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“You heard them gentlemen. The next leg won't be as easy as this one was, because they now think they know what to expect from us,” I said.
“Sir with all respect perhaps if we pickup the pace getting there we can catch them unaware,” Pete said.
“I seem to remember hearing each of you complaining about the pace we were moving at getting here,” I said.
“Yes sir, but we didn't expect to have the rest we did when we got here before having to engage,” Kevin said.
I looked over at Mac and smiled as he looked dumb founded that the men under us were asking that we pickup the pace rather than me having to give the order.
“Tony how long will it take if we double our efforts before we can get to our second objective and get a base camp set up?” I asked.
“Sir, with all respect looking at the terrain on this map if we aren't able to double our efforts I'd guess at least a week,” Tony replied.
I sat down with Tony to go over likely routes and noticed that only one route looked possible without encountering forces designed to slow us down or even stop us. That route also showed to be the shortest and from what the terrain appeared there would be no reason to think anyone would choose it as a possible.
Rather than make the decision I put it up to the men under me coming up with reasons for and against taking the route I hoped the men would agree to without me having to order it.
With each argument I presented against the route one or more of the men presented an argument for, bringing a smile that told me these men in a crisis situation would have no trouble following my lead. They each seemed to know the route I was arguing against was the route I wanted to take and thus showed why it was the better route. I knew once we finished our training and were assigned to our respective units some of us might not survive when we faced actual combat, but just maybe each of these men would be a definite improvement to whatever unit they ended up in. I just hoped Mac and I would end up in the same unit when this was over.
“I've been in the Air Force to long to believe what just happened here was coincidence. These men would follow you into hell, because they know you'd bring them back,” Mac said.
“And what about you Mac? When this is over if you're given the choice would you be willing to go to whatever unit I get assigned?” I asked.
“Would you be willing to request me, would be a better question, sir. If any of us are given a choice of assignments when we get back to base it will be you,” Mac said.
“If they give me that option I would request that you be assigned to whatever unit I am. Mac as long as we're in the same unit you will always be my second. The one person I know I can turn to when I'm not sure,” I said.
He smiled letting me know he felt the same. I let the men have the night to get settled after the small victory we had in meeting the first leg of our assignment. And made sure they each knew we would be heading out before the sun came up and I wanted to be at least ten miles into our journey before anyone even knew we had left so the chances of them figuring out what route we were taking would be next to none.
I had Kelly checking the radio constantly after we left so I would know if they had discovered us before we were able to get somewhere that trying to find us would be harder than it was worth.
“Sir they just discovered we left,” Kelly said.
“Thank you Kelly. Men we need to pickup the pace before they discover which route we took out of there. If they figure out what route we're taking we just made their job of stopping us easier. If you remember they have the advantage of all the modern warfare tools and equipment, we don't. I'm not even sure we're supposed to have the radio, but what they don't know won't hurt us,” I said.
As fast as we had been moving when we left we doubled our speed and reached our objective route undetected while setting a false trail at the same time. When Mac and Pete joined back up with us word came to double the force along the false trail they set up.
I kept us going well into the night moving at a pace that if we were able to maintain would have gotten us to our second objective in two days time. If only the terrain we were facing would allow for that kind of speed.
“I don't mind telling you we're all tired from the day we just put in,” Mac said.
“I'll stand guard tonight, let everyone get a good nights sleep I want to be out of here as soon as it's light enough to see,” I said.
All the men were out as soon as they lay down, all that was except Mac who sat up with me going over all the things that might possibly go wrong.
“Sam why did you join the Air Force?” Mac asked.
“I enlisted as an escape. Mac I'm the oldest boy in my family and everyone expected me to do all the things boys are supposed to do. At my oldest sisters wedding just before I left for boot camp I asked my dad a question, and tried to explain why I am the way I am, why I don't follow along the religious teachings I was brought up with, and it got me nothing but ridicule, mostly from my mother. I still love her, but I can't live under her dictates any longer. As soon as I was eligible to enlist I did. I was selected for OCS right out of basic, and then for special forces as soon as I finished OCS,” I answered.
“You mean you bypassed second Lousy?” Mac asked.
“I enlisted for six from the start. I figured by joining the Air Force I'd never serve in anything but a support role, in this conflict I don't happen to believe we should be in. I do believe in our country, or I wouldn't have joined regardless, but...” I started.
“I know the feeling, I enlisted to avoid the draft. I figured the Air Force was the best chance of missing any actual combat, but after seeing the holes the pilots kept getting in their airplanes I was given a chance to join special forces and make a difference,” Mac interrupted.
“Why don't you get some sleep Mac I want everyone ready to go when I give the order,” I said.
“Can I ask one more question first?” Mac asked.
“You just did. What's your question?” I responded.
“Have you ever thought maybe you were supposed to be a girl rather than...” he started and I cut him off.
“Good night Mac. I hope I never hear that question from you again, is that understood?” I answered with a look I hoped he would understand to mean that kind of question should never come up again.
“Yes sir, perfectly,” he replied.
Why would he have asked that question? Surely I hadn't done anything that would have given myself away. That question brought back the way mom and Jeff made fun of me for having asked dad about if he ever wished he were female. As soon as I recovered from that, the time Mac came to me saying the men were tired and he didn't think they could give more came back, something in the way he said it made me wonder even more about the world in which I lived. Why would I have responded the way I had, alluding that he and I might be fairy folk from mythology.
Thoughts and wishes of a time when I could have become, or at least lived as I knew myself to be kept intruding until I decided it was time we get moving before they found out what direction we had really gone.
“Up and at 'em boys it's time we get going. I'd like to get at least another hour down the road then we can stop and fix some breakfast. That is if you're in the mood for some fresh spring trout and grouse eggs,” I said.
Each of the men looked at me like I had lost my mind until I held up a stringer with enough trout each man could have two and a grass basket of eggs that were about the same size as chicken eggs. It seemed strange because I didn't remember doing any fishing while they slept, nor did I remember weaving together a grass basket and hunting eggs.
Mac looked at me and just nodded as though he knew something I didn't. The only thing at this point I knew for sure, was I was sick of C-rations and we hadn't taken time to hunt for anything else. Camp was broken in record time and we were gone leaving little or no trace we had ever stopped there. When I felt it was safe I called a halt and tossed the trout and eggs a
t Kevin asking if he thought he could treat us with something extra special for breakfast.
Three days later we were setting up our base camp to obtain our second objective. Kelly was monitoring the radio chatter and said as yet they still hadn't discovered where we had gone. I wanted them defending against an attack far enough away from where we were really going to be it would draw the bulk of their force away from where we intended to strike leaving us with a token resistance to get through.
Mac took Pete and Tony and skirted around our target to make it look like we were set up else where. I made sure he understood I wanted him to make it look realistic like we really were there, but not so easy to find they fell over themselves trying to avoid it.
It took a full day before they were back and another day after that before we had conformation they had stumbled on our camp. Talking to Mac I found out the three of them had set up several different camps each just a little harder to find, but if we didn't move soon we were likely to lose our element of surprise and end up facing a lot bigger force than any of us wanted.
It seemed after we had taken out the first target so fast and easy they had no intention of allowing us the same privilege again, and doubled the size of the force we would be facing, with the security getting tighter and tighter the closer we got to the target.
“Any suggestions on a plan here gentlemen?” I asked.
I had a plan of attack, but wanted to see if any of these men had the ability to plan a strategy that might be even better than what I had in mind.
They all looked at me not saying anything as though they didn't have a clue what to do to get by the kind of odds we now faced. I laid out what I wanted from each of them, and got strange looks, as they tried to figure out just how I expected them to be able to accomplish what I was asking.
“Haven't any of you been paying attention to how I collected plants throughout our travels?” I asked.
The light came on as Kevin thought of all the different plants I had gathered.
“Sir, it will take me some time to get the paint made, and we might want to see about getting some plants from around here. If we can find the right plants I could make up some tranquillizer to use on darts too,” Kevin said.
Tony and Kelly both offered to try finding something we could use as blow guns while Pete said he had seen something that would make excellent darts we could use. I looked at Mac to see what he wanted to contribute and got a blank stare back.
“Mac?” I asked.
“I don't know what I can contribute sir,” Mac said.
“You can do reconnaissance for us while we work on getting everything ready. Mac it's okay to take prisoners, it's not okay to kill anyone,” I said.
“Yes sir, I understand sir. I hope that won't always be the case though,” Mac said.
“If we are ever in a real combat situation Mac, I would have stated that differently. Under real combat I would have said it is okay to kill, but we don't have the man power for prisoners. Is that more along the lines of what you were hoping for?” I asked.
“Yes sir, I just wanted to know you weren't squeamish about doing what had to be done,” he said.
“I don't like killing, but do know the necessity of it in war,” I said.
We didn't do anything other than prepare for the next two days each member of the unit doing what they could to get everything together so when I gave the order we would be able to strike fast and hard.
None of the patrols sent out looking for us even came close to where we were, but they had found most of the false camps that had been set to keep them busy looking for ghosts that didn't exist.
The morning of the third day the target sent out double the patrols and I gave the order. We were inside the patrols without a single patrol spotting us and moving fast toward the target inside the base. I thought it strange they hadn't done more than give me the location of where each of the targets were, and left it to me to figure out just what it was we were supposed to do. Mac and I found the command building and within moments were inside with still no alarms having been raised.
I came up behind the commander raising my knife to his throat and whispered that if he moved without my consent it would be the last thing he did.
“Lieutenant Waters I take it?” the commander asked.
“It is General. Would you care to let me in on what it is I'm supposed to be after here?” I asked.
“Me Lieutenant. You're supposed to be after me. If you'll remove that blade I'll call your commander and let him know you succeeded in this part of your exercise and are on the next leg of your mission,” he said.
“I'd like to talk to him to insure he does understand if I run into any trouble he is going to have unconscious solders between here and our home base,” I said.
“Lieutenant just out of curiosity how the hell did you make it this far without the alarm being raised. My best men found several of your abandoned camps, but there was no sign you had ever really been in them,” he asked.
“Those camps were to keep you looking where we wanted you to look. As for how we got this far I've been standing here in this room with you for ten minutes before I let you know I was here,” I replied.
The call was made and my commander said he wanted General Wentworth to put us on a transport the test was over.
General Wentworth let his forces know they had failed to protect him and he was extremely disappointed in just how poorly they had done. He called motor pool and arranged a truck to take us back to our base and congratulated me and my men in a job well done.
When we arrived back at base the Colonel wanted me to report to his office before doing anything else. I told the men to go on to the barracks and get their gear stored and get cleaned up and I would let them know what I could as soon as possible.
“Colonel Talbot sir. Lieutenant Waters reporting as ordered,” I said on entering his office.
I stood at attention waiting to be acknowledged.
“At ease Captain.” The voice wasn't Colonel Talbot and whoever it was seemed to think I was a Captain not a Lieutenant even though I had stated my rank clearly.
“Sir?” I asked.
“Captain if you could have picked any man on this base to have gone on that mission with you would you have picked the five men you had?” some General I didn't know asked.
“Sir, all the men did a remarkable job out there. None of them disappointed me,” I answered.
“That didn't answer my question Captain,” the General said.
“Sir, with all due respect I am only a Lieutenant, not a Captain. To answer your question, no sir, I wouldn't have chosen the men I had with me, but that doesn't change that every man I had with me proved himself beyond what could be expected,” I replied.
“Lieutenant when you leave here for your duty station it will be as a Captain. The orders should be cut tomorrow, and would have been here waiting for you, but you saw fit to make a mockery of our other forces with your skills as a warrior. I've been watching you the whole time other than when you and your team fell off the grid after your first stop. I have to ask just how it is you were able to cover such a vast distance in so short a time without being able to be found even by our satellites,” the General said.
“General if you go in a straight line the distance isn't that great between point one and point two. The terrain is a little rough, but with good men it does make for a nice hike,” I answered.
“You cut across... are you out of your mind Lieutenant? You could have easily gotten everyone of those men killed,” the General said.
“General I was told were we would be dropped and where we were going. We knew that to follow the more traveled routes would be suicide since we had every unit in the area looking for us from the first objective to the second, we knew those looking for us were likely doubled thus we took the most direct route that everyone would be sure we wouldn't be foolish enough to even attempt,” I said.
He shook his head at the idea I had taken a
six man squad over terrain that everyone knew was impassable and succeeded with no casualties.
“Jason I didn't believe you when you said this man was just crazy enough to make the impossible possible, now I understand.” He turned back to me, Captain take the night off and in the morning I expect to see Captains bars on your uniform instead of those Lieutenant bars,” the General said.
I saluted and was dismissed. As soon as I was out the door I started laughing and stopped turning back around and knocking on the door.
“Come in,” Colonel Talbot said.
“Sir I know I've been dismissed, but I have to ask about my men. I really appreciate that you wish to give me a promotion to Captain, but if I deserve a promotion so do those enlisted men I had under my command. If the only promotion from this exercise is for me, I'll have to respectfully decline the promotion and resign my commission, sir,” I said.
The General stood there looking at me like I had lost my mind.
“Is there anything else Lieutenant?” Colonel Talbot asked.
“Yes sir, I respectfully request that whatever unit I am assigned to Sargent Denvers also be assigned to that unit as my Sargent,” I said.
“Thank you Lieutenant I'll take that under advisement. I don't see any reason each of those men can't receive a promotion in rank, but I can't promise Sargent Denvers will be assigned as your Sargent since second in commands don't usually have Sargent's assigned to them,” the General said.
I again saluted and did a crisp about face again smiling as soon as the door closed. I didn't care about military protocol in getting back to my men to share with them the news.
“Attention,” someone said when I entered.
“At ease gentlemen. I thought you might all like to know we all got a promotion and will be receiving our duty assignments over the next couple days. To celebrate since we have the night off, I'd like to take you all out for a drink the first round is on me,” I said.
Word of our accomplishment spread throughout the base over the next couple days until it seemed everyone knew who we were and wanted to know how we had been able to do what we later found out wasn't supposed to have been able to be done. I had never heard the actual stories about the final test and that it was supposed to be impossible, so impossible that no one had ever made it as far as we did.
Would things have been different if we hadn't been told we either completed the test or we would washout? I don't know I would like to think regardless the men I had with me would have had the drive they showed anyway. I gave each of them the chance to prove who they were and they went beyond anyones expectations. We had all been seen as misfits by so many others going through the training, yet now we were heroes.
Mac and I drew the same company as I had requested and were to report to our new commander by weeks end, when we found out where our new company was stationed we both wished we had washed out.
“Sir, Captain Waters and Sargent Denvers reporting as ordered,” I said standing at attention in my new commanding officers office.
“I understand you both just graduated from the training center. Word is you aced the final test something no one has ever done before. Tell me Captain were you in command of the men in the test?” he asked.
“Yes sir I was,” I replied.
“What I heard is you took a foolish risk just to win is that right Captain?” he asked.
“My men and I proved the test could be beaten sir. We knew the risks and opted for the choice that offered the greatest chance of success, sir,” I replied.
“I don't accept the kind of risks you took with those mens lives Captain, here I am in command and you'll follow my orders is that clear?” he more demanded than asked.
“Perfectly sir,” I said.