Jack Terral: Battleline (2007)

This snobbery turned Sikes off. When informed of the when and why of the refusal of the regiment to accept him as one of its officers, he was infuriated. It didn't matter that he could have been commissioned in any other regiment--with the exception of the Brigade of Guards--Sikes wanted the Royal Regiment of Dragoons. He had especially picked it out to serve in when he joined up. The same evening of the turndown, he went to town, got drunk, and ended up being arrested for brawling. He was reduced from sergeant to corporal. More misconduct resulted in his being busted down to the rank of private.

When his unit went to Iraq, his conduct did not improve. His regimental sergeant major informed him that when they returned to Britain, he would be kicked out of the Army with a bad-conduct discharge. An Iraqi civilian employee at the camp had taken special notice of Sikes and became friendly with him. This was Khalil Farouk, an undercover agent for a terrorist group that was aligned with Iran. He knew that Sikes was really an excellent soldier, just the sort of man the terrorists needed to whip their mujahideen into shape. The bottom line was that, under Farouk's influence, Sikes deserted, converted to Islam, and joined the Iranian-sponsored Jihad Abadi, which was actually an army-in-the building in a scheme for Iran to control the Middle East.

Sikes, because of his background, was given command of an armored car company at the Chehaar Garrison in the salt swamps on the Iran-Afghanistan border. They used a secret road through the bogs to enter Afghanistan and conduct combat operations. Sikes had discovered an UNREO unit working with the Pashtun natives in the area and ordered them out. When he returned the next day to see if they had left, he was ambushed by an American unit of DPVs. It turned out the Yanks had no AP rounds and could not damage his armored cars. But because of the possibility of CAS aircraft coming onto the scene, Sikes ordered his men back across the border.

The next confrontation with the Americans in Afghanistan occurred ten days later. This time they had AP capabilities, and used the nimble DPVs to advantage in quick strikes and envelopments. Sikes lost thirteen of his twenty vehicles and retreated across the international border. When he complained to the Iranians about the lack of reserves along with no artillery or air support, they disbanded his armored cars. He and his men were transferred as infantrymen to Pashtun allies in the Gharawdara Highlands.

Things went to hell again when the Americans wiped out the Pashtuns' opium poppy smuggling operation. The Pashtun leader surrendered, and Sikes took his command back into Iran, where they ended up in the present operation to strike into Afghanistan and grab a big hunk of territory to lure the Pashtuns back to their cause.

Sikes had now worked his way up to the rank of major in the Iranian Army, and he stood ready with his Iranian comrades and his own Arab followers to do battle with whoever would be moving into the old Pashtun stronghold across the valley. This time Sikes and his men were well equipped with the latest night vision capabilities of goggles and binoculars, LASH radio sets, and heavy fire support. Reinforcements and resupply were also available to sustain this latest operation.

Sikes Pasha smiled to himself, his confidence buoyed by the strong support from both the Iranian government and Army. The tide had at last turned.

CHAPTER 2

SEAL HANGAR

SHELOR FIELD

8 JUNE 0930 HOURS

THE folding chairs had been arranged into a semicircle, with two to the direct front for Commander Tom Carey and Lieutenant Commander Ernest Berringer. Dr. Carl Joplin would not be present at the briefback for security reasons. The Undersecretary of State was a trusted individual with a top-secret and cryptography security clearance, but his exclusion was because of that traditional requirement of not having a "need to know."

When the two staff officers walked into the area, Carey let it be known it was unnecessary to call the detachment to attention when he loudly proclaimed, "Carry on!" He and Berringer went to the chairs obviously set out for them and settled down. They had left their briefcases behind and did not produce as much as a notebook in which to jot down the highlights of the briefback.

Brannigan took the obvious hint to hurry things along. He spoke from the center front chairs, where he sat with Lieutenant JG Jim Cruiser and Ensign Orlando Taylor. "Before we start the briefback, Ensign Taylor has an announcement to make. It's a bit of information that every member of this detachment will take to heart. Lieutenant Cruiser and I only learned the facts last night."

Taylor stood and turned to face the SEALs. "I told the Skipper and Lieutenant Cruiser last night about a cousin of mine who had served with the SEALs. He was KIA on an operation, but our family was never given the full details of the incident. We did not know his whereabouts when he sacrificed his life for his country, nor were we aware of the exact circumstances. Naturally my cousin had told the whole family about the possibility of such a thing happening because of secret missions. When I mentioned his name, the Skipper told me he was a Brigand, and was killed in action on your deployment to South America." Taylor paused to get hold of his emotions. "I was very close to him and I am honored beyond belief that circumstances have permitted me to take his place in this detachment. His name was Lamar Taylor, and he's left me some pretty big shoes to fill."

Connie Concord nodded to the ensign. "I was his fire team leader, sir. Lamar was a hell of a fine man. A real SEAL."

"Alright!" Brannigan barked. "Let's get this briefback rolling along. Lieutenant Cruiser!"

"Aye, sir!" Cruiser stood to address Carey and Berringer. "My portion of the briefback will cover the movement from Shelor to the OA. I won't be using any maps or aerial photos, since we all know the exact location of the place. So! I'll start with an announcement of my own. Two choppers are going to be used, and I'll discuss them one at a time. We'll be utilizing an Air Force Pave Low MH-fifty-three J chopper for personnel, equipment, weapons, and ammo. It's more than adequate to handle all our needs for the mission. We have set up a new departure time of zero-six-hundred hours. That will be for the first chopper. The Pave Low will follow at zero-seven-hundred hours."

"Where does this additional first chopper come in?" Carey asked.

"We want to drop in a recon team to scope out the area prior to landing and deplaning. All available aerial photos indicate the site is secure, but we want to make sure. I've made arrangements through the Army transportation company to have the use of an Afghanistan Army Huey helicopter for this parachute infiltration."

This piqued Lieutenant Commander Berringer's interest. "Why did you go to the Afghans? We could easily arrange for something larger."

"The sight of an Afghan aircraft will not excite the enemy too much," Cruiser explained. "They make frequent flights in the OA as part of their normal activities. The local AFSOC folks can spare us three T-Ten chutes. Petty Officers Leibowitz, Assad, and Redhawk will jump in at approximately zero-six-thirty hours and make a recon."

"That's a good idea up to a point," Carey opined. "But don't you think when the Iranians catch sight of three parachutes descending into the area they'll figure something special is happening?"

"The jump will be made at five hundred feet," Cruiser explained. "I'm hoping the chutes will not be spotted from the enemy positions, since a mountain range is between them and the LZ. Or the DZ in this case."

"I don't know," Carey said. "Exiting the aircraft at five hundred feet can be extremely risky."

Brannigan interrupted. "During our operation against the al-Mimkhalif fortress in the Yemen-Oman desert, that is exactly what we did. A jump altitude of five hundred feet will afford the jumpers a minimum time between the aircraft and the ground."