Eyes of the Hammer (The Green Berets) (17 page)

Macksey seemed lost in thought for a few seconds. "All right. It's too late now to worry about it." He looked at Vaughn. "Go ahead with your briefing, but don't repeat things the first team said."

"Yes, sir." Vaughn made his way to the front. "Good morning, General Macksey, gentlemen. I'm Captain Vaughn, commander of Eyes Two. Our mission is to infiltrate operational area Eaglet, located in the vicinity of Medellin, Colombia, at 2225 local time, 30 August. Our mission statement is to verify, and designate for destruction, a suspected cocaine laboratory located there. We will be exfiltrated at 0300 local time, 31 August."

Riley let his attention wander as Vaughn introduced his team and gave his mission overview. He looked across the room and caught Alexander's eye. Alexander raised his eyebrows slightly and gave a barely perceptible shrug. Riley knew that the senior NCO wasn't too thrilled about being saddled with a brand-new team leader and team going on a live mission. Riley wished him luck.

Vaughn was using note cards to give his brief, which Riley would never have done. If a leader couldn't remember his plan in the quiet of the isolation area, how did he expect to remember it on the ground when things were going to hell all around him? Riley tuned in to the captain's nervous voice.

"We will designate the target at 0230. Once we check out the degree of destruction we will be exfiltrated by an air force HH-53H Pave Low helicopter."

Macksey interrupted, turning to the air force general. "Why an HH-53? Why not a Blackhawk?"

"Range and mountains, sir." The general consulted a notepad. "It would take an in-flight refuel to make the trip down to Medellin and back from Panama. We'd also have to put extra tanks on the Blackhawk. What I've done is moved a navy assault ship, the Raleigh, down off the west coast of Panama. An HH-53 from 1st Special Operations Wing is in the process of forward deploying down there today and will operate off the flight deck of the Raleigh. Four Apaches are also moving down to the Raleigh to provide fire support for southern targets out of the range of those based in Panama.

"Also, this exfiltration point is on the other side of a mountain range. The HH-53H Pave Low has terrain-following radar and other night-flying equipment the Blackhawk doesn't. It's already set for the in-flight refuel if they determine they need it. This is the type of mission the HH-53 was designed for."

Macksey ceded the point. "All right, continue."

Vaughn looked up from his note cards. "I'll be followed by Sergeant Alexander, who will be giving you the intelligence portion." Riley felt sorry for the NCO: not only was he acting as operations sergeant for his split team but intel sergeant as well. A lot for one man.

"Good morning, sir. I'll try to keep this brief. However, the area we will be operating in is quite different terrain wise from what Eyes One is going into. My team, Eyes Two, will be going into mountainous terrain at almost six thousand feet of altitude.

"Key terrain features in our area are the Cordillera Occidental mountains to the west and the Cordillera Central mountains to the east. Medellin is in the foothills of the central mountain range. Our target is approximately thirteen kilometers to the south of the city. Weather is expected to be good for both the drop and mission, with temperatures in the low fifties at night.

"Population density throughout the area is high. Approximately ten to twenty people per square kilometer is the average. This is one of the reasons we are jumping in higher than our target and working down, since the higher slopes will be less inhabited.

"The target itself is cut into the forest on the side of a hill, as you can see on this imagery. There is a helicopter landing pad next to the target and a dirt road leading through the foothills toward the main road to Medellin. For local security, we estimate at least twenty to twenty-five guards on site armed with automatic weapons.

"Colombian military in the area include parts of the 4th Brigade headquartered in Medellin. The closest elements are about twenty-one kilometers from our target. This is an infantry unit, about company sized, armed with automatic and crew-served weapons.

"There is also the possibility of some guerrilla units in the area, since the hills around Medellin are known to have several guerrilla base camps. We feel that the guerrillas would not engage us, but we are prepared for that possibility.

"There are some helicopters at the Medellin airport. Satellite imagery didn't show any, but intel reports list at least two Huey types there.

"We assume they are hangared out of sight. Some military aircraft are reported at the Medellin airport, but again they must be hangared, since they didn't show up on imagery.

"We have also received intelligence that a Colombian Army Ranger company may be operating against the guerrillas in the vicinity of Medellin. This could cause us some problems, because they might be operating at night and also might investigate any aircraft they hear in the area. Although this possibility is remote, we must be on the alert for the Rangers."

Alexander completed his intelligence portion with a presentation of the escape and evasion plan. He then returned to the podium, figuratively switching hats to do the operational portion.

"Sir, for infiltration we will depart Fort Belvoir army airfield on Friday at 1400. We will follow this flight route." Alexander traced a route similar to the one Powers had shown, except Eyes Two crossed Panama and then flew down the Pacific coast of Colombia.

"We will turn in and head due east into Colombia when we reach this latitude; we will then fly over the Occidental mountains and head for our primary drop zone. We will be jumping T-10 model C parachutes at five hundred feet. This ought to keep us in very tight and keep dispersion to a minimum. We will be jumping automatic CARP, or computed air release point."

Riley shook his head. He wasn't sure which was worse: jumping at thirty thousand feet or jumping at five hundred. At five hundred feet the men of Eyes Two would barely have time for their canopies to deploy before they hit the ground. Riley had done quite a few CARPs, as the air force called them, or blind drops, as the SF guys called them, out of Talons. Very rarely had he been dropped where he wanted to be. Usually, the air force was anywhere from a few hundred meters to several kilometers off the designated drop zone. Thinking about this brought to mind some equipment Riley thought might be useful to Eyes Two in their assembly on the ground. He made a mental note to tell Alexander about it after the briefback. He tuned back in to the brief.

"Once we have verified destruction we will move to our exfiltration pickup zone, which is the PZ cut into the mountainside next to the lab." Riley wondered if that wasn't too close to the target, but he hadn't looked over the Eyes Two AO to see if there were any other suitable sites. The whole area was pretty steep.

Alexander almost seemed to shrug. "That completes my portion, sir. I'd normally be followed by the medic, but his briefing is pretty much the same as the one Sergeant Partusi gave you. The same is true for the commo portion, although we will be using PRC-68 radios for internal commo rather than the radio helmet. I'll be followed by Captain Vaughn."

Vaughn seemed to have gained some confidence as he strode up to the front of the room. "Pending your questions, sir, that concludes our briefback. I want to assure you that this team is ready to go and can successfully accomplish the mission."

Riley gave Powers a sidelong glance. The captain had probably been taught to say that last sentence in the Q-course. Macksey probably wasn't very impressed—it was his job to determine if indeed the mission and planning were viable.

Macksey leaned back in his chair and thought for a few minutes, then stood up and walked to the front of the room. "I have to admit I am impressed with the amount of work you've done under a compressed time schedule. Very thorough. I'm going to recommend approval of these first two missions to the secretary of defense and he'll relay that to the president. As of now, assume you're a go." Riley breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been half afraid that the mission would be canceled.

Macksey looked around the room. "I have one minor change I didn't have time to give to General Pike before coming over here." Riley frowned. What change?

"Eyes One will still use Spectre for Hammer One. However, Eyes Two is going to use Apache helicopters. You'll still use the laser designator, just the firing platform will be different. I don't see any problem with that. This way you also get Apaches to fly cover on both exfiltrations.

"The reason for the change is that General Linders tells me that 1st Special Operations Wing wasn't sure they could keep Spectre on target over Medellin without having the Colombian Air Force scramble. We think that Apaches flying off the Raleigh in the Pacific can make it in and out without getting spotted."

Riley considered this. The change made sense, but he could also see intraservice politics worming its way into the operation. The army wanted to justify the billions of dollars it was outlaying for the new Apache attack helicopter. However, Apache or Spectre, it didn't really matter. The end result would be the same. Plus, getting the Apaches to fly cover on the exfiltration was something they hadn't thought of. It was a good addition. He had thought Linders's reasons for using the HH-53 for Eyes Two's exfil had been kind of lame. If they could fly Apaches in from the navy ship, then a Blackhawk also could make the distance. But Blackhawk or Pave Low—it didn't matter to Riley as long as the damn thing flew. He glanced over at Captain Vaughn. The captain was accepting the change without comment.

Macksey looked at Riley. "The C-130 for infiltration for Eyes One will be here tonight to give you a chance to coordinate with the crew and set up the aircraft. A KC-10 is scheduled for your in-flight refuel. NSA will set up a base station for the SATCOM radio here. Are you all set on your weapons and personal gear?"

"Yes, sir."

Macksey closed his notebook. "Well, then. I would have to say that you're ready to go."

4:00 P.M.

Riley tried to be satisfied. The mission looked good. At first he had thought that taking six people in was a little heavy for what looked like just a reconnaissance and targeting mission, but on reflection he realized it allowed them a bit of flexibility. It also increased their odds of surviving a chance contact with some of the paramilitary folks the drug runners used for security. The plan was a sound one. Nothing overly fancy.

Riley shook his head. It was all too simple. Something was bound to go wrong. They had prepared several contingency plans in the E & E packet, the most extreme being a plan to walk out of Colombia to a U.S. Army post in Panama. The team was carrying a backup laser designator and two PSC-3 radios to up their odds against equipment malfunction.

Riley looked at the members of his team as they packed their gear. All the equipment was supplied by the CIA and was sterile. If captured it could not be traced back to the United States. Unfortunately, Riley mused, the same couldn't be said for the people. They carried no identification and would probably be disowned by the government if captured, but it would still be an ugly international scene.

"Hey, get a load of this!" Riley turned and saw Atwaters holding some glossy paper in his hands. Having gained the team's attention, Atwaters unfolded the paper. "Now who do you suppose put that up in the latrine?"

Riley chuckled to himself. The centerfold from a Playgirl magazine was dangling in the air under Atwaters's fist. Riley had seen the other centerfold one of the team members had put up in the latrine. He'd considered asking them to take it down, in deference to Westland having to use the same bathroom, but he'd decided it was probably better not to make an issue of it. Now he was glad he hadn't. He liked Westland's reply.

Atwaters threw the centerfold in the bum bag, where all the team's paper trash was thrown. Riley held his hand up and pointed at Atwaters. "Take that out and put it back up, or take the other down too and burn it."

Atwaters turned in surprise and sneered. "Why? You want to look at some naked guy, Chief?"

The room fell silent. Atwaters was one of the new guys and had rubbed Riley wrong from the first day he had joined the team. Riley didn't give a damn about the centerfold but he did give a damn about professional respect. Atwaters had just crossed his line. He strode across the room toward Atwaters as Powers quickly moved to intercept him.

Powers put a hand on Riley's shoulder. "Chill out, Chief. I'll handle this pisshead."

Riley stopped and looked at the senior NCO. "Make it good, Top. Because that's his last chance." He turned and left the room.

Powers turned to Atwaters, who had watched the confrontation. He looked at the young soldier and slowly shook his head. "You're probably too dumb to understand that I just saved your ass from a whupping."

"Bullshit, Top. What's the chief got the hots for this CIA bitch that he allows her to put this shit up in our latrine?"

Powers took a deep breath to control himself. "You know, the lady didn't even need to ask you. I could have told her you were better known as asshole than butthole."

He moved his bulk closer to the young soldier. "The chief allowed you to put up your shit, and he only figures turnabout is fair play. And quite frankly, you dumb shit, I don't care about any of that. You open your mouth to the chief or me again like you just did and you're going to be talking out your ass, cause that's where I'm going to put your head. You got ten seconds, boy. Either put that back or take the other down like the chief said."