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23 NOVEMBER
THE days and/or hours following the briefing were taken up by the creation of an OPLAN for the upcoming mission. The men, having now been assigned specific tasks, wrote up their portions of the plan. Lieutenants Brannigan and Cruiser, along with Chiefs Dawkins and Gunnarson, perused the work handed in. After a careful scrutiny, these were either accepted or handed back for additions, deletions and corrections.
When the work was complete, Brannigan took the whole thing off to a corner by himself for further tweaking and finalization. But even then it wasn't etched in stone. Commanders Carey and Berringer would return to have the OPLAN presented to them in a procedure called the brief-back. If they approved everything, the document became an OPORD and would be considered the bible for the coming operation.
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0645 HOURS LOCAL
the audience, and they settled down in a couple of the desk/chairs ready to listen, take notes, and comment on the briefback presentation.
Brannigan, as the commanding officer, led the procedure. "Since the first order of business is reconnaissance, that is exactly what we're going to do. Rather than send the whole detachment out at once, I'm going to commit an assault section at a time to scope out the surrounding area. However, our two scouts Assad and Leibowitz will go on all these patrols. Since the Lozano Grasslands will probably be the scene of most of the action, we'll start there. The sections will take a motorized rigid raider boat, towing the piragua behind it. They will go down the Rio Ancho." He used his laser beam to point at a spot on the enlarged satellite photo mounted on the wall. "It will be the section commander's prerogative which of the creeks extending from the river to explore. They will leave the rigid raider boat hidden, then pole their way along the waterways in the piragua. No contact with the enemy will be made. If such a thing happens, the patrol is to immediately withdraw, engaging the attackers only in self-defense."
Carey wrote in his notebook as he asked. "How many of these recons do you plan to make, Lieutenant?"
"As many as it takes to get enough intelligence to launch active ops against the enemy," Brannigan replied. "That sounds simple at this point, but there's every chance things could get very hairy and complicated right off the bat."
The next speaker was Lieutenant (J. G.) James Cruiser. His topic was the establishment of camps. He swung his laser beam up to a spot on the photograph where the Rio Ancho eased out of the Los Perdidos Swamp. "This will be the location of our base camp for use during the recon phase. If the results of the scouting reveal long distances must be traversed during operations, I plan on having more camps as well as caches for weaponry and equipment. We will need waterproof containers for that. I've already sent in requisitions for a couple of dozen."
"I've seen the paperwork," Carey said. "It's being taken care of."
The next speaker was Hospital Corpsman James Bradley. "Due to the high temperatures, humidity and heavy rainfall in the area, I anticipate problems with rashes and possible heat stroke. I have made sure I'm taking plenty of antifungal ointment, and I plan on making sure precautions are taken to avoid heat exhaustion due to the climate."
"What about mosquitoes, Petty Officer?" Berringer asked.
"I've arranged for a case of insect repellent that should last for a long time," Bradley said. "I also coordinated with Senior Chief Dawkins on hammocks and headgear with netting. There will be plenty for the detachment."
"Have you taken any other medical problems into consideration?" Carey asked.
"Yes, sir. Each man will have an emergency medical kit to carry in his assault vest. These will include bandages, codeine, morphine, sedatives, stimulants and other medicine for illnesses. I will also have my field surgical kit for major trauma."
Petty Officer First Class Connie Concord gave a quick report on the weaponry. "The major new items in our arsenal are a pair of SAWs with one for each assault section. They will provide support fire when needed. I might add that these use the same 5.56-millimeter ammo as our CAR-15s. They are also magazine fed rather than belt fed, and that makes each man a potential ammo bearer. SIG Sauer nine-millimeter automatic pistols will be the hand weapons. We'll also tote some M-67 fragmentation grenades for defensive and ambush situations."
Frank Gomez, the commo chief, reported he was taking in an AN/PSC-5 Shadowfire radio with a spare for long-range commo. "All contacts among the Command Element, assault sections and fire teams will be conducted via AN/PRC-126 radios that have handsets. The detachment scouts will also have one. In addition, LASH radio headsets would be employed within the assault sections. That way everyone can transmit to their mates via the throat mike that is capable of making even whispers audible."
"Call signs?" Berringer asked.
"The Command Element is Brigand," Frank said. "The First Assault Section is Brigand One and the Second is Brigand Two. All fire teams will use their phonetic alphabet designations. And we will have that emergency relay station in Colombia. That will only be used as directed by the SOL"
Next Chief Matt Gunnarson presented the personal supply picture. "The first-line equipment, that is what the guys will wear, will be lightweight tropical BDUs. Everyone will also tote along an emergency compass, matches, a good Swiss Army knife, a couple of PowerBars and condoms. The rubbers are good to keep things dry as well as keep the dust out of sensitive gear."
"Are you calling for combat vests or LBEs?" Berringer asked.
"The vests will work fine for our second-line equipment," the chief replied. "That'll include a day's MREs, the medical kit, two-quart canteen, frag grenades, binoculars, the GPS and water purification tablets. The third-line Equipment will be carried in the rucksacks. That's a basic load of MREs, entrenching tool; poncho, poncho liner, hammock, mosquito netting, extra socks, water bladder, an extra BDU, and night vision goggles. I checked with Alfredo, and he says there'll be no problem with resupply. It will be brought in by the same oil company we'll use for medevac. So we don't have to hump in two tons of stuff into the OA. Also, on account of security and concealment problems, there's gonna be plenty of FRHs for heating the MREs. It's gonna be rare when we'll be able to enjoy the coziness of fires. That's it!"
That was the end of the brief back, and Carey stood up. "You're ready to go, as far as I'm concerned flown to Argentina on different airlines, dressed in civilian clothes. Your equipment will go down through CIA channels, and you'll pick it up down there. Alfredo will work out your infiltration into the OA. Times and places will be given you as soon as it's all firmed up. Good luck guys:'
"Be careful out there," Berringer said.
The two staff officers walked out of the briefing area, and Senior Chief Dawkins turned to the detachment. "Okay, people. We've got to get our gear, detachment equipment, and other crap ready for the flight down south. Turn to it!"
The SEALs hurried back to the rear of the building.
Chapter 2
EL CENTRO DE TRANSPORTES BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
25 NOVEMBER
1400 HOURS LOCAL
THE trucking center was a staging area for all interior shipments from the port of Buenos Aires. This cargo was not only sent to destinations in that country but to freight depots in landlocked Bolivia. The place bustled madly twenty-four hours a day as containers offloaded from merchant ships onto the trucks at the docks were brought in to be put into the transportation mill that would distribute the goods to their destinations. To the casual observer, the place would seem to be in disruptive chaos, moving slowly but inextricably toward its own self-destruction. But somehow the system worked, and the loaded vehicles were sent on their way.