Defense of Hill 781 (9 page)

The morning’s attack had the task force moving more than twenty kilometers to defeat the enemy in zone and secure Hill 781. Reportedly, the enemy they had knocked off of Objective BLUE had fallen back and been reinforced, so that two motorized infantry companies reinforced with one or two platoons of tanks were now digging in around Hill 781. This would comprise a larger force than they had faced that morning, which was now estimated to have been a reinforced company. (It was with some chagrin that Always accepted the fact that one company had done so much damage to his task force.) By attacking at first light there was a chance that they could catch them before they could improve their defenses.

Despite the fact that the scouts were not yet reconstituted, it was imperative that they get out forward before much more time passed. The distance implied a great deal of risk, and Always was not about to attack blindly a second time. As more scouts replaced the casualties from the morning, they could link up forward and flesh out the intelligence picture. The enemy could be anywhere between BLUE and Hill 781, and Always was not about to be caught unaware. The plan he would develop now would be modified as more information came in. If he
had enough infantry reconstituted he would send them out as well, but since their ranks were so thin he would hold them back and use them in the morning attack. Always was careful to brief the scout platoon leader, Lieutenant Wise, an immense young man brimming with energy and zeal, picked for his strong leadership abilities and keen intelligence.

Major Rogers had brought together the entire staff, receiving guidance and giving estimates to the commander. The give and take was much more open this time, Always stating what he felt was essential to the proper accomplishment of the mission, Rogers and the staff formulating alternatives and estimates out of those essentials. It was an efficient way to develop an early plan, but it was not without its risks. The intelligence picture was still completely bare. By pulling in the air defense officer and the engineer platoon leader, their respective units were left without their leadership for the amount of time they spent with the staff. Both those young lieutenants were torn two ways, staff and command. They had had no rest in days, and it was clear they were not going to be getting any soon. When they did complete the planning, which would not be until late, they would have to hasten back to their platoons to get them ready for the execution. They depended on the strength of their platoon sergeants to keep things going until they got back.

To help the battalion with its difficult mission, Lieutenant Colonel Always would receive the support of an attack helicopter battalion. This was a major addition of combat power. Major Rogers raised the delicate issue of the need to coordinate the aviation activities with the artillery, air force, and air defense plans. There was a major opportunity here for error, with one getting in the way of the other, or worse, inflicting casualties upon the other. Always gave Rogers stern instructions to work this out with all parties. A liaison officer from the aviation unit was due at the TOC shortly before dusk.

Major Walters joined the staff midway through the discussions
and reported that reconstitution was moving along smoothly. A herculean effort was being put forth to repair the equipment. Always gave some guidance, prioritizing the tanks and air defense guns for repair, although it was imperative that enough Bradleys be brought into the battle by dawn. Somehow Walters had been able to get a hot meal prepared, which would be coming up just before dark. That would help out, as food would compensate to some extent for the fatigue the men were now feeling.

Although time was slipping away rapidly, Always felt it necessary to get a look at the route of movement as far forward as it was safe to do so. Since yesterday’s reconnaissance from the air had proven deceptive to actual conditions on the ground, he elected to take his Bradley this time and get a closer view. He would have to be careful not to fall prey to an enemy ambush, but the risk was worth the look. He took the operations officer’s Bradley with him for security, having one of the sergeants from the TOC take the place of Major Rogers so that he would be free to continue planning. As it turned out, this little trip went a great deal toward giving Always a feel for the early conduct of the operation.

The operations order was given at 1730, the orders group assembling on the high ground overlooking the valley where they would attack in the early stages of the operation. A few spot reports had come in from the scouts, and one of the infantry patrols clearing the close-in area around BLUE had picked up a prisoner, an enemy scout left behind to watch and report on the task force. He was recalcitrant, but a map on him gave a clue, nothing more than that, of some enemy dispositions in the valley below. It was enough to divert the few scouts Always did have to check out the possibility of an ambush beyond CP2.

The order went much smoother this time. The written product was reduced to only two pages, the bulk of the information being written on the operations overlay prepared for each subordinate
element. A great deal of the administrative instructions that had dominated the last order was omitted from the briefing and placed in a written annex to be given to the company execs. Only information that was pertinent to the operational mission was included in the order. Nonetheless, there were still a few vital holes. The aviation coordination still had not taken place, so their incorporation in the plan could only be tentative. The helicopter liaison officer did arrive toward the end of the briefing, but it was too late to confirm exactly how the aviation assets would be employed. The best employment of the engineers could not be determined until more intelligence came in. It was clear that their priority would go to the mobility of the attacking task force, but the objective was so far away, uncertainty remained as to terrain conditions and the location of enemy obstacles. Ominously, the intelligence officer briefed of the possibility of chemical release by the enemy. This necessitated the movement of the battalion in chemical suits, with masks at the ready for instant donning. This could take a heavy toll in a movement that would last several hours into the heat of the day.

At the end of the briefing, Lieutenant Colonel Always stood before his battalion’s leaders and explained his intentions for successful accomplishment of this mission. He sensed their complete support and was quietly astonished at their willingness to place their faith in him again despite the rough mission he had led them on that morning. He acknowledged the uncertainties that lay before them, and ordered that a radio net call of all key subordinates take place at 0330 to share in the latest intelligence uncovered and to make any modifications necessary to the existing plans.

In the last ten minutes of the briefing Always drew out the questions of his subordinate commanders. He had gained an appreciation of the complexity of their jobs, and realized that any misunderstandings of intentions could result in confounding the entire mission. As soon as they left the TOC they would
be racing to do their own planning, orders, and preparations. Any confusion would be compounded a hundredfold before dawn came. It was, therefore, with great care that Always listened to their comments, and only when he was sure that each man understood what his battalion commander wanted him to do did he dismiss the group. As he watched them go, he hoped that he had given them enough time to complete their preparations. It would be nine hours before the attack kicked off at 0400, but all of that time would be dark, and there was a myriad of tasks yet to accomplish.

Command Sergeant Major Hope had been present at the briefing, and in the short interlude after the meeting and before Always moved on to other matters, he came up to render a report on the state of the battalion. Morale was high, discipline holding; although the men were feeling fatigue from their exertion, they had plenty of starch left in them and were eager to get another crack at the enemy. As the noncommissioned officer spoke, Always realized how many problems Hope had taken care of for him during the day. Not that Hope claimed any credit for having done so; he was much too modest a man for that. But it was clear that he had taken a great deal of the burden off his commander by setting things right where they had gone astray, by understanding the intentions of the commanders and putting forces in motion to accomplish their ends. It was ironic that this soft-spoken, gentlemanly sergeant could breathe such fire into the men. Several times during the day, Always had seen an NCO fall afoul of the sergeant major by failing to follow up on responsibilities, only to receive a blistering admonishment that left him with a preference for contact with the enemy over another engagement with the wrath of the battalion’s top soldier. Yet for the most part his demeanor was quiet, reassuring, offering encouragement to the soldiers to redouble their efforts, and offering praise for all they had done well. Only at the end of their discussion did Hope inquire as to the gash over
Always’ eye, express concern that his commander take care of himself, and mildly suggest that he take an opportunity to get some sleep that night. Always marveled at the balance in his sergeant major—strength without arrogance, authority with deference, concern without solicitude. There was a lot of leadership in that man and he was glad he was on his side.

At 2000 Always moved out to his jeep in order to visit the subordinate units as they conducted their preparations.

“Good evening, Specialist Sharp. How are you doing?”

“Good evening, sir. Fine, thank you. Sir, I’ve saved you some supper. It’s pretty good. Roast beef, corn bread, and some peaches. I got you some salad, and here’s some salad dressing. I’ve got us a thermos of coffee. Do you take cream and sugar?” Sharp was a good soldier. He had stayed up on the radio all day, following the battle as closely as he could, eager to get into the fight, but prudent enough to wait for his commander’s call before he came up. He had not missed a beat, ensuring the radios were set, recording the call signs and frequencies on a handy pocket card (called a “cheat sheet”) for Always, updating the map, and now making sure he had a full meal for his commander.

“Thanks, Eric. This is great.” It was the first time Always had addressed any of his men by their first name. He believed in formal address; it went with his strong sense of discipline. Yet it seemed somehow awkward in the face of Sharp’s exuberance to remain so stiff. “Let’s head on over to B Company.” Always wanted a few quiet words with Baker, whose loose use of words had caused so much damage that morning.

“Did we kick their ass, sir? I mean did we beat the enemy good?” Sharp was eager for the commander’s interpretation of events. He had had several conversations with some of the other drivers during the afternoon, and he wanted support in his high opinions of how well the battalion had done.

“Well, we kicked them off the objective. But to tell the
truth we paid too high a price for it. We shouldn’t have let them get away either.” Always was aware of how meaningful his comments would be, echoed a hundred times as they passed from mouth to mouth. “One thing you can be sure of—the men fought well, and the enemy sure as hell knows he’s been in a fight with a top-notch outfit.”

Sharp smiled as he pulled up in front of Captain Baker’s command post. He had a good report to pass on to some of his buddies in B Company.

Always spent twenty minutes with Captain Baker, avoiding any harshness in his voice, sharing culpability in the morning’s error, and encouraging him for a renewed effort the next day. Bravo Company would be split again, with some of their infantry being helicoptered in on the far objective at dawn, while the bulk of the force, the armored vehicles, would move to eliminate the suspected enemy waiting along the route (scouts were trying to confirm their disposition even as they spoke), and then culminate in the supporting attack by the helicopter-inserted infantry on 781. It was a tough mission, and evidence of Always’ continued faith in Baker’s abilities. The two commanders parted on an upbeat note, Always directing that Baker put himself with his mounted force this time, leaving the senior platoon leader to take the airmobile forces in.

As he moved around in the darkness of the night Always could sense the anticipation of the upcoming mission. A great amount of activity was taking place, from reloading ammunition, to maintaining equipment, to pockets of soldiers forming to receive hushed orders in the dark by the poncho-covered glow of red-filtered flashlights. Now and then Always stopped to talk to a soldier, sometimes with the soldier not discerning in the dark that he was talking to his battalion commander.

At 2300 Always listened in on the orders Captain Dilger gave his platoon leaders. His company had now been converted to what the military calls a “team” (implying combined arms
at the company level), having lost one armor platoon and gained an infantry platoon. Dilger did a good job of specifying the tasks for his tanks, Bradleys, and infantrymen. He would have twenty of the latter, assuming all the replacements made it in at midnight. D Company had been given the lead in the main attack. Over a movement of this distance, with all the uncertainties that implied, it would be best to lead with tanks with enough infantry nearby to react to any unpleasant surprises the tanks
could not deal with. The engineer platoon leader was also present. He would be following some distance behind Dilger, ready to react to the captain’s call should Delta encounter obstacles. Satisfied that Dilger understood his intent properly, Always moved back to the TOC, but not before giving a word of praise and encouragement to the platoon leaders. He also stopped by to make a specific acknowledgment to the company first sergeant, whom Hope had singled out in his discussion earlier that evening for a particularly exemplary action.