End of Winter (Rewrite & Expansions into Book Four)

Personal Observations

Director;

Director, I have made an examination of the 2/19th physical area that can be reached. The weather here is, forbidding, to put it lightly. As of this moment it is sixty-five below zero outside and has been dark for around forty hours. That is not a misprint. Some effect is keeping it dark outside, be it that the sun isn't cresting the mountain peaks or something else, I don't know.

The area consists of: A barracks building, a chow hall, a motor pool, a medical center, and an airfield. All of the buildings were severely damaged with the intent on preventing them from being used as any type of shelter from the elements.

Additionally the fact that the mountain is home to wolves that I thought went extinct around the time of the wooly mammoth, that are willing and able to attack, kill, and eat human beings, makes it even more difficult to risk going outside.

This means that physical evidence was destroyed by the elements with bodies being devoured by the wolves.

This impeded my investigation, forcing me to rely on remaining physical evidence and participant interviews.

Having interviewed Stillwater and his troops I've come to the determination that any loose ends that need to be tied up regarding this winter's incident have largely been taken care of by the wildlife of the slopes of Alfenwehr.

My suspicion that the group of interest had been suborned by the Soviet Union cannot be proven, as any evidence was destroyed in the heavy fighting as well as by the weather and the large wolves.

The agents involved in the situation did not have authorization to employ deniable assets, nor did they use Agency approved assets for the operation. Additionally, the agents involved were supposed to be attached to the Crete office, which put them several hundred miles away from Alfenwehr.

On record, 2/19th appears little more than a unit engaged in the storage and maintenance of part of 7th Army's NBC warfare munitions. It would be easy to assume that the troops involved in such duties would be stereotypical garrison troops, but I would like to point out that modern warfare has shown over and over that non-combat arms troops are capable of putting up high resistance to enemy operations.

My initial briefing at Langley stated that 2/19th was a rear support unit full of non-combat arms troops. My own investigation found records of anti-interrogation training, SERE training, infantry training, and additional training beyond most support units.

A perusal of additional records informed me that several of the ammunition depots maintained and manned by 2/19th have been involved in live fire incidents with the Soviet Union in the past year. FSTS-317 is under control of Corporal Stillwater and sits on the 1K Zone. Across from it is a hastily assembled Soviet base under command of the Spetsnaz, manned by experienced soldiers who have all spent time in Afghanistan and Angola. The site has had four live-fire incidents in the last year, suffering only one fatal casualty to enemy fire while killing nearly sixty Soviet troops.

Let that sink in, Director.

Four times FSTS-317 has been attacked by the Soviet Union, and each time they suffered crushing defeats.

This is pertinent as to the mindset and personality of Corporal Stillwater, who led "Echo-Five Actual" into conflict with Soviet forces.

Make no mistake, sir, Corporal Stillwater actively sought confrontation with Soviet troops in an aggressive manner, forcing them onto the defensive and to keep them unaware of his true objectives. He acted in accordance with his military training in seeking to seize and hold the initiative, maintaining the momentum, and forcing the enemy to react to his actions.

His plan was as brutal as it was simple: Deny the Soviet forces any way to survive Alfenwehr and make them think that his detachment was the remainder of the US forces present.

Destroying the classified data was a secondary objective, but one that forced that Soviet troops to engage him directly.

Contrary to previous assessments by the Directorate of Analysis, I believe that Corporal Stillwater selected his team carefully.

Director, my personal analysis has me believing that our agents were intending on crossing the curtain to come out of the cold. While I believe they expected it to be quite easy, they failed to understand exactly what they were dealing with.

Corporal Stillwater and his troops, while jaded and cynical, are true believers. They would no more go back on their oaths than I would. If my suspicions are indeed what really happened here, then Corporal Stillwater and his men would have eliminated any oath breakers with extreme prejudice in accordance with their sworn oaths.

"All enemies, foreign and domestic"

Additionally, and finally, Director, I do not believe that Corporal Stillwater or his men will make what occurred a matter of public record. They are entirely comfortable with classified information and need to know security.

My recommendation is to close this file and destroy all investigation data.

Senior Special Agent Taylor, the man we are looking for has a son, Director. I recommend that we burn this investigation and bury the ashes, so his son can hold his head up at the very least. Incident happen all the time in Europe.

--Senior Agent Mendelson