have a company if we stay with the current 8 per company TOE. But it would probably be best until we have 16 for 2 companies and that would be, including time to set everything else up, sometime late in the year. That is of course if there are no delays. Which you usually have.”
“So pencil in the likelihood of not until Jan 2012?”
“That would be a reasonable expectation, sir.”
November started cold in the weather but hot in combat as the Taliban apparently decided to make one more big statement before most combat ended for the winter. However Allied Command also decided that the pressure should be kept up.
Actual Taliban attacks were not very common; outside of Kandahar City. Either pressure was being applied from above or some local commanders decided to try and impress higher command; whatever they did go after some of the Patrol Bases.
This allowed the Apache’s to respond and go after them; and the Taliban were to find out that in colder weather the night vision goggles and infrared sensors of the Apache worked better.
It was actually on the 8th of November, or rather the very early morning of that day, that Liz and Company A got a chance to really do some damage.
Liz groaned as the phone in their quarters rang; Vicki groaned and put her head under a pillow; Jesse kept on sawing logs and Ellen suggested where whoever was calling at 0100 could put that phone. Liz answered.
“mmfh Parker.”
“Captain Parker you have an alert for an immediate combat reaction mission.”
Liz woke up quickly. “Understood.”
She rolled out of bed and quickly dressed. Her roommates were already back to sleep. She got to the operations room in 20 minutes. Beating most of the men in.
“3 Patrol Bases are under attack; One UK and One US Marine and One US Army. “
Liz looked around. “What is available?”
“Your company and the 2nd Platoon of C Company. Right now the rest of the Apache’s are undergoing maintenance.”
She grabbed Hustler and the 2nd Lt that had 2nd Platoon of C company, Gonzo Jones.
“Gonzo, You take the Marine Base –its closest. Hustler you take the Army base And I will take the UK base since its farthest. Let’s rock.”
They were in the air 30 minutes later. Liz firewalled the Apache’s as word came back that the Taliban were really serious.
The Captain of the Welsh Guard had pulled his people back into the inner perimeter of their Patrol Base which was in an abandoned village. He figured he was outnumbered at least 2-1. Maybe more. He hoped those yank choppers got there soon.
“Spectre Lead to Patrol Base, What is your situation?”
“Patrol Base to Spectre Lead-we have pulled back into the inner perimeter; anyone you see running right now or moving is the enemy. I will throw an incendiary outside our center position.”
“Roger that- will be there in 5 Mikes”
“OK People look for the incendiary burning. Outside of that area smoke anyone moving. Pug. You and Whistler take the outer area; Lobo and I will do the inner.”
“Roger that.”
Liz hovered at 200 feet right over the village; she could see the incendiary easily with the night vision goggles. She saw figures farther away moving in and Whistler and Pug started shooting at them. She carefully looked away from the incendiary; the night vision goggles were working well.
“Roger take the stick-I will be shooting.”
“Roger.”
Liz carefully picked her targets; one by one she popped them with 30MM HE; after about 5 minutes and 11 shots she could not see anyone to target.
“Doberman to everyone; what are you seeing?”
“Pug no more targets” “Lobo no more targets” “Whistler no more targets”
“Spectre Lead to Patrol Base, what is your situation now?”
“Patrol Base to Spectre Lead; I think you got them all.”
“Roger That we will stay and look around for a bit. Will let you know when we leave.”
“Roger and Thank You.”
“You are more than welcome. Spectre Lead out.”
The Captain waited until the Yanks left then poked his head out. He saw nothing then ordered a sound off. Every man answered. He decided to wait until light before moving out of the inner perimeter.
Liz checked fuel status; they were more than half full; then called to the other units.
“Doberman to Hustler, what is your status?”
“Headed home”
“Roger that.” “Doberman to Gonzo, what is your status.”
“Gonzo to Doberman, still engaged.”
“Will be there in 15 Mikes.”
“Roger.”
Liz got her platoon moving at speed. C Company had had things a little rough; their Commander was good but the rest of the Company just was not as good as the other Companies in the Battalion. But that was reality.
They got close and saw that the Taliban were still trying; this was a good sized base and they had committed quite a few in the attack. The C Company detachment was working the far end. Liz would have had split them and had the other two elsewhere; it looked like two of the Apache’s were just hovering and watching. Liz shook her head and then ordered her platoon to tackle the far end.
The Taliban were moving towards the base and were easy to see; Liz kept the choppers at 500 feet as they did not need to go lower.
“OK Guys lets line up and start shooting.”
In just a few minutes the Taliban figures were running; which was stupid since that made them all that more obvious. Liz had the three others go after strays and seeing a group of them decided a little more was appropriate; as at the other base she had Roger take over the stick.
She sent a half dozen 2.75 rockets at the group and blew them to pieces. In just a few more minutes no targets were visible. She called out to the other unit.
“Doberman to Gonzo, what is your status?”
“Gonzo to Doberman, no more targets available, Bingo 30MM.”
“Return to Base, Gonzo, we will stay for a bit and then go.”
“Roger, Doberman.”
“Doberman to base; any more business to be had?”
“Base to Doberman; glad you showed up. No more business.”
“We will do a quick patrol of your perimeter; if we find nothing else we will go.”
“Roger and thank you, Doberman.”
They spent 10 more minutes slowly circling the perimeter but found nothing moving. Then they headed home.
Liz went to the debrief and listened quietly. Gonzo did not seem like a bad pilot or leader; just not a really good one. She remained behind when he left. She looked at the Battalion commander. He shook his head.
“I know. Jackman is pushing but I think it’s just the matter of not having that good a group of pilots. Outside of him and his wingman, that Company is just average.“
“I saw neither good shooting nor good procedures. He had two of his people just hovering when they could have been responding to other attacks on the perimeter.”
“Probably 4 of them will be transferred out of Apache’s.”
“What about their copilots?”
“I think two of them could be good.”
Liz went back and tried to get a couple more hours of sleep. Her ground crews would be busy for a good part of the morning; so they would not be flying anyway.
That morning the commander of the UK fire base called in to commend the Apache support they got; they had found 35 bodies they were pretty sure the Apache’s had taken care of.
The Army base also commended the Apache’s.
The Marine base was not so happy.
“That first group of Apache’s were slow to respond and did not seem to want to spread out and take care of the various threats. The second group, Doberman and her people, really got the job done. That first group was fairly inaccurate as well from what we could see when it got light.”
The Battalion commander prepared his report to Brigade.
Later that morning the Brigade Commander looked at his XO.
“C Company whenever Jackman is not right there just does not perform well.”
“Nothing new; I do not think its Jackmans fault as much as it is we got some Dud Apache drivers there.”
“Get the Battalion Commander and his XO up here.”
The Battalion commander was not surprised at the summons; and Ed Griffith wasn’t either.
The Brigade commander got right to the point.
“2nd Platoon of C company is not good. What can we do to fix it?”
“Do you want to take real action sir?”
“Yes.”
“Then I recommend taking Rivers out of 2nd Platoon of A company and making him head of 2nd Platoon of C company. Demote Richards and Hulman and put them on the ground. Promote Charles and Dixon to pilots; they are certified as ready. We have two former copilots of Apache’s in 6 Battalion, put them back in as copilots for the rest of the tour.”
“Who replaces Rivers?”
“I need to talk to Parker on that.”
“Start the paperwork and talk to her,”
Liz sat in the Battalion Commanders office. She sighed when told. Not that she was terribly surprised; she just hated to lose Rivers. She looked at him.
“Whistler for 2nd Platoon commander, I think he is ready. I take it we get one of the upgraded copilots?”
“Fireman Charles. He is ready.”
“OK.”
“Fireman” Charles was happy to get out of C Company and get an Apache with A company. Going from the worst to the best was good anyway; but everyone knew that Parker just had the touch and best of all was lucky. Liz called him into her office.
“First off welcome to A Company. You will be Pug’s Wingman. We will probably have a mission this afternoon so we will have you sit it out while you and your copilot will get to know each other. You will fly this afternoon. I will need to evaluate you before you become operational. We are lucky in one respect that the weather looks bad for tomorrow and the next day. But we probably could fly local.”
It was just a resupply mission that afternoon, but Liz did not like flying with only 3 in her platoon. Whistler got a milk run to get used to leading 2nd Platoon. Liz sighed; this was not something calculated to reduce stress.
Liz got back in time and then immediately took Fireman and his copilot up to start running them through things.
The weather was bad for the next two days but Liz was able to take up Fireman and start getting him used to things. She worked him hard for the next two days; and Whistler as well getting him used to Platoon command.
The evening of the third day the Battalion commander came to talk with her.
“How are they doing?”
“Whistler is doing well; I think he will be fine. As long as he is not operating on his own on anything really tricky. I can see that he will be fine; he just needs to work on being a leader. Time will be his friend.”
“That is good. How about Charles?”
“I think he will be OK. His copilot is solid and that helps. Pug is a good teacher, I think. So the early signs are good.”
The next couple of weeks were fortunately fairly quiet; Liz was very grateful as she worked to bring her company back to the level it had been. The good news was that C Company was looking better.
Of course after that things heated up again as the Taliban seemed to not want to just fade away during the winter as they usually did. And then more fun came from another source.
Liz had just written up her latest Eval on Fireman; Pug seemed to think he was coming along well and Liz saw no reason to doubt it. Whistler seemed to be picking up command well. So naturally just as she started to relax Captain Forrest stuck his head in her door.
“Liz, I know you have been busy lately reworking your company, but something has come up.” Then he motioned her to follow him back to the Spec Ops compound.
She walked into the Spec Ops head shed and then almost stopped and stared.
Well this was going to be interesting.
“Captain Parker, welcome and take a seat.”
“This is Wing Commander Simmons of the Royal Air Force and Major Rosythe of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Pleased to meet you, Captain Parker.” “Good to meet your Captain Parker; and just refer to my Unit as the 2nd Scots.”
“To make this short and sweet there is a special operation going on in Helmand Province. RAF and 2nd Scots will be taking it to a Taliban stronghold. The Problem is that the Apache’s that normally would be supporting them have had some maintenance problems that showed up suddenly. Some parts were faulty and unfortunately they are parts that are unique to the Brit Apache’s. It will be at least a week until they are flying again. Which is a couple of days longer then they think they can delay this operation. It would have gone on in two days. If we can get things going it still will. The SAS will be transporting them and the 2nd Scots will be getting it done. They are used to operating with Apache’s which is why you are being called in.”
Liz nodded. “What base will we be operating out of?”
“Bastion”.
This got sorted out quickly and the very next morning A Company was on its way to Bastion. The RAF had come in and picked up Grunt and the other crews and a batch of spare parts. It was clear that due to the lowered tempo around Kandahar and the upped Tempo in Helmand that they would be there for a while.
Liz had a quiet conversation with the Brigade commander before she left.
“Captain, you were requested by Name for this mission; and it did not originate from Spec Ops but the British. You apparently impressed them a couple weeks ago and also at Jakob earlier. I think there is a good chance you might spend most of the rest of your tour there. With C Company finally shaping up and things slowing down around here, we can probably spare you. And they need you.”
When they got to Bastion and were situated, the RAF Wing commander made it a point to talk to Liz privately in his office.
“Captain, I believe your Brigade Commander informed you of the likelihood that you would be here for more than just this mission?”
“Yes Sir he did.”
“We have lost the Dutch Apache contingent and all the others. So even when our Apache’s are up and running again we will need you. The Marine attack helicopters are very busy supporting other operations; so we need more than the one company of RAF Apache’s. We will get more Apache’s here in 2 months but until then you are stuck here.”
“I am not surprised sir; and it will be different which might be a good thing; we might have been getting a little complacent at Kandahar.”
“Very good to hear, Captain. You are already well known here and trusted. And that is important.”
Needless to Say the quarters were not as good as Kandahar; a tent. But it was a pretty good tent and had a heater which worked. So for this time of year it was not too bad. And they had been good enough to put the entire contingent from Kandahar in the same area. Meals were interesting since there was a real mixture available due to the multinational makeup of Bastion. There seemed to be someone from just about every NATO member and from some that were not. Liz decided that while she was here she would try to sample different things and get to know people from different countries. One of the down sides was that she was unable to email Max and Aliya. She got around that by figuring out how to contact one of the Crew every day or so and have them email her family.
They got put right to work the next day on the operation with the RAF and 2nd Scots. They had a fairly long meeting the night before with the entire company so as to make sure there were no missed communications. Liz noted that at Kandahar and with the US Army units, language had gotten fairly informal. The 2nd Scots and the RAF were more by the book. Which was probably best.
They took off at 0800; no dawn attack. That had been explained that since a dawn attack was expected, hitting a couple hours later had the advantage of surprise. Liz was not totally sure about that, but they might have a point. That was to be seen.
The RAF used Merlins for the assault; pretty good sized. Bigger than Blackhawks and tougher; not as big as Chinooks. 4 of them covered by Liz and her company, which might have been overkill. After talking things over, Liz and 1st Platoon would approach from the west and hover just outside the Village; and then the 2nd Scots would land and move in from the west. It was hoped that everyone would be fixated on the Apache’s. 2nd Platoon would stay with them and flank them as they came in.
It worked like a charm. Liz watched as a number of armed Afghans took positions facing her Apache’s; behind walls. Watching. Liz then slowly brought them in closer. She could see the Merlins land and the Scots move into the camp. Then she could see the moment that the Taliban realized they had been duped and turned towards where the Scots were already in the middle of the village.
“Doberman to 1st Platoon; use your 30MM and pot shoot them.”
Roger had been getting better at shooting so this time he was working the cannon.
Caught between the two fires the fight went out of the Taliban and they tried to run. Which did not help them any. In 15 minutes it was all over.
“Ground Force to Spectre Lead; area secure.”
“Spectre Lead Roger that. We will patrol the perimeter.”
By habit Liz checked her fuel and saw that they were fine; this was only 40 miles from Bastion. By habit they now carried one external tank, so they had more than 2 hrs of flying time left.
Half an hour later they got the word for the Merlins to come in and pick them up. No casualties. Do to the closeness to Bastion, it had been decided not to have a MEDEVAC with the group. And today none was needed.
The mission debrief was indeed brief. The 2nd Scots commander said it all.
“They were so busy watching the Apache’s that they never saw us until we opened fire. Caught between the two of us, it was all over quickly.”
At noon that day Liz went to a mission briefing for that afternoon.
The same RAF unit would be doing this one; but those involved were SAS. Liz had heard that a fair number of the RAF really did not like to have much to do with the Crazy SAS. She could sort of see that there in the meeting. It was very stiff and proper on both sides. Only two Merlins and 2 troops of the SAS would be in this operation. Liz lingered after the meeting to talk to the Wing Commander.
“Forgive me if this is not polite, but I saw some serious tension between the RAF personnel and the SAS.”
The Wing commander paused for a second, and then nodded.
“There have been problems. Both sides are at fault. But I can assure you that they will work together. It will not affect their performance. And you were right to ask.”
“Thank you sir for your honesty.”
This was more of a Recon so Liz took just the 1st Platoon. The 2nd platoon would remain on call.
It turned out to be pretty much a bust; the village they went to was completely empty; Liz and Lobo buzzed it first and saw nothing; then the SAS moved quickly through it and also found nothing. In half an hour they were on the way back to base. As she got close she was told that 2nd Platoon had responded to a call for help from a patrol that had been ambushed. They had taken casualties and a MEDEVAC was about to leave; checking her fuel status Liz told them they would accompany the MEDEVAC.
Whistler was tense; the patrol had taken casualties; they had gotten there in time to catch a large number of the Taliban out in the open and Whistler had let them all use some 2.75’s which took care of the problem. Now they had to cover them. When he heard that Liz and the rest of the Company would be there he relaxed slightly. He was still not comfortable in a command situation.
Liz kept an eye on the fuel, but they were still good when they arrived to wear the Unit was waiting to have their wounded taken out. Whistler sounded glad Liz was there; he was not yet comfortable with command. Liz was going to quietly let him know that it was a danger sign when one became comfortable in command in a combat situation; that bred arrogance and carelessness.
The MEDEVAC took the four wounded and Liz told Whistler to escort them back while she stayed with the Patrol as they headed back to their patrol base.
The LT looked up as the American Apache’s buzzed the area. They had really come in the proverbial nick of time. It was right uncomfortable there for a bit.
Liz was able to stay with the Patrol right to its base before they had to get back to camp. She kept 2 of her people right with them while she and Lobo wandered around the area, looking for anything suspicious. Nothing was seen.
After the debrief Liz made it a point to talk to Whistler.
“If you are worried about when you will become comfortable in command it might take a long time. I have never gotten there. And after talking to some experienced commanders, I have come to the realization that if you are you are more than likely to be in trouble of becoming complacent and careless.”
No more missions were mentioned that afternoon and Liz decided to look around and see what the Camp had to offer. It did not take long for her to realize that the Marines in the camp next to Bastion, called Leatherneck, had it a lot tougher than she had it here. Yes she was in a tent; but there were a lot of amenities around that were not in Leatherneck.
She got back to her tent in time to find a message for her to come to Operations. That was a pretty good sized building that had been completed not too long ago. Up to now everything had been talked about at the tents near the airstrip. She had a feeling this was a more formal meeting. She was proven right when upon being shown the conference room she saw the Camp Commander and several other very high ranks. All British.
The Colonel in command stood up and greeted her.
“Pleased to meet you, Captain Parker. Very glad to have you and your company here.”
She found that the Wing Commander was there along with a Group Captain, who was the overall RAF aviation commander there. And the head of the SAS detachment there, a colonel; and the commander of the 2nd Scots, another colonel. She felt very junior.
The Group captain started it off.
“This is a meeting to formulate an operation to take control of the situation around Pashkar which has deteriorated lately. The intent is to knock the Taliban back on its heels. That is simple to say, less simple to do.”
What came out of that meeting was a plan for multiple attacks on known Taliban strongholds to last about a week, depending on results. The SAS and 2nd Scots would both be involved hitting different targets. Liz would split her company to cover both. The targets had been identified and a tentative schedule agreed on. It would start the following day. A pre dawn strike by SAS at one stronghold followed by a morning strike on another by the 2nd Scots. Then an afternoon hit by the 2nd Scotts and the SAS on separate targets. 12 had been identified; it was decided to try and hit four on the first day and then see what the second day brought; it was thought two at least. A signal by the Group Captain kept Liz behind after everyone else left.
“The Wing Commander informed me that you noticed the problems with the SAS and the RAF. It is not something that will be solved soon, let alone here. Now as the company commander it is us to you to assign your assets as you see fit. But I highly recommend that you accompany the SAS on their strikes.”
“I had already decided to do that, sir. My second platoon commander is new to his command after a situation with another company required some transfers and mine was raided for my XO, who was 2nd platoon commander. He is learning and getting better but he is green. I had already intended to send him with the Scots.”
“Very good. I can see the decision to request your company was the correct one.”
Liz reflected that sometimes it was not altogether healthy to have a reputation.
The next 5 days were extremely busy; it was all Grunt and the others could do to keep their Apache’s up and running. In addition to the 12 missions eventually performed, they had also gone out on four immediate responses for Air Support.
The first day started out well as both assaults had no casualties and did hurt the Taliban some, if not as much as had been hoped. The second attack with the Scots also went well. The second assault that afternoon with the SAS was not so good.
Liz definitely noticed the difference with the SAS; she had heard that the US Marine Recon teams were much the same way. Both thought faster was better in assaults. She noted with interest that the US Army Special Forces did not seem to be as aggressive; more cautious.
The attack on the second target was right at 1400, and they had to fly up a valley some to get to it, between two fairly good sized foothills not far from the Mountains; this was an assault that went out 75 miles so she decided on 2 aux tanks. There had been thought of not taking many hellfire’s; of maybe only having one chopper in each platoon carry any; but Liz had resisted that. Due to the distance a British MEDEVAC had accompanied them; she had a hunch the SAS felt somewhat insulted by that. It was a good thing they had. As usual Liz had brought in Pug and Fireman to buzz the village while she and Lobo accompanied the assault. That had worked initially, but it was clear early on that resistance would be much greater here. All four of the Apache’s did some sniping, but the SAS and Taliban were too close for much else. It looked like a very vicious firefight and it was. The SAS smashed through the Taliban but it cost. Liz was right on top of the fight at the end, and used her 30MM to support the SAS as it finished off the Taliban. The MEDEVAC was called in immediately and took off with 9 wounded out of the 34 SAS that had landed. The rest of the SAS pulled out an hour later. Liz had sent Pug and Fireman back with the MEDEVAC.
Liz was very happy to hear that none of the wounds were life threatening when she got back to the Base. In the debrief she noted that the SAS commander was very blithe.
“They stood up and came right at us; which is much preferred. I am obliged to Captain Parker and her Apache’s for very good close support. It clearly had an effect on them as they tried to watch the sky while at the same time trying to fight us. Did not work too well.”
Personally Liz felt that the SAS had had some unnecessary casualties. She quietly talked to the Wing Commander later.
“Sir, it seemed to me that the SAS was happy to stand and fight with the Taliban.”
He shook his head. “Lately we are getting that too much. I am very obliged as well, Captain Parker, for your ground support. I have no doubt the SAS casualties would have been markedly higher otherwise.”
The responses for immediate air support had been nerve wracking; two of them had come at night; responding to assaults on small forward patrol posts. Liz had taken both of them. They had been a little hairy, especially the second one which had her personally taking out 4 Taliban fighters that has some members of the Welsh Guards pinned down. They had been within 10 feet or so of the Soldiers, who reported that they felt the blasts and were splattered some of the remains.
The other two were handled by Whistler while she was out on other assaults. They had not been as tough, and Whistler had done well. She could see his growing confidence in himself as a commander.
At the end of the 6th day, the weather got bad enough to ground everyone and Liz was able to actually take a breath. She had been glad to see Ellen on the 5th day, who came in with more spare parts for the Apache’s as well as more of Liz’s clothes and other things which she had asked for when finding out she would be there for a while. Of course she had had to take off on another mission after only getting a few minutes to talk with Ellen.
“And on the seventh day HE rested.” Ted grinned at Liz as they sat in the mess hall on the morning of the seventh day; it was raining some and windy and overall not flyable. Apache’s could have if necessary, but no one did anything on days like this; they were so rare. Even the Taliban sat home snug.
“Well I will take it. Being able to sleep in this morning was REALLY nice.”
Ted nodded. He had been a little concerned about Liz; she insisted on taking the night missions while still flying the day missions as well. Grunt was barely able to keep her bird flying. She looked tired, but at least this morning she was looking more rested. He noticed the interesting Looks Liz was getting. There were very few women at this camp; and frankly Liz was clearly the youngest and best looking he had seen. Apparently the rest of the male population agreed.
“So what do they think was the results of the operation?”
Liz shrugged. “Too early to tell. The SAS commander was happy. The others seemed reasonably content.”
Ted shook his head. “You hear how crazy special ops types are supposed to be; but most of the ones I have seen did not appear that way. But these SAS’s here do.”
“Yeah. They are definitely closer to the edge. I have not worked with Marine Recon but I hear they are about the same.”
“They like you though.”
Liz rolled her eyes. Things got around so fast in a war zone, she had found. The SAS had invited her to dinner one night after their mission. From what Liz had gathered that was VERY rare for them to do. It had been interesting; the SAS were not as wild out of a fight as in it, but you could see the edge there even when supposedly relaxing. They had coaxed her into talking about her time in Iraq at the convoy fight. After describing what she had done, the SAS Colonel had nodded approvingly.
“Considering you had truck drivers there, that was very well thought out and done. Letting them lay there and scream was a very good touch. I have no doubt that sapped the resolve of the others and did buy you time.”
As she left she was told by several of them that she would do well with them as a Trooper. She realized that that was high praise from them.
The bad weather lasted for two days and everyone was happy for the rest. Grunt especially. He told Liz that if she tried that many missions in such a short period of time again, her Apache would not hold up. Liz told him she would try and remember that.
When operations resumed after that, the tempo definitely had slowed down. It was the beginning of December, and the weather was very distinctly getting colder. Especially at night.
Liz liked only doing a mission a day; but she did not like so much having to send Hustler off on his own as much as she had to. But so far he had done well. What was not fun was the continuing silent feud between the SAS and the RAF. And it was worse as both at the unit level tried to put Liz and her Apache’s in the middle. Each subtly trying to get her closer to their point of view on operations and thus support them in mission planning. She saw both points of view, and tried to be even handed. It was tiring. She found that at least her efforts were appreciated by all sides. The Wing Commander especially.
“I realize that it is not right that you have to be the mediator, but it is working well. I want you to know that it is very much appreciated here and at the higher levels.”
So Liz sucked it up and played the game. As was her wont, she put together a plan on how to do this. She kept notes on what worked and did not work from each point of view, and then gave serious thought to combining them the best that she could. Within a couple of weeks, those planning sessions became about as choreographed as Kabuki Theatre; or professional wrestling on a good day. The SAS would propose this and the RAF would counter; or vice versa. Liz would then take part of each proposal and combine them as much as possible.
One good thing was that after two weeks, the RAF Apache’s were operational again and that took the load off. In a meeting with the detachments CO, it was agreed that the RAF Apache’s would respond to emergency calls for air support, and only if they were not available would Liz’s people go. In return A Company took most of the daytime missions. The Dutch were due back with their Apache’s in January, so that was figured as the time when A Company could return to Kandahar.
The SAS continued to have the most dangerous missions, but even that had decreased some since Liz had become a buffer. They liked that she was quite willing to take her Apache’s in first and draw the enemy attention. While that tactic had never worked quite as well as it did the first time, it was still quite effective. What they also tried was one group come in and hover and the second come from another direction, and then the real assault came from a third. Misdirection seemed to work well on the Taliban. The SAS commander believed that it came from being inflexible fanatics. Liz thought that had validity.
Since Liz had made it a point to take as many of the SAS missions as she could, Hustler spent more time with the 2nd Scots. And that time allowed them to work well together; Liz was glad to see that his confidence as regarding command continued to increase.
Christmas came, and the camp had a big Christmas Eve party. Which also had a dance. Liz found that there as a grand total of 21 women there and about 1000 guys. She was glad the weather had turned bad for the next day, as she was absolutely worn out from dancing with about 50 different men. It started at 1800 and went to midnight, and 6 hours of dancing will wear anyone out. Ellen had sent Liz a simple black dress that fit her; and would not tell her where she could have possibly found it. Liz looked great in it; which was bad in a way as she found out that she was the only woman in a dress there. She was very definitely the belle of the ball. Ted told her that the MP’s had to break up about a dozen fistfights from guys that wanted to dance with her but got cut out. Liz really thought that was BS but she found out that a little of that at least was true. She saw a couple of black eyes in the next few days.
They did not start flying again until the 27th, and had to make a bunch of resupply runs. Not much happened that day. But on the 28th came another mission that Liz would have as soon avoided.
As per usual it seemed, it was an SAS mission into the foothills. Another believed Taliban stronghold. 4 Merlins, one Medevac and Liz’s company. Since only one mission was scheduled that day Liz decided to keep them all together; plus this had not happened much in the last month or so and she wanted to see firsthand how Whistler was doing as a Platoon commander.
It was very cold; but clear. They left at 0600 and intended to hit the target one hour after dawn. The target was 90 miles away; so Liz had them put on two auxiliary tanks. One pod of 2.75 and one of Hellfires. Liz took her platoon in high and visible; the village was in a sort of crook and could only be approached really from one direction; but after looking at satellite photos and maps, it had been decided that her Apaches and the MEDEVAC would be seen coming from the expected direction; the MEDEVAC definitely behind and safe but visible; while Hustler and the Merlins would come over the hill and hit the village from the rear.
So Liz made it obvious but still came in fast then stopped and hovered at about 500 feet just past the boundary of the village. And that is when it all hit the fan.
Liz was looking to see if any movement could be spotted; and so some people running, some with weapons. At that moment the windshield in front of her cracked and then felt like someone had hit her helmet with a sledgehammer – dazed, she called for Roger to take the stick. Shaking her head her vision cleared as she heard Ted call to her.
“Lobo to Doberman, what is your condition?”
“Doberman to Lobo, windshield hit. Did you get it?”
“Lobo to Doberman. I plastered it with 30MM.”
“Where was it?”
“That slightly taller building on this end of the village; you can see dust rising.”
Liz blinked and while her head was hurting her vision was clear. She identified the building and then told Roger. “Going to take out that building with a Hellfire.”
And she did. Making a nice explosion. Her windshield was cracked all over and had a couple of holes in it. Must have been a 23MM down there; nothing smaller could have done that. It would take several hits from a 12.7MM in the same place to do the same amount of damage a few 23MM would do. She put her hand up to her helmet and found part of it missing and probed with her hand a little and brought it down; it was covered in blood. She pulled off her helmet-and that HURT- and took a cloth scarf she had and quickly tied it over where it hurt the most. Then put her helmet back on, carefully.
“Spectre Lead to Ground Pounders, what is your status?”
“Ground to Spectre Lead, objective almost secured.”
“Doberman to Hustler, what is your status?”
“Hustler to Doberman, no targets left; village looks secure.”
Liz took a deep breath; her head really was hurting. She ought to order Roger to take them back to base; but for the moment she would wait.
Ted was able to get a good look at Liz’s Apache; the pilot’s windshield was a mess. “Lobo to Doberman, how are you?”
“Doberman to Lobo, I think I picked up some glass fragments. My windshield is toast. Otherwise operational.”
“Roger, Doberman.” He was going to keep a sharp eye on her.
“Liz, how are you?” came from Roger.
“I am OK. But as messed up as my windshield is you will be flying back and landing.”
“Roger that.”
“Ground to Spectre Lead, target secured. MEDEVAC requested.”
“Roger, Ground.”
Liz waited as patiently as she could with her head hurting like it did; but it did not seem as bad. She found closing her eyes helped. It was fairly bright and her visor was broken so the sun was annoying. She sent Hustler off with the Medevac. 15 minutes after it left the SAS was ready to go.
The trip back was OK as long as Liz kept her eyes closed. As they got close she called the Base to inform them that they needed to contact her Crew chief so that he could order a new pilots windshield. Liz had figured that she had taken some glass to the side of her head above her right ear. So when base asked her condition she was rather blasé about it.
“The glass took a chunk out of my helmet and gave me a cut to the side of the head. It is not bad, though.”
So when Roger landed and they moved to the normal parking spot, she noticed not only Grunt but some medics there as well. Talk about over reaction. Oh well.
Grunt looked hard as Liz’s Apache came in; the windshield did look like it had been hit several times. No other damage apparent. He was right there as soon as Roger shut down the engine with the British Medic right beside him. He got the hatch open and stood for a moment, stunned.
As soon as roger shut the engine down Liz carefully took off her helmet, and looked at it. Well, need a new flight helmet. The right side about just above the ear was mostly gone in a gouge that was a good 2-3 inches wide. She looked at that and realized that this was a Kevlar helmet; glass could not have done that.
Grunt stared at his pilot who had taken off her helmet; the scarf was tied around her head above her ear and it was blood soaked; it had been a light tan scarf. He quickly stepped forward.
“Liz, this looks bad. Let me help you out.”
“It is probably looking worse than it is; I have a headache but that is all. I can get out on my own.” But Grunt insisted on helping her out. The Medic pounced on her as soon as she was on the ground, examining her.
The other pilots and copilots of her company were crowding around, shocked. Liz looked like something out of an old war movie. There was blood all over her head and the scarf was soaked and there was some on her flight suit as well.
Hustler saw a big box and he and his copilot grabbed it and hustled and forced themselves through the crowd and placed it right next to the Chopper and the medic forced Liz to sit on it while he looked over the wound.
Off to the side a BBC Camera crew had been filming; but this looked much more interesting as they noticed the medic; and then one of them pointed out the Apache with the busted windscreen. They got a good shot of her being helped out of her ship and the two other pilots bringing a big box for her to sit on while the medic checked her out.
Liz kept her eyes closed while the Medic pocked and prodded and asked questions. Liz answered the first ones then said
“Enough about me, Grunt how is my chopper?”
“Liz….”
“Oh, come on this is not bad. How bad is my bird?”
He sighed. “Well until the crowd leaves I cannot see for sure. If it is only the windshield we have spares at Kandahar and they can get one to me in one day. Now the adhesive filler will take one day to cure. So figure two, maybe three days.”
“Well, nuts, I will have to steal one then for the time being. I have to be with my company. I can’t stay on the ground.”
“Well, that is going to keep you on the ground for a couple of days anyway.”
The medic then spoke up. “Yes it will. Now you will be coming to the hospital for XRays and to have that stitched up. We will need to make sure there is no glass in the wound, though I doubt it. You were grazed more likely by a bullet.”
“Yeah, when I saw the helmet I thought that might be the case.”
Grunt reached in and pulled her helmet out. There was a collective gasp as they saw the gouge in its side and the blood on it. The BBC cameraman also caught that and the reporter had gotten close enough to catch almost all the conversation as well.
So Liz was bundled aboard the ambulance and driven to the Hospital.
Ted was about to go when he noticed Roger standing there, shaken. He went to him and pulled him away.
“She said take the stick; then she shot that hellfire and blew that building up. She seemed fine. I did not notice a thing.”
The BBC man caught that as well.
Grunts call to Kandahar went right to the Battalion commander who immediately ordered a spare windshield set to be taken to Bastion that day.
Word spread and Jesse convinced her Battalion commander to let her fly it to Bastion. She was in the air in 3 hours and got to Bastion by noon. She got right to Grunt who was waiting at the strip.
“Liz got a huge chunk taken out of her helmet above the right ear; I found a 23MM rd, TP, embedded in the armor plate right behind her. Funny, if it had been explosive it would have detonated on the windshield and just blown a hole in it. Would have caused a lot less of a problem. It missed taking off the side of Liz’s head by about an inch.”
With nothing else to do but wait Grunt had already gotten the shattered pieces of the windshield off and he and his crew began to replace the windshield.
Meanwhile Liz had been sat down and the wound carefully cleaned and then stitched up after they took an XRAY to make sure there was no other foreign bits in the wound area. Then they made her lie down and rest.
The word spread to Liz’s friends and they all began to try and find out what had happened and how she was. Her new friends at Bastion began to gather at the Hospital. One of the doctors noted this.
“Whoever this yank is she is very popular.”
“You remember a couple of years ago that American pilot saving that young girl that had been shot?”
“That is her?”
“Yes.”
“She is so small!”
Meanwhile the doctor in charge had to give in and allow some of her friends to visit. That consisted of Ted, Roger and Hustler.
Liz was lying there with her eyes closed; seeming very small and vulnerable. They stopped, wondering if she was sleeping.
Liz heard someone come into her room and she opened her eyes; her head was not hurting as much but they had told her that only minor pain medication was indicated for the time being. She spotted them and smiled.
Liz opened her eyes and looked at them and smiled and suddenly the room got a lot brighter. She seemed clear eyed and if not for the bandage around her head she would have looked fine; she was not in a gown but just had her tank top on in the bed with the covers pulled up.
“Hi Guys.”
She got a parade of visitors after that; the SAS and RAF and 2nd Scots.
Then a couple of hours later when the Doctor had said enough visitors Jesse managed to talk her way in.
“Liz; you look comfortable.”
She opened her eyes and smiled at her friend.
“Hey, room service and peace and quiet and a soft bed. This is not so bad.”
The Brigade commander talked to the 1st Battalion Commander.
“Not sure how long she will be out; it will take a day or two to fix her Apache.’
“Knowing her they might have to tie her up to keep her on the ground.”
“The problem would be if they have to do a mission for the whole company; there is no one there who can do it. 2nd Platoon commander is way too green.”
“That is true. I can send Griffith over and if necessary he can take one of the other Apache’s.”
Meanwhile the BBC camera crew and reporter were getting background as fast as they could. Once they realize the injured pilot was Captain Parker, THE Captain Parker, they pulled out all the stops. They got the PR officer of Bastion to ok the story. It got sent to the London studio where it went on the 6PM news.
There the director had scared up a Apache pilot from the RAF to talk about it.
“News from the war in Afghanistan. Now some think that the talk of this war being a coalition war being a put on, should visit Camp Bastion in Helmand Province. American Army Apache’s supporting British RAF and Ground forces. Today, actually just hours ago, we received some very descriptive pictures and sound from that base. To give the background, this morning a SAS troop assaulted a suspected Taliban stronghold; once they attacked they found out that it was not suspected at all; it was true. The American Apache helicopters, from 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade normally stationed in Kandahar but this company, Company A, has been supporting British troops and the RAF at Bastion for the past two months. This company is commanded by Captain Elizabeth Parker, famed for the saving of that Afghan 8 year old girl shot by a Taliban official in footage seen many times over the last two years. Captain Parker adopted that girl; and she is back in Afghanistan on her second tour. Here is our reporter on the scene.”
“We do not have all the facts but we do have this footage of when Captain Parker returned to this base.”
They then showed the Apache coming to rest, zooming in on the shattered windshield, and then the hatch opening up and Liz getting out of the helicopter, blood stained scarf and blood on her flight suit. They saw two of her fellow pilots manhandle a big box for her to sit on. And then her damaged and bloody helmet. And they heard clearly her conversations.
Then the picture switched back to the studio where a former RAF Apache pilot told the audience what was what.
The American Media was not slow to pick this up and demanded answers. At that particular time there was no American Media at camp Bastion or next door at Leatherneck. So they copied the BBC account and ran with it on the late news and then the morning news.
Nancy Parker got a call from Maria; they got the BBC news on their satellite and had been tipped off by friends about it. Max found out when the PR officer at Campbell called him to inform him that his wife had been wounded but only slightly.
The SAS commander was nudged by Captain Forrest to come by and offer Liz the use of a satellite phone. She called Max; and talked to him and then Aliya; assuring them she was going to be fine. It had been two months since she had been able to talk to them. She then called her mother and reassured her. Then Maria and Isabelle and Tess. Finally done she thanked the SAS commander.
He responded by saying simply “We take care of our own.”
Liz was cheered up first by the visit with Jesse then the phone calls home. She began to pester the doctor about getting out of there and was told if she was ok in the morning she would be let go. She convinced Jesse on her way out to have Grunt come by and tell her the condition of her chopper. He came by and told her that nothing else was busted and that they already had the new windshield in place, just needed 24 hours for the seal adhesive to cure and harden. So she would only miss one day if the docs cleared her. She convinced Ted when he came by later to call Kandahar and tell them she would miss one day and that is it. He grudgingly agreed but only if she promised to stay put and rest that night. That was easy as the Doctor gave her a stronger pain med and she was soon asleep.
The Brigade Commander called the Battalion commander.
“Talked to one of her pilots; her apache will be down for just tomorrow and odds are she will be back flying the next day.”
“Then I will keep Griffith here.”
Liz woke up the next morning, a little confused and still a little woozy from the medication. She lay there slowly remembering things. After a little while a nurse came in and noticed she was awake. She wished her a good morning and told Liz that she would get the doctor. Liz looked for a clock and saw it was around 0700. She had been conked for 11 hours. No wonder she was woozy.
The doctor came in and checked her over.
“Well, you seem very alert and if you have only minor discomfort then we can let you out.”
Liz grinned. “That is good news. I need to check on my company and my chopper.”
About half an hour later Ted showed up with her jacket and took her to the mess hall where she proceeded to eat a huge breakfast. Ted was amazed at what she put away.
“Liz you must have a hollow leg- because there is no place else you could have put that much food.”
“Hey, I ate nothing from a quick MRE yesterday morning until now.”
They then headed down to the flight line; he told Liz that as far as he knew right now there was no mission. The only one he knew about the RAF Apache’s would be covering. They found Grunt checking out her chopper.
“So will it be ready for tomorrow?”
“Yes, in a pinch it would be ready tonight.”
“Well that is good. I guess I can bum around today. It is really nice not being buried in paperwork like I would be at Kandahar.”
Liz found herself talking to a lot of people who seemed to know what happened; finally one of the RAF pilots told her that the BBC had done a bit on her. Liz wondered if there was someone UP THERE that just liked to mess with her; talk about lousy luck.
Going to the mess hall was not a lot of fun; luckily her whole company was with her. She felt like the prize attraction at a zoo.
The Brigade Commander and the 1st Battalion commander were looking at the official report. The Battalion commander shook his head.
“That is about as close to it as you can get and walk away.”
The SAS Commander and the RAF Commander were having a talk.
“She deserves some kind of commendation; she never lost control or command.”
The RAF commander nodded.
“I am going to mention that in the report to the 101st Brigade Commander. And add to that the fact that she has comported herself tremendously her whole time here. Her company has performed at the highest standard possible.”
“I heard something that I checked out; and contacted someone I know in Special Forces to confirm it. Not one allied person has died in any mission that she and her company have been part of. Not one pilot, crewmember, soldier, trooper, anyone.”
The RAF Commander blinked at that.
“And her company from all accounts has been involved in as many if not more operations as any other attack helicopter company.”
“I think that fact needs to be elevated.”
The next day the Brigade Commander looked at the report. Then called in his XO.
“I want this checked.”
Later that day his XO reported to him.
“It is true sir. Remarkable.”
“I think she must be a favorite of the Gods of War.”
The next day came and they had two missions; as usual it seemed one for the SAS and one for the 2nd Scots. As usual Liz took the SAS and Hustler took the 2nd Scots.
It was almost the identical mission as the one she had been wounded on; but Liz forced herself to not think about it. This village was only 50 miles from Bastion, and it was in more open terrain so there were more choices of approach. Liz took her Apache’s around and came from the opposite direction that Bastion was and came in at 1000 feet and obvious. And hovered; just like last time. This time nothing happened except a movement of armed men to that side of the village facing the waiting, hovering Apaches. And the SAS came from the other side and poured into the village. When the armed men began to turn to face the other way and fire, Liz and her platoon cut loose. In 15 minutes the call came.
“Ground to MEDEVAC, respond. Target secured.”
Liz ordered Hustler to send two with the MEDEVAC when it took off.
30 minutes later the call came in for extraction. And they headed back; then Liz got a call from Bastion that a Patrol base needed help about 50 miles away. Liz ordered Hustler to stay with the flight and she took her platoon off to hunt.
The patrol base was almost identical to the one that she had gotten wounded at; and the Taliban were all around it. Liz took Lobo to the right while Pug took Fireman to the left.
“Spectre Lead to Patrol Base, what is your position?”
“Patrol Base to Spectre Lead, we are concentrated in the village center, everyone on the perimeter is unfriendly.”
“Roger that, we will see if we can even up things.”
“Doberman to all, use 2.75’s on perimeter; let’s see if we can run them off”
Liz told roger to lay down 2.75’s along the perimeter while she started pot shooting Taliban. Liz became Nemesis, putting her mark on one after another. In 20 minutes it looked like they had done as much as they could.
“Spectre Lead to Patrol Base; what is your situation? We have thinned out the perimeter.”
“Patrol Base to Spectre, we have no more incoming fire.”
“Roger that, we will patrol the perimeter and look some more”
“OK, people, lets circle the perimeter and look for unfriendlies. Snipe them if you see them.”
After another 15 minutes Liz looked at the fuel situation and knew they had to leave.
“Spectre Lead to Patrol Base; we are at bingo on fuel. Will have to go.”
“Patrol Base to Spectre Lead, we are secure and Thank You.”
“Roger Patrol base, we are gone.”
So they headed back to base. The wound on the side of her head itched and hurt a little, but otherwise Liz felt fine. She had to work some to scrounge up another helmet.
Meanwhile the story about Liz percolated for a couple of days in the US and then would have died if FOX NEWS had not gotten the interesting tidbit about the record of Liz and her company. They never admitted where they got that from but there were suspicions since Fox News had very close ties with Special Forces.
This is Fox News Tonight. Captain Elizabeth Parker, Commander of A company, 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade, currently stationed at Kandahar Airfield, but at the moment assisting the UK forces at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, was once again in the news for this time surviving a very near call. This is courtesy of the BBC.” Then they showed the report.
“Captain Parker is someone that seems to be around where the fire is hottest; in Iraq, in Northern Afghanistan, and now Southern Afghanistan. She has been decorated more times for Valor then all the other women in American History combined. She is by some counts the most decorated member of the United States Military since 2001. But one achievement dwarfs all the others: counting the fight defending the convoy, no American or allied soldier, Marine, Airman, anyone, has died while in her command or under the protection of her Company of Apache attack Helicopters. That includes all the missions that she has escorted and all the missions she and her company has responded to for fire support to bases under attack. Including the time she rescued the young girl that she eventually adopted. If she is there, our people do not die.”
The DOD PR chief happened to see that personally; he groaned. That was the universal response that everyone in any PR function had to that report. Fox News on occasion spread it very thick; this one was several feet thick. And yet it was true.
The SECDEF was told this; and groaned. The Congressman was told this; and nodded. CENTCOM groaned; and so on down the chain.
The Brigade commander put down the phone. He sat there and thought. Then he called in his XO and his PR officer.
“Fox News had a little Blurb about Captain Parker. I want this checked out with a fine toothed comb.” And then he told them. His XO looked thoughtful. The Brigade Commander glared at him. He put up both his hands.
“Sir, I heard this bandied around just lately. I thought it was interesting but I was not sure it was true. But the more I thought about it, the more I began to think that it might be true.”
“Well then CONFIRM IT!”
The President was informed of this and demanded the same thing. This order went down the chain of command.
Commander, Bastion, put down his phone. Pondered for a while, then called in his chief of security.
“I want a protection detail assigned to Captain Parker. With the notoriety she is getting, I do not want to take any chances.”
At a hastily called meeting of the Commander of the RAF Regiment there at Bastion, as well as the Commanders of all Ground units and the SAS, he informed them of his directive. At that point both the commanders of both the SAS detachment and the 2nd Scots requested the honor of forming that detail. It was then agreed to trade off; each would take responsibility every other day. The SAS then demanded the honor of the first day, since she was usually working with them. It was agreed.
Liz was finishing up the paperwork that seemed to find her no matter where she was at a borrowed desk in operations when four members of the SAS marched up to her. She looked at them with raised eyebrows then stood and returned their rigid salute.
“Captain Parker, by order of the MOD, we are your protective detail.”
Liz sighed. “Very well. Grab a seat; I should be done in a few minutes; after which I will eat then retire for the evening.”
They did not sit; instead two members were stationed outside the office door and two others were stationed inside.
Liz felt very ridiculous with her detail following her everywhere.
Needless to say, Ted and the others got a kick out of it. Especially when the four members, who were switched out every 4 hours, stationed themselves outside her humble tent.
Of course before long people were taking pictures of it.
The next day was New Years; and there were no missions scheduled. And luckily no requests for support came in. So they had a nice day overall; Liz feeling hunted.
The President read the report. Then looked at SECDEF.
“Remarkable.”
SECDEF nodded. “I had this researched and from what has been found to this point, no other Company matches that record. None appear to come close. Now there have not been that many Apache Companies overall; but starting in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2001, there are still a fair number that have been deployed. Now it is very possible that some deployed in Afghanistan from 2002 on might have the same record; for a while it was pretty quiet there. I have some people checking into that. But that just underscores what A company of the 1st Battalion has accomplished in two tours in Afghanistan combined. Both coming during times of very high intensity warfare. And furthermore, there has not been one instance of anyone claiming that that company has killed an innocent or a civilian. That is certainly possible; but no one has come forward.”
“I want this thoroughly researched.”
“Yes sir.”
That fact about Liz percolated the media for a while longer, while there was some serious digging into reports in more than a few areas to see if possibly anyone else could make such a claim. But several military authorities agreed that accomplishing this during a time of intense combat was nothing short of remarkable.
Maria and the others were talking one day at a get together. Maria was unusually pensive.
“We all felt that Liz was very special. We knew it from just about the first day we met her back in 2001. I think we are just now finding out how special.”
The Crew was quietly contemplating that same thing New Years Day.
Vicki was wondering how this could happen. Ellen was contemplative.
“Of course part of it is luck. No one could say otherwise. But then how much of it is because of how much she cares; and how hard she works?”
Jesse nodded.
“Most of it. She outworks just about anyone I have ever met. And you remember a couple of times that Liz has mentioned the Gods of War. Just maybe those gods have favorites. And they bless their favorites with just a touch of luck. Just enough so that a bullet wounds instead of kills.”
Combat resumed on the 2nd day of 2011. Resupply was the name of that day; and the British Apache’s shared the load with Company A. Three separate resupply missions to FOBs. But very little trouble was found. Liz was quite happy with that.
That night, a call went out for fire support and as per the agreement the RAF Apache’s went out and got it done. That meant that the next day the load fell on A Company. Once again the SAS and 2nd Scots hit villages. As per usual Liz went with the SAS. It was a small village and it ended up virtually empty. Liz was happy about that. The Scots had a more difficult time but still cleaned theirs out without casualties. When Liz got back she picked up her detail and then went to the Debrief; after it the RAF commander spoke to her.
“The Dutch are arriving with 8 Apache’s in a week. And we will probably get some others in a few weeks after that. With the relative quiet period we have at this time due to the weather, you should be able to head back to Kandahar in two weeks.”
“Sir I will be happy to be in a more comfortable place; but I will be sad to leave those I have fought beside here.”
“I can guarantee, Captain Parker, we will miss you.”
And two weeks later Liz and A Company headed back to Kandahar. A very fine party was thrown by the SAS, RAF and 2nd Scots for them. Liz was extremely sad to leave Bastion and the very good friends she had made there. Each of those had made her and her company honorary members.
Those two weeks had been rather sparse in missions; hardly any of the Apache’s had fired anything.
Liz was happy to be back at Kandahar for several reasons: a more comfortable place to sleep; being with the crew; and not having a protective detail. She was quite glad her greeting was low key. She would not have been glad to know what was going on high over her head.
SECDEF looked at his aide.
“This has been confirmed.
“Yes sir, even during the very quiet periods in Afghanistan it did not happen. In both you could find some that lost no Americans on their watch; but allies were lost. In its current tour, A company has not had one single death of anyone that was not an enemy. Not a civilian or innocent that we can find. If you look at the period just operating with the British, they have not lost anyone during that period either, and they had until A Company arrived a rather high casualty count when you looked at the percentage of troops involved. Now this current tour of the 101st Airborne has been remarkably absent of casualties; but they have had some. Every single one happened on someone else’s watch. Special Operations while A Company has been involved had no casualties as regards KIA. Or even killed in accidents. In her last tour Captain Parker was heavily involved with Special Operations Missions; and none were lost there either. It can be put no other way; Captain Parker has the touch of Midas; only instead of gold her gift is life.”
The Battalion commander had called a meeting of his Unit Commanders.
“Combat operations will cease on 15 February, just one month from now. It looks like we should all be home on or about 10 March. At this time there is minimal combat, but we cannot relax or grow complacent. I expect 100% effort and efficiency right through the last combat mission.”
Liz was back to her office very happily and greeted her first sergeant.
“Now I am really glad to be back. I have someone to dump paperwork on.”
He grinned at her. “Paperwork? Never heard of it.”
Liz was a little surprised how easily she slipped back into the swing of things; but she was not going to complain. 17 January and they were back to business as usual; a 2nd Brigade assault on a suspected Taliban stronghold near the mountains. It was big enough that Liz was told to take her whole company. In the mission planning; she asked to do the same as they had been doing at Helmand; using a platoon as a diversion. It was agreed.
5th Battalion had 14 hawks in the assault with 4 in reserve and 2 MEDEVACS; Liz realized that she had gotten used to the lesser resources at Bastion. But she was happy to have them. The Crew was in the assault group so Liz was a little tenser than usual but one would not have known by looking at her. Hustler came in from the west while the rest of the assault came in from the east and it worked very well indeed. There were not a lot of Taliban to begin with and most of them obediently lined up and got themselves taken out by getting caught in the crossfire from the Apache’s and the troopers. There were a few minor casualties but nothing serious.
There were a few supply runs but nothing else for several days. Then Captain Forrest showed up again. Liz looked at him and sighed.
“If I had any sense at all I would just shoot you now.”
“I come in peace.”
“I should send you out in pieces.”
“How about a visit to our compound?”
“Why not? It’s not like I am not in a war zone already.”
She went with him and upon entering was taken to the office of the Commander. Captain Forrest then left, closing the door and the Commander offered her a seat. Liz sat down; wondering what was coming this time.
“No mission, no Company mess, nothing like that.”
“Now I know I should run like hell.”
He handed her a file that was marked TOP SECRET. Liz felt something shift inside of her and she opened the file. Began to read. Then actually felt herself start to drool.
The commander watched all this with satisfaction. He doubted he would need to do much to convince her.
Liz spent 10 minutes reading and memorizing the file then handed it back to the Commander who promptly put it in a safe and locked it. She observed all this.
“Why am I being told? I can guess that this is being built now but VERY quietly.
“It is being built as a black project. And we have been able to keep it very quiet; one reason is that parts of it are being built by people who have no idea what those parts are for. The body and frame parts are basically identical to the standard parts only they are being made out of titanium. Other parts are being made as replacements for current parts. Only the avionics are unique. Even the engines are standard in one respect; they are the same as the WAH models. The first ones will be assembled starting in May. They are making the parts and then will assemble the aircraft. That is another way we are hiding it. The first company will be operational in February of 2012. By the end of that year we will have two battalions. We want you to be not only our first pilot; but the commander of the first company. You only have to ask for transfer to 160th SOAR.”
“I thought that was men only.”
“A new directive came out in September from SECDEF. We have not publicized it yet. Aviators are no longer male only.”
Liz thought about the super Apache. She knew she had to fly it.
“You said Feb of 2012?”
“That is the goal; it probably will slip a few months.”
Liz considered that. She had plans but it might still work. But there was no other decision she could make. She knew she should tell Max first but he would understand. She looked at the commander.
“How do I do this?”
“You are agreeing?”
“Yes. I must fly that chopper.”
“Then you need to do nothing until you redeploy.”
Liz went back to her quarters and lay on her bed and thought. While her decision had been somewhat impulsive, it was also true to herself. Flying was her goal; it was what truly interested her and made her eager to leave her home and family. It made her willing to sacrifice heavily to do it. ‘Find something you love to do and then find a way to get paid doing it’ was something she had read as a child and had always remembered. She had and she had. Taking a deep breath she then headed out to where you could make commercial phone calls; now she wished she had gone ahead an gotten a satellite phone. It took more than an hour, but she was able to get through to Max’s work number and she was in luck as he was at the office.
Max was finishing up some paperwork; this job was not as bad as he had thought it was; not particularly good just not bad. He had been quietly checking around for something better and had some good prospects. Hopefully in six months or so he would have something he liked doing. His phone rang and he answered it.
“Max Evans”
“Max, it’s Liz.”
“Liz! Great to hear from you honey! How are things going?”
“Well I have some news for you.”
“Well if it is big I am sitting down.”
“I guess that is good. I had a meeting with the local Special Forces Commander today and he gave me some very interesting information. It made me decide to join the 160th SOAR when I get back from deployment.”
Max was very still for a moment.
“Liz, they deploy a lot. More than anyone else.”
“I know. But what was offered me I could not pass up.”
Max thought hard. What in the world could make Liz jump from the frying pan to the fire?
“Liz you talked about applying to become an instructor so we could start a family.”
“We can still start one when I get back. I went off the pill 6 months ago.”
“But that means if you are pregnant you are grounded; so what is the point of joining the 160th right after you get back?”
“So I am first in line. What I want to be flying won’t be available for a while.”
So that was it- something new. He had not heard about any new Helicopters coming out that would make Liz want to do this. So it had to be something really Black. Well it was Special Ops. And they had made a point of offering it now to Liz. Well that was no surprise; with the reputation she had earned they would be stupid to not do that. Liz loved the Apache; so it had to be something that would blow the Apache away. If that was the case no wonder she had jumped on the offer.
“I think I understand now, Liz. At least you will still be based here. So we will manage. I am so looking forward to you coming home.”
“So am I. To you and Aliya.”
“She is very proud of you and so am I. She is doing well; and staying here will be good for her, too.”
“Love you and give her a kiss for me. Have to go.”
“Love you too Liz.”
Max sat back and thought about things. Then got onto his computer and started to go to some of those forums that speculated about Black Projects. A couple hours later he stopped; even in that most paranoid and conspiracy driven area, there was only a very slight amount of speculation about a new attack helicopter for Black Ops. They had done a real good job of hiding this. And on the regular forums for aviation there was really nothing on a new attack helicopter for the military.
Liz went back to her quarters and once again lay down and thought. She was rather lucky that the Crew was out. She would let Battalion know right after they got home. That would give them time to figure out a replacement for her. She smiled at the thought of ‘working’ on starting a family. She wanted that very much. If she was lucky she would get pregnant quickly. She hoped her guardian angel was listening.
There were less than four weeks to go before they stopped flying. The replacement brigade would be flying in the next week. They would have three weeks to get ready before they relieved the 101st. One of the Brigades, the 2nd, would also be leaving at the same time; the 4th Brigade was already home. The next two brigades would be leaving in the next few months. Liz knew that everyone was beginning to get the short timers attitude; which had its good and bad points. The Bad was that people would try and skate and do as little as possible; the Good was that people would be more cautious and take fewer risks.
The next day there were some supply runs that were uneventful. C Company had really shaped up and was now maybe as good as A company. Liz privately doubted it, though. B Company had always been solid; not inspired but solid. So that area meant things were good. And with it being this time of year the pressure was off on combat anyway. Liz had no doubt there would be a few more assaults but not that many. The 2nd Cavalry’s Kiowa Scouts, attack/recon, handled most of the calls for quick reaction air support. When the fixed wings were not called, anyway. Only when they were not available or the call came from too far away were the Apache’s brought in. There was a lot less pressure here then there was at Bastion. They really needed more attack helicopter support there; what was there was badly stretched. Liz had written a report on operations there and had stressed that in it. It had gone to Brigade; she hoped it went higher.
Just one week before the end of flying came another mission that had the look of not being fun. It was a Special Operations mission, so naturally Liz was contacted. She followed Forrest as usual to the Special Ops compound.
There it was outlined. A good sized village in a mountain pass almost 150 miles north of Kandahar. There were intelligence indications that several mid-level Taliban leaders were there. It would be hairy as due to the height of the mountains, above the level any Apache could make, or any other helicopter for that matter, so they would have to go right up the valley and had to withdraw the same way. This operation clearly had to be a night attack. There was a place 50 miles from target that would be used as a refueling point; 2 Chinooks would go there with a Special Ops security team, and the attack force would refuel and then launch the assault. They would leave at night; arrive there and refuel; and then hit the target. 6 Battalion would be the transport unit; it would be a full company of SF in 6 Blackhawks, with 4 in reserve and 2 Medevacs.
It was speculated that the village could be defended by one or more 23MM AA cannons, like the one that had just about punched Liz’s ticket. However its use at night would be very limited. This was a no moon period so that there would be no light at all; and all the US Helicopters would be very difficult to see as they had been designed for night operations. However anyone could get lucky so they would be watching for it. The only other possible defense that could worry anyone was if someone down there had an operational man portable SAM like a SA-7 or the like. It was possible they had a more modern version as a SA-7 was very ineffective against a modern US helicopter. It had been established that the Taliban had no remaining operational Stingers; the shelf life for all of them and especially for their batteries had expired years ago. There was no realistic chance any of them would work at this date.
So the mission was planned for the Blackhawks to quickly land the Special Forces teams at the outskirts of the village and then quickly move away to stay out of range of any possible AA weapons. It was probable that there would be 12.7MM MGs – but they had a limited effective range.
The Apache’s would move in as cover and watch for anything; and use their 30MM to take out any identifiable threats. They would then quickly move back as well. This operation would succeed or fail on the Special Forces troops.
Liz had no forebodings as they took off at 2000 the next night. But then she had had none when she had been wounded, either. Apparently it only worked when others were under threat. The trip to the refueling point was uneventful; as was the refueling. They took off for the target at 0030 and arrived at 0100 as scheduled. Liz took her entire Company in over the Blackhawks as they landed; this was a lot tougher than it sounds at night. The night Vision Goggles were the latest version but it was still nowhere near as good as daytime. So there was no choice but to go slower than you would have during the day.
It was not long before they began to receive incoming fire; mostly AK 47 but also some 12.7MM Tracer was spotted; but they were quickly silenced as the Apache’s could see them easily once they fired. And they fired at the Apache’s who were mostly impervious to 12.7MM anyway.
Liz was tensely watching; Roger had control of the stick while she was concentrating on the 30MM. She had not yet fired a shot as someone beat her to it when she spotted something worth shooting at. There were 8 of them watching for anything so that was no surprise. In the cold air it was easier to see the figures trying to move and shoot. The IR contrast helped immensely. Then Liz spotted a figure standing on top of a building with what looked like a RPG, or maybe a SAM. Either way she exploded him quickly. Then heavier tracers started to come towards them and they all reacted quickly to what had to be 23MM; two separate ones were each targeted by 2-3 Apache’s and quickly taken out. Then came the word that the Blackhawks had unloaded and were now a safe distance away.
“Doberman to all ships; let’s back away as planned.”
So they all flew backwards about half a mile or so, each watching the other so that no one got too close to anyone else. There they hovered and waited and watched.
In the village the SF teams had a huge advantage as they all had night goggles and the Taliban did not. Still it was not easy and they slowly fought their way from one end to the other. As agreed once they reached the far end of the village they called the escort.
“Ground to Spectre Lead; we have reached objective three.”
Spectre Lead to Ground; understood.”
Then as agreed Liz and 1st Platoon at a height of 1500 feet moved over the village to its far end; there to see if anyone tried to flee. This would be tricky because they did not want to shoot any women or children. Anyone carrying a weapon was considered fair game. But still they wanted to be sure.
Liz looked hard and long through her sight on the 30MM on the trail leading deeper into the valley from the village. It was not long before there were indeed people starting to run up that trail. Liz was more concerned when she noted what appeared to be women among them. But she did not see a single child.
“Doberman to all ships; I will take any shots; no one else shoots. Acknowledge.”
One by one the others acknowledged.
Liz kept watching; then began to drop down closer to get a better look. There were only a couple figures carrying AK 47’s; really not worth a shot probably. Then a bigger group came out of the village and there were 8 men in it; 3 were carrying AK 47’s; one in front and 2 in the rear. She looked closer and two of the figures in the clump of 5 looked better dressed as near as she could tell. Making a decision she fired a burst at them; killing them all. Then more armed figures came running out of the village shooting back towards it. Liz hosed them as well.
“Ground to Spectre Lead; village secured. Have 4 wounded; not badly.”
“Spectre Lead, took down most of the armed subjects leaving village; a group that appears to have targets taken down as well just past the end of the village.”
“Roger Spectre Lead will take a look.”
In a few minutes Liz saw more armed subjects leaving; clearly the Special Forces soldiers. They checked the ones Liz had blown away then looked at the clump. Liz saw the flashes of pictures being taken.
“Doberman to all ships; back up to angels 15.”
15 minutes later the call for Pickup came and the MEDEVACs dropped down as well.
Liz spread out the company looking for any possible attacks and waited; in less than 15 minutes they were away.
And that turned out to be the end of the combat for the Aviation Brigade.
With the end of the combat role and flying, the choppers were taken over by the maintenance crews to prepare them for transport. But that did not mean the pilots had nothing to do; but now all of it was paperwork. Reports right and left for everything and anything. Liz had to do end of deployment evaluations on everyone; and sign off on every report and all the reports of survey for everything lost or expended not previously accounted for.
All that took up the next two weeks; but it was finally MOSTLY done. There was not a lot of personal gear to pack up so that would not take long. So by the beginning of March just about everyone outside of the Company Commanders on up had a fair amount of free time. Which most used to catch up on sleep and relax; since once they got home most would be taking their 30 day leave right away and would want to do things, not rest. Liz and the other commanders had more to do since they were also briefing in the new brigade about everything.
After the final meeting, Liz was talking to Ed and Jim.
“So, guys, what next for you?”
Ed shrugged “I will probably get the Battalion in the next few months when the Battalion commander finally moves up to Brigade XO.”
Jim sighed; “They are talking giving me 5 Battalion as he moves up.”
Liz looked at them. “Neither of you sound joyful about it.”
Ed nodded. “Command is not what it is cracked up to be, as you have already found. But the paperwork at Battalion level is about 5 times what you have at company level.”
Jim winced. “And that might be underestimating it. But worst of all flying is just about done.”
Liz nodded. “That is why I am thinking of instructor.”
They both nodded. “You can stay an instructor for a long time if you want; 5 years or more. But then you are pretty much stuck being a part of the school after that. Your chances at promotion are pretty much gone.” ED stated.
Jim nodded. “Now if you are just wanting to run out the string to retirement at 20, that would work. You would not get a command or anything like it. The Bottom line in the military is keep rising or get out. Even if you are great at what you are currently doing, they will not let you stay there for too long no matter what.”
Ed sighed. “Liz, you are a superb pilot and company commander. If the military had any brains they would leave you alone right at that position. But they cannot do that; or more to the point won’t. It is like an animal that cannot ever not eat; it thinks if it stops feeding for one day it will die. That is where the US Military is today. Instead of transferring people and promoting them every couple of years the smart thing to do was when you found someone outstanding at doing something is leave them there to keep doing it. When you have too many great ones at that position then start promoting them. And gradually you fill from the bottom up. It is not done.”
Nothing of what they said came to Liz as anything like a surprise. It was all things she had seen and thought herself. From two that she very much respected to have said it, just confirmed what she already knew. And that made her decision that much easier. It was either what she had already decided to do or become an instructor; and while that would have meant she could keep flying, it would have been treading water. She did not like the feeling that she was running as fast as she could just to remain in the same place.
So when Liz got on the plane on March 10 to return to the US, she had yet to tell anyone outside of Max what she was going to do.
Coming home this time was so much like it was last time; Max and Aliya and her mom waiting for her; in exactly the same place. And it was just as good. The very next day she got a chance to speak to the Crew where she let them know where she was going; just not why.
They were not as surprised as she thought they would be. Ellen said it best.
“You love flying that Apache, Liz; and not a desk. So flying anything other than a desk is what you should do. And I don’t think you would like being an instructor as much as you might have thought you would. Dealing with so many just wanting to do enough to get by, would have gotten you sooner or later. And having to wash some out that really want to would have made it worse. And we know you too well to think you would like playing all the political games and doing all those courses to get a list checked; so for me its fine.”
Liz told her mom the next day; and she sighed and nodded.
“I have come to terms with the fact that I have a warrior daughter; someone who does not want the picket fence and the safe lifestyle. Whatever you do as long as you want to do it I will always love and support you.”
It was a little different a few days later when they went down to stay with Maria and the others for a week. Isabelle understood the best, then Tess. Maria was silent. Liz looked at her friend.
“It is what I want to do Maria.”
Maria had her head down then slowly raised it up and they all saw the tears.
“Liz, I got the shakes that night I saw you come out of your Apache dripping blood. I am so afraid that sooner or later I am going to get that phone call telling me that finally you pushed it too far or your luck ran out. And flying for Special Operations is even worse than regular combat. But I know you; I have known you for almost 10 years though not as well the last 5. This is who you are. I think you are the finest person I have ever met; and I dread the day you are no longer here. I want it to happen in about 60 or 70 years. Not next year or the year after.”
Tears in her own eyes Liz hugged her friend. There was nothing more to be said.
She and Max had been ‘working’ on what he called their joint project from the first day. They made it a point to ‘work’ on it at least once a day.
Aliya had grown both inwardly and outwardly. Gone was the too skinny child; now 10, she was starting to sprout up. She might end up a fair amount taller than her adoptive mother. And from the shy and timid girl she had first adopted had come the much more open and confident pre-teen that more and more appeared to be the everyday American girl. In one respect Liz saw that anyway that they could stay here longer would be so good for her; she had very close friends and was comfortable and happy. It had been good seeing the Posse as well. Susan had been very blunt.
“Thank you for making sure our men came back to us.” While the 1st Brigade was not yet back, it was done with combat.
Ruth had just hugged her and whispered to her “I knew you would keep your promise.”
Becky had hugged her and told her that Sam had been able to email her and let her know that his unit had just finished their last mission before coming home.
The three of them then took off for 10 days of traveling to several different parts of the country like the Northeast; NY and Boston; then Florida and Disney World. Finally with a week left they came home. And just stayed together; Sam had left his job and the next one would not start for a month. So they got a chance to know each other.
Finally Liz called the number that the Special Forces Commander in Kandahar had given her. She was told to head over to the 160th SOAR HQ in Campbell.
While in a different compound with more security, it did not seem that much different. But going inside the HQ building Liz could feel a difference; an energy that was unlike anything she had seen anywhere else, even the Spec Ops in Afghanistan had. She was directed into an office where a full Colonel waited.
“Captain Parker; I am Colonel Ballard, commander of the 160th SOAR.”
“Pleased to meet you sir.”
“I am pleased to meet you Captain. I am glad you have decided to join us.”
“When I saw that bird, I had to fly her. Just that simple sir.”
“Well you will get that chance. However, the schedule has slipped due to some problems that cropped up. Nothing serious but it will add about 6 months to operational status.”
“Well that is good sir, since I was looking to have a baby before I started flying her.”
He raised an eyebrow then grinned. “I was told you did not mince words, Captain and I am glad that you are being fully honest here. So that is your latest project?”
Liz blushed slightly. “Yes Sir and I am giving full attention to it like anything else that is important.”
He grinned wider. “As any good Special Operations warrior should. Well that will work out well if you can manage to start your project in the next few months. You will have to go through our own special preparation course, but it is nothing that frankly should give you too much trouble. As organized as you are reputed to be.”
Liz smiled at him. “Ya gotta have a plan.”
“You will be going through a special version of that course for the simple reason of your record and accomplishments. Some of the regular parts would be redundant and waste time; you will only be doing what you need. We try to tailor all our prep work that way.”
Liz was already liking this. No cookie cutter crap; no trying to force round pegs into square holes.
“How long would that course take?”
“Probably about 12 weeks.”
“Well sir, If I can get my current project started, how much of what I need to do can I do before I cannot see my feet?”
He laughed out loud at that. “If that is not too the point I do not know what is. I would say about half of it.”
“Sounds like a plan, sir. Where do I sign?”
He reached for a folder on his desk and handed it to her. In about 10 minutes she had signed everything. Most of it had been pre filled out. When she finished it, she looked at him.
“So what next?”
“Inform your command about your intentions. Special Forces has another position they would like you to fill while we are all waiting for the birds to get done.
Liz blinked for a minute then sighed. “Don’t tell me; their ASP.”
He grinned again. “No flies on you. Makes sense; that is the other area you have excelled in. And they are losing their commander next month.”
And that was that. Liz headed back home and let Max know that it was done. The next day she went to the 101st Brigade HQ and talked to the head of personnel there.
“Captain Parker, what can I do for you?”
“Here are my transfer papers to the 160th SOAR.”
She did enjoy the look on his face.
Not two hours later she got a call from her Brigade Commander.
“I don’t suppose there is any way I can talk you into staying, Captain?” Was his statement to her when she came to his office.
“Sir do you know about the new bird they are getting?”
He looked at her and slowly nodded. “So that is why. I guess I cannot blame you. We will be very sorry to lose you Captain.”
“I am sorry to leave sir, but we both know I would not have been in that cockpit for that much longer here.”
“I am not going to BS you so no you would not have. Your promotion is in the works and you would have been Battalion XO fairly soon. You should know that you will be getting another commendation.”
Liz sighed. “Now what?”
He smiled suddenly. “I just got the word today. Company A, 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade will be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for actions in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces, Afghanistan from March of 2010 through February of 2011.”
Liz blinked but smiled. “So everyone that served in A Company in that time period is included.”
“Yes.”
“That is very good. I do not mind this one.”
“Thought that would make you a bit happier. I am very sorry to lose you but I do understand why. It has been an honor and pleasure to have you in my command, Captain.”
“Proud to have served in your command, Colonel.”
Liz came back to their house and found Max and Aliya preparing lunch. She smiled at this. She had not eaten much that morning, her stomach had been a little queasy so she was very hungry now and proceeded to devour two large sandwiches. Aliya had wide eyes at that; Liz laughed at her.
“You have seen me eat big meals before.”
“Momma, it always surprises me.”
After lunch Aliya went off to the center; this was her last day off before going back to school. A lot of children had not been in school since the division had come back. The school there was used to it. Max came back after dropping her off and found Liz just sitting and smiling.
“What has you happy?”
“The Brigade Commander informed me that A Company is getting the Presidential Unit Citation.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah this is one I do not mind. Of course it is my second; sometimes I forget about the one I got for being in the 3rd ID during the initial assault on Iraq.”
The next week when the Brigade reported back the Company was given the word; the award would be made within the next few weeks. After that she told them that she would be transferring to the 160th SOAR.
They pretty much all said the same thing; that they were not surprised and that they understood. She knew they were disappointed she was going but that was all.
Liz felt like she was in limbo and really did not know what to do until the transfer was formalized. Then another thought occurred to her that kind of took precedence. She realized she was late and remembered the slight nausea she had had on and off the last week or so. She wasted no time in going into town in civilian clothes and getting a pregnancy test. She came back to the house; glad that Max was looking over his new job; they were working on renovating the main air field and he had gotten a job with the contractor as supervisor of the work crews. She knew he would like that job better than the last. She read the instructions and followed them. Not ten minutes later Max came home and found her smiling again.
“OK, what this time?”
She showed him the test.
They spent the next hour making love. Then talking about things.
Aliya came home from school and was told; she was big eyed and asked a lot of questions. Liz very early on told her that she would be the big sister and thus would have some responsibility.
That evening Liz called her mom, then Maria and the others. Then the Crew, and finally the Posse. The crew and posse called for a party at the park the coming Saturday.
Liz quietly called the commander of the 160th SOAR and told him her news.
“Congratulations on the baby, Captain. Good timing. Very efficient.”
Liz laughed and thanked him.
On Saturday the Posse proceeded to make sure she did various things. Liz loved this time; the Crew were just as happy. And had some announcements. They were all getting married in the next few months.
That of course required much consultation on all matters marriage.
Back home that evening Liz cuddled with Aliya and Max on the sofa. They just sat there and enjoyed being together.
That Monday Liz was notified formally that her transfer had been accepted. And that she would be detached in two weeks to take over the ASP for Special Operations. And that the Presidential Unit Citation would be held in the White House Rose Garden on May 14. She was not pleased when told that the only ones listed were the Copilots, Pilots and Sergeant Rogers. She immediately called Brigade and they told her they were working on it. Liz then emailed her congressman.
“The Presidential Unit Citation currently leaves out the Crew chiefs and crews that kept our choppers flying. That is wrong.”
The reply came back in an hour. “I am on it.”
SECDEF really did not have time for this and proceeded to chew out his Undersecretary for Personnel who was supposed to take care of screw ups like that.
Liz cleaned up her office; then made sure all necessary paperwork was done, and then looked around. Ted came in and proceeded to pull her to where they had put together a going away party for her. Liz would miss them; she had spent more time with them than any other unit and that counted for a lot.
She reported to the 5th Group the following Monday and talked to the Commander.
“Captain Parker, you will find that no one is left from the group you trained over two years ago. So that is why you have been assigned TDY here. The new commander designate has decided to leave the army so it will be a while before we can scare up a replacement. I was informed of your condition and it should be no bar to this assignment. The 160th SOAR will be your PCS move technically even though you remain on the same installation.”
“Understood Sir. I have a fair amount of time before I reach the point where I will be completely desk bound. I see no reason that the ASP cannot be well in gear before I leave.”
Liz headed down to the SF ASP Office and walked in the door and looked around. There was no one there. She walked around and noted that the key cabinet was not secured. There was no one in the office at all. Beginning to get steamed she called up the 5th Group G4.
“Sir, this is Captain Parker. I am down here at the ASP office and there is no one in the building and it is not secure. I thought the Commander was not due to leave yet?”
“He was not as far as I know, Captain. I will send security ASAP.”
Liz went through the building and did not like what she found. A quick look at the SOP’s showed that they had all been last updated one year after she had left; not since. Virtually everything she saw screamed sloppiness and taking short cuts.
Within 10 minutes of her call upstairs, two vehicles loaded with SF Security appeared. The lead sergeant approached Liz.
“Sergeant Gunderson. Was told by Group to report to you on a security breach.”
“That is correct sergeant. You will have half your men secure this building; the rest and you will come with me to the ASP.”
“Yes Maam. Sergeant Wilson, take your team and secure this building.”
“Understood Sergeant.”
“Sergeant Wilson, you will hold anyone that comes in until I return.”
“Yes Maam.”
“Let’s go, Sergeant Gunderson.”
Liz got into the Hummer and the Sergeant took the wheel and they headed towards the ASP.
“Sergeant, I have reason to think I just inherited a cluster fuck. I may need more of your men to do a sweep of the ASP.”
“Understood Captain.”
He then called into HQ for more men.
Meanwhile the G4 had contacted the Group Commander and filled him in.
“Damn, this sounds bad. What about the current Commander?”
“Sir, I have not been able to find a leave slip. He is not due to process out for 2 weeks. His quarters do not answer.”
The Group Commander thought for a moment.
Then the G4’s phone rang, and he answered it.
“Yes it is. What? OK keep me informed.”
“Captain Parker just asked for reinforcements.”
“I want an alert RIGHT NOW. Get the reaction force rolling for the ASP.”
Liz and the Security detachment rolled up to the Group ASP. The gate was open and the guard was not there. Liz got out and looked around- saw a porto potty.
“Sergeant, secure this gate, check that porto. Call HQ and declare a security breach right now.”
“Yes MAAM! Jones and Brandon, check that potty. People we are on alert; weapons locked and loaded and ready to fire; safeties off. Smith, close that gate.”
Liz thought she might be over reacting but she was taking no chances; she wished she had a side arm but then again she had not expected this and had no reason to.
The potty was empty and the two security people unlocked the back of the vehicles weapon storage and produced M4’s. Liz was glad to see they had more and took one and two magazines and quickly readied it for action.
Liz looked around and still saw nothing. She looked at Gunderson.
“Sergeant, any moving vehicle will be stopped one way or another. Deadly force is authorized.”
“Understood, Captain.”
Liz thought for a minute and pulled out her cell phone and punched in a number.
“1st Battalion.”
“Sir, this is Captain Parker. We have a situation at the Group ASP; probable security breach. Possibly worse. Is there anyone immediately available and armed?”
“Negative; only scouts available.”
“Need eyes in the sky, sir.”
“Understood; 10 minutes.”
“Yes sir, have them contact us on Group Security.”
“As soon as we can Captain.”
10 minutes went by and they heard sirens coming from the main area. Then approaching sirens. They could see flashing lights as the security vehicles approached. 4 Hummers approached; 2 with 50’s on mounts and two with flashing lights.
At the same time came from Gunderson’s radio
“6 Battalion, Ferrer, for Captain Parker.”
Liz grabbed the mike “This is Captain Parker; I need a sweep of the Group ASP and tell us what you see.”
“Roger that, Captain.”
The Lead vehicle stopped and a LT came hustling forward. He saluted Liz.
“Told of a security breech; Group has called an alert. Was told to follow your orders, Captain.”
“I want a sweep of the ASP. I have a hawk upstairs looking right now and will give us the situation.”
“Ferrer to Captain Parker; I have four magazines open; one vehicle in front of one magazine; no personnel in sight.”
Liz thought about the layout of the ASP.
“Ferrer which magazines are open?”
“All the magazines on the 3rd row.”
“Where is that vehicle?”
“Third magazine from your right as facing the magazines from the gate.”
“Thank You Ferrer, keep looking and if anything changes sing out.”
“Roger that, Captain.”
Liz looked at the Lt.
“I went to the ASP HQ and the building was empty and unsecured. We got here and the gate was open and nobody present. I want you to move in and check those magazines for intruders or anyone else; detain and secure anyone you find. I checked the planographs for the open magazines and there are no AT weapons in them. The one magazine with the vehicle in front has only small arms ammunition. Deadly Force is authorized.”
“Understood Captain.”
He then gathered his sergeants and quickly briefed them.
Then more sirens and two vehicles approached; one looked like a commanders Hummer and the other was another security Hummer.
Liz looked at the LT. “LT, just in case those are not who they look to be.”
“Yes Sir.”
Then gave orders and the two hummers with 50’s turned to cover the oncoming vehicles. Liz and the others moved behind their hummer and watched.
The two vehicles stopped and out of the second came the 5th Group commander, Colonel Collins.
Everyone relaxed as he quickly came forward.
“Captain, brief me.”
“Sir we arrived 20 minutes ago. The gate was open and unmanned. We secured it; the reaction force arrived. I called the field and they rushed a Blackhawk” she pointed at the hawk hovering at about 2000 feet “and it reported four magazines open and one vehicle in front of one; no personnel in sight. I just ordered the LT to move in and secure the area; to detain and secure anyone found. He was about to do so when you arrived.”
He nodded. “Well done Captain. The ASP commander is missing. Has anyone shown up at the ASP HQ?”
“The Sergeant there has secured the building and will alert us if anyone appears; anyone that does will be detained. We have received no communications from him.”
He thought for a minute then looked at the LT.
“Lt Anderson, are you ready to move in?”
“Yes sir my people are briefed and we are ready.”
“Then do so.”
“Yes sir.”
Liz broke in “Sir, I authorized deadly force if necessary.”
The Colonel nodded. “Per those orders, move in.”
“Yes sir.”
They moved out 2 minutes later, two vehicles going each way to the far end of the rows of magazines in view; there were 4 rows of 4 magazines laid out in a square.
Liz moved back to Gunderson’s vehicle and took the mike. “Captain Parker to Ferrer, any change?”
“Negative, Captain. The security vehicles are approaching the first open bunkers; two troopers are going in to check; with two outside covering; “
A couple of minutes went by.
“first two open magazines are closed now; one unit is checking the third open bunker; the other is waiting.”
Another couple of minutes.
“third magazine closed they are moving towards the magazine with the vehicle.”
“They are going in the magazine.”
“They are pulling out four uniformed personnel out of the magazine and are handcuffing them. They are staggering, barely able to stand.”
“Security to Group Commander, have secured the situation. Have arrested four personnel who are apparently under the influence of drugs.”
Everyone relaxed. Liz shook her head. “Stoned out of their gourds probably.”
The Group commander reached for his phone. “Call off the alert. Contact CID, we will need a full investigation team.”
He looked at Liz. “You reacted correctly, Captain. And it looks like we have a much bigger mess than I ever suspected.”
“Yes sir. Before we left the building, I looked around. The Key cabinet was open and unsecured; everything I saw indicated a very sloppy and careless attitude. The SOPS were all out of date.”
He nodded. “Right now I think a full replacement of all personnel is going to be required.”
Liz looked up as a vehicle approached with flashing lights; it was a command Hummer. It approached and stopped and a Major came out and approached the Colonel and saluted.
“Major Fresnel, Security. IS the situation under control, sir?”
“It is. But I will need this ASP secured and the guard on duty is either missing or is one of the four we have found who are under the influence.”
The Major blinked and nodded.
At that point the Security Force came up to the gate. LT Anderson got out and approached the group and saluted the colonel.
“Four personnel apparently severely under the influence, sir; we could smell a large amount of marijuana smoke in each of the magazines; the one the personnel were in reeked with it. They are so bad they can barely stand and are completely incoherent.”
“Take them straight to the Base Hospital for testing; you know the procedures.”
“Yes Sir.”
Major Fresnel spoke up. “I want 4 personnel here for the immediate future until relieved, Lt Anderson.”
“Understood sir.”
Liz also spoke up. “Did you lock the magazines, Lt.?
“No captain; I was not able to find any locks or keys.”
Liz shook her head. “Will need to get spare locks from the office, and we will need to reset the IDS.” Suddenly she thought of something and looked at the LT.
“Shouldn’t the IDS have gone off; If I recall the system it has to be keyed every hour the door is open or it alarms. I doubt those characters have only been stoned for an hour.”
His eyes widened as did Major Fresnel, who called into his office and wanted to know what his board showed. He paled as he looked at the Group commander.
“The IDS board shows all those magazines as secured; and have not opened today.”
Liz sighed. The others looked at her. “They must have bypassed the IDS so that it never alarms no matter what happens. That is not something easily done.”
Major Fresnel shook his head. “No it’s not.” He looked at the group Commander. “Sir this is very serious.”
The Colonel nodded. “It is getting more serious by the minute.”
He looked at Liz. “Captain, as of right now this ASP is on lockdown. Closed until further notice. You will perform a 100% inventory starting tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we will have security on each row 24/7.”
“Yes sir.” Then Liz headed towards Gunderson’s radio. “Captain Parker to Ferrer; situation secured and thank you. Head for the barn.”
“Roger that Captain Parker.”
The Colonel looked at Liz. “Good thinking there, Captain. Let us proceed to the ASP office and we will discuss this. I will call the G4 and have him come down. I will also call the Base Commander and have the head of his ASP head over as well; we will have to use his people for the inventory.”
They all trooped down to the ASP Office except for the detail going to the base hospital or back to the Barracks. Liz unloaded her weapon and gave it back to the Sergeant to be locked away. The Colonel noted that she was very precise and competent with the weapon.
In the office Liz immediately checked the keys in the Key cabinet. The Colonel and Major noted her frustration.
“Just how bad is this, Captain?”
“Sir this is a mess. We have CAT 1 and 2 keys mixed in with all the others; a major security violation as they must be separated so that no one person can draw both keys…oh hell. IT looks like only one lock on the Cat 1 bunkers. Damn. I see some of the keys are missing. This keeps getting better and better.”
She closed the cabinet that had a combination type lock on it; then stopped and looked in the cabinet next to it and found a key lock still in the box; she took that lock out and locked the cabinet with it and took both keys and placed them in the safe. Then stopped. “Damn. Need to change the combination to this safe.” She looked at the lock. “Well good you can change the combination.” She fiddled with it. Then locked it. She looked at the Major. “Sir, I will give you the combination and I will have the combination and no one else.” She looked at the Colonel and he nodded and stepped away. Liz whispered to the Major “8 4 76”
He nodded. “Got it.”
Liz then looked around and poked at some boxes on the floor. “Jesus. Here are the spare Magazine locks. They are supposed to be secured as well.” She picked them up and opened the safe and checked the lower drawer and dropped 6 locks in it and closed the safe again and put the closed sign on it.
Both the Major and the Colonel shook their heads.
The Group G4 came in and looked around. The Colonel beckoned him over.
“What did the base commander say?”
“The Ordnance Company commander resigned his commission 3 days ago and has already cleared post. The 2 LTs are still on leave. They have been unable to contact them.”
Liz shook her head. “Jesus H Christ. The Ordnance Company was in great shape when I left.”
The G4 shrugged. “All the personnel that you trained are gone. Over a year ago the last one left. Remember, Captain, it was almost 4 years since you left here.”
The Colonel was also shaking his head. “With the increased emphasis that the Ammunition Mission has been getting; since the new SECDEF kept up the pressure the last one had been applying, I cannot believe that it collapsed here.”
The G4 looked uncomfortable. The colonel glared at him. The G4 sighed.
“Sir I had been hearing some things about the ASP on main post; but I had heard nothing about this ASP. The Last inspection conducted before we left, 18 months ago, did not seem to find anything wrong.”
Liz looked at him. “Who did it?”
“The Main post ASP office.”
Liz was quiet for a moment. “How much do you want to bet that the last inspection for THEIR ASP came from THIS ASP.”
The three officers winced. The Colonel sighed. “We are not dumb enough to take that bet.”
He thought for a moment and reached for a desk phone. Dialed a number.
“Colonel Simms. I think you need to have your ASP checked immediately. IT was a disaster here; and the last inspection done 18 months ago was by the main post ASP and there are things here that should have been caught even then. And were not. I am at our ASP office; frankly the only officer on this installation who has an idea how bad it might be is Captain Parker here. She was supposed to take over the ASP and found a Major Security Breech.” “Yes. That Captain Parker; she is TDY for the moment here prior to her joining the 160th SOAR. She will clearly be busy here; and I think we might have to have her take over all the ordnance company functions on this installation. Yes I agree. We will head over in a while; 1300 is a good time for a meeting in your office.”
Liz checked her watch. It was 1130. Only 90 minutes had passed since she left the Group HQ to come here.
The Colonel looked at the officers present. “Meeting at the base commanders office at 1300.” He looked around. “Captain Parker, how many people should be here?”
“Sir, TOE is 1 Captain, 1 LT, 2 Sergeants and 6 specialists. We know the Captain is missing; the LT has transferred out. One of the four was the gate guard who is in security; the other three were 3 of the specialists. So that leaves both sergeants and 3 specialists unaccounted for.”
He looked at Major Fresnel. “I want them found. At this time I want them detained.”
“Yes sir I will send out an alert.” They began to discuss that.
Liz had wandered over to the Captains office and looked inside. She saw an envelope lying on his desk. She went in and picked it up. She brought it out to the main office area where they had been talking.
“Sir this was laying on the captain’s desk. It is labeled for Personnel.”
He took it and opened it. Pulled out some papers. Looked at them. “His resignation effective today. IT is dated last Wednesday.”
Liz shook her head. “Well that explains his absence but not much else.”
The Colonel looked around. “Check all the offices. See if any more like this are around.” They all started to poke around but found nothing but more evidence of an incredibly sloppy operation. Liz did find the keys to the door to the building. The Colonel told them to close the doors and for Liz to secure it.
“Major, I imagine you have quite a report to start on.”
“Yes sir and I need to start on it ASAP.”
“Then go do so.”
He looked at Liz and the G4. “We have time for lunch; we will go to the officers club and we can discuss this over food.” Liz had the keys to the ASP office vehicle that had been brought back from the ASP; she decided to take it instead of the base car she had been using.
After they went to the Officers mess and had taken seats in the senior officer section the Colonel looked at Liz.
“Just how bad do you think it is?”
“Sir this is about one step down from apocalyptic. I have no doubt we will find everything wrong. The Ordnance company mostly did not deploy due to where the 101st was; the ASPs are permanent there and manned by other units. So they stayed here; with very little to do since the whole division was gone. The Special Forces ASP also has had little to do due to how much of 5th Group is deployed and once again not many of them went. The old saying that while the Cat is away the mice will play has been already proven here.”
The G4 shook his head. “You left a trained and competent ASP here and on Main post. But I am willing to bet that the senior people were gone within 2 years at the most; with the others steadily going. We probably got the dregs here from elsewhere; why I do not know but I bet that was what happened. Somehow we became the dumping ground for the bad Ordnance types here. With that increased emphasis on Ammunition, everyone wanted to get rid of their bad apples. Looks like we got more than a few. And since we did not need them, nobody noticed in the past year how bad it had been getting.” His cell phone rang and he took the call. Listened for a bit then told them OK and keep digging.
“That was personnel. Of the 2 sergeants and 3 missing Specialists, it turns out that the three specialists left over 6 months ago and the Captain did not bother to get replacements. One of the sergeants also transferred to the NG two months ago. The remaining sergeant is still unaccounted for. The LT transferred out and his time in ran out last month and he left the military.”
Liz sighed. “So we have one missing sergeant who could very well be out somewhere drunk. I would not be surprised if he had something like that in his record. One of the sergeants offices looked somewhat empty; the other had his trash can full of beer cans.”
The Colonel looked up at the ceiling. “I cannot believe that I did not hear about this from somewhere.”
The G4 also shook his head. “I had heard vague things but had no idea of this goat rope. That is why I wanted Captain Parker to take over here for the time being.”
Liz shook her head. “I have NO one then I can start with. I will need bodies. And if the Main ASP is anything like this, and right now there is no reason to not think so, there might be very few there that I can use.”
The Colonel grunted. “Well, let’s eat. And try and enjoy the meal.”
At 1245 they headed to the Base Commander’s office.
The Base commander, Colonel Sims, the Division G4, Colonel Allen, and the Base Security Commander were waiting in the office. After introductions the Base commander nodded to Colonel Allen to start.
“Ordnance Company. Captain Jenkins resigned. Lt Johnson has had his transfer approved and is on leave in Europe. Lt Dunkin has been found in his quarters passed out drunk. He was supposed to be on leave and apparently was just drinking in his room. 4 sergeants. 2 are transferring in and are not Ordnance qualified; but seem competent from their records. 2 slots were empty and have been for 6 months. The two coming in are due on base next week. They both have families and are in route. 8 specialists for doing paperwork; and the TAMIS system. 4 slots empty. The other slots are filled with personnel that are barely competent. None of them were evaluated at more than satisfactory and that was probably a stretch. Effectively at this time this ordnance section is an empty building.”
Liz was thinking hard and the Group Commander noticed. “What is it Captain?”
“Sir none of them include the personnel that did come with us to Afghanistan.”
He looked at the G4. Who nodded. “Due to the realignment, the Ordnance company is permanent post so that if one or more of the brigades stay they can be taken care of. We do have the people who were deployed. Some sergeants and specialists.”
“So what do we have from them?”
The Colonel pulled out a file and checked it. “4 sergeants, 2 89B’s. 8 specialists, 4 of which are TAMIS qualified. All attached to their various brigades.”
The Base Commander nodded. “Well they will not be needed so we can put them in the Ordnance Company permanent post.”
Liz nodded. “I can also grab the two sergeants extra and I have something to start with at the SF ASP. If we can take two of the specialists, one TAMIS, there is a core to build around. One of those sergeants need to be one of the 89B’s.”
The atmosphere lightened up now that there was some light at the end of the tunnel.
The Base Security commander then interjected. “I think the absolute first thing will be to have a 100% inventory.”
The group nodded and the Base Commander looked at Liz. “Captain Parker, since this will be your responsibility, I think you need to let us all know what you will need first.”
Liz took a deep breath and pulled out her notebook that she had been making notes prior to the meeting.
“As was pointed out, 100% inventory. No records previously used will be considered as anything but unreliable. I will need to talk to the QASAS here. I wonder why they did not say anything; they should have caught this long ago.”
The Division G4 sighed. “One QASAS recently retired; the other just got here last month and has just started duty. The AMMO LAR retired 2 months ago and has not been replaced. The new QASAS is very inexperienced.”
Liz blinked. “We need either an immediate LAR or QASAS that is experienced at Camp or Post.”
The Division G4 nodded. “I will contact the Career Office and request an immediate fill. But that means it will be several months.”
Liz shook her head. “We need QASAS help now; tell them to send some TDY.”
The Group and Base Commander both nodded. Group commander was blunt.” If the Career Office is hesitant, I will have SOCOM demand one ASAP.”
Liz looked at her notebook. “Need to have those brigade sergeants and specialists tomorrow if possible; ASAP anyway. Also I need the authorization to issue ammunition per regulation; need to cancel all previous permissions as well.”
Group nodded. “I will have your authorization to issue by tomorrow NOON.
The Base Commander also nodded. “For the rest of the base tomorrow by NOON as well. Your appointment as Ordnance company commander is already being worked on by my office.”
Liz sighed. “Someone probably needs to let 160th SOAR know about this. I am going to be here a lot longer than originally thought.”
Group nodded. “I will take care of that.”
The Base Commander mused. “I know Captain Parker left the Ordnance Company in very good shape and that was only four years ago. It is remarkable to me that it was allowed to deteriorate like it did, especially in the new climate as regards Ammunition. I only took command 3 months ago, but Colonel Johnson did not seem the sort to allow it to happen.”
Division G4 sighed. “It is more our fault than anyone else’s. With the new organization, technically we should have been keeping a closer watch but we just plain did not.”
Group shrugged. “No point in worrying about blame; but we do need to make sure it does NOT happen again. If Captain Parker had not decided to go looking this morning rather than waiting for tomorrow, that ASP might have been left wide open until nighttime; and we would not have known about the IDS system.”
The Base Commander looked at him. “There is something wrong with the IDS system as well?”
Base Security grimaced. “Technicians are right now looking over the system; their preliminary report I got just before this meeting indicates the SF ASP had over rides placed on the IDS so they would not register as open unless specifically entered in the keyboard on the magazine control board.”
The Base Commander was shocked. “How long?”
“Not known at this time.”
Group sighed. “All involved will be given bad conduct discharges unless we find that there are serious shortages. In which case the CID will have even more to look for. Which is another reason the Inventory must be done ASAP.”
Liz had an ugly thought. “If the Main Post ASP has been working with the SF ASP to cover things up like it looks, is it possible they did the same thing to the Main Post ASP IDS?”
Everyone at the meeting had their jaws drop, fall off, and roll on the floor.
The Base Security chief pulled out his cell phone. “Thompson. I want those techs checking the Main Post ASP IDS ASAP. Yes for the same thing.”
The Base Commander closed his eyes, Group leaned his head back. The Division G4 was very quiet. “It will be next to impossible to keep this from hitting the media.”
Group G4 looked at Liz. “Captain, there is a chance that by this time next week you might be the only one at this meeting with a job.”
The meeting ended not too long after. Liz sat and thought for a while; then picked up her notebooks and headed home for the day. There really was nothing more she could do.
She came in the door and realized that Max was at his job and Aliya was still at school. So she just relaxed. The tension of the day got to her and she dozed off.
Max and Aliya came into the house and saw Liz on the sofa asleep. Max put his fingers to his lips and Aliya tip toed by and up to her room. Max quietly began to prepare dinner.
The smell of food woke Liz. She smiled and stretched and padded to the kitchen and sat at the table watching Max prepare dinner. He was a pretty good cook.
Max looked up and noted Liz at the table.
“Have a nice nap?”
“Ya. Needed it after today.”
“What happened?”
“Remember what I told you about the ASP here when I first came to the Aviation Brigade?”
“Yeah.”
“Today I found both in even worse shape.”
He turned and looked at her and saw that she was very serious. At that point Aliya came in and Liz started to ask her about her day. He saw that she did not want to talk about it and did not bring it up again.
Liz before going to bed dug out all her old Ammunition reference material and packed it ready to take to the base in the morning.
Liz opened up the SF ASP office at 0600. She took a better look around and made notes on what needed to be done. At 0630 she locked it up. Left a sign on the door for anyone to call the number to the main ASP office, which doubled as the Ordnance Company office. She headed there.
Liz walked into the office of the Main Post ASP and found the expected personnel from the Brigades sitting in the break room. She went into the office area and found no one. Went back to the break room and asked those there
“Did any of the regulars from this office show up?”
A sergeant stood up. “No Captain. Security let us in to wait for you.”
She looked at him. Memory niggled. “Sergeant, I think you were in my 89B class.”
“Yes Maam. Jason Engler.”
“Where have you been posted?”
“Ist ID, Ft Riley for 5 years. Then here since.”
“Good. We will need your experience.”
“Who is the other 89B?”
“Here , Captain. Tom Simpson. Took 89B in 2007 and was sent here after.”
“OK here is the deal; one of you will be going to the SF ASP and one will stay here. Do either of you have a preference?”
“I would like to try the SF, Maam.” Came from Engler.
“Very well. Now I want to hear about the rest of you. How much experience each of you have.”
The answers were pretty good; none of them were fresh from training, all had some experience. All had been deployed at least once.
“Here is the situation. I don’t have to tell you that this ASP and the SF ASP are in sad shape or you would not be here. The Ordnance Company at this installation at this time consists of the people in this room. The remaining former members of it are either up on charges or will be transferred for cause. Two more sergeants, not 89B’s, will be in next week as transfers. One will go to SF and one will come here. More specialists will be brought in but you people and the two sergeants will be doing the work. Replacement officers will be brought in but unless I miss my guess none of them will have worked Ammunition. So you will have to train them alongside me. This will be the second time I had to rebuild the Ammunition Mission on this installation in the last 5 years. So I know the route.”
Her official cell phone went off; she had gotten it yesterday.
“Parker.”
“Yes Sir. Understood sir.”
“Ouch. When it rains it pours.”
“Well that is good anyway. We will need them. What about replacements for here?”
“Yes sir. If anymore collapses occur I will inform you.”
Liz sighed. “Well the bad news is that the only QASAS on post resigned suddenly to take a position with a contractor elsewhere. The good news is that he will be replaced by an experienced set of QASAS. For the time being two Senior QASAS will be sent here TDY. So when they show up they will be helping out here; and training everyone. So the technical assistance problem will be taken care of. So there is light at the end of the tunnel and it is not an oncoming train. Officer replacements will be here by next week. But none of them have ammunition experience, just as I figured. The first thing we will be doing is a 100% inventory of both ASP’s. We will start here and then do the SF ASP. I was informed by Group G4 and Division G4 that there will be no critical training scheduled for at least the next few weeks. So any issues that would have to be done will be emergency ones. Which I will do. Any receipts of ammunition coming in we will handle. No shipments are scheduled. So we can concentrate on doing the inventory and getting the system fixed. One major factor will be the SOP’s; they are all out of date. The good news is that they were originally written by me at Ft Stewart then brought here the first time that I had to fix this place. So I know those SOPs. We just have to make sure they are up to date, which should not take long. We will do them right after we complete the inventories.”
At that point several officers came into the ASP. Liz went to meet them, Major Fresnel was with them.
“Captain Parker, this is Captain Jamison of CID. And four of his officers. They will be conducting the investigation. The technicians confirmed that the IDS here was modified the same way the SF ASP IDS was compromised. The Division Commander has insisted that charges be filed on this and anything else serious found. So they and the technicians will be looking at the IDS for every magazine on base; then they will be accompanying you on the Inventory, which will be done as soon as the IDS is examined and any evidence removed. Then the IDS will be returned to its correct configuration.”
Liz nodded. “Very well. Is there an estimate how long that will take before we can begin the inventory?”
“They have been ordered to have it done by 0600 Thursday.”
“So I can expect to start the inventory at 0600 Thursday.”
“If not sooner.”
“Understood sir. Right now I intend all the personnel here to start examining our SOP’s to bring them up to date. We should have them done by Thursday and ready for staffing.”
“Get them started on that and then show the CID people here what the problems were.”
“Yes Sir.”
Liz turned to the 89B’s. “OK, you two split up the SOP’s and start going over them with everyone in two groups. When you are each done with redoing your set, exchange them so that each group can go over the other half of the SOP’s. That way everyone sees all of them.”
She then motioned the CID people to follow her into the main office area.
“We will start with Key Control. Here is the AR 190-11, the parts on it that deal with Keys and Key control.” She had been given the combination to the safe by the Base Security Chief the previous afternoon. She then opened the safe and took out the keys to the key cabinet and opened it. They then counted the keys and found several missing. Liz looked in the cabinet and at the bottom of it inside its ledge were several keys. She found the key list and it was out of date, naturally. It did seem like they had keys to all the locks on the magazines, but would not know until it was checked. One of the CIC Lts had taken the pages Liz had copied and was taking notes on which parts of it the ASP was in violation. The list was growing steadily. None of the CAT 1 bunkers had two locks as it appeared; another major violation. The keys were not separated in two cabinets; one more. Liz looked around the office.
“When I left here 4 years ago there was a second key cabinet for magazines with two locks. It is no longer here- it used to be right next to it.” She showed where it appeared a second cabinet used to be but no longer was. She then went to the safe and opened all the drawers and pulled out 4 spare locks still in their original boxes.
The Main ASP gate was locked and two guards on duty. Liz told them to lock it after they got in and no one was allowed admittance. They then started on each magazine beginning with Mag 1. The first two rows all the mags had locks that opened to keys on the list; but they did not all match up. The 3 CAT 1 Magazines on the second row – containing items like Stingers and AT-4’s- all had only one lock, though that lock was correctly listed. So Liz added a second lock and entered that on a new key list. She was listing the magazines and locks on another key list. The third row was ok until the last one; its lock was not on the list and none of the keys Liz had would open it. She told the CID that a lock smith would have to be called to see if he could open it; if not a welding torch would cut the lock off.
After some discussion it was decided to do the same with the SF ASP, so they went back to the ASP office and Liz locked the cabinet and the safe. They then headed over to the other ASP office. Liz opened the building and went to the safe, opened it and pulled out the key to the key cabinet. She turned to the CID officers.
“Yesterday this was open; I changed the lock and the combination to the safe; only myself and Major Fresnel know it.” There was a key list in the safe; it did not seem to follow what was listed on the hooks on the cabinet. There were keys on the bottom of the cabinet that Liz took as well. There were 2 Cat 1 bunkers; and like at the main ASP there appeared to be only one lock. There was also no second key list or second cabinet for a Cat 1 set of keys. Liz looked in the safe and took out the 6 new locks she had put in there the previous afternoon. She got a new key list and put it on another clipboard. They then headed out to the SF ASP. The gate was open but guarded by two guards; they informed Liz that the technicians were working on the IDS systems. Liz took the crew and they began to check the magazines. The first 4 were correctly listed; the next row 2 of 4 were listed; the other two were not correct and the keys on the hooks did not work; but fortunately two of the keys on the bottom did work. The third row, with the magazines without locks, was where the technicians were working on the IDS. They told Liz that simple jumper clips had been put on the terminals inside the box to bypass the IDS sensor on the door. They could not explain how this was done without Security finding out. Captain Jamison closely questioned him on it and was clearly not happy with the explanation. After they left that magazine he told Liz that it should not have been that easy. She agreed. She suggested that maybe they better call in some techs from another company and double check all this; he agreed and called up the Base Security commander who also agreed and would get on it. They did put a lock on each door so that now basic security was restored. The final row had the same problem as the second row; but Liz was able to find keys to unlock them. They then went back to the SF ASP office.
Captain Jamison looked at the list one of the LTs had been making at where the violations were in the AR 190-11. He looked at Liz.
“8 Major Violations and 6 minor ones. Not counting the IDS. Pretty evenly split between the two ASP’s. I have never seen nor heard of anything this bad ever.”
Liz nodded. “Neither have I. But the Brass are going to have to decide whether to prosecute and thus make it much more likely the media gets a hold of this, or try and keep it quiet.”
They then headed back to the main ASP office and locked up the SF ASP office.
There Captain Jamison told Liz they would be writing up their preliminary report and would be waiting for her to start the Inventory.
Liz then went into the office for the commander and called first the Division G4 then the Group G4 and gave them the latest. She was told a meeting with the Division Commander was set for Weds at 1300 when he arrived back from DC where he had been at a Commanders conference.
Liz checked on the SOP progress and saw that it was good. Then she got a call from Base Security; the missing Sergeant had been found; he was in the drunk tank at a nearby town. He would be taken care of by the Base and would not be a problem for her. She thanked them for taking something off of her back.
Liz sat down at the desk and thought about things. It amazed her that it got this bad here and that no one had noticed; and this was something that had not happened overnight; it had taken at least a year and probably two of steady deterioration. How all the signs had been missed was nothing short of incredible; and then she started to think about the interesting coincidence that both the ASP officers in charge had resigned from the military only days apart. Then she looked up as Major Fresnel came in and close the door behind him. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He did not look happy.
“Captain Buchanan, the SF ASP commander, was not SF. Just regular Army. His quarters were checked and they are empty; all his personal effects are gone. His personal cell phone has been canceled; supposedly none of his personal contacts know anything about him leaving the service or where he is. Captain Sanders, the Main Post Ordnance commander, cleared post on Friday. Just one week after resigning. He also seems to have vanished. Captain Jamison is of the opinion that this is all too coincidental and I have to agree.”
“I was just thinking about that. For them to up and disappear that fast, tells me that they knew the jig was up; might have gotten a hint of someone starting to check up on things. Now they could be counting on the Army not wanting publicity and just letting them go; or it could be something else. They had to know they were facing court martial and time in Leavenworth. Maybe they were doing more than just doing as little as they could and ignoring anything that would have made them actually work. I have a nasty feeling that we might find a fair amount of inventory missing and no paperwork describing where it went. I hate to suggest this, we might need to contact the FBI and ATF and see if there were any large amounts of military ammunition suddenly showing up in the black market.”
Major Fresnel had gotten a little paler as Liz described her worry. He then pulled out his cell phone.
“Sir, have you been told about the two Captains missing and no one being able to contact them? Captain Parker is thinking that we might have to start thinking of a worse possibility then what we have so far been looking at; that those two might have been selling ammunition. Yes sir. If anything more comes up I will let you know.”
Liz had been going further down that dark road. When he hung up she quietly asked him about the LT that had transferred out and was supposedly in Europe and the Lt that had left the military one month ago.
“Maybe all of this is just making me paranoid, but what if all four of them were working together?”
“I keep wondering how this can get worse. I need to stop doing that. We need to get that Inventory done ASAP.” He then left the office and Liz began to start digging into the files for Receipts and also for inventory records and a stock count showing what was supposed to be in storage.
She went out and got a quick lunch and was back in the office digging into things. Then she went to the SF ASP Office and did the same. Finally getting back to the MAIN ASP office she looked at the stock accounts and began to see if she could find anything noticeably wrong. That did not take long. At 1500 her phone rang.
“Parker.”
“Captain Parker, this is Captain Jamison. I just got off the phone with CID HQ in FT Belvoir and they do not like what it is beginning to look like. Col Green, the Chief here at Campbell, just got back from Leave and wants a full briefing. I would like you to be there; he just got in and is looking over what we have so far. Could you come down to the Office?”
“Yes, I have been looking at some records and stock reports and there are indications that it might have been happening. I can be there in about 20 minutes.”
Jamison hung up the phone and looked at his CO. “She said she would be up here in about 20 minutes and that from looking at the records so far there are indications that it may have happened.”
Col Green shook his head. “Captain Parker; THE Captain Parker?”
“Yes sir.”
“She does seem to find the sticky end of things all too often for one person.”
“Yes sir, but on the other hand she is extremely competent.”
Liz got her paperwork into a folder and headed out to the office area where they were all still going at it on the SOP’s.
“I am going to a meeting at CID. If I am not back by 1800 close up and send everyone home for the night. But have everyone back at 0600 tomorrow” to Sergeant Engler.
“Yes Maam.”
Liz got to CID HQ and was directed to the CO’s Office. She went in and was introduced to Col Green by Captain Jamison.
Col Green got right down to it.
“This whole thing reads like a damn conspiracy nuts book. So far we have been unable to track down either captain or the two Lts that have also slipped from sight. The one in Europe has not followed the itinerary that he provided when he went on leave. He was supposed to go to England and then Germany; he went to England but the trail ends there. He was scheduled to pick up a rental car two days ago and then drive to Germany and then back a week later. He never showed up for the car. All efforts so far to find the other officers have come up empty. The LT drunk here says he knows nothing; his record shows alcohol problems but he was requested by Captain Sanders and was transferred here 18 months ago. My suspicion is that Captain Sanders wanted a drunk at that position so that he would not notice anything. We just have been able to get permission to check their bank accounts and nothing suspicious showed up on any of the four.”
Liz opened her folder. “Sir, a large amount of 7.62 X 39 ammunition was in the SF account to be used for various purposes including training on AK 47’s for covert operations. I was able to find old files going back 5 years. The usage went up drastically about 14 months ago; just about the time the 5th Group sent out a lot of their personnel for deployment. Which on one hand would make sense; issue to take with and to use in training before they left. However the usage remained constant for the next 12 months only dropping off a month ago; just when many of the units got home. A large amount of the same ammunition was transferred to the SF account on paper and not online where it can be traced by higher HQ. JMC and the WARS report each show a much higher amount of that ammunition here at Campbell then the latest stock report –once again not the online official report-shows. If what I think is correct 500,000 rds is missing.”
Col Green sighed and nodded. “Captain Parker, from your experience in Ammunition operations, how hard would that be to hide?”
“Sir I am willing to bet that we will find few if any documents for that ammo; and those that we do will only have the signatures of those four officers on them. SF is known for doing strange things; SOCOM is basically its own world; so it would be easy to claim that it is because of that that that the ammo use is not unusual for THEM. If they were halfway careful, no one would notice. Especially if they kept it constant and steady so that it seems normal after a while. And since those four officers did the entire so called inventory for the SF ASP as both inspectors and checkers, no one else would know.”
“What about CAT 1 items and CAT 2 items such as demolition charges?”
“Sir I checked them first; it is very hard to do anything with CAT 1 items due to the monthly inventory requirement and constant worldwide over sight. Nothing looks suspicious there. Same with those CAT 2 items. Any change is very visible. But once again if all 4 were in on this; and the only other one a drunk everyone ignores and probably never sees, it could be possible. If something was done there they just put them in a truck and haul them out. No issue documents at all. One of the sergeants was a drunk as well. Would not be hard to forge his signature on inventory records as well. Or Catch him when he is hung over and just have him sign something he does not even remember signing. Same with the drunk Lt.”
Col Green was quiet for a minute then picked up his phone. “Colonel Sims, this is Colonel Green CID. I am here talking with Captain Parker and what she has already dug up indicates that selling ammunition was almost certainly happening. Clear signs of small arms ammunition. But what worries me is that from the way the system is designed, if all 4 of our missing officers were in on it, we could also be seeing CAT 1 and CAT 2 items gone as well. Yes sir. I agree.” He hung up.
“He wants a meeting now at Divisional HQ. The General just got in; he like I think this cannot be put off.”
Liz got her papers together. “Sir, is the 5th Group Commander in on this?”
“He did not say. You better call him.”
Liz pulled out her official phone. “Colonel Collins, this is Captain Parker. Sir that apocalyptic possibility I mentioned yesterday? It is looking more and more like that might have happened. There is a meeting with the Base Commander and Col Green of CID and the Division Commander who just got back that will happen basically as soon as everyone gets there. I would say 20 minutes.”
Col Green and Captain Jamison were looking at her. Col Green spoke first.
“Apocalyptic?”
“Sir at that time I was being slightly facetious. But I mentioned the possibility.”
“It is not a joke or even close to one now.”
“No sir.”
Liz got in her vehicle and they got in the Colonels vehicle and headed to Divisional HQ.
Liz was thinking as she drove; could they have been selling Stingers? She had heard rumors that some had hit the black market; but that had always been thought to have come from somewhere other than the US. Maybe they had come from here.
They all headed to the HQ building and as they pulled up the 5 Group Commander and his G4 arrived at the same time. They all headed into the building and to the Divisional HQ office. They were shown right into the office where the Base commander and Divisional G4, as well as Major Fresnel and the Base Security Commander were already present. Introductions were made and everyone sat down; the Divisional commander indicated that Liz sit beside him at the table in the conference room adjoining the office. He started off.
“I came in early after I got the initial report yesterday. I get here and the story gets worse by the hour. Colonel Green, start off.”
He described the situation as they had talked earlier. The Divisional commander sat with a stone face then looked at Liz.
“Captain Parker, I want you to do an inventory on all CAT 1 and 2 items ASAP. As soon as this meeting is over I want that started. Who do you need?”
Liz had been thinking about it. “The 2 89B’s and one specialist with TAMIS experience. We should be able to get a count very fast and I can compare it with the WARS report. That can probably be done for the 4 MAGS in the MAIN ASP and the 3 MAGs in the SF ASP in about 20-30 minutes each. A total of 4-5 hours.”
“Very well. I want this done tonight.” Liz nodded and pulled out her cell phone and called the ASP. “This is Captain Parker; I need Sergeant Engler.”
“Sergeant Engler, I have been ordered to do an immediate Inventory on CAT 1 and CAT 2 Items tonight. I am at a meeting and will be down soon as it is over. You and Sergeant Simpson as well as one of the TAMIS specialists. Pick one. Send everyone else home and wait there for me.”
The General looked around the room. “People we have to face the facts that we are all going to have to carry part of this can. No one here will be considered not partly to blame except Captain Parker. Myself because I am senior here; Base and Group commanders because of their commands. G4’s as this is supply. Security and CID for not finding out something was going wrong for quite a while. All we can do is make it right as best we can and accept the consequences. I am going to call the SECDEF and let him know the situation; so this will be going to the White House. I have no doubt it is a matter of time before the media twigs on this overturned garbage can stinking up the base. Captain Parker, what do you see missing at this point?”
“Sir right now I am fairly sure of 500,000 rds of 7.62 X 39. It is more than likely that is the bulk of the problem unless we find CAT 1 or 2 Material missing.”
He then looked at Col Green. “IF a Stinger is missing, how much could one sell that for on the black market?”
“Sir, one would have to have contacts for that to get any real money. But if you could reach someone, the price could be anywhere from $100,000 to a million each.”
“So that is the worst possibility?”
“Yes sir a missing stinger would be the worst possibility.”
“Then we find that out first. Captain Parker, get started on it. I want to know the minute you suspect a Stinger is gone.”
“Yes Sir.” Liz picked up her folder and left the room and got to the Office in 15 minutes to find the three waiting for her.
After she left the general looked at Col Green. “Send CID with her.”
“Yes sir” and he looked at Captain Jamison who nodded and left.
Liz motioned them to follow her. She went into the office and opened the safe, then the key cabinet and pulled out the keys to the CAT 1 and 2 magazines. She then closed the cabinet and then the safe. The three had clipboards and the TAMIS clerk had a copy of the latest WARS report. They were just leaving when Captain Jamison drove up and poked his head out of his hummer.
“I get to watch.”
Liz nodded and headed to the ASP. They got to the first magazine which had CAT 2 items in it. They opened it up and quickly started to count. After 20 minutes they looked at the count and the latest planograph report and it matched. The clerk was keeping a running count on the items found. They went to the next magazine that had AT-4’s and other AT missiles. Once again the count was good. Then they went to the next magazine that had Stingers in it.
Liz noticed that none of the stinger boxes were strapped to their pallets. She looked at Sgt Engler. “I have not been in a Stinger Mag for years; but I remember that usually they were strapped down.”
He nodded. “Yes Maam.”
Liz went to the first one and tried to lift it; the weight felt right. She looked at the two sergeants and they checked every box in the magazine. All appeared to be of the right weight. Liz then had them check the seals on the boxes. All appeared intact. She checked the count on the planograph and it matched. She looked around and saw nothing suspicious. Then motioned them to go out.
As they locked the door she looked at Engler. “We will band them to pallets later.”
“Yes Maam.”
The next magazine had Stingers as well and it also looked good though it also had none of them banded to pallets.
That finished the MAIN ASP. They went back to the office and put the keys away. It was 1900 and getting dark. They headed over to the SF ASP. Got to the office and opened it up. Liz went through the routine and got the keys. They headed to the SF ASP. They went to the one CAT 2 magazine first and checked it; it looked good. Liz then went to the TAMIS clerk and checked the running accounts.
“Looks like CAT 2 lines up with the WARS report.”
“Yes MAAM.”
Then they went to the CAT 1 MAG, Stingers and AT-4’s. They found the same there; not banded but looking good with seals and the weights were right as regards trying the boxes. The AT-4’s were properly banded and sealed and looked good; the count matched. So they locked up the mag and headed to the last. By now they were more relaxed as it looked as if the worst possibility was not going to happen.
The last Magazine was a mixture of US and foreign CAT 1 missiles. They first did the AT missiles; some us AT-4’s and some Russian ones. The count looked good. There were a dozen Stingers; they were banded to pallets at 4 to a pallet. The seals on the boxes looked good. Then there were some Russian SA-7’s; banded and sealed. Then there were some Russian SA-14’s. In loose boxes. Liz looked at them and the seals seemed good; she lifted a corner on one and the box came up easily.
Too easily.
She took a deep breath and looked at Sgt Engler. “Get those tools; we are opening this up.” He nodded and went out to the truck that Liz had been using; it had some basic banding tools and other tools that could be used to open boxes and containers. Meanwhile Liz went to the pallet of Stingers and pushed at it; it seemed heavy enough. Captain Jamison came over and gave it a push as well and it still seemed heavy enough. They went over to the SA-7’s and it also seemed heavy enough. Meanwhile Engler came back in and he and Simpson began to open the box. It took about 5 minutes and they pulled it open and all five of them looked inside.
At an empty box.
Liz then looked at them; “ALL of them now.” Then she went outside the magazine and called the General.
“General we have an empty SA-14 box right now; we are opening the others. All the Stingers look good and the SA-7’s as well.”
“Call me as soon as you have opened all of them.”
Liz looked at the TAMIS clerk. “Use that camera; take pictures of each box that we find empty.”
Captain Jamison had been making a call as well. He finished and looked at her.
“Now what?”
“We see how many are gone. There are supposed to be 8; they each have everything in the box to fire; missile, control and BCU.”
In 20 minutes they were all open; all were empty. Liz made the call.
“General we have 8 SA-14’s missing from boxes that were sealed. There is no indication anything else CAT 1 or 2 are missing.”
“That is enough. Did they have everything to fire?”
“Yes sir. These are fairly new ones, so the life of the BCU will probably be good for several more years.”
Liz was thinking about things as they left the Magazine and closed it up for the night. She talked to Captain Jamison.
“They did this probably on a weekend when no one was around. I would bet that they had been selling the small arms steadily in a way no one would notice; this would be their big score. I imagine they could get $100,000 or more for each one. They probably bundled them out in the back of this truck under a tarp. Then transferred them to one of their vehicles. Then crated them up and somehow shipped them to Europe where that LT is right now. And where I bet all the others are by now as well.”
“Two places in Europe; one Spain and sell to the Basque Separatists but that is tough to do so I doubt it. The other is the former Yugoslavia; somewhere down there. Then there is the possibility of trying to sell them to the Chechnyans for use against the Russians.”
“Or farther to Turkey to sell to the Kurdish separatists.”
“True. But every case there they would have to make contact with someone in each group.”
“Which would be very risky; I bet they managed to find an arms dealer and they sold them to him for resale later to the highest bidder.”
“I agree.”
“The AK ammo could have been sold at Gun Shows and the like; so much of that around and a lot of it are sold in the original Russian boxes. So it would not be noticed. Probably get $500 a box. That would be 200 boxes or $100,000. I would not be surprised to find out more of other types are gone as well. Probably been doing this for the last year and a half. I think Buchanan panicked and took off; he probably felt and rightly so he would be arrested for all of this before we even found the shortages.”
“There is already a worldwide alert for all four of them on Interpol.”
“If one is going to mess up my money is on Buchanan; the others had time to make arrangements. He had to move fast.”
“He is the one we have the best chance of finding.”
It was 2000 and another meeting was being held at the Divisional HQ.
“I have talked to the SECDEF and he is not happy to say the least. He wants all the CAT 1 containers opened up so that we can visually confirm they are there. How long would that take, Captain?”
“If we have some help, forklifts and other support, and personnel to do the banding and rebanding and the like, multiple crews can get it done in one day easily.”
“Make a list and you will get it.”
“Yes sir.”
“I want this started at 0600 tomorrow morning.”
“I have some good news sir.”
“Well I need some what is it?”
“The IDS systems have all been restored; turns out there was a fundamental flaw in the design that allowed a simple bypass to work. Every IDS system of this design worldwide will have to be modified to prevent this. We would not have found that out otherwise.”
“Small comfort, Captain Jamison.”
“Yes sir.”
“No point in extending this meeting any farther; we might as well all go home and start working on our resumes for our next jobs. As you pointed out, Captain Parker in a month will be the only one with a job with the US Army.”
Liz thought about that as she went home. Some would call that unfair; but they had been here while it was happening. Even the 101st people had been there before deployment. The Base Personnel though would catch it the worst.
Liz got in and found Max waiting for her. He went into the kitchen and started to warm up something for her. She had not eaten anything since lunch and was very hungry.
“How bad?”
Liz debated for a moment and then figured it would get out sooner or later.
“At least half a million rds for AK-47’s and 8 SA-14’s.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah.”
Liz had given the G4 the list for the next day; 8 forklift operators 4 each for 2 Crews, 6 people for banding and unbanding for each crew; she would have one TAMIS specialist and one of the 89B’s on each crew.
The next morning Liz got up early and was at the Main ASP at 0530. Getting ready. The people started coming in before 0600. After thinking about it some more she left both 89B’s with the MAIN ASP crew and took the SF crew herself.
The Main ASP crew was opening magazines at 0700. Actually Liz opened all 4 of them and left the keys with them. She then headed to the SF ASP. By 0800 they were at it there. IT went faster than Liz had hopped; each box was opened and the SN verified with what was on record and on the box. By 1400 they were done and nothing wrong was found.
The worldwide alert worked; in Paris the French spotted Buchanan. He was using his civilian Passport. He had flown to England on Friday and had rented a small car and had driven to Paris where he had gotten there on Sunday. Wednesday morning the French got lucky as he rented another vehicle and had to use his Passport for identification and that rang bells. They followed him as he left Paris and drove south then East and entered Switzerland. There the Swiss took over as he kept going East into Austria and then into Hungary where he stopped in Budapest. The Hungarians had him and watched him as he met with three other men. They were identified as the ones most wanted. They tracked them to a meeting with an arms dealer and bagged the whole lot Thursday afternoon. Faced with prison in Hungary they gave up the location of the missiles; a crate shipped to France two weeks earlier. The Arms dealer had assisted them in doing it; he had met Captain Sanders when he had been in Germany on a tour the year before he was sent to the 101st. All four of them would be shipped back to the US for trial.
Liz got the news that they had been caught and the missiles found just as she gave the report to the General.
“Well, did they ask about the small arms?”
“Yes. They had been, as you surmised, selling it box by box at gun shows steadily for over a year. We got a list of what they sold; some US ammo as well; but mostly that AK ammo and other Russian Ammo.”
“We will still need to do a full inventory just to make sure the records are straight.”
“Get started on that on Monday. You did say you wanted the SOP’s done.”
“True. We can get those done on Friday.”
The SECDEF was giving the good news to the President.
“This could have been a lot worse, sir. This is the worst incident of this kind in almost 40 years.”
“And again Captain Parker was instrumental?”
“Yes sir. By starting to check the ASP when she did the whole ball started rolling. Otherwise it would have been at least 12 hours later before we knew anything was wrong. Captain Sanders had recruited most of the people specifically because they were drunks and drug users and unmotivated and unreliable. That in the end is what caught them. And if Captain Parker had not mentioned the possibility of the CAT 1 and 2 problem, that inventory would not have happened that day. If she had not thought to check the boxes for weight, it would not have been found as they were all properly sealed. I believe the French would not have pushed so hard if we had not told them the SA14’s were missing. One more day and the deal would have been done and they would have been gone to who knows where.”
“It seems like an almost monthly occurrence that she does something.”
“Does seem that way sir.”
“I take it she will get recognition for this?”
“I believe her promotion to Major would be coming this year anyway with her record.”
“See to it she has that promotion by the day she and her unit are recognized at the White House.”
“Yes sir.”
“I can expect a report and recommendations on how this can be prevented in the future when?”
“Within the month sir. Though I would say the chances of this being pulled off again are very remote.”
“Still it did happen once.”
“Yes sir.”
That Friday they did manage to get the SOP’s done by the end of the day and Liz sent them out to be staffed after she read each one.
The Saturday Liz thought about resting but the weather was beautiful and she and the rest of the Posse and the Crew had their usual twice a month Saturday picnic.
Liz was buttonholed right away after eating and the children were running around.
Ellen started it off.
“OK, Liz. Spill. Something happened; half the installation is buzzing. Everyone knows that the ASP’s are all screwed up and you have to fix it. But it is more than that, isn’t it?”
“Yes something happened and No I am not talking about it.”
And they got nothing else despite every trick and entreaty tried. Max also refused to say a word.
Starting the Next week Liz got in 2 LTs for the Main ASP and 1 LT for the SF ASP. The two sergeants processed in. Some more specialists were made available and except for the two commanding officers the TOE was full. 3 more 89B specialists from the next class would be sent in June. So Liz was confident that by July or August at the latest the Ordnance Company and both ASP’s would be fine. On Friday she was summoned to the Division HQ for a meeting with the General.
“How are things going, Captain?”
“Except for the new 89B’s arriving next month and the new commanding officers, we are complete as regards TOE. I have good personnel who just have to learn the ropes. We will be starting the 100% inventory on Monday and hope to have both ASP’s done by Friday.”
“Excellent. By the way you will need these to add to your class A’s.” And proceeded to take off her Captain’s Bars and replace it with the gold Oak Leaf signifying a Major.
Liz blinked. He smiled. “You would have gotten that this fall but it was accelerated by order of the President so that when he gives you your Presidential Unit Citation, you will be wearing them. Now head down to Personnel to finish the paperwork. Good day, Major.”
“Thank You, sir.” Said a slightly dazed Liz.
She was smiling as she got home. She wondered how long Max would take to recognize it. It turned out that Aliya beat him to it. When she got home from school she hugged Liz as usual then stopped and stared at her.
“What is it honey?”
“When did you get promoted?”
They had fun that weekend just staying home and being a family. Even though Liz still had almost 7 more months to go Aliya wanted to start looking at baby names.
It was interesting Monday when Liz came to the Main ASP to start the 100% inventory. Everyone was caught off guard by her promotion. She had made it clear they would be starting at 0600 and would be in the first magazine by 0700 and she pushed and prodded to get it done. The CAT 1 magazines had been done already; the CAT 2 magazines were quickly done as it was a matter of making sure that all the MDC’s were updated and the items were correctly palletized and the magazine was orderly. The two TDY QASAS were also present; one of them would be checking each magazine for its semiannual inspection. They also made sure that all condition code tags were correct and noted any packaging that would need to be replaced. Of the 30 magazines, 14 of them were done by the end of the day. By the end of Tuesday 22 were done. The rest were done Wednesday. Thursday they started the SF ASP and 10 of them were done on that day. By 1400 Friday they were all done. Most of the MDC’s had to be updated or replaced; but the overall counts were not far off. The missing small arms correlated to what had been admitted by the felons. Liz would spend the next week writing up the reports and making sure all the quantities were correct on the WARS report.
Liz made the first report to the General, G4 and Base Commander; the second for the SF to the Group Commander and the group G4. At 1800 a C-40 landed at Campbell and picked up A Company and related personnel and family members; around 110 total to take them to DC for the award ceremony. Liz was happy to be with the pilots and ground crew; they were happy to see her promotion; and they like everyone else tried to get her to talk about what really had happened at the ASP. Everyone knew about the stoned incident; and that something else had happened that was big. But the details had not gotten out which had surprised Liz; the two sergeants and the specialist had kept their mouths shut.
Nancy and Ted had scheduled a vacation in the NE at that time so they would be there as well; Liz made sure they got their invitations. Nancy had surprised Liz with a quick marriage to Ted that previous Christmas; Liz had wanted to be there but Nancy told her it was a spur of the moment thing. Liz was glad her mother was no longer alone and she liked Ted.
When Liz had checked her Class A uniform, making sure everything looked right and all her ribbons were correctly done, Max had been very quiet. She had just made sure her gold flight wings were correct when she noticed Max had not said anything. She turned towards him and noticed a look on his face she had never seen before.
“What is it Max?”
He got up and pulled her to him and sat down on the bed with her on his lap. Then he very quietly said
“It just hit me as I saw you there with all those ribbons and I realized that I have never told you just how proud I am to be your husband. You are just coming up on 10 years in uniform and you have easily twice the ribbons I got in 20. And you earned every one. There are full generals who do not have as many. And very few have the ones you do; Presidential Medal of Freedom, DSC, DSF, 2 Presidential Unit Citations, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and all the rest; 20 of them. And every single one of them you absolutely earned by what you did. I love you and I will always be proud to be your husband.”
Liz was a little misty eyed at that. Aliya had looked at her when she showed her uniform and quietly said
“The girls at school said you have more medals than any woman ever has. Are you a hero?”
Max had placed his hand over Liz’s mouth before she could say anything.
“Honey, it is not right for a hero to say it herself. It is for others to say. And yes your mother is a hero.”
Liz was thinking of that. The ceremony would be at 10; then there would be pictures and a quick press conference then the whole crowd of awardees and family would have a formal lunch at the White House. Liz dreaded the press conference but had been told it would be short. IT was all carefully choreographed.
Liz stood back with the unit as she waited for the signal. She would lead them up to the area and then stand at the center while the rest would file in behind her. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. Tripping and falling would just be something to make you want to die.
Then she was signaled and she marched out and went right to the spot that had a very small X on it and stood at attention there. The rest of company A and their crew chiefs and ground crew filled in behind her; 56 in all. The National Anthem was played by the Marine Band.
The President gave a short speech; then stood beside the flag and Liz marched up to him, Saluted and stood at attention. He nodded to her and he gave her the plaque for the Unit. She shook his hand and with it at her side in her left hand took two steps back and saluted again and remained at attention.
“From the period 30 March 2010 through 15 February 2011 Company A, 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Brigade, United States Army conducted 275 missions in Afghanistan in Kandahar and Helmand provinces. In support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Company A escorted and supported the forces of the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Special Forces, British Army, Royal Air Force, Royal Marines, and Special Air Service. In those 275 missions not one single member of the Allied coalition lost their life. That is a record unmatched in modern History. In those missions they severely damaged the Taliban and Al Queeda. In recognition of that achievement, their Commander, Major Elizabeth Parker, and the Pilots and Copilots of Company A and their ground crews that ensured their Apache Helicopters would fly, are hereby awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for unparalleled achievement during Combat in the face of the Enemy.”
Liz then marched out with the company behind her to the rear of the Rose Garden where they collected. Liz looked around and gave a whistle that got everyone’s attention.
“I think it is more than likely, that we will never again all be together as we are today. Sad but true. You guys were the very best any one could ask for to fight alongside of. I was honored to be your commander. Good luck and god bless all of you.”
Ted Dugan yelled “Three cheers for Doberman!”
And they did. Then Liz made them line up and she saluted, then shook the hand then hugged every single one of them.
Unknown to all of them, this was caught by a FOX News camera crew that managed to wiggle past the normal restrictions.
Then Liz was taken as the official sacrificial lamb to the Press Room for questions and pictures.
Liz made quite a picture; petite and very cute; and ribbons out the yang. There were dozens of flashes.
Then the questions.
“Major Parker, were you surprised that your command managed to make it through all of those missions with the loss of a single life?”
“Of Course. Anyone would be. The worst part of it was at the very end when that got out; the last few missions were very nerve wracking.”
“Major Parker, is it true you have transferred out of the 101st Aviation Brigade?”
“Yes. I asked for and received a transfer to the 160th SOAR.”
“Major Parker, doesn’t that make you the first woman pilot of the 160th SOAR?”
“I believe so.”
“Major Parker, how do you feel about that?”
“Well, someone has to be the first.”
“Major Parker, is it true that you had to force your way back to Afghanistan; that you were originally going to be left behind?”
“There was some discussion of that for various reasons but in the end the US Army realized that a commander should go with her troops into combat.”
At that point much to her relief the questions were cut off and she escaped to the dinner.
As their commander Liz was placed to the right of the President at the long table. Aliya was alongside and Max beside her. She had huge eyes at everything. Liz managed to keep small talk going with the president. Who mentioned something she had not talked about.
“Major, I was very interested in your mission to find those documents. It was explained to me but somehow I do not think they got it right. Exactly what maneuver did you do to land there?”
Liz took a deep breath. “Sir, the place I had to land was on a ledge at just over 16,000 feet. Now many people do not know this but it is just about impossible for a helicopter to hover at much over 10,000 feet. You have to be moving forward or you will drop. The Mountain was 18,000 feet high. I came over the top of the mountain then around it slowly losing altitude till I could land on the ledge. I had about 2-3 feet clearance from the tips of the rotor to the side of the mountain. And taking off was just as interesting since I had to be very careful or it would stall out; and at that altitude you are very vulnerable to any kind of wind. I unloaded everything in it except for 100 rds of 30MM and a main fuel tank at about 60%. That is something I really do not want to do again if I do not have to.”
“I think that would be wise decision.”
Liz did not realize that Max had heard that.
Eventually everything was over and they were able to escape at 1300. The C-40 would pick them up at 1600, so they had a couple of hours or so to make it to Andrews. The rest went in a bus but Liz, Max and Aliya went with Ted and Nancy who had rented a minivan. They went down the mall to the Viet Nam wall; and walked through the area. Finally getting in the van to go to Edwards. Liz was glad to spend some time with her mother. She walked with Aliya between her and Max as they headed over to get on the plane.
C-SPAN covered the ceremony so many on Campbell watched. The Posse instead to going to the park congregated with the Posse and friends at Susan’s house where they watched it. They cheered when Liz marched out leading her company. They were silent when the award was read. Susan looked at Vicki.
“Just how big is that?”
“No one getting killed? Huge. Everyone in the brigade knew Liz’s company was the best. Pretty soon the whole division knew it. You always felt better when A company and Liz were watching over you.”
Susan looked at her husband and he nodded. “Word got out; I know we always felt better when Liz was there. Getting towards the end of the tour I know it got almost to knife fighting for who would get her company as escort. When she spent that time taking care of the British it got us all down; we wanted her with us taking care of her own. When she got back everyone relaxed; you could feel it. Somehow we just all knew it was ok. We only lost a handful of people on that tour anyway; but no one had any doubt a lot more would have died if Liz and her company wasn’t there. B Company was solid and did well but not as good as A company, not close. And until the end of the tour NO one wanted C Company.”
Jesse nodded. “C Company had problems; their commander was good but he had some dud pilots. Finally the word got out that after a mission Liz went to the Battalion Commander and flat out told him that something had to be done. SO they grabbed Liz’s XO and fired a couple of the pilots and the company got a lot better. Some of the pilots felt if Liz had not gone and raised hell nothing would have been done.”
Ellen chimed in. “You could feel it at the mission brief. The first thing we always did was see who was the escort; if it said A company you relaxed. Anyone else and you were tense until you got back from the mission.”
Ruth was quiet. Then she said
“I have convinced Joe to put in for recruiting duty. He expects to get it this fall sometime. He has a shot at getting duty around here so we do not have to leave. Enough is enough. Liz would not have been back even if she had not transferred; and I do not want my husband out there again.”
Becky sighed. “We have been talking about it; if we do not get Iraq for the next deployment he is finding a way out.”
Susan nodded. “Same here.”
Ellen looked at the others. They nodded. “Same with us. We are not going back to Afghanistan a third time.”
In a big house in Savanna, three friends watched the ceremony.
Isabelle blinked at a close up of Liz. “Wait a minute, she has the ribbon for a DFC; when did she get that?”
Maria and Tess looked at each other and shrugged.
Tess looked thoughtful. “She did not have it after the last tour; she did not have it when she got the Medal of Freedom. So it happened on this tour and they do not give that out easily.”
Maria was thinking hard. “Liz said something about having to do a couple of missions for the Company, the CIA. Wanna bet she had to pull some spook out of trouble and that is how she got it?”
Isabelle and Tess nodded. “Probably.” They chorused.
“Liz sure does have a lot of fruit salad. And she will get a lot more when she starts flying for the 160th SOAR.”
By the end of June, Liz felt that the situation with the Ordnance Company and the ASP’s was pretty much taken care of. The two new captains had been selected and while not Ammunition types, were solid officers. The rest of the personnel were doing well. The new 89B’s had arrived and that helped as well. Liz was making sure that all the ammunition personnel were getting training by the new QASAS, who were both very experienced.
SECDEF had ordered a review and a report on the situation; and was looking for suggestions on how to make sure nothing like that could happen again. Liz felt personally that as usual the military was over reacting to a once in a lifetime situation by trying to double lock the barn door long after the horse had been stolen. Also as usual when a team is picked, it is very senior people who have not worked with ammunition or in an ASP for many years if ever. When they showed up at the beginning of June to talk to Liz, she was ready for them.
There was of course a general, a senior QASAS, a senior Ammunition Manager, and a couple of other senior types. They sat in the conference room at Division HQ and asked her for her observations.
Liz looked at them calmly.
“You are mostly not going to like what I have to say.”
The general looked at her. “Major Parker, that is an interesting statement. Care to elaborate?”
“I started out my career as an 89B before that MOS had any respect. I saw how the SENIOR Army leadership treated my MOS and Ammunition in general. Then I went into Aviation but got brought back temporarily to fix this installations Ordnance Company. Then 4 years later I have to do it again. BUT the situations had different causes. The first time was because of the general neglect of the Ammunition Field. The Second time had two reasons; one a once in a lifetime coincidence that had corrupt and dishonest multiple officers in one place. Sent here as a dumping ground. The other was the reorganization for what was either the second or third time in the last 10 years of the supply and support organizations of the Army. I have not bothered to keep track. It created a situation where once again you had permanent party personnel here at the ASP and in Ordnance. And that created the opportunity for the incident. Ammunition has a better situation overall in the US Army and the military then it has had for over 30 years. But of course there are still problems. There always will be. You solve one or two and create one or two more. And one of the biggest problems is right here in this review team. Basically its composition insures that there will be more rules and regulations that are not thought out and the critical input that could help will be ignored.”
The whole room got very still. The General said quietly “Major, are you saying that this review team is part of the problem and not the solution?”
“Yes Sir.”
“And why is that?”
“General, when was the last time you actually worked in an ASP?”
“Never have and you believe recent experience is that important?”
“Yes sir. Has anyone in this room actually worked at an ASP in the last 10-20 years?”
No one said a thing.
The General was silent for a moment, and then sighed.
“I was told that you probably would not respond in a way that we expected. I can now see that was a huge understatement.”
The Senior QASAS then spoke up.
“Major Parker, I am willing to bet that you already have proposals. So why not just tell us what they are?”
“Very well sir. Review teams are not a bad idea; how they are put together is where the failure is. You need less senior people with fairly recent experience at working at ASP’s. Now not saying no senior people but that the majority of the team should be younger and more in touch with how it is done down here and what the real demands and problem are. That will also help them talk to the people there without the intimidation factor. All too often a review team is given a carefully managed picture. Right now review teams are scheduled at least a year in advance. Gives the installation a full year to cover things up and make it look better than it really is. And then they know that it will be a minimum of two years before that team comes back. A perfect breeding ground for problems. I think a page needs to be taken out of the book written by General Curtis Lemay when he formed the Strategic Air Command. No notice inspections that could come at any time. Which was a big factor in why SAC has been shown to have been one of the best and most competent military commands of all time. Now we do not need to go to those extremes. Say a one month notice. Not enough time for the installation to really cover things up as long as a good team is picked.”
There was more silence in the room. Then the General spoke.
“I rather doubt that is all.”
“No sir. As regards something like what happened here, that would do a pretty good job on making sure it did not happen again. But I also recommend that at least once a year an independent inventory team comes to each installation and looks things over. And have the installation QASAS go with them looking as well. If both teams are put together correctly and used intelligently, then that would go a long way towards making sure nothing like this can ever happen again. We do not need a new system, or new regulations. Just a better process to catch problems before they get really bad.”
The senior Ammunition manager spoke up.
“You do not see the need for tightening anything up?”
“No sir. The Regulations are fairly clear; a process needs to be in place to make sure that they are obeyed. I happen to think that the situation in the Ammunition Community is much better than it was; this was a one off that almost certainly will never happen again. It would be foolish to over react to it.”
The General, she noticed, was smiling.
“It is rare that so many senior experts get told they are full of crap. But I cannot honestly disagree with anything you have said.”
The senior QASAS was smiling a little as well.
“I doubt I will see it again. Well, we are here so we might as well head down to the ASP and look things over.”
Liz took them to the Main ASP office first; where they looked at the records and that there was once again two key cabinets, correct procedures and paper work. Then to the ASP itself and the magazines and looked in a couple. Then to the SF ASP and did it all again. The Senior QASAS was looking at the SOP’s.
“Major, these look familiar.”
“They are all versions of the SOP’s I wrote at Ft Stewart when I was there. When I rebuilt the ordnance company the last time I used the ones I had there and just made necessary changes as regards being on a different installation. The basic tenets and regulations and rules are the same everywhere.”
The Ammo manager was looking at one of the reference books Liz had put together years ago. He called the QASAS over to look at it. Liz was showing the general what had been the situation when she showed up that first day.
The Ammo manager and the QASAS looked what Liz considered her Bible over. It was a primer on how to run an ASP; the basic regulations to be used; the basic procedures that had to be followed and what was done at an ASP and why.
“Major Parker, this reference here.”
“Yes Sir, that is something I put together over a period of years while a 89B after talking to some different QASAS and basing the needs on my experiences at a ASP.”
“Would it be possible to have a copy made of this?”
Liz went to a box on the floor and pulled out several similar binders.
“I had a batch of copies made. How many do you need?”
The general observed this and smiled.
After leaving the ASP the Team had a meeting to discuss their report.
The General started it off.
“Gentlemen, I think our report can be fairly concise. Major Parker’s suggestions and comments are so much to the point that I frankly do not feel that we have must of importance to add. Is there any disagreement?”
One by one they all shook their heads. The Senior QASAS mused
“I have rarely seen an Ammunition mission so efficiently organized. Her remarks about when was the last time any of us actually worked in one was brutal, but honest and to the point. We visit, look around at carefully staged operations if they even do any, and then leave and they go back to work as they normally do. She is absolutely correct that that kind of inspection is really of very little worth. And what she considers her bible for ASP operations is the best compilation and guide that I have seen anywhere. I would recommend that it be gone over and then used as just that.”
The SECDEF read the report and smiled slightly. This would be interesting when the various organizations that prided themselves on doing inspections read it.
The Division commander looked at his G4.
“So she basically called them stuffed shirts that would not know a real ASP if they fell over one?”
“Pretty much, sir. Not quite that blunt but not far off. What is astonishing is that they accepted it like schoolboys being chewed out by their teacher.”
“Which in all honesty is exactly what happened.”
“Yes sir. They took copies of her ‘bible’ and if the Senior QASAS has his way, is going to become truly the ASP bible for ASP’s everywhere.”
The General was pensive. “He told me that while he would not ask for my resignation, this would be my last position.”
“The Base Commander and myself were pretty much told the same thing. The Base Security Chief has put in his retirement papers. Have not heard what the story is with 5th Group.”
“SF might be a little more forgiving, but I wonder how hard the SECDEF will push on this?”
At the end of July Liz requested release from her TDY to leave for the 160th SOAR and it was granted. By this time, she was just beginning to show; on her petite figure it was more obvious than those of more ample proportions.
Colonel Ballard welcomed her to his office and she sat down on the chair indicated.
“Well, Major, it is a shame in one respect that you had to clean up that mess as you could have gotten a fair amount of what you will need to learn out of the way. But what is is. You can still do a fair amount before you are unable to do anything but sit behind a desk. I have talked with our Medical Personnel and they have recommended what you can do till after you have your baby. You can observe a lot; and read up on our documents and manuals. Also you can visit the area where they are starting to test the new models. The first production versions came out last month; 6 months behind schedule.”
“I would like that sir. I would also if it is possible to visit the plants making them; I think I could get a better feel for the differences if I did that.”
“The assembly area would be good for that; you can see all the various parts as well as units in the process.”
“Yes sir.”
“I think it would not come to you as any surprise that you are being considered for the command of our first Battalion.”
“Yes sir. The bad thing about that, sir, is that I would not get all that much chance to fly.”
“You might be surprised at how much our battalion commanders fly here in the 160th. But you do have a point. I think Battalion XO would be a better use of your talents. Your record as a company commander was superb and we would be fools not to make use of it. You would retain command of a company while XO.”
“That would be very good sir. I want to be able to fly them a lot; they will be very different than regular Apache’s and I need to understand those differences.”
“An excellent idea. If I may, what is your due date?”
“December 26, sir.”
“Well that is good. We do not believe our first company will be fully equipped until November at the earliest. Personally I think January or February is more likely. How much time will you be requesting off for maternity leave?’
“I intend to work right up to Labor, sir. After that, probably 4-6 weeks.”
“Speaking as a father that is probably about right. Of course that is as a father. My wife might have something different to say.”
“Sir, it will be hard enough to leave my baby and come to my mission. No point in drawing it out. Max has already decided to take a leave of absence starting at birth and going for 2 months. After that we will have to use day care. Not happy about it but that is the way it is.”
“Well that will work fine for us. Command has been aware that it would take some time to get the new units up and running.”
“Sir, I have been able to talk to some of the pilots of the Little Birds. I got a feel of their operations some while in Afghanistan. They are going to have to change if they want to use Apache’s, even the new ones, efficiently. There is no way you can do some of the things Little Birds can do with even a very much improved Apache. It is just too big and too heavy. And I would recommend as part of the training program that if possible any pilots transitioning to the new Apache’s from Little Birds fly and qualify with regular apache’s first. It is a hunch more than anything else but I think a number of them will have a hard time doing so.”
The Commander considered this. He had not flown Little Birds very much and had never flown an Apache. So he really could not say from his own experience how valid her concern might be.
“Well, for the moment you can still fly. I would suggest you get some time in Little Birds to make sure what you suspect is true.”
“Always happy to fly, Sir.”
Liz had been able to sneak some flight time in on Apache’s here and there; enough to keep current. So a chance to fly something different; small and agile was not to be passed up. She was taken to the field by one of the pilots, WO3 Sam Drake, and introduced to the very small helicopter. It had stubby wings on the side where a 4 missile pod of Hellfires or a 7 shot pod of 2.75 could be mounted; also a minigun or even a 30MM could be mounted as well. Used to much larger helicopters, Liz liked the Little Bird. Sam took her up and they tooled around the area; Liz after a while taking the stick.
To call it agile was to say the Pacific Ocean is deep. Comparing them was like comparing a go kart to a sports car. The Sports car is much bigger and faster; but the go kart can do things a sports car could not dream of.
When they landed, she smiled at Sam.
“Now that is a fun bird to fly.”
He agreed. “I have never flown an Apache; but I can guess it is a huge difference.”
“It is.” She gave him the analogy she had come up with and he nodded.
“So these Super Apache’s that are coming, will be like the regular apache except souped up?”
“That is what the specs say. Lighter but more powerful; even more sophisticated avionics. Stronger and tougher and better protected. But it will be hugely different from this.”
When she went back to see the Commander, he immediately noticed she was concerned.
“Were your suspicions correct?”
“I believe so. It is so agile and sensitive; absolutely nothing like a regular Apache. The Apache is a sports car and the Little Bird is a go kart. That would make it a little tough to transition from the Little Bird to a super Apache. So I really think that those that will be making the change need to get time on a regular Apache.”
He nodded. “Well here is your first assignment: write up a training plan for going from a Little Bird to an Apache to a Super Apache. And also work on one for going from a Blackhawk to a super Apache. Get familiar with the various ones we have here.”
“I would like to see the assembly plant first. And what about a simulator?”