Brannigan summed it up by saying, "In other words, this will be a typical mission where we will have to make up the rules as the game progresses."
"Correct," Berringer interjected. "And the penalties for erroneous reasoning or guesses can * easily result in things going terribly wrong."
Commander Carey took over the proceedings. "Okay, men. That's all we've got for you. It's pretty sketchy, so you're going to be carrying quite a load when it comes to forming your OPLAN. Are there any questions?"
"A pretty basic one, sir,"-Brannigan said, standing up. "It may not be our business or only need-to-know information, but I'm curious as to the long-range benefits of bringing this Kariska guy out of the OA."
Berringer fielded that question. "Simply stated: he has a hell of a lot of valuable information."
"This is a cog in the wheel that is turning Afghanistan into a secular democracy," Carey explained *further. "The latest intelligence, most of it garnered by Mr. Ishaq, is that the warlords are doing their damnedest to stop all efforts to democratize Afghanistan. If they succeed, we can expect decades of war in the. Middle East. It will become a base of operation for every Islamic terrorist group that exists. That is all, gentlemen. We wish you a good day and will see you for the briefback."
The three visitors trooped out of the Isolation area, and Brannigan took the floor, checking his notebook. "Okay. Here're your assignments." The men listened carefully to the pre-mission jobs that were so important.
Petty Officers Second Class Mike Assad and Dave Leibowitz were assigned to work out the route from the DZ or LZ to the meeting place with the defector. The two, who served as scouts and recon, were known as the "Odd Couple" among the other members of the platoon because Mike was an Arab-American and Dave Jewish. But despite that mix that could have been volatile, they were the best of buddies. They had a lot in common. Both had been disappointments to their families for their lack of interest in religion, making money or getting an advanced education. Each disliked Palestinian terrorists and Israeli settlers, who moved into disputed areas with equal intensity. Assad and Leibowitz were dedicated SEALs and Americans who liked taking direct actions to solve problems.
The responsibilities for medical matters were handed over to Petty Officer Third Class James Bradley. This quiet African-American had graduated from the premed course at Boston University, but had decided against pursuing his MD degree out of deep patriotism. He enlisted in the Navy and volunteered for the SEALs to fight against terrorism. His background made him a natural to score a hospital corpsmen's rating, and he planned on taking advantage of the NCP later on to become a Navy doctor.
Bruno Puglisi, a petty officer second class from South Philadelphia, came from a mob family. With most of his male relatives either whacked or jailed, he decided the best place for him to find a macho lifestyle was in the Navy SEALs. He had a special affinity for hand-fired weaponry--particularly the automatic variety--and he was assigned to the maintenance, repair and issue of all firearms used in the platoon. Additionally, Puglisi was the platoon sniper. At other times he was one-half of the fire support element, working with Petty Officer First Class Connie Concord, who grew up in rural Arkansas, spent a boyhood hunting and was an expert with shotguns and the M-203 grenade launcher.
Demolitions were the bailiwick of Joe Miskoski, a petty officer second class who had attended the Army's Special Warfare Center Demolition Course. He had become a virtual artist with C4 plastic explosive, claymore mines, detonation cord, satchel charges and limpet mines.
All the communications in the Brigands was in the capable hands of Petty Officer Second Class Frank Gomez, who not only operated radios but was expert in keeping them in good working order.
The two chief petty officers Dawkins and Gunnarson were tasked with choosing the right equipment and gear for whatever jobs the platoon drew.
When all the assignments had been made, Lieutenant Brannigan finished his discourse with a final announcement. "Lieutenant Cruiser and I will work out the infiltration and exfiltration. The rest of you stand by for other tasks that will be popping up from time to time. There's going to be a lot of fetching and carrying. That's it, guys. Turn to!"
There was a scuffling of desks and boots on the deck as they left the area to attend to their assigned duties.
Chapter 2
ISOLATION
5 AUGUST
0730 HOURS LOCAL
THE desks were arranged in a semicircle, and a table with two chairs had been placed to the direct front of the room. Commander Tom Carey and Lieutenant Commander Ernest Berringer occupied these. They had maps and notebooks opened, and were poised to get into the proceedings of the debriefing. A blown-up photograph of the OA taken from satellite imagery was mounted on the wall. There was a large urn of the Navy's version of coffee sitting on an ammo box, and every man in the room had a steaming cup of the invigorating brew sitting in front of him.
"Have you all learned to count from one to ten in Pashto?" Berringer asked. When everyone nodded affirmatively, he said, "I haven't learned them but I wrote them down." He looked over at Dave Leibowitz. "Salor!"
Dave instantly replied, "Shpag!"
"Right!" Berringer said. "Four and six make ten."
"Now that we've gone through basic Pashto arithmetic,"
Carey said, "let's get on with the briefing. We're both ready, guys. Shoot."
Lieutenant Bill Brannigan sat off to one side, relaxed and at ease while his 2IC Jim Cruiser took the floor. Cruiser used his laser beam pointer to indicate a spot on the satellite photograph. "We will be making a HALO infiltration and will land on this DZ. The jump will be executed at the twilight hour of eighteen-forty-five. You will note then there are two mountain ridges between that area and"--he shifted the red dot of light--"there! That is where the warlord's compound is located."
Carey leaned forward to get a better look. "That must be some five miles, Lieutenant. Why so far from the DZ?"
"Security of the jump, sir," Cruiser explained. "We'll exit the aircraft at twelve thousand feet AGL and open at thirty-five hundred. That will give us minimum exposure just before we descend out of view below the mountaintops." He moved the laser again. "Here is where we'll set up a base camp on the western ridge. The idea is to go to the contact point over here across the two mountains. We have dubbed the ridge nearest the DZ as West Ridge. The one nearest the contact point is called East Ridge." Another laser shift to the bombed-out village. "Our contact party will link up with the defector here and head directly back to the base camp. After calling in the aircraft for exfiltration, we will meet it there on the DZ that then becomes an LZ."
"Can a C-130 land there?" the intelligence officer, Berringer, asked.
"Yes, sir," Cruiser answered. "I checked with Mr. Ishaq and he assured me it was a suitable location. The terrain is firm and flat."
"Will there be any special platoon equipment?" Carey inquired.
"No, sir," Cruiser said. "There's no need for that. Everyone will be capable of carrying the necessary gear of their specialty to accomplish the mission."
When the 21C finished his presentation, Petty Officer Second Class Mike Assad took the floor. "The only recon Petty Officer Leibowitz and I could do was obviously a map reconnaissance, sir," he explained. "We combined that with questions to Mr. Ishaq to figure out the best course. Our contact party will follow this route." He now began employing his own laser beam. "There is an easy way down from the base camp on West Ridge to the first valley floor. There seems to be plenty of cover. The problem is crossing that valley, because it has only sparse, skimpy brush. We're going to have to adopt a heavy-security mode as we go across. A single skirmish line would be best, since it would be the fastest way. And if we are attacked from the direction of the compound, all our firepower will be going directly to our front. From that point on we go into fire-and-maneuver as the situation dictates."