© 2024 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. This story or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary. If you see this story on any website other than Literotica.com, it has been copied without the author's permission.
Friend Zoned
Fortune Favors the Bold
Technical Sergeant Michael "Wedge" Donovan wasn't overjoyed with the orders he got, but he wasn't unhappy - Kunsan Air Base. Eighth fighter wing, eightieth fighter squadron, weapons loading flight. Wedge wanted Europe, but he'll take Kunsan. It's a perfect location for a lone wolf like him, no families, no useless First Lieutenant trying to turn a fighting unit into a social club. He loved the Strategic Air Command, but Minot North Dakota was a bit too cold. He tried to ignore the anxiety that gnawed at him as the plane clawed its way from Seattle to Seoul, Republic of Korea. He didn't know what to expect from Korea, the closest he has been to Korea was a short temporary duty assignment to Guam, but he was told that Guam wasn't representative of anything else except Tinian, Guam's tiny sister island.
Michael Aloysius Donovan was a large fellow from Coudersport Pennsylvania who enlisted in the USAF to avoid the economic malaise that greeted him when he graduated from high school. So far, the Air Force has been kind to him, and he's been to several state side bases interspersed with overseas bases in his career, but he still hasn't received orders to his top choice, England. He wanted England so he could take some time off and visit the Mother Country - Ireland. He was sure that he got orders to England this time when he received orders six months ago, but when he opened the envelope that his NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge (the Boss)) handed to him, he found that he would be on the opposite side of the world from England.
They landed late at night and the city of Seoul seemed to go on forever to Wedge. The city lights stretched out to the horizon, and it appeared like the whole country of South Korea was lit up for him as they approached. After 19 hours they touched down in Kimpo Airport and rolled to a stop at a massive terminal. Wedge found that his hips and legs were numb from sitting in the most uncomfortable airline seat he has ever sat on throughout his travels. (Thank you Northwest Airlines!) After gathering his luggage and clearing customs he found a telephone and called his duty section. "Weapons flight, Sergeant Clark."
"Sergeant Clark, I'm Sergeant Donovan, I've got orders to your section."
"Ah yes, you're due in tomorrow."
"It will be tomorrow in about twenty minutes," said Wedge.
"Holy shit... sorry, we're in an exercise here, I didn't realize how late it was. Ok, I'll let the first shirt know you're inbound. Go to the Military Transport Center to get a ride. When you get here they'll drop you off at the rec center, give us a call when you get there."
And that was it. Wedge found his way to the military transportation center and found that the bus wasn't leaving for hours. "I have a duce and a half taking cargo to 'The Kun' right now if you want to ride in the back."
"I'll take it," said Wedge and fifteen minutes later he and two other fellows were in the back of a two-and-a-half-ton cargo truck. In the Air Force a duce and a half is not the big dual axle Army truck you'd see in an old war movie, they call that a "ten by." A duce and a half is just a really, really big pickup truck. It was a warm night and at midnight the city was wide awake. Lights were on, the streets were full of people, and Wedge was inundated with the sights and sounds and smells of the city. "What is this? A holiday?" asked Wedge, shouting over the wind of their passage.
"Yeah, it's a celebration of capitalism!" his fellow passenger said. "It's like this twenty-four seven!"
Wedge was riding in his class A dress uniform; the Air Force calls it the Service Dress uniform. His co-passengers were in civilian attire and headed to Kunsan also, but they were in the Army. "I didn't know there was an Army unit at the Kun." said Wedge.
"US Army?" shouted Glenn Fry, a tall slim black guy who looked like he was about sixteen years old. "There's only one US Army unit, an ADA unit. There's several ROK units." ROK stands for Republic of Korea and their military is one of the best trained, fiercest militaries on earth. Glenn described how military service was mandatory for all able-bodied Korean men, but by then they had pulled on to an interstate highway and picked up speed and the rushing wind made conversation impossible. Wedge, Glenn and the third fellow, Shakir re-arranged boxes and sat with their backs to the cab of the truck as they headed out into the countryside.
Wedge woke up with Glenn shaking his shoulder. "We're at the Gate, get your ID out."
Wedge looked around and it was pitch black in all directions. Far off in the distance he could see lights from a Korean village but nothing else. Out of the blackness a security policeman appeared and stepped up to the truck. He had a few glow sticks stuck into an elastic strap around his Kevlar helmet and carried a 90-degree flashlight with a blue lens over the light bulb. "ID?" Wedge showed him his ID card then the policeman asked, "How long have you been here Sergeant Donovan."
"I just got here," said Wedge. "I got off the airplane at Kimpo at eleven o'clock."
"Orders," the cop said sternly.
Wedge pulled his stack of orders out of his briefcase and the cop studied them. Finally, the cop handed them back and said, "Ok, we're in an exercise, total blackout condition. Do not go wandering around until you've spoken with your first shirt. Welcome to the Koon."
Soon they were driving across the base, but all the lights were out, including the streetlights. Wedge had never seen darkness like this, and when they stopped at a stop sign, the two young army fellows hopped out and disappeared into the night. Soon they stopped and the driver came back and helped Wedge gather his baggage. Pointing off into the inky blackness the driver said, "That's the rec center, you can call your unit from there.
Wedge stumbled in the dark until he found a building and went in, there was a light trap that kept the interior light from escaping to the outside. Near the entrance was a phone and he called his unit again, and again Sergeant Clark answered. "Go get a good meal, and get one to go, you'll want something to eat in the dorm while we're in exercise conditions."
"Roger that," said Wedge and after hanging up he parked his suitcase, duffel bag, and backpack at a table then went to the lunch counter to order.
"Hi! You new bee?" asked the middle-aged Korean woman at the grill.
"Yeah, what gave me away?"
"You wear blue, new bee wear blue," she said with a huge toothy smile. Even though she used simple English words he was having a problem picking out what she was saying because of her accent. He ordered a taco salad and a couple of ham hoagies to go.
The taco salad was good, but it tasted completely different from anything he ever had. It was a tortilla shell, lettuce, tomato, onion, and ground beef but everything had a different flavor, it was interesting but even the lettuce had a weird flavor. It wasn't bad, it was just different. As he ate, he looked around the room and saw about a dozen people scattered around, all of them were wearing flack vests and had their helmets and gas masks at the ready. Their numbers grew and at some point, a loudspeaker outside said something about alarm yellow and a tech sergeant who was lounging without flack vest finished his coffee and rose.
"All right! All you dumb dead, follow me," and he led most of the people in the room outside. Soon a bedraggled Senior Master Sergeant in full combat gear came in and walked up to him.
"Michael Donovan?"
Wedge swallowed his last bite of the salad and said, "Yes, are you my first sergeant?"
"Yep, Mike Schaeffer."
Wedge stood and shook hands, "Everyone calls me Wedge after a character John Wayne played."
