Chapter 17

Flashback – Major M – Chopper flight

Sgt. Reynolds came back with the tracking device he recovered in Ms. Sedankina's room right before our chopper landed to pick us up. I turned on the device, watched as it acquired our signals and confirmed right away this was going to be a great find for us. And I also realized the L.Cpl. was correct when he told us we'd be a detriment to the mission.

I looked at Sgt. Reynolds' blank face and remarked, "This is good as gold. I bet you're a hell of a poker player."

We boarded the chopper as he grinned at me and answered, "Oh I'm not that good." But I knew when I was being set up.

I watched it track us as we traveled to the main building and remarked, "Sgt. you're going to need to change back into your Marine gear." I thought about his clearance and knew there were areas I couldn't take him. I would need to rectify the situation since he and the L.Cpl. were now my men.

Then I thought about the L.Cpl. and how lucky he and Sgt. Reynolds were that I talked the Old Man into assigning them to me, instead of being sent to some oblivion shithole assignment. But even more important was how lucky I was to have the two of them - they were perfect for the plans I had.

You see the L.Cpl. didn't really fit in as a Marine because he was too much a loner and the Marines are all about being part of the team. I had read and analyzed his record and where others missed it, I realized he'd always been a loner and if I hadn't grabbed him now that was going to be a huge problem down the road. Hell, the L.Cpl.'s loner problems started the night he arrived at boot camp on the bus. One of the recruit's first assignments was to call home and read a script - to let their family know they arrived safely. The L.Cpl. told the DI he didn't have anyone to call (which was the truth). The DI wrongly thought the L.Cpl. was lying and being a pain in the ass so immediately he was labeled a malcontent. The DI rode his ass until he finally called someone. I checked later and determined it was the answering machine for his family lawyer.

Marine boot camp is longer than any other service's boot camp and is mainly about cultural immersion and indoctrination. It's where we instill in the recruits the Marine's warrior ethos, the importance of the team and the way everyone is expected to conform. The L.Cpl. had no issues with the warrior ethos and the importance of the team but he never really conformed and became part of his squad.

He never developed the friendships with the rest of the squad members the DI's constantly looked for. So the DI's rode the hell out of him, thinking they would break him - but there was nothing to break. You see, I had looked at his school records and even spent some time interviewing individuals in his home town and realized the L.Cpl. had never had a school friend in his whole life – his bastard father isolated and probably abused him. My greatest insight into the L.Cpl. was when I interviewed the retired Lt. Col. and his wife since that was where the L.Cpl. spent a significant amount of time. They were closer to being his parents than his real parents and they confirmed the mistreatment of the L.Cpl.

So the DI's didn't have the whole story and gave him an extra dose of hell during boot camp but the L.Cpl. never complained or flinched. In fact he excelled under the pressure, and the greater the pressure the more he excelled - and also the more he pissed off the DI's. They tried every trick in the book and even created a few new ones just for him but as I said earlier there was nothing to break. The DI's had decided they would fail him and his whole squad during 'the crucible.' The crucible happens during week ten of training: It's a simulated mission which requires the recruits to stay awake and functioning for 52 hours. The crucible is designed so that no one man can complete it since it requires a dedicated team effort. To fail the crucible either meant repeating boot camp or being kicked out of the Marines.

But something amazing happened during his squad's 52 hours of the DI's crucible from hell. The squad started to fall apart just like the DI's wanted but then when the squad was ready to give up, the L.Cpl. took over (he wasn't even the squad leader) and helped his squad complete what the DI's had set up to be an impossible to complete crucible. But it came at a great personal cost: The L.Cpl. collapsed right after he finished the run back to the base (where he spent part of the time carrying members of his squad) and spent three days in the infirmary.

So like it or not, the L.Cpl. was going to become a Marine. But he was still a thorn in the Corps' side. The command didn't know for sure what to do with him, so they made the decision to send him off to scout sniper training, probably the best thing they could have done...

I looked at Sgt. Reynolds - now he was a different story. He was at one time one of the best scout snipers there ever was and rose quickly in esteem, until the one fateful mission where he came back and his spotter didn't. It was one of those black-op missions so hidden that even for me much of it was classified or redacted. Something about that mission 'broke' Sgt. Reynolds and no matter what was tried, he never said anything about that mission. After that mission the Sgt. became a huge thorn in the Corps' side. He was belligerent and insulting to the officers, got into fights all the time, drank too much (yes this was possible for someone in the Corps), became a loner and no one wanted to work with him.

He was well on his way to being kicked out of the Corps when the L.Cpl. latched onto him. Something indefinable clicked between those two and suddenly two thorns in the Corps side became an elite team of two. The Corps tried to integrate them into regular scout sniper squads, and they would work together with the squads. But much like the L.Cpl.'s boot camp experience, they never quite fit in. So command farmed them out to 'the agencies' as a two man team where they didn't need to fit in. Shit! They'd still be doing that if the L.Cpl. hadn't dated the Old Man's underage daughter. I still wasn't sure how the hell that happened or even what exactly happened. But the Old Man wasn't amused and gave them a permanent assignment to Mr. Smith and his agency.

Mr. Smith didn't have the sense God gave a head of lettuce and had no idea how to handle these two Marines. Imagine sending them to the school, and then constantly complaining to the Old Man about their performance (which in light of this piece of shit school was exemplary). The Old Man was ready to do something drastic when I offered to be a liaison between Mr. Smith and the Old Man. He jumped on it just so he wouldn't have to hear from Mr. Smith again even though my reports to the Old Man were boring as hell. Now all I had to do was wrestle control of the L.Cpl. and Sgt. away from Mr. Smith, which wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Mr. Smith felt he needed to break them and if a Marine DI couldn't do that, there was no way Mr. Smith and his cohorts could.

I smiled at the Sgt. - he was the key. If I could gain his trust, then the L.Cpl. would follow and tonight's 'deal' with him was the first time he'd shown any trust in me and even displayed a bit of the old Sgt. Reynolds' spirit.

He asked...

Flashback – Sgt. Reynolds – Chopper flight

I watched Major M during the flight; he was deep in thought. I had more respect for him than most officers, not that I would ever admit that to him. First he didn't waltz into being and officer, he came up through the ranks and that's not easy. Second he didn't treat me like the other officers did, like damaged goods. Oh he still gave me hell, but he didn't do that to piss me off, he did it because that's what all officers do.

But something about him and what he did in the Corps – well it wasn't quite right. First, I'd never even heard of the group he was in. I checked like hell and found out anyone who knew anything about it, never talked about it. I finally determined he was part of a clandestine unit in the Corps that did things that no one else did or were supposed to do. If even half the rumors were true about this group, then one thing was sure: You didn't want to fuck with them because bad things happened to the people who did.

Plus, from the things I found out, the Major was right there in much of the action with the Corps: The Combined Action Program and other missions in Vietnam; a return to Nam during the evacuation of Saigon; Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada; and the Beirut Barracks bombing both about the same time. Now that was interesting because I'd heard rumors that while President Reagan waffled on attacking the Sheik Abdullah barracks in Baalbek, Lebanon. The barracks were supposed to house the Iranian Revolutionary Guards believed to have trained the Hezbollah militants who attacked our barracks. Some group went in there but didn't just kill them, they were brutally tortured and executed. At first it was thought to be Mossad, but now I wasn't so sure that it wasn't the Major's group. And of course his group was all over the normal hot spots.

However when an officer gets too quiet it was never a good thing. The longer it went on the worse it was and I'd had enough of this. The Major looked at me and smiled so I asked, "Sir, you seem to be deep in thought. Is there something I can help you with?"

He surprised the hell out of me when he answered, "Sgt. as an officer in the Corps I want to apologize to you for the lack of support and the mistreatment you have received over the mission where you lost your spotter. I'm not going to ask you what terrible thing happened on the mission, but I do know the Corps failed to support you correctly when you came back from the mission. They also haven't made an effort to understand you since then. I will try my best to rectify the mistakes which the Corps has made."

What the hell was this? Was it some sort of elaborate trick? I replied with what I thought was a good test for him, "Sir, I'm not sure what you're talking about."

He looked at me, pulled off his headset and motioned for me to do that same. Then he said, "Look Sgt. no one can hear us so let's cut the crap. I don't know what happened on that mission, but I do know you feel like the Corps bent you over and gave it to you after that mission. You resent everything about that mission and how you've been treated ever since then and I don't blame you. In fact I resent the hell out of how both you and the L.Cpl. have been treated and I plan to do everything I can to rectify this situation."

I replied, "Sir, while I appreciate the apology, I find it hard to believe all you're telling me."

The Major laughed, "Sgt. you must be from Missouri because you want me to show you everything. I know you like to make deals, so what would I need to do or show you so that you could trust me."

I wasn't sure I liked this but I needed a moment to think so I asked, "Sir, permission to speak freely."

He replied, "Jack call me Mike and tell me what the hell I can do for you and Ben."

I thought and answered, "Mike, first I know we fucked up when we didn't tell you about the tracking devices."

He interrupted, "Jack that's forgotten, now what else?"

I looked him in the eyes and asked, "Mike, just what are your plans for us?"

Mike smiled and answered, "Jack you and Ben are loners and don't really fit in with normal Marines. So what I want is to develop a new area within the Marines designed for loners like you and Ben. You two will be doing missions similar to what you've done in the past with a few changes here and there."

I decided to press him, "What happens if you give us a mission we don't like or don't want to do?"

He smiled and promised, "Jack, I won't blow smoke up your ass. There will be some hard missions that you won't like but there will be a good reason for doing them and you will know those reasons."

I thought for a moment and said, "What about us working for the bastard Mr. Smith and this damn spook school."

He shook his head and answered, "Jack, I'm working on that problem right now and it's harder than I thought it would be. But know this, Mr. Smith was giving the General hell about the way you and Ben acted at the school and the General was ready to ship you and Ben off to some shithole assignment and forget about you two until I stepped in as liaison between the two of you."

Hearing that made me feel better because the Old Man had a habit of doing exactly that and I believed that was going to happen to us. I decided to see if I could really push his buttons and asked, "So what if we decide to not work with you?"

He said, "Jack that's your decision and I won't stand in your way. You will continue to work for Mr. Smith and I will still be the liaison between him and the General."

I got bold and questioned, "Okay what are your expectations from Banzai and me?"

Flashback – Major M – Chopper flight

I made real headway with the Sgt. and he asked, "Okay what are your expectations from Banzai and me?"

I simply replied, "Jack, all I want from you and Ben is to know that you are part of my team. As I'm sure you found out at Gunny's last night when you were asking about me, I take care of my team members. I will make sure you don't catch any flak from any other brass even if you fuck up."

Jack answered, "You know what I discovered last night at Gunny's?"

I replied, "Jack, I know and hear more things than you'd believe. So are you and Ben on my team?"

He shook my hand and said, "Major M, yes, but on a provisional basis. I want to see how things go with this mission."

We landed at the building as I replied, "Sgt. Reynolds that's fair enough. I know I can work with and trust you and the L.Cpl. but you two need to decide that you can work with and trust me. Now it's time you see some of what I can do."

We got out of the chopper. When the Sgt. saw where we landed, he asked, "So we're going in there?"

I could tell Sgt. Reynolds was impressed as I answered, "Hell yes we are! This is one of the main places I work from."

Flashback – Ben – Mission

The XO knocked on the door and announced, "Thirty minutes to station. Be ready in ten minutes for a briefing."

I yelled back, "You guys have any coffee on this tin can?"

He replied, "We'll have some at the briefing."

We grabbed our packs and prepared them for a water assault. I pulled out my rifles, slipped condoms over the muzzles on both of them and used a twist tie to secure them to the barrels behind the cans¹. Then put them both into separate dry bags and double checked that everything inside my pack was in waterproof bags and finally put my whole pack into another dry bag. I looked over and saw that Tom and Howard just finished the same procedures. It was damn nice working with guys that knew what the hell they were doing.

¹ This is done not for waterproofing but is done to keep debris from blocking the muzzle. It's cheap, easy, works well and upsets the hell out of the mothers at home when their sons or daughters keep asking for more condoms – especially in extra large size.

I began to think and I said, "You know, I don't think the XO has any idea who we are or who we work for."

Tom chimed, "Yeah, I bet you're right since we came in on a Navy chopper. As far as they know we could be Spooks or Seals."

Howard added, "And it's to our advantage they don't know who we are, what our ranks are and that we're Marines."

I nodded, "Yeah, I agree. Let's keep our facemasks on as much as possible."

Just as we pulled our masks back over our faces, the XO came back, knocked on the door and said, "Follow me to the briefing room."

I was surprised when we walked into a very busy and mostly full briefing room...

Howard whispered, "It looks like all the teams they are sending in are here on this tin can."

Tom added, "Yeah they are, it would have been nice to know about this ahead of time."

We were the only team wearing face masks. I assessed the room, also noticed we were the only team that brought our gear and answered Tom, "I'm sure the Major knew about this and would have briefed me if he was here. I already recognized two of the teams here and they're damn good."

I was going to say more when the briefing started. The Captain looked at my team and ordered, "The team with the skull masks needs to remove those for the briefing."

I changed my voice as I lied and replied, "Sorry but neither you nor anyone one in this room has the security clearance to see my teams' faces." Yeah it was a huge lie, but the odds of the Captain calling my bluff were very slim, and the benefits of my team being unknown might be a huge tactical advantage.

He stared at me, then backed down and began the briefing. I already didn't like things since all the teams deploying from one ship meant this tin can was a single point of failure. If something happened to the tin can we were SOL.

The teams were all deploying by zodiacs to different locations on the island – I was not impressed! This mission had all the makings of a cluster fuck waiting to happen. The Captain finished the briefing and announced, "Okay all the teams will meet aft in thirty minutes to deploy simultaneously."

While the other teams began to bullshit and posture each other, I quickly grabbed Tom and Howard. As we headed out the door I whispered, "This OPPLAN is seriously FUBARed so here's what we're doing."

Flashback – Major M – Command OP

It took forever to get Sgt. Reynolds through security and then settled in for the mission. My team was mildly amused that I had a Sgt. sitting beside me and working with me today. It was a first for me and I was sure they would have some questions about it later.

Sgt. Reynolds took a look at the main screen and asked, "That's a high resolution satellite feed of a destroyer stationed off Bimini. Is that where we were headed?"

I replied, "Affirmative, the L.Cpl. and his team plus all the other teams are going to deploy from the destroyer."

As we watched a small boat moved away from the destroyer, one of my team announced, "Sir that's an unscheduled departure of one of the zodiacs. They weren't supposed to leave for another twenty minutes."

The com immediately crackled. The Captain of the destroyer was pissed as hell because one of the teams commandeered a zodiac and left ahead of schedule. He didn't know which team it was because they were wearing skull masks. All the other teams were raising hell because they wanted to leave early too.

I looked at the Sgt. as he smiled at me and said, "Yes Sir! I'm sure that's Banzai and his team."

Then we received a call on our private scrambled com channel, "Graveyard this is Skull candy acknowledge." I chuckled at the L.Cpl.'s choice of call signs; we hadn't set them up ahead of time so he made them up on the fly. But I wasn't concerned because this was an encrypted com link and any conversation was safe.

I responded, "Skull candy this is Graveyard acknowledging your message. Please justify your actions in commandeering the zodiac and starting the mission ahead of schedule."

The L.Cpl. replied, "Graveyard, the OPPLAN as stated had several serious flaws which endangered the completion of the mission. First we were all being deployed simultaneously from the same platform: Not only is this a single point of failure, it's also bound to attract too much unwanted attention. Second, all the teams were going to be in each other's way and there was bound to be some collisions and other problems during the initial deployment. So I took the initiative, developed our own OPPLAN and left early."

I replied, "Skull candy it would have been nice to know about this ahead of time, but I'm sure you didn't have that luxury. I approve your mission deviations from the OPPLAN now proceed to the following coordinates and advise me when you have reached the beach. Also stand by for a FRAGO²" When one of my team gave them the coordinates, we watched as the zodiac changed course. I smiled and looked at Sgt. Reynolds when he said...

² FRAGO – Fragmentary Order Change – a change to the initial OPPLAN which happens frequently.

Flashback – Jack – Command OP

Shit! I hope Banzai didn't fuck up. I needed to do some damage control so I commented, "Sir! I don't know the entire OPPLAN, but from the little I heard from Banzai it was seriously FUBARed and I think he did the right thing."

The Major continued to smile and replied, "Sgt. Reynolds relax, the L.Cpl. without knowing it did exactly what we were going to do if I was running the mission. However I might have used a little more tact and subterfuge than he did. Now watch and observe how we work, because I need to do a couple things."

The Major ordered his team, "Please notify the Royal Bahamas Police that they can now intercept the destroyer." We saw a ship leave Bimini and head toward the destroyer.

One of the team announced, "Sir! The Captain of the destroyer has seen the police launch headed in the direction of his ship and is questioning what he should do."

The Major called, "Skull candy this is Graveyard acknowledge and prepare for FRAGO."

Banzai replied, "Skull candy ready for FRAGO."

The Major continued, "First I compliment you on your insight to leave early. The Royal Bahamas Police is on its way to confront the destroyer and the destroyer will leave before any other teams are deployed. You are now the only team on this mission. When you arrive on the beach, you will rendezvous with our resource on the island. His location will be transferred to your computer. Finally when you complete the mission, you are to ex-fil in the zodiac and we will have a Martin P5M seaplane land and extract your team and the package. Good hunting!"

One of the team members announced, "Sir! The destroyer is bugging out."

I looked at the Major and asked, "Did you know Banzai was going to commandeer the zodiac early?"

He smiled and said, "I was about ninety percent sure he would, because it was the right thing to do."

One of the team said, "Sir! Everyone's trying to figure out which team left the destroyer."

The Major ordered, "I need to take care of this. While I'm gone the Sgt. is in command."

I was shocked as the Major left the room leaving me in command: I don't even know this mission!

No sooner did the Major leave the room, than the shit hit the fan. One of the team announced, "Sgt., it appears the Royal Bahamas Police vessel has changed course and is heading after the zodiac."

Shit! What to do now! I questioned, "Will the zodiac beat the police boat to the island."

The team member replied, "Yes Sir they will easily outrun the police ship to the island."

I thought for a moment and asked, "A zodiac is a pretty small target on the ocean, do we have any idea how they are tracking the zodiac?"

The team member answered, "I am not sure Sgt., may I speculate?"

I replied, "Hell yes, speculate away."

He answered, "Sgt. they can't be tracking the zodiac from radar because it's radar signature is too small. I would guess they have someone on the shore with binoculars that sees the zodiac and is directing the police ship."

I thought for a moment and asked, "Is there a secondary landing location?"

They responded, "Yes Sgt. there is however it will delay the mission."

I asked another question, "If the zodiac is destroyed after the team lands, is there a way to supply the team with a new zodiac?"

One of the team answered, "There is a chance the seaplane could drop one to them."

I made my decision and called, "Skull candy this is Graveyard acknowledge and standby for a FRAGO."

Flashback – Ben – Mission

Jack surprised me when came on the radio and I replied, "Graveyard it's good to hear you. Skull candy acknowledges and is ready for FRAGO."

Jack said, "Skull candy the police boat has changed course and is pursuing your zodiac. Reach the beach as soon as possible, hide the zodiac and move your ORP further inland. If the zodiac is destroyed, we will try our best to air drop one into you for ex-fil."

I replied, "Message understood Graveyard."

Tom was driving the zodiac so I turned, looked at him and yelled, "Kick this thing in the ass, we have a police boat after us."

He said, "Grab on to something because this is going to get rough." Then the zodiac took off like it was a bumper car being driven by a drunken sailor.

I yelled at Howard, "Give me a hand with this." We grabbed some supplies out of the ORP drag bag and set them up.

Howard laughed and said, "Don't tell me."

I laughed right back and answered, "Okay I won't..."

Flashback – Major M – Command OP

The bureaucrats had their tits in a wringer! They were upset as hell that only one team (my team) got off the destroyer. Before they could do something stupid (which is the norm for bureaucrats), I called and assured them I had everything under control and that we'd soon rescue the Senator's daughter.

Then I watched as Sgt. Reynolds handled the issue with the Royal Bahamas Police boat. It was a good thing I let him take care of it, because the damn bastards double-crossed me when they went after the zodiac and I probably would have ordered the destroyer back to blow the bastards out of the water. Even though he didn't know the OPPLAN, he asked the right questions and made the right decisions.

I walked back into the command room, took my seat beside him and laid on the praise, "Sgt. Reynolds, you did a hell-of-a-job while I was gone. I couldn't have done better."

He answered, "Thank you Sir! I could have done better if I had known the whole OPPLAN."

I replied, "Sgt. from now on you and L.Cpl. Blaine will not only know the whole OPPLAN, you will help me develop it."

One of my team announced, "Sir, the zodiac has reached the beach."

We watched and expected to see the zodiac hauled up on the beach, but we were surprised when it left the beach and headed back out into the ocean.

I asked, "Does anyone know what's going on?"

Not one of my team answered, then Sgt. Reynolds remarked, "I would say that Banzai has improvised."

I ordered, "Show me the location of the tracking device in Skull candies clothes and radio."

The map changed and showed the radio tracker was on the beach and the clothes tracker was in the zodiac with the damn police boat closing on the zodiac. Next thing we knew there was a flash, the zodiac and tracking device disappeared and the Royal Bahamas Police ship slowed. One of my team announced, "Sir! The Royal Bahamas Police craft is broadcasting a distress call. They have been disabled and are sinking."

I looked at Sgt. Reynolds and asked, "Sgt. Reynolds, your analysis on what just happened."

Flashback – Ben – Mission

The minute we hit the beach, I threw all the clothes the Major gave me into the zodiac. Then we turned it around, opened the throttle and sent it back out into the ocean and watched. The police boat didn't even slow up but started firing on the zodiac as soon as they were in range. I let Howard detonate the claymores we attached to the front of the zodiac. He jumped up and down and said, "Damn! That fucked up those bastards!"

I just finished getting into the clean gear my guys brought me. Tom checked everything and said, "Don't you think you'd better contact the Major?"

I laughed and said, "Yeah he's probably pissing in his REMF panties."

I called, "Graveyard this is Skull candy acknowledge."

The Major was back and replied, "Skull candy this is Graveyard. You had us worried for a few minutes. That was an interesting tactical move."

I answered, "Graveyard, I kept the radio so I know you knew we were still on the beach. And disabling the police ship was necessary collateral damage to keep them from pursuing us and endangering the mission. We placed the mines in such a way that we hoped we didn't kill anyone. We are also notifying you we have reached the beach and will deploy further inland and set up the ORP. Your tac-radio with the tracking device inside will be left with my team member at the ORP and he will forward any FRAGO's to the rest of the team."

The Major complained, "Skull candy the change of the radio is not acceptable."

I tapped on the mic, scratched on it with my fingernail and answered, "Sorry Graveyard you're breaking up, it must be solar flares. I will try to establish contact again at the location of our ORP."

Flashback – Jack – Command OP

It was all I could do to keep from laughing my ass off. Banzai pulled the bad radio reception trick and the Major was majorly pissed. He asked his team, "Are they really having radio interference?"

One of the team members announced, "Sir! We do seem to be having some issues with the reception of the radio which we don't understand. It seemed fine during his last broadcast then the signal gain rapidly decreased and now we can't even get a fix on their position."