It was strange returning to the military community the battalion had left a little over a month earlier. So much had changed. The community looked the same, empty of women and children, but otherwise unchanged. The MP who escorted Bannon’s group verified their names and quarters’ addresses before letting each of them into their quarters. Bannon, like most of the others, had lost his keys somewhere along the way.
When he walked into his quarters, he was overcome by a feeling of relief and joy. For the first time he knew it was all over. The horrors, though they would never be forgotten, could be relegated to the past. The life he had known before could resume.
As he was looking around the quarters, he was struck by the way everything was as it had been when he had left. Going over to the dining room hutch, he opened a drawer, took out a family album and made his way over to the sofa, just as he had that night in early August. As he leafed through it, he realized just how much he missed his family. Looking at the pictures of his children, he was secure in the knowledge that they had a chance to enjoy future free of the fears both he and his wife had grown up with. Again, Americans had been called on to pay for their freedom. And again, they had met the challenge, paid the price, and prevailed. Bannon prayed this would be the last time.
But he knew better.
GLOSSARY
9M17: An AT-2 radio controlled antitank guided missile called a Swatter by NATO and Fleyta (Flute) by the Russians. It has an effective range of 0.5 to 2.5 km.
AAA: Anti-aircraft artillery. Conventional gun systems such as the American M-163 Vulcan or the Soviet ZSU 23-4.
A-10: A US Air Force jet designed specifically to provide close air support to ground forces. It is affectionately known as the Warthog.
ADA: Air defense artillery. It can either be surface-to-air missiles or guns.
AH-1: The designation of the Cobra attack helicopter. There are several versions, and armaments range from 7.62mm mini-guns up to TOW antitank guided missiles. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, TOW provides the main punch of the Cobra.
AK: Short for AK47 or AK74 rifle, the standard assault rifle of the Soviet infantryman.
Armed Forces Network/AFN: The official radio and television network of the US Armed Forces, serving American military forces deployed overseas.
Assembly area: A location normally behind friendly lines where a unit closes into a tight circle in order to rest, rearm, and prepare for further operations.
Autobahn: The German equivalent to our interstate highway system, the autobahns inspired and acted as a model for our interstate highway system.
Auxiliary radio receiver/AUX receiver: Sometimes referred to simply as the AUX, it is simply a radio receiver, unable to transmit. Command vehicles normally carry a radio that can receive and transmit set to the radio frequency of the commander’s unit and an auxiliary radio set to the radio frequency of his commanding officer.
Basic load: A prescribed number of rounds or amount of supply carried by a combat vehicle or individual soldier.
BBC: British Broadcasting system.
BMP: A Soviet fully tracked infantry-fighting vehicle mounting either a 73mm gun or a 25mm cannon (in the BMP-2 version), an antitank guided missile, and 7.62mm machinegun. The BMP carries a crew of three and a nine-man infantry squad. The BMP provided the prime motivation for the design and production of the Bradley fighting vehicle.
BRDM-2: Primarily intended to be a wheeled Soviet Recon vehicle, it was modified to carry anti-tank guided missiles.
BTR: A designator identifying any one of several types of Soviet armored personnel carriers from the four-wheeled BTR-152 of World War II vintage to the BTR-70, an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier now being fielded.
BTR-60: A Soviet eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier. This vehicle comes in several versions, from the original, which has an open top, to the BTR-60PB, which is completely enclosed and carries a small turret mounting a 14.5mm and a 7.62mm machinegun. In addition to the personnel carrier version, the BTR-60 serves as a command and control vehicle, close air support vehicle, and other such uses.
Bradley: An armored fighting vehicle that comes in two versions, the M-2 mechanized infantry fighting vehicle version and the M-3 scout version. Both have a two-man turret that mounts a TOW missile launcher, a 25mm chain gun, and a 7.62mm machinegun mounted coaxially with the 25mm gun.
CEOI: Short for communication and electronic operating instructions. The CEOI contains all radio frequencies, radio call signs, signal information, and passwords and countersigns.
CEV: Short for combat engineer vehicle. This vehicle is a specially modified tank that carries a large caliber demolition gun used for reducing obstacles, a dozer blade for digging positions or clearing debris, and a boom and winch.
Chemical alarm: A small portable device the size of a breadbox that samples the air and alerts its users when a chemical agent, gas, is detected.
CINC: Short for commander in chief, the term is pronounced “sink.” In this case, it is referring to the four-star general in command of all NATO forces in Europe.
CO: Short for commanding officer.
COAX: Short for coaxially mounted machinegun. This weapon is normally a 7.62mm machinegun mounted next to the main weapon of a fighting vehicle.
Cobra: Nickname of the AH-1 attack helicopter. The Cobra is also referred to as a “Snake.”
Cupola: A small, freely rotating turret on top of a tank turret or personnel carrier that incorporates a hatch, vision blocks, and usually a weapon such as a machinegun.
CVC: Short for combat vehicle crewman’s helmet. This helmet provides protection to the tracked vehicle crewman’s head as the tank bounces around the countryside. It is also wired to the vehicle’s radio and intercom, allowing the crewman to hear what is being broadcast and to broadcast over the radio and intercom.
Division rear: Military units occupy terrain. The terrain that the unit occupies is called a sector and is normally subdivided into sectors with subordinate units responsible for the sector they occupy. The division rear is that part of the division’s sector that is to the rear of the forward-deployed combat brigades. The division rear is normally managed by the division’s support command, called DISCOM, and contains most of the noncombat support elements such as supply units, maintenance units, medical units, etc.
DPICM: Short for duel-purpose, improved conventional munitions. This is an artillery round that contains many small submunitions or bomblets that are capable of defeating the thin armor located on top of armored vehicles as well as being effective against personnel and other “soft” targets.
Dragon: A wire guided medium antitank guided missile launcher, designated the M47. Man-portable, the Dragon is the infantry’s medium-range antitank weapon, with a range of 1000 meters.
Executive Officer/XO: The second in command of a unit. In a company, the executive officer, or XO, is a first lieutenant; in a battalion, he is a major. Traditionally the XO is responsible for handling the administrative and logistical matters in the unit.
45: Short for the caliber .45 M1911A1 pistol, the standard side arm for the US Army. This weapon was in the Army’s inventory from 1911 to 1985 when it was replaced by the 9mm Beretta 92F.