--------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter
2!!!!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Alright, bear in mind I’m gonna use a lot of terms that may
seem extremely alarming like: killed, dead, blown up, shot, etc. Bear in mind
that the context is ALL notional and based solely in a training environment.
Kay pumpkin! =] –G)
Given
the opportunity our small sized element was supposed to be a game-changer for
whatever operation this rotation of training exercises was going to entail. I
need to stress though, GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY! We never really got one. Every
time something was “planned” to take place out in the box, our lil 30 man
Spirit Assembly (as it felt like the higher-ups were believing us to be) was
constantly getting overlooked or just flat-out disregarded and forgotten about!
Moreover, this being an active duty installation and deployment, our Guard
status was regarded with little more prestige and acceptance than a leper
colony. To say the odds weren’t in our favor is understating the sheer
magnitude of both this deployment and our miniscule size within it. So…yeah we
had that going for us… Still, we made due.
Problems
started early for me personally with a small... glitch in my personal
preparation. I left a sensitive item of mine on my bunk instead of on my person
like I should have and had to speed my ass back in the little civilian rental
car our leadership was afforded by our host. To say panic set in early is an
understatement, especially given that that’s what LT just spent a good half
hour lecturing to us about in a formation before we diddy mounted to the
pick-up point for our helo insertion. Nevertheless, my oversight cost us no
time and was understood to be in light of making damn sure my team was more
than ready for their part(s) to play in our upcoming roles. This was day one,
minute one of our exercises and we were eager to get started.
Mission
one: Hold the hill! The training area that was being used consisted of little
more than 10 sq. km. Of those there were five different terrain features useful
to having eyes on the battlefield without being seen ourselves. Simply hold in
place, and report on who’s coming from the west. Easy right? Here’s how it
started for us: The enemy was already passed the phase line where we were to
hold them to before we even showed up to the battlefield. We had to travel
through their territory in order to get to the spots we had to set and
establish. Needless to say, planning was not our hosts’ strongpoint. Nevertheless,
we definitely got the best circumstances out of all the elements playing in the
box that day; for we… got to be air inserted. =) It was every bit as cool as
you think it was and then some. Picture it: Four Lakota Helicopters, 2-3 men
each flying very low over the landscape in the middle of the night for simple
touch and go landings. We dismount, go prone, and sit tight for a full minute
or two. Waiting. Listening. Watching. My three man flight (Chalk as its called)
consisting of Bear, Momo and myself, lays prone just behind a berm under a tree
50 meters away from our LZ (Landing Zone). The wind’s died down and two of our
teammates (Skater and Taz) scampered up to our location. The din of the helos
died completely as they finally made it over the horizon.
“Seahawks,” the whispered challenge.
“Slaughter,” the reply.
“Good, it’s you Sergeant,” and with that we headed to the
tree line. Beibs was expected to be on the next lift group so we hunkered down
and waited. 20 minutes later a familiar fumpafumpafumpa of the Lakota’s rotors
fills the air again and we’re on high alert given the presence of an unfamiliar
truck nearby on our landing. Bear and Momo hurriedly run to go collect Beibs
from one of the choppers that land. A minute goes by with the aircraft, unfortunately,
still on the ground when the tremendous sound of a .50 caliber fills the air and
Taz, Skater and I feel a dread at the potential ramifications given our
circumstances. Thankfully, less than 30 seconds from the start of firing we
glimpse a couple familiar shapes rushing to our direction.
Bear-“We didn’t find him! He’s not there or with any of the
aircraft! We gotta get the fuck outta here! They took out an entire flight and
we barely made it when that .50 started!”
G-“No Beibs at all?! Shit… We gotta assume he’s dead with
that .50 on a truck. We stay here and were dead too! Maybe we’ll get lucky and
he’s still with Lil Rey by their OP. Lets get north!”
A simple watch mounted compass and a whole lotta stealthy
ass movement later, we’re on our mountain top overlooking the entire battle
space. It’s raining, our comms are non-existent without Beibs, most of our NVG
batteries have already failed (they were new less than two hours prior), we’re
only able to use terrain and a red lens light to navigate the km’s needed to
reach our OP, and we were loving every minute of it. For the first time in
their career, my guys got to finally feel like the scouts they knew themselves
to be. Moving like ghosts through and around enemy territory maintaining an understanding
of our current and soon to be location/situation. Then, finally, arriving
triumphantly at our castle (minus one). We were dead tired, disconnected from
our main element, and freezing on the rainy, windy summit, having traversed
obstacles and terrain through the storm we were all soaked and shivering.
Nevertheless, we felt ALIVE! More complete in our status as scouts than ever
before, just maneuvering at night is still one of the most badass and harrowing
experiences I go through throughout my career. So I know they were still
enjoying its badassness. Shit was legit!
Problems amassed quickly however, starting with our communication
issue. Skater and Taz were the only ones with anything useable (cellphones) to
get in touch with anyone outside of shouting distance (not that we’d ever
resort to that. Stealth being the prerogative) since Beibs had the radio and
our other pieces of equipment flat out seemed to come chock full of ‘user
error’. (I euphemistically refer to them that way since most of the crap we
signed for we’ve either never used before or just flat out wouldn’t cooperate
with humans but was reported to be “just fine” upon further inspection by the
host unit.) Our location was unfortunately going to be defined by best guess
with the map and protractor given that the GPS was the anti-human I referred to
earlier. Fortunately, to counter that lack of tech my team was strong with land
navigation skill and, therefore, made this only a minor setback easily
overcome. The third and final major thing that was immediately apparent and
completely underestimated was the weather itself.
Germany has a doppelganger that I affectionately refer to
as, Home. That’s right kids! The Washingtonian weather decided to follow us
there! Gray skies filled with more than a drizzle, less than a downpour decided
to follow us from home and forced us to pack a lot heavier and in greater
quantity that we EVER would have given our normal disposition. None of that
mattered though, once day broke.
There
are gems of locations, and then there are true, TRUE treasures of places that
immediately allow whatever experience you’re having to be enhanced
exponentially. Hohenfels castle, is one of those places. My team must be full
of future lottery winners because, our OP location was a piece of real estate
to be envied by all others who participated with us during these particular
events. The hilltop alone satisfied a scout observers’ wet dream. Overlooking
what had to be a half a hectare of land with absolute visibility from the far
northwest to at least a thousand meters to the southeast; that alone is a force
multiplying condition for us which maximizes our effectiveness in combat to
change the tide of battle…
Or it would have…
If we had comms…
(**deeeeeep siiiigh**)
Oh
well. At least it’s pretty and full of plenty of cover from the elements for
us, right?...
Right?!
NOPE! Turns out this ancient piece of architecture, over the
course of its thousand year history, was picked apart a couple stones at a time
by the local surrounding villages whenever their need arose. It used to be
owned by the Vatican after come local lord or king, in the 1300’s, decided to
have some beef with other nations. So he allied with the Italians and was
primed and set for war. Didn’t take long for the Italians to switch side
though. So after his inevitable defeat the church owned the castle and handed
over custody to local monks at the monastery nearby. A couple hundred years of
go by where all it did was collect nothing but dust since there was to be no
lordship within it and the Church decides it’s far too costly to maintain
anymore. In the 1600’s word went round to the locals to come and take what you
need from the masonry and building materials free of charge. This lead to some
of the Hohenburg, Allersburg, and rural surrounding homes to have some of the
castle’s stones as part of its architecture, leaving only part of the SW and NE
arrow slots and retaining walls left. Wind was funneled through the small
passages of terrain straight up and over the top of the hill that was to be our
home for the next few days. Coupled with the rain and lack of overhead cover
and we have a recipe for supreme discomfort and cold. Bear in mind, we couldn’t
improve any of the immediate landscape such as with our entrenching tools or
making improvised shelter halves with surrounding vegetation because it was a
pretty barren, let alone historic site. So we set up shop as best we could.
Even though the adrenaline fueled, careful movement to the hilltop was short we
were feeling as if we had just completed a thousand mile marathon,
(#adrenalinedump) and our minds were sluggish and could barely establish much
more than a sleep/watch cycle for the night.
0100-
Skater, Bear and I are pulling first shift while Taz and Momo rested in the
arrow loops that were left from the NW wall when one of us sluggishly comes to
terms with the fact that they were staring at someone standing in the middle of
our OP looking in our direction.
Skater-“Is that one of our guys?” (referring to either Taz
or Momo)
Me-“… I don’t know…SEAHAWKS!”
(Stanger)-“?. …Slaughter.”
Me-“RAMBO IS THAT YOU!?!”
Rambo-“Uhh, yeah!”
Skater and I immediately lept to
our feet and completely ignored noise discipline (we were also kilometers from
the nearest enemy anyway) and embraced our ally who snuck up on us. The story
goes that while his lift landed, they were attacked and most killed. He and
another (whom we’ll call Profile) being separated from the rest of their
element made their way to the nearest OP and landmark. Which happened to be
ours. Internally we immediately came to the realization that our security was…
a lil relaxed and weak at the time seeing as how they got the jump on us. But
as for the bigger part of their story and for why they were even present in the
first place, Profile fell a few times on the way south to their prescribed OP
location. They had a long ass hump to take in the middle of the night to get to
their position but couldn’t due to Profile (being the ranking of the two)
taking lead and getting Rambo and himself good and turned around. The biggest
problem they had though, was Profile’s shortness of breath and complaints of
severe chest pain for their circular and long journey. Rambo finally said, “fuck
it”, and led them to the only landmark in town, our hill. He was some 150
meters ahead of profile moving up the hill which is why we saw him first. He
filled us in then Skater and I took off to the bottom of the hill and met
Profile halfway up. I helped Profile walk and Skater took his ruck the last 75
meters up the hill. It still took more than 5 minutes though, and we were all
clued in to something being seriously wrong. However, everyone at the time was
too tired to think out loud. So we weighed our options internally as the shifts
changed and Rambo and Profile caught some Zzz’s at the same time as Bear and I.
It’s interesting how misfortune can
turn into fortune more than once in single day. We were snuck up on again.
More allies and as it was currently
0700 or so my rest shift was almost up. I awoke to some snickering and wondered
what I would find. Chongo, JT Lite and Windtalker decided to join our little
camp out. Rambo and Profile were still out due to being exhausted from the
circle running and staying warm. But our place was now more secure than ever,
(we thought). Ten people for a single OP is realllly really heavy on the manpower
side, but the more eyes we had, the more effective at observing we became. We
were pretty set for quite a few hours. By the way, our means of letting our higher-ups
know my team (minus Beibs) was doing alright and seeing minimal enemy activity,
was both Skater and Taz’s phones. (Ahh the power of modern technology.) So in
the midst of the ‘quite a few hours’ period, a duty log was set, positions
posted, caches of food and water collected and the rhythm of battle set in.
Profile was the only dark spot on this shining example of ‘Semper Gumby’, since
he wasn’t improving and actually seemed to be getting worse. Thankfully, we got
another visitor that day.
Now, I should mention that in the
midst of all of this training and evaluation we were participating in, someone
has to be doing the evaluating and refereeing. These are selected experts in
specific fields within the military from units across the country called
Observer Controllers (OC’s for short). One decided to come up to a historic
sight mid-afternoon. As I’m watching this captain park his HMMWV and leisurely make
his way up to the top of the hill toward our location, I’m signaling
frantically to everyone else on the hilltop to find cover and keep quiet. I
thought for sure we were toast for who knows what reason this guy may have
concocted (They decide life or death in the training area). Turns out though,
he was simply being a tourist and got the shit scared out of him by some of the
fellows on the hilltop (myself included) pointing our guns at him and waiting
for him to notice us or make a move we didn’t like. (#onedgemuch) He was cool
though, and ended up giving Profile a ride back to cantonment where he could
finally be evaluated. His situation was real-world and turned out to be severe
enough to be sent home early. Our first day was about as eventful as someone
attempting to be a ninja on the battlefield could be and our little nine person
fellowship of scouts was jiving smoothly.
Day one down, two (at least) to go.
Throughout our first 24 hours we found out that Beibs was alive and with Mijo
and what was left of Lil Rey’s crew at their OP one km directly south from us
and within line of sight. Turned out that JT Lite, Chongo and Windtalker were
actually “dead” and therefor left without a position to have to man since they
died almost immediately upon arrival to the battlefield. They landed right next
to an enemy truck and Windtalker panicked, took out his grenade (an apple with
a chemlight taped to it) snapped it to prime it but dropped it right at their
feet. The OC near them gave an incredulous look, waited half a second then
promptly declared them killed for being dumbasses. Oh well, their presence
allowed for the discovery of a beer cache on the hilltop. Probably left there
by some late night local campers. Fearing for our safety since getting a real
world cold weather injury was an actual possibility, we lit a small fire in a pit
in the hilltop’s center. We may or may not have had a much warmer and happier
night that night…
Days two and three passed in a
blur since the most that took place was a small reconnaissance movement by
Windtalker and Bear to see about Lil Rey’s food cache since they were dead and
were now nine bodies deep instead of the six allotted for. Their journey led
them to discover the “slight detour” north (in the interest of security so as
not revealing their source location of course…I swear!) to Hohenburg and the
discovery of what time the bars and shops open and close there. They eventually
made their way back south for a long and cautious 2 hour journey. They
discovered and recovered the radio that Beibs was holding onto and brought it
along with another small stash of food the 1.5km back to our position. We
started laying in heavy intel to our HQ and were pumped to finally be fully
combat effective, despite not having any priority when we call for artillery
strikes on any enemy. We were ready for the long haul and feeling victorious.
The exercises ended a couple hours later and we made our way
to our pickup sight slightly deflated… lol Oh well, we held up our end of the
bargain in this little shindig! That’s really all that mattered. My boys got
the training of a lifetime, we all were tested to our battlefield intelligence
limits, and everyone directly attached to my team survived the duration of the
mission. We were happy, and stoked for what our time in Hohenfels had next.
