Blind Eyes, Black Hearts - A GWOT Story (On Hold)

Chapter 6, Part 4 - Jalalabad Airbase

All the officers of Delta Company (or preferably, Task Force Dagger) gathered at a corner of the officers’ mess hall and talked it out, with Killbride explaining what, who, why, when, how, but not where, the Rangers of Delta and Charlie Company, 1/75th Rangers, would be going. ‘Where’ was a classification, Killbride confirmed, because if anybody knew - including him – that would be a threat to the secrecy of this mission.

What was happening? A classified Taliban ‘package’ was being trafficked from the Pak Border, through the plains of Afghanistan, and into the extremely hostile provinces of Kandahar and Helmand; where Coalition forces were facing hell and worse from Taliban fighters. Killbride claimed that he did not know what was being transferred, but everybody, especially Rick, knew that something dangerous was being distributed.

Who was coming? Charlie and Delta Company, 1/75th Rangers. The rest of the battalion was still somewhere in Kunar, constantly being used as Quick Reaction Forces for Special Operations, and heavy assault troops in Taliban nest-taking. The Special Operations part will be conducted by a multinational task force numbered ‘105’, consisting of men from Coalition spec ops- Delta, SAS, Green Berets, Pararescue, you name it. Rick had been part of this Task Force once, his Ranger unit being part of the QRF on multiple missions.

Why did they come? The packages. The vital, wicked, things that were being transferred from the terrorist heartland into the battlefield. Killbride speculated that these things were bombs, or worse, WMDs. Dagger Company would not let the loss of 30 men – 14 dead and 16 wounded back in 2004 – be repeated; especially, when those type of weapons were used on civilian targets and military installations. That would be bad. It was a political thing: with worse weapons being used on the field, and more ‘good’ guys and neutrals dying every day - that would mean that the Coalition cause was losing.

When were they moving out? In two weeks. Once they got there they were to conduct COIN- Counterinsurgency. Take local leaders into their side, separate the insurgency from the population – cutting their supply route, isolating them from the general population, forcing them into battle, and finally, locate and secure the packages. When Killbride began explaining this, Rick had a question on his mind.

Locate, secure? Those two words meant that there were people who were going to raid houses nightly, and those raids must have a serious reason to be conducted.

When Killbride finished his explanation, the questions part came along. “Any questions?” All the officers had brought notebooks or laptops with them. They wrote down the points with pen or keyboard, but all of it meant the same: They were being put with the army’s cool guys, and most of them weren’t experienced with it. Un-asked questions came, What if we mess up? What if we get the wrong people? What if people die? But Rick was calm. He was absolutely sure on what he would do, and understood his role from A-Z. He had been on assignments like this on multiple times. He was experienced, he was hardened, he was battle-ready, and he was eager.

Despite the running around thoughts in their heads, the officers didn’t ask anything until Pam Simpson raised her hand.

“First Lieutenant Simpson. Speak up.” Killbride was standing at the head of the table and had his hat off, showing his crew-cut dark brown hair. As a ranger serving in a desert, he was allowed to have a maintained beard, though he kept it not more than a neat stubble. He had big blue eyes and rather thick eyebrows.

Simpson, who sat next to Rick, spoke up. “Sir, are we going to have official briefing on this?”

Killbride, cold-faced like usual, answered. “No. No more briefings, not a single flag officer knows what we’re doing here. Not even I know what we’re gonna do. Only JSOC does.”