Of vital interest, p.23
Of Vital Interest, page 23
Aisha looked up at the flight nurse when they were loading her on the helicopter. She looked very familiar, but Aisha could not think clearly. She looked up at her and held her hand.
“You’re going to be all right, honey,” the flight nurse said with a southern accent. “We’re going to take good care of you.”
Aisha looked at her and a tear came down her cheek. “Can I go home now?”
“Sure, honey. We just need to make a stop first,” the nurse said as she put in an IV and gave Aisha more painkillers. “Just rest now.”
The helicopter had her to the trauma center in less than fifteen minutes. She was unconscious when they moved her from the helicopter to a surgical suite.
“They are all so young,” the flight nurse whispered as the last patients were carried into the trauma center.
The truck started to pull out of the alley next to the electronics shop as several men jumped into the back of the vehicle.
“Now!” Captain Starn yelled into his headset microphone. He and the others began to fire down the road toward the truck as the two armored vehicles came out onto the road firing their machine guns. At some point, someone took the lucky shot that caused the stockpile of explosives on the truck to go off. It caused an unbelievable amount of damage to four of the buildings in the village. None of the people on the truck survived, and the electronics shop was nothing but a burning frame with the front wall almost completely destroyed.
As the smoke started to clear, an RPG round came out of the area behind the remains of the truck and just scraped the left side of one of the armored vehicles. Staff Sergeant Burleson fired several bursts from the machine gun in the direction the round came from. It seemed as if the entire village came alive with small arms fire all directed at the two vehicles. Captain Starn and the others were all firing back at the muzzle flashes, but it was still difficult to really see any true targets.
Captain Starn looked down along the side of the building for the two soldiers near him but did not see Sergeant Abdullah. He hoped that he had not been injured but could not move down to check. Captain Starn and Specialist Rashidi continued to fire rounds down the street. After a few minutes, they heard several explosions down the road followed by several rounds of AK-47 rifle fire.
What Captain Starn did not know was at the beginning of the firefight, Sergeant Abdullah had seen two armed men come out from a building in the village and move off to the east. He had moved over to an area that overlooked the only lower terrain running parallel to the village and seen the two men moving his way. He shot both of them and went down to finish them off with two shots. He then moved up to try to find out which building the men had come out of. Instead, he found a space between two buildings that was just wide enough to walk between if individuals went through the opening one person at a time. Instead of walking out onto the street, Sergeant Abdullah used the walls to inch his way up, putting his feet against one wall and his back against the other. When he got to the top, he pulled himself onto the roof.
When Sergeant Abdullah looked over the edge of the building, he could see more than twenty fighters in the road below him. They were standing in two groups behind two pickup trucks. He took out four hand grenades and pulled the pins on the first two, throwing one at each group. He immediately pulled the pins on the second two and threw them over the edge as well. As soon as the grenades went off, he looked over the edge of the building and emptied both of the thirty-round magazines into the group. Every one of the fighters was either dead or severely wounded. As Sergeant Abdullah was reloading his magazines, he saw another truck heading down the road near the south end of the village.
“Alpha six, this is Carson, over,” Sergeant Abdullah said into his headset microphone.
“Carson, this is Alpha six. What is your location?” Captain Starn asked, sounding a little angry.
“I am at the top of a building in the village,” Sergeant Abdullah said. “It is clear to advance vehicles now.”
“Roger, out,” Captain Starn replied with a big smile on his face. “I should have never doubted that guy.”
Sergeant Abdullah waited until he saw the two armored vehicles moving in his direction to go back down the wall. He wanted to make sure he had help in case one of the fighters was still able to fire a weapon. He heard the teams getting out of the vehicles and begin searching the area.
“Carson,” Captain Starn called out. “Where the hell are you?”
“I am coming out on your left front, sir,” Sergeant Abdullah said, inching along the final few feet before getting to the road.
“All right, let’s see if Carson left us anything that we can take back to have the intel guys look at,” Captain Starn said, and everyone started to check the wounded and dead who were laying on the road. “Make sure to get me a count of KIA and WIA so I can send it up to Captain Taylor. I want to be out of here in fifteen mikes.”
It was extremely difficult to get an accurate count of the KIAs in the big truck that blew up, but Sergeant Abdullah totaled eighteen KIAs and five WIAs. Two of the wounded fighters would probably not survive the ride back to the outpost as a result of the wounds they had received. As far as documents went, there was very little that survived the fire and explosions; however, there were several cellular phones found on the fighters and a computer that was found in the rubble of the electronics shop. The soldiers looked around but could not find the village elder anywhere.
Captain Starn gathered all the information he needed to provide a Situation Report to Captain Taylor. When he finished relaying the information, Captain Taylor told him what had happened to Specialist Hassan. She would survive, but the surgeons were not sure she would be able to keep her arm. Only time would tell, but she would be moved to Germany and then on to Walter Reed in the United States. She had finally got her wish and would eventually be heading back home. Captain Starn decided to wait until they all got back to the outpost to break the news to the others about Specialist Hassan.
The infantry company fought a running battle through the entire fourth block of the city. It turned out to be a very bloody encounter, but they made it through to the final block by calling in a second company from the battalion. They overwhelmed the enemy fighters with sheer numbers. Along the way, there were several more IEDs and suicide bombers. That was one way the intelligence personnel knew they were getting close to the final objective.
The infantry companies lost a total of more than two platoons of casualties with most being WIA. The enemy wasn’t nearly as lucky. The estimate was more than forty KIA and at least that many WIA. The infantry units took twenty-eight wounded prisoners off the field of battle. The enemy had taken a huge loss, but as the infantry units prepared to go inside the target building, they realized that trip wire had been strung across every entrance.
The brigade headquarters ordered the infantry companies to secure the area and clear the surrounding buildings. The reconnaissance and attack helicopters flew around the building to see if they could confirm whether it was still occupied. They saw no signs of activity. The attack helicopters used their guns and fired into the top two floors. There was no response from inside the building.
The infantry company brought up five of their soldiers with grenade launchers. The remainder of the soldiers stood well behind the other five as they started to fire grenades into the building through windows and doors. Three of the grenades found their way through the openings, while the other two hit the building and went off outside. When the three grenades went off inside the building there were multiple follow-on explosions of a larger magnitude, which caused debris and smoke to pour out of the building.
The infantrymen were eventually able to enter the building once all the smoke cleared. The building was empty. There were no bodies, papers, computers, or cell phones to be found. If the leader of the group had been there, he was long gone, and it looked like he probably knew they were coming well before the fighting even started.
Major Palmer informed Captain Starn that the prisoners needed to be transferred to him outside the city northeast of the village. The intelligence personnel in the Green Zone wanted to question them before putting them in the jail that was being used to hold prisoners of war. They also wanted to have all the cell phones and the laptop as well.
Captain Starn had the team get back into their vehicle, and they headed down the road toward the city. One of the wounded fighters died during the drive, and another was barely hanging on when Major Palmer arrived with another vehicle traveling behind him. The soldiers transferred the prisoners to the new vehicles and continued down the road to the other city. They drove as quickly as possible but still were pummeled with anything that could be thrown in their direction. The locals were really upset this time, and Captain Starn was surprised that nobody was shooting at them.
The two vehicles didn’t reach the outpost gate until late afternoon. It had been a long day, but Captain Starn told everyone to be at the dining facility in twenty minutes. He said he wanted to go over the mission and give them news of other operations that were conducted earlier in the day.
The soldiers washed out the back of the vehicles in an attempt to get most of the blood off the floors from the enemy wounded. It took almost fifteen minutes to finish, so they had to hustle over to the dining facility. When everyone arrived, Captain Starn was there with another captain they had not seen before.
“This is Captain Graham,” Captain Starn said, motioning to the other captain. “He is a chaplain from another unit, but I asked him to be here because I have some difficult news to tell you. Specialist Hassan was wounded today while supporting a mission with an infantry unit in the city. She has serious injuries and was transported to the trauma center where they operated on her left arm. She is going to be OK but will be going back to the States for further care.”
“What happened, sir?” Sara asked. “I thought she was supposed to be here while we were gone.”
“The brigade called asking for support, and Specialist Hassan was sent to assist,” Captain Starn said and then quickly added more details. “Specialist Hassan saved many lives today when she alerted the infantry unit of a possible bomb. Her actions gave the soldiers time to hit the ground before the explosion, but she was injured.”
Are you sure they are talking about the same person? Al Khafaji thought to himself. The little princess saved someone’s life?
“I am proud of her,” Sara said as she focused on keeping her emotions in check. “Can we see her?”
“I don’t think that will be possible,” Captain Starn said, “but I’ll make sure we are notified of everything that happens with her and where she is. If the doctors agree, we may be able to set up a video call with her once she is back in the States.”
“Thank you, sir,” Sara said.
“The infantry unit was able to reach the building where the suspected leader of the militant cell was located,” Captain Starn continued. “But when they got to the building, it was empty, so we are all still actively trying to locate him.”
The leader has beaten the infidels once again, Al Khafaji said to himself, but he did smile. He looked up and saw Sergeant Abdullah looking directly at him.
“That is good news that we are getting close to him,” Al Khafaji quickly said. “Hopefully they were able to kill many fighters.”
“The enemy lost a significant number of fighters,” Captain Starn said. “Eventually, we will also catch or kill the leader. It’s just a matter of time.”
“But we lost Aisha,” Wafiq said sadly.
“We have not lost Aisha, Wafiq,” Sara said. “She has been wounded, but she is not gone. You can lose her if that is your choice, but when we are back in the United States, I will find her and see her again.”
The chaplain said a prayer for Aisha’s recovery. The dining facility brought out food from lunch if anyone was hungry, and the soldiers all ate very quietly. The chaplain went from table to table asking if anyone would like to talk about what happened, but nobody was interested in sharing anything with him.
Sergeant Abdullah and the three specialists walked back to their quarters. They all wanted to help pack Aisha’s things, but Sara wouldn’t hear of it. She said that she could handle it and didn’t need any help. She was told to pack everything she could into the duffel bag and make sure it was clearly marked with Aisha’s name. Master Sergeant Mandess said that someone would be by the next day to make sure it got shipped back to the United States. If there was anything that she might need or want, like personal items, it was to be put into a small shipping box, and the medical personnel would determine where it would be sent.
Captain Starn and Master Sergeant Mandess went back to the operations building for a video conference with key leaders in the maneuver brigade. The units had done damage in the village and one of the cities, so it wasn’t hard to guess where the focus would be next, but the thought had to go through the planners’ heads that the enemy was probably thinking the same thing. It was also possible that the group had taken serious enough losses to make them go dormant for a while, allowing them to recruit and rebuild their organization. Captain Starn was happy to see that Major Palmer and Captain Taylor had joined the video conference. That meant that he wouldn’t have to join in the conversation unless Major Palmer told him to do so.
The brigade commander started out by talking about what the goal of the operation was and what units were engaged with the enemy. He then turned the briefing over to the brigade operations officer who walked through the timeline of what had actually happened during the day. He did not mention anything about the actions in the village, but Captain Starn figured it was because it was solely a Special Operations mission. He covered friendly and enemy losses and identified the number KIA and WIA for both sides. What he did not discuss was the status of the militant group’s leader.
“Yeah, that’s great, Mike,” the brigade commander said, cutting the operations officer short in his brief. “Can you tell everyone what happened to the leader of the group?”
“Sir,” the operations officer said, taking a breath. “We believe he was able to depart the area prior to our forces arriving at the building he was occupying.”
“So he fucking got away!” the brigade commander yelled, slamming his hand down on the table. “Look, I don’t really give a shit about how many of these bastards we killed. I want this son of a bitch dead or wishing he was lucky enough to be dead. We are going to pull out all stops on this effort. I want to flush him out and fucking squash him like a bug. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir!” the room shouted. All the unit commanders felt terrible for the operations officer, but there wasn’t anyone who would say a word once the brigade commander was in one of his moods. They all knew the old man was probably catching a lot of flak from his superiors, but to a man, they all thought there was a better way to go about motivating them to do a better job.
“Major Palmer, are you online?” the brigade commander asked without looking at the attendee list.
“Yes, sir,” Major Palmer answered.
“Great. Can you tell everyone what happened in the village today?” the brigade commander said.
“Sure thing, sir,” Major Palmer responded and began to go over what his teams had detailed in their mission reports. He also highlighted the actions of Sergeant Abdullah and said that he was going to put him in for an award. Major Palmer decided to leave out the part about one vehicle getting away.
“That’s out-fucking-standing!” the brigade commander exclaimed. He looked less annoyed after hearing the details of Sergeant Abdullah’s actions. “How long has this soldier been in your unit?”
“Sir, Sergeant Abdullah has worked with us on several deployments starting out as a specialist,” Major Palmer said. “He was just recently transferred to us from the maintenance unit he was assigned to under your command.”
“Whoa, wait a minute,” the brigade commander said. Everyone in the room expected another outburst. “This soldier is a mechanic?”
“Yes, sir, but that isn’t what he originally did,” Major Palmer explained. “He joined as an interpreter, and when his MOS was disbanded, he chose to stay in as a mechanic. His actions probably saved Chief MacKenzie’s life on a previous deployment.”
“Sir,” the brigade adjutant said quietly from her chair along the wall of the room. “I believe this is the same soldier who has been recommended for an award by the maintenance company for blowing up a truck from the bomb factory.”
“No shit,” the brigade commander said. “Well, if I get the chance, I want to meet this warrior and pin his medal on myself.”
“Yes, sir,” the adjutant said as she wrote herself a note.
The brigade commander also heard updates from the logistics officer and the intelligence section before the meeting came to a close. He told his staff to put their heads together and develop courses of action for the next operation. He wanted to make sure that the plan had considered possible contingencies and included options. The brigade executive officer was tasked with coordinating additional resources if needed to finally bring the militant leader’s group to an end. In the brigade commander’s mind, that also meant finding a new brigade operations officer.
17
When Al Khafaji got back to his quarters, he checked the phone and saw that his cousin had tried to call three times. The last call was only an hour ago. He was glad to see that his cousin was OK but didn’t know how he would be able to call him back. He decided to try to get on the computer to check his email. Maybe he could send his cousin an email instead of calling him.
Al Khafaji walked into the building where the computer was located, but someone else was using it. He was hoping the other soldier would not be long but had no idea how long he would have to wait. Al Khafaji kept looking at his watch, and the other soldier finally saw him standing there.
“Sorry, I’ll be done in a second,” the soldier said as he finished up looking through his email and sending replies. “There you go.”
