Jörg. H. Trauboth - Three Brothers

The actual mission, however, will only take a few minutes. Everything that you have learned will be required of you: resilience, speed, and the ability to act decisively in a one-on-one combat situation with the enemy. You will be armed with the best equipment available. Our new helicopter is perfectly-suited for this night mission, this will be its world premiere, so to speak. Our two air force crews from Helicopter Wing 64 in Laupheim are not only combat ready operational pilots, but also former KSK combat fighters. Another world premiere. Please welcome Captains Walter Schmidt and Henry Kirch, as well as First Lieutenants Fritz Jung and Willi Fröhlich.”

The whole group of soldiers cheers when they hear the names “Jung” and “Fröhlich.” The phrase young and happy is one of the expressions in the unit for having fun at work.

“That is really a premiere,” Thomas whispers to Tim, “commando soldiers as helicopter pilots.”

“Two really great guys,” Tim whispers back. “I like them a lot. Always in a good mood, a real pity that they switched to the air force.”

The general looks to the troop leader.

“Our mobile command center will be in Turkey. Captain Anderson will give you all further instructions.”

The maps are displayed by means of a video projector. The men have made themselves comfortable in the chairs. It is the same casual briefing atmosphere that the pilots in the air force get to enjoy. Specialists like these operational pilots are allowed to be this way, in the German Army as well.

Marc, tall, dark-haired, and slender, has played out the situation in his head many times over. He doesn’t have to explain to his troop comrades how to free hostages. But this mission is something very special.

“The operation is called EAGLE . We will deploy on December 23rd at 0800 hours Zulu from the Tactical Air Force Wing 33 at Büchel in the Eifel region with two Airbus A400Ms and two Eurocopter H145Ms. Destination is Air Force Base Diyarbakir in southern Turkey, more precisely, in southern Anatolia.”

“That’s where the good rugs are from,” Jung and Fröhlich gesture to each other.

“You will remember our four colleagues in our flying carpets from the old days. Walter and Henry will fly the Eurocopter Eagle Alpha . Jung and Fröhlich, you will be flying Eagle Bravo . The two co-pilots Henry and Willi are medics. You know what that means. They are authorized to perform medical procedures, and as we know, they are renowned for their gross motor skills! They have no qualms about cutting off limbs with a pair of pliers from the Eurocopter’s brand new tool kit.”

Everyone laughs.

“And now to us. I am Eagle One , Thomas Eagle Two , Tim Eagle Three . Tim will be leaving us tomorrow. He will send us continuous reports of the situation on the ground pertinent to the mission before he joins us again on the 23rd in Diayarbakir.

Eagle One, Two, and Three will be in Eurocopter Eagle Alpha. Eagle Bravo will be used as backup. You remember what happened during Operation Geronimo at Osama bin Laden’s house: A Ghost Hawk helicopter crashed. Luckily, there was also a team in a Chinook helicopter there as well. We won’t be needing one for this mission. We will be use the element of surprise to enter the area and rappel in as fast as possible, just like we learned from our fast roping training. The helicopters will be positioned so that they can provide us fire coverage with their onboard weapons, as well as light.”

“Why don’t we just drop you onto the roof of the building?” asks helicopter pilot Fritz Jung.

“Thank you Fritz, good question. That was the initial option. However, there are three points that speak against it. First, the building is two-story. The hostages are supposedly being held on the lowest level. Which means we’d first need to get down there, either through the building itself or through the window. A lot can happen there. Secondly, we need to neutralize the guards before we can continue with the mission. And that is easiest to do direct and head-on. Thirdly, you, the helicopter crew are also a part of the combat team. We need you to man your weapons. That’s why we chose this strategy.” “Sounds convincing,” comments Willi.

“We seven Eagles will be in radio contact. In case I fall out, Thomas will take over.”

Thomas is already familiar with this role. All the same, he hopes that it won’t come to that. This mission is tailor-made for his friend Marc.

“We will discuss the operation first and then do practice runs of two realistically conceivable scenarios until we are all familiar with the possibilities.”

Marc shows pictures of the hostages and the target. Then he sketches the access points with the positions of the fighter helicopters and the troops.

“If we can trust the recon, there are no tangos in the building, only the two armed militants keeping watch outside. They are rotated out every eight hours. We will surprise them but assume they will retaliate. That means: neutralize, storm, and rescue!”

The men nod. That is the core of the mission.

“Thomas, you will secure us from here, behind this little wall, and give us cover. I think it is best if you stay in this position, that is, out of the helicopter’s firing lines. If there are any unexpected tangos in the building and we get stuck, you will take over on my command, or depending on the situation, decide for yourself. Okay, Tom?”

“Roger!”

“The helicopter teams will hover with their engines ready for take-off. Both hostages will be brought to Eagle Alpha. There we can attend to them during the flight, if necessary. I would like to be in the air in no more than four minutes and thirty seconds with all seven Eagles onboard and the hostages. Any questions?”

In the heads of the men, the scenario is being played out as such: Rappelling in the pitch black of night, 20 meters from the building, two startled jihadists who need to be slain before they themselves can shoot, two hostages who are now in panic, three Eagles who need cover, a village very close by about which no one really knows anything. And it needs to happen extremely fast!

“Okay, now on to plan B, it will be called: Everything turned out differently than expected .”

Marc plays out the scenario in case they run into unexpected enemy contact. They will practice all together it in more detail next.

“And now for something new. I will be equipped with a camera and wires so that my video can be directly transmitted to the Crisis Response Center in Berlin.”

Tim, who was just lounging in his chair daydreaming, is suddenly wide-awake.

“Whose dumb idea was that?”

“The chancellor’s herself! So, make sure you have your make-up kits with you so you can touch up your lipstick before the mission begins,” and looking at Eagle Three, “Tim, you don’t have to worry about that. With your grizzly beard, she won’t believe you belong to us anyway! No chance for Germany’s Next KSK Model!”

The troop snickers. They know Marc’s going to get it now.

“Maybe, my man,” replies Tim snidely, while rubbing his black beard in pleasure, “But when you forget your dollar store deodorant spray again, or you mix up your deodorant with your hair gel, you’re gonna be sittin’ alone in that Eagle Alpha!”

The troop roars with laughter. It is about time that good-looking Marc is the butt of a good comeback.

“Okay, brother, 1:1.”

While Eagle One continues, Brigadier General Wolf observes Marc, Thomas, and Tim. They are the heart and brains of the operation.

After long consideration, Wolf had decided that a fourth person was unnecessary. Mainly because nine people plus equipment have to fly back in one of the two light-weight helicopters with a maximum take-off mass of 3.5 tons. And, according to German law, they would also have to take the two guards they capture as well. But he didn’t want to have to worry about that.