Keith Douglass
Deadly Force
This novel
about the fictional
SEAL Team Seven is gratefully
dedicated to the real SEALs based
at Coronado, California: Teams
One, Three, and Five
of the Naval Special
Warfare Command.
These real SEALs
do the dirty
little jobs
that
keep America free!
SEAL TEAM SEVEN
Rear Admiral (L) Richard Kenner. Commander of all SEALs.
Commander Dean Masciareli. 47, 5' 11", 220 pounds. Annapolis graduate. Commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare Group One in Coronado, including SEAL Teams One, Three, Five, and Seven and the 978 men.
Master Chief Petty Officer Gordon MacKenzie. 47, 5' 10", 180 pounds. Administrator and head enlisted man of all NAVSPECWARGRUP-ONE in Coronado.
Lieutenant Commander Blake Murdock. Platoon Leader, Third Platoon. 32, 6' 2", 210 pounds. Annapolis graduate. Six years in SEALs. Father important congressman from Virginia. Apartment in Coronado. Single. Has a car and a motorcycle, loves to fish. Weapon: Alliant Bull Pup duo 5.56mm & 20mm explosive round.
Timothy F. Sadler. Senior Chief Petty Officer. Top EM in Third Platoon. Third in command. 32, 6' 2", 220 pounds. Married to Sylvia, no children. Been in the Navy for fifteen years, a SEAL for last eight. Expert fisherman. Plays trumpet in any Dixieland combo he can find. Weapon: Alliant Bull Pup duo 5.56mm & 20mm explosive round. Good with the men.
David “Jaybird” Sterling. Machinist’s Mate First Class. Lead petty officer. 24, 5' 10", 170 pounds. Quick mind, fine tactician. Single. Drinks too much sometimes. Crack shot with all arms. Grew up in Oregon. Helps plan attack operations. Weapon: H & K MP-5SD submachine gun.
Luke “Mountain” Howard. Gunner’s Mate Second Class. 28, 6' 4", 250 pounds. Black man. Football at Oregon State. Tryout with Oakland Raiders six years ago. In Navy six years. SEAL for four. Single. Rides a motorcycle. A skiing and wind-surfing nut. Squad sniper. Weapon: H & K PSG1 7.62 NATO sniper rifle.
Bill Bradford. Quartermaster First Class. 24, 6' 2", 215 pounds. An artist in his spare time. Paints oils. He sells his marine paintings. Single. Quiet. Reads a lot. Has two years of college. Platoon radio operator. Carries a SATCOM on most missions. Weapon: Alliant Bull Pup duo 5.56mm & 20mm explosive round.
Joe “Ricochet” Lampedusa. Operations Specialist First Class. 21, 5' 11", 175 pounds. Good tracker, quick thinker. Had a year of college. Loves motorcycles. Wants a Hog. Pot smoker on the sly. Picks up plain girls. Platoon scout. Weapon: H & K MP-5SD submachine gun.
Kenneth Ching. Quartermaster First Class. 25, 6' even, 180 pounds. Full-blooded Chinese. Platoon translator. Speaks Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Bicycling nut. Paid $1,200 for off-road bike. Is trying for Officer Candidate School. Weapon: H & K MP-5SD submachine gun.
Vincent “Vinnie” Van Dyke. Electrician’s Mate Second Class. 24, 6' 2", 220 pounds. Enlisted out of high school. Played varsity basketball. Wants to be a commercial fisherman after his current hitch. Good with his hands. Squad machine gunner. Weapon: H & K 21-E 7.62 NATO round machine gun.
Lieutenant (j.g.) Christopher “Chris” Gardner. Leader Bravo Squad. Second in command of Third Platoon. 28, 6' 4", 240 pounds. Four years in SEALs. Hang-glider nut. Married to Wanda, who designs clothes. Father is a Navy admiral. Grew up in ten different states. Annapolis graduate. Weapon: Alliant Bull Pup duo 5.56mm & 20mm explosive round.
George “Petard” Canzoneri. Torpedoman’s Mate First Class. 27, 5' 11", 190 pounds. Married to Phyllis. No kids. Nine years in Navy. Expert on explosives. Nicknamed “Petard” for almost hoisting himself one time. Top pick in platoon for explosives work. Weapon: Alliant Bull Pup duo 5.56mm & 20mm explosive round.
Miguel Fernandez. Gunner’s Mate First Class. 26, 6' 1", 180 pounds. Wife, Maria; daughter, Linda, 7, in Coronado. Spends his off time with them. Highly family oriented. He has many relatives in San Diego. Speaks Spanish and Portuguese. Squad sniper. Weapon: H & K PSG1 7.62 NATO sniper rifle.
Omar “Ollie” Rafii. Yeoman Second Class. 24, 6' even, 180 pounds. From Saudi Arabia. In U.S. since he was four. Loves horses, has two. Married, two children. Speaks Farsi and Arabic. Expert with all knives. Throws killing knives with deadly accuracy. Weapon: H & K MP-5SD submachine gun.
Tracy Donegan. Signalman Second Class. 24, 6' even, 185 pounds. Former Navy boxer. Tough. Single. Expert tracker and expert on camouflage and ground warfare. Expert marksman. Platoon driver, mechanic. Frantic Chargers football fan. Speaks Italian and Swahili. Weapon: H & K 21-E 7.62 NATO round machine gun.
Jack Mahanani. Hospital Corpsman First Class. 25, 6' 4", 240 pounds. Platoon medic. Tahitian/Hawaiian. Expert swimmer. Bench-presses four hundred pounds. Divorced. Top surfer. Weapon: Alliant Bull Pup duo 5.56mm & 20mm explosive round.
Frank Victor. Gunner’s Mate Second Class. 23, 6' even, 185 pounds. Two years in SEALs. Radio, computer expert. Can program, repair, and build computers. Shoots small-bore rifle competitively. Married. Wife, June, a computer programmer/specialist. No children. Lives in Coronado. Weapon: Alliant Bull Pup duo 5.56mm & 20mm explosive round.
Paul “Jeff” Jefferson. Engineman Second Class. 23, 6' 1", 200 pounds. Black man. Expert in small arms. Can tear apart most weapons and reassemble, repair, and innovate them. A chess player. Weapon: H & K MP-5SD submachine gun.
1
Senior Chief Petty Officer Timothy Sadler stared up at Shortchops Jackson where he was taking a solo on his bass fiddle in the middle of a wailing rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” He was good, had played with a lot of great jazz groups, but everyone knew he was over the top of the curve and well on his way down the other side. Even so, Shortchops simply blew away the knowledgeable crowd there at the Basic Jazz Club in the Gaslamp Quarter.
Shortchops finished the riff with a flourish and a wide-mouthed grin as he shouted, “Oh, yeah,” and everyone in the room clapped and cheered.
The rest of the Gaslamp Quarter Dixieland Band came in and raced through to the last notes on the old standard tune. Sadler took a short blast in the middle of the last phrase, and squealed his golden trumpet up to high C and down again as they all came to a big finish.
Sadler knew that this was his pressure-relief valve. His wild ride, a great way to relax after his high-powered, strict, and often strident life as the top EM in Third Platoon of SEAL Team Seven. It was a relief after the violent and deadly games they played as the best and most active combat specialists in the whole SEAL contingent. They were on direct call to the CNO, Chief of Naval Operations, who set the wheels in motion when the President, the head of the CIA, the State Department, or the National Security Advisor needed some dirty little covert job done anywhere in the world.
“Oh, yeah, Tim, you hit some good ones there,” Shortchops said as they put their instruments on stands and headed for the back room where they could take a twenty-minute break.
“I try to keep up with you, Shortchops,” Sadler said. “You were really wailing and flailing out there tonight.”
1
Third Platoon assigned exclusively to the Central Intelligence Agency to perform any needed tasks on a covert basis anywhere in the world. All are top-secret assignments. Goes around Navy chain of command. Direct orders from the CIA.