Gnash (43 page)

He’d applied for a transfer back to the states and it had gotten approved.  He knew he’d never make it as a desk jockey, so he signed up to teach at the Company’s SERE
[38]
course in the Mid-Atlantic region and got accepted.  The Agency was great about recognizing burnout and providing options for their personnel.  He had about three years to go before he was eligible to retire from federal service without being medically forced to do so.  He would need to do some deep soul searching during his down time between training rotations to see if that was the option he wanted to take or if he wanted to keep going.

One thing was for sure: He had more than enough mental crap going on upstairs to keep the Company’s psychologists busy until he
did
finally retire. 

END

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brian Parker is currently an Active Duty soldier who lives in Texas with his family.  As an avid reader of all genres of literature, he has dabbled for years with writing, but this is his first completed manuscript. 

[1]
HTML - HyperText Markup Language is the main language used in creating web pages.

[2]
BWI – Baltimore Washington International is an airport in Baltimore, Maryland that is used for a lot of military flights on civilian airlines.

[3]
HQDA – Headquarters, Department of the Army

[4]
NCO – Noncommissioned Officer, the term used to describe enlisted leaders in the rank of Sergeant (E-5) through Sergeant Major (E-9).

[5]
The G-8 Nations are Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia and the United States.

[6]
A-E Drive – The semi-covered interior paved road that completely circles the Pentagon between the C and D rings.

[7]
Jannah
– Islam’s concept of Heaven

[8]
HAZMAT – Hazardous Material

[9]
VX – VX is a deadly chemical nerve agent.  Typically it is in liquid form and has the feel and consistency of motor oil.  Due to its viscosity and low evaporability, it was primarily used as an area denial weapon and remains effective for several days.  The liquid is absorbed through the direct contact with unprotected surfaces.

[10]
Delta, officially, the Army Combat Applications Group, they are the highest trained Special Forces soldiers in the U.S. Army.

[11]
NCOIC – Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge.  A generic term used to identify the highest ranking Enlisted person in a military organization, regardless of the size of the element.

[12]
Det Cord – Detonating cord.  A thin flexible tube filled with explosives that can be wrapped around objects.

[13]
SCAR – MK17 Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle, 7.62mm rifle variant used by U.S. Special Operations Forces.  It’s a lightweight magazine-fed heavy assault rifle versus a belt-fed heavy machine gun, like the M-240 used by conventional forces.

[14]
DEVGRU – United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group, the most elite group of Navy SEALs, often referred to as Seal Team Six.  DEVGRU operators are Navy SEALs who have completed all the standard SEAL Qualification Training as well as the vaunted Green Team training for DEVGRU.

[15]
Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur – The French intelligence agency, similar to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

[16]
PAMAS G1—The French-produced version of the Beretta 92 service pistol.

[17]
Qishr – Ginger coffee, a popular drink in the region.

[18]
DelMarVa – A term used to describe the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia region of the Eastern United States.

[19]
LZ – Landing Zone

[20]
Hooligan Tool - A forcible entry tool used by firefighters and law enforcement for quickly breaching many types of locked doors.  Typically made up of a handle that terminates in a three-headed design which consists of a claw, a blade and a tapered pick.

[21]
Special Operations Group (SOG) is one of the direct-action groups within the CIA’s Special Activities Division.

[22]
NSA – National Security Agency

[23]
Neptune Spear was the codename for the mission that led to the death of Usama bin Laden.

[24]
CQB – Close Quarters Battle or Close Quarters Combat (CQC)

[25]
Green Team is the six- to eight-month long Operator’s Training Course for applicants to DEVGRU. 

[26]
PNVGs – Panoramic Night Vision Goggles, they have four separate imaging tubes which increase the user’s field of view to about 120 degrees, versus the 60 degrees that regular NVG’s issued to military troops achieve, as well as the standard ability to amplify ambient light which allows the user to see in the dark.

[27]
MRE – Meal Ready to Eat, prepackaged, shelf-stable and self-contained meals designed for military use consisting of about 1,200 calories each.  There are currently 24 different menu options available.

[28]
MGRS-Military Grid Reference System, the standard military grid system used by NATO forces for location.

[29]
Apache AH1 is the UK nomenclature for the advanced Apache Longbow attack helicopter.  The same airframe is designated the AH-64D in the United States.

[30]
Endocarditis – Inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, usually affecting the heart valves.

[31]
Osteomyelitis – Infection and inflammation of the bone marrow.

[32]
USASOC – U.S. Army Special Operations Command.  The parent command for all U.S. Army special operations forces, which is subordinate to USSOCOM, the U.S. Special Operations Command that ultimately controls every special operations force from all the services.

[33]
160
SOAR – Special Operations Aviation Regiment.  The 160
SOAR is headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and provides aviation support for USSOCOM.

[34]
Dry hole – Special Operations term for when an operation against a target results in either no contact or the entity that they had intended to target was not present.

[35]
JSLIST suit – Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology.  The military’s current version of a nuclear, biological and chemical protection suit, it can be modified for different threat environments.

[36]
RSM – Regimental Sergeant Major

[37]
JP – Justice of the Peace

[38]
SERE – Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, similar to the courses taught to military Special Forces and aircrew.