The First

I've been told that talking about mistakes or difficult experiences can make it easier to deal with the memories or help learn from them.  Not that I'm saying I need any type of support or anything.  I'm just thinkin' it might be nice to share a recent experience so that others may, um, learn from it.  Yeah, that's it, just sharing a story around a campfire with the guys, that's all.  Well, here goes.

I was on a mission of extreme importance.  My objectives:

1. Infiltrate hostile territory and establish a forward position
2. Elude detection while waiting for the principal target to arrive
3. Take down the principal target
4. Exfiltrate undetected and return to home base for debriefing

Intel indicated that the target maintained a random schedule but was typically on the move in the early hours just past dawn.  The night before the mission, I double-checked all my equipment, prepped for transport, and caught some shut-eye because I knew I'd be on the move very early.  The last thing I did before sack time was check the weather.  Great - biting wind, frost and snow, and frigid temperatures.  At 0'dark hundred, transport dropped me a safe distance from the suspected transit routes of the target. I activated my thermal units and began the long trek to my chosen vantage point.  Intel had told me the area was clear of civilians . . . Intel was wrong.  It was dicey, but I managed to work my way past them without alerting them to my presence.  Have you ever tried to quietly sneak past someone through snow?  It ain't easy.  You wouldn't believe how much it can crunch and squeak.  Yes SQUEAK gosh darn it.

Anyhow, I reached my position and settled in for a long wait.  While Intel may have gotten something wrong, the weather guys were right on.  The temps and wind made it colder than a witch's . . . well, you know.  Thankfully, I was prepared and trained for those conditions.  Suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.  I just knew without moving that I was being watched.  I stilled my breathing, remained motionless, and waited.  Then I saw him.  I knew the target was devious, but I hadn't expected them to use spies that young and small.  He just sat there at the edge of my vision looking down in my direction.  I heard him reporting over his com link, but I couldn't understand the code.  He eventually moved on, and I could only hope he wouldn't come back.  I knew better than to get lazy though.  Where there was one, there was bound to be more.

Sure enough, I started seeing advance scouts moving into the area.  They always came individually and at random, but I knew why they were there.  One of them came within 30 feet of me and sat down.  I willed his eyes to look elsewhere, and it must have worked, because he too moved on.  I had barely taken a few breaths when I saw her show up.  She had to be their lead scout.  A real vixen she was, and she knew her business.  I watched her scout the edges of the zone first, taking her time.  One time, I lost sight of her.  I almost panicked, not knowing where she was, when I caught slight movement behind some tall grass.  Yep, it was her.  I watched as she slowly sat up and stared right at me.  She stayed that way for what seemed like 15 minutes, but was probably only 3 minutes.  I was starting to think there was a mole in my organization, when she slowly wandered off.  I immediately heard traffic as she relayed her report which was followed by other scouts reporting in.

Based on all the chatter, I knew my target must be nearing the area. Sure enough, aerial recon started in earnest.  Flight after flight of scout craft winged overhead.  They were so close I could hear the wind rushing across their wings.  There must have been 50, 60, maybe even 70 of them.  I thought, "Oh crud, they know I'm here.  There's no way they can't know.  Not with all that recon."  They must have missed me though.  None of the SigInt I intercepted seemed to indicate that they had located me or anything else suspicious.  And then it all went quiet.

Sure enough, there came the target and escort.  I quickly confirmed the identity of the principal target, acquired my sight picture, adjusted for wind and elevation, and waited for the right moment.  Suddenly, the target and escorts all focused elsewhere.  This was it.  I engaged the target, and she dropped.  The escort panicked and scattered in all directions.  Guess they weren't as well trained as I thought.  I waited for things to calm down and approached to confirm the results.  Quietly, deliberately, I crept up on her.  I got within 15 feet of her, and she took off!!!  She'd been playing possum to lure me out in the open!  She was gone before I could do anything.  I quickly made it back to my position, gathered my gear, and set out to tail her.  Unfortunately, the need for stealth hindered my efforts, and I lost her after several hours.

I exfiltrated cleanly, and my it back to Command.  In my debriefing report, I laid out all the facts as well as my own analysis of why I failed.  Command didn't make a big deal about it, but it's hard to let go of the first failed mission in your history.

Well, that's my tale for this support group, I mean, campfire.  Now it's someone else turn.  I just want some marshmallows and cocoa.