ODA 1211, A Co, 2nd Btn, 1st Special Forces Group
From his place in the rear of the Blackhawk helicopter, Peters could barely make out the two Apache gunships darting around in front of the transport helicopters. While the Apache was fearsome against ground troops, any DPRK fighter aircraft would take them out in seconds. Even a single soldier with a “Man-Portable Air Defense” or MANPAD missile would be enough to take one down. For this reason, the six helicopters were flying “nap of the earth” to stay as hidden as possible. It was a real roller coaster ride as the helicopters swooped up and down over every little hill and valley. The North Korean countryside wasn’t flat by any stretch of the imagination so they had plenty of up and down.
Peters looked over at Sergeant Smith who didn’t usually enjoy helicopters. “You gonna puke?”
“Mebbee. But if I do, it will be all over that JTAC back there. Smug bastard.”
Peters looked back at their air force companion. The Technical Sergeant was laughing with the door gunner and leaned over to slap him on the back. “Be nice. If it gets hot, he’s our only backup.”
“Fuck that, I can use a fucking radio and read a map.”
“Just be nice.”
The door gunner leaned over to scream in his ear, “LZ in two mikes!!”
Peters turned to the rest of the Green Berets in the helicopter with him and held up two fingers. It was noisy in there, shouting just gave you a sore throat. Looking down, he could see “National Route One” which was one of the few paved roads that went from north to south of the communist country. It was easy to see that this would form a choke point for any advance to Taechon.
As they approached the landing zone, the crewmembers opened both side doors to allow the team to exit quickly. Normally, this type of operation would call for “fast-roping” or another expedited deployment, but this wasn’t a special operations helicopter and the team was not equipped for that type of deployment. Instead, they’d do it the old fashioned way, get close to the ground and jump. The helicopter banked and circled the narrow LZ once. Peters signaled to the door gunner that he wanted to be put down on the grass to the left of the road and the gunner nodded, using his headset to communicate to the pilot.
As the helicopter settled into a low hover, Peters sat on the door sill and dropped down the last two feet. Rolling to his right, he got out from under the deadly main rotor and took a knee, bringing his weapon up as he did so.
“SIX CLEAR!!”
As he heard the other members of the team sounding off, he scanned the area. As the tanker general had told him, this ravine was narrow. The highway spanned a fairly steep canyon using what looked to be a concrete bridge. A jumble of rock towered over them leading up to a bluff at least two hundred feet up. Once the helicopter left, he could hear water rushing below them.
“Lewis!! Front and center!” Lewis, the senior “18 Charley” or engineer, trotted over.
“Damn sir, do we get to blow that up?” He said with a hopeful smile.
“Down boy. You got that backwards. We’re to protect this bridge.”
“No boom boom?”
“No boom boom.”
“Aw jeez boss, you’re no fun.”
“Just check it for booby traps. And take that other maniac with you!”
As the two engineering sergeants trotted over to the bridge, the rest of the team started taking up defensive positions.
“Higgins! You situated?”
The JTAC, an Air Force Tech Sergeant trotted over to Peters. “I think so, sir. I’m planning to take an overwatch position up on that ledge there with your sniper.”
“Do you mean Billy? Don’t let him shit you son, he just likes guns. He’s really a medic.”
“If you say so, sir.”
“CAP! We got something here!” Peters walked over to where Lewis was inspecting the underside of the bridge.
“What you got?”
“Looks like the bridge is rigged to blow. See there? Primer cord. Looks like a remote detonator pack.”
“You mean they could blow it whenever they want?”
“Yeah. These DPRK fuckers ain’t got cable TV, but they sure know how to blow shit up.”
“Can you safe it?”
Lewis gave Peters a hurt look. “Aw come on. I have worked for you in this outfit for two years. You know me better than that!”
“Hmm. Do you want me to answer? Fifty fifty you blow it yourself for shits and giggles.” Lewis snorted and put his hand over his heart as if he were wounded. “How long until you safe it?”
“Gimme fifteen.”
“Roger that. Get it done.”