Operation Solid Ambassador

Excellent tactical awareness, including taking on responsibility when we were under fire from the recoilless to get us the fuck out of there.

Despite being an Air Force puke, SrA Wilbur has shown himself to be a calm head in combat, and a reliable lad to have around in the mud. He missed his calling as a Marine, and I fully intend to replace one of his MREs with a pack of crayons. I hear thats how it works, like the old naval shillings in the bottom of tankards?

Doing what he always does well and getting us back on our feet

Located supply drop and held against EI push. Allowing EGR to resupply under enemy fire. Torrent suppressed an enemy push on the resupply site buying time for friendly forces to move in and blunt the initial push, sustaining grievous injuries in the process.

In addition to usual medical treatment under fire, Patches spotted emplaced positions on EGR's route of march, allowing the squad to deploy and effectively engage the enemy without them springing an ambush.

Hi Mom

So yeah, we’re still on the shit list. No cushy S&R with full air support for us, instead we got to search vast tracts of jungle for a fortified hostile camp. Well, guess what, it was all sodding uphill. Seriously, how is it all uphill? We got dropped off in the A Shou Valley, a place the squad has been before, and of which the eastern side is friendly, and the western side is not. The hill we were at the base off had an artillery fire base at the top so obviously we climbed most of the way up there before the Sarge took a couple of unlucky souls up the rest of the way while we held our position in a saddle between the fire base and a neighbouring hill to the north. Sadly, he didn’t gain much useful information, so we set off (uphill) to the north.

Or mostly north. Turns out there were a bunch of tripwires attached to smoke grenades scattered all over the slope, so we had to keep zig-zagging away as soon as someone set one off, so we weren’t hit by the ordinance that rapidly followed. And, also, while I think on it, that Airforce puke I told you about? He kept bumping into me and showing me aside on the way up. If they did that in the air they’d be in a whole heap of trouble, yet somehow he thinks it’s okay down in the mud? Typical. (No, I’m not just grumpy and having to climb a bunch of hills, why do you ask?)

We had to deal with a small scattering of local resistance as we approached the top, but they were quickly overpowered and we had a moment to consider which option for down we would take. We’d been told that the hostile encampments on the western hills were not in our AO, but there were a few small dips and depressions on the western flanks of our ridgeline that we needed to check out. Turns out they were all clear, but we didn’t find that out until the recoilless rifle on the other side had spotted us. I’d’ve loved to have taken it out with artillery, and the Sarge wanted to as well, but it would have left the squad vulnerable for a prolonged period, so we just called in its coordinates and Foxtrot Oscared.

While playing peek-a-boo with the recoilless, only half of the squad had managed to resupply, and everyone was a little short as we were once again heading north. Fortunately, after clearing a couple of spider holes, we liberated a holy site on the slope of yet another hill. It had been well tended to, and I made sure the squad was duly respectful of it as we took advantage of the sacred bounty provided for us there. Somewhere along the way, in one of several scout camps we’d cleared, we found some intel that narrowed down our search area to where we were about to get to. It narrowed down from about ten grid square we had to check, to one, each grid square being one km squared.. or one square km... does it even matter if it’s just one?... Whichever, it was a much smaller area, even if it had taken us hours to get there.

A call came back from the point man that there were hostile vehicles ahead, so I called in the artillery to try and deal with them as we don’t have any AT since Bagpipe died. The first round fell short, landing right by myself and the sarge, but I’d asked for smoke so we had a better chance of seeing it, so the main damage was to my pride. The second ranging shot landed by our Terp, who, by the way, I now think just didn’t really know where we were last trip out, I’m pretty sure he didn’t deliberately lead us into that ambush. Third time was a charm though, and I heard the sound of ammunition cooking off. I didn’t stick my head over the rocks to get a proper visual, which I really should have done, but there was a fire fight kicking off elsewhere so I figured hearing would do just this once.

Turns out said firefight was the lead elements of the squad finding the base we’d been sent to take out. Well done them.

It was pretty intense, and I saw a machine gunner in an earthen enclosure that was firing at yellow squad. Moving to flank I took him out and went to take over his gun so I could turn it on the Chelt, I just forgot the check around and it turns out there was a second machine gun nest right there too and the rest of the squad had to come get me out of the pickle I’d found myself in. We won though, and that’s the important thing as Dad always says.

I’ll write again soon

Morse