The appearance of the colonel and his briefcase was both scorned and dreaded by the men of Kinsly's Special Forces A Team. "Never trust an officer who takes a briefcase to the field," Kinsly's team sergeant, Sergeant First Class Hector Veldez, always reminded Kinsly when Dedinger arrived from Cairo. It didn't take Kinsly long to learn what Veldez meant.
Dedinger was the operations officer for the 2nd Corps (U.S.) (Forward), located in Cairo. Part of the 3rd U.S. Army, which itself belonged to the Rapid Deployment Force, 2nd Corps (Forward) was a planning headquarters only, manned by a skeleton staff. The bulk of the corps headquarters was in the States, along with all the troops belonging to it, ready for deployment in the event of an emergency.
Ostensibly, the mission of the 2nd U.S. Corps (Forward) was only the planning of training exercises in cooperation with various countries in the Middle East. In a crisis, it would conduct military operations until the full corps staff was deployed to Egypt. In the past year, however, a new mission had been added. The Iranian conflict two years earlier had driven home the importance of Soviet air and naval bases on the Horn of Africa. From there, the Soviet Union presented a threat to the Middle East, Central Africa, and the Indian Ocean. Translated into practical terms, from the Horn of Africa, the Soviets, or their surrogates, were in a position to interrupt the flow of oil and mineral resources from the area.
In an effort to deny the Soviets free use of the Horn of Africa and to keep Soviet-sponsored covert operations from subverting Ethiopia's neighbors, the United States had initiated covert operations in Sudan and Ethiopia. Code-named Twilight, this operation involved a number of Special Forces, or SF, teams operating in central Sudan. These teams assisted a number of groups, including Sudanese government forces, Eritrean insurgents, and Ethiopian guerrillas. The immediate goal, and the one briefed to Congress, was the preservation of the current government in Sudan. The long-range goal, more of a hope and seldom discussed, was the restoration of a pro-Western government in Ethiopia.
Dedinger, as the operations officer for 2nd Corps (Forward), was responsible for the activities of the SF teams — planning their operations and coordinating them with Air Force and Navy operations. He produced and issued orders to the teams for their operations and received reports on those operations. Based on those reports, he assessed the situation and revised plans as necessary, resulting in new missions and orders. He coordinated transportation and resupply, evaluated the wounded, and arranged for replacements where necessary. The black briefcase, used to transport the written orders for the A teams in the field, was Dedinger's main weapon.
A man whose career was on the fast track, Dedinger enjoyed his role. Based in Cairo, Dedinger spent a great deal of time bouncing between Atlanta, Georgia, where the 3rd Army had its headquarters, Washington, D. C., and the Sudan. Dedinger had a great deal of "face time" with the senior staff of the Army. If it weren't for the fact that his boss expected him to personally issue the orders and receive reports from the A-team commanders in the field, Dedinger would never go out into "the bush," as his section referred to the Sudan. At this stage in his career, if he wanted to stay on the fast track, it was critical that he do exactly what was expected of him.
Dedinger was painfully aware of how tenuous that position could be. Though he had managed to survive a successful task-force command in Germany, he had not served in Iran. This alone threatened to knock him out of the lead in his race for promotion and brigade command. The war in Iran had put a severe crimp on his well-laid career plans. Not long after that conflict, rumors began to circulate that any lieutenant colonel who had served in Iran, especially as a task-force commander, would be a shoo-in for full colonel and selection for brigade command, the final stepping stone to the stars. The first promotion board for full colonel after the conflict seemed to confirm that rumor. Though he was angry that the war in Iran had changed the rules of the game, Dedinger was nonetheless determined to get his brigade.
While the pilots of his helicopter prepared for takeoff, Dedinger paused for a moment to remind himself of his career goals. His current job meant that he spent a great deal of time in Washington, a fact that could not help but increase his chances of making it to full colonel. As he looked around at the dry, parched landscape and the motley collection of mud huts, one thing was certain: the eagles of a full colonel wouldn't be found here.
The crew chief of his helicopter gave Dedinger the signal that they were ready to go. Feeling the need to give some final order or advice before leaving, Dedinger turned to Kinsly, ignoring the Sudanese major, as he had done during most of the just-concluded meeting. "Remember, Lieutenant — time is everything, and you don't have a lot of it."
Staring at the colonel, Kinsly tried to understand why he had just said that, but couldn't. He simply replied, "Yes, sir, no need to worry."
The Sudanese major also looked at Dedinger, then at Kinsly. He wondered why it was so critical to attack the airfield at Gondar, Ethiopia, on the date designated, or, for that matter, on any particular date. The planes and helicopters had been there for months and would still be there when his unit got there. Perhaps he had missed something in the discussions. If he had, Lieutenant Kinsly could explain after the pompous American colonel had left.
Satisfied that all was in order, Dedinger saluted Kinsly, turned, and trotted into the swirling dust storm created by the helicopter's blades. Once in the aircraft, he secured his seatbelt, stowed his black briefcase securely under his seat, put on his flight helmet, and made an intercom check with the pilot. Ready, he told the chief pilot to pull pitch whenever the crew was ready. Leaning back, he closed his eyes and prepared to enjoy the long flight back to Cairo via Khartoum.
Five kilometers to the north, the whine of the helicopter's engines alerted a small band of guerrillas: their hours of patient waiting were, they hoped, about to pay off. Holed up in hiding near the compound since the previous night, the guerrillas — members of the SPLA, the Sudanese People's Liberation Army — had waited for the helicopter that was due to land at the compound that morning. They would have struck had it not been for a last-minute turn by the pilot — instead of flying in a straight line from the north, he had made a wide approach from the south before landing. To make sure that another miscalculation didn't ruin their chances, the detachment commander bribed a young boy tending a flock of goats to go down to the army compound and see which way the American helicopter was pointed. The boy returned with the news that it was pointed north. Though there was no guarantee that the pilot wouldn't alter his course after takeoff, the guerrillas could only be in one place. Deciding that where they were was as good a place as any, they waited until the helicopter's engines began to crank up.
The man selected to be the gunner opened the shipping container and carefully lifted the cover, raising it up and over the SA-7 surface-to-air missile. The missile was well traveled. Manufactured in the Soviet Union, it had been delivered to the Ethiopian army years ago. Unused, outdated, and replaced by an improved surface-to-air missile, it had been passed on to the SPLA, which the Ethiopians were supporting. It had but one more trip to make — this one under its own power.