*Author's note: As with the story I wrote called Revenge, this contains one violent episode, but the intent is not to be graphic. It's to show that the police can't be in all places at all times with the obvious implication that an honest, caring citizen with a gun can and often does save lives. That fact is very underreported and, imho, that's due to an obvious anti-gun bias in most of the media.
As with Amen! which was not meant to bash religion or faith, this is not a political diatribe or crusade. It is a romantic story involving a younger man and an older woman, The main male character does, of course, reflect my own personal views on the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. If you disagree, that's your right and I fully respect it while strongly disagreeing with you.
*****
Early September, 2016: Navy District of Washington DC
He read the letter then handed it back to his attorney.
"So that's it?"
"That's it. You'll be out in two weeks with an honorable discharge."
"Gee, how nice of them," he said.
"This nearly became a general court martial, Ensign Blackman," his attorney said. "I believe your story, but getting a jury of senior officers to believe it is another thing altogether. And were they not to buy it..."
"Yeah, I know. I'd be sitting in Leavenworth for very long time."
Hunter Blackman was a Navy officer and also a Navy SEAL. He'd graduated from Duke University in June of 2014 and gone through Navy OCS and was commissioned three months later. The moment he was eligible, he applied for Navy SEAL training known as BUDS or Basic Underwater Demolitions training.
Blackman had a very high IQ, and was an usually intelligent man. He could have majored in math or science or any other subject, but he'd chosen philosophy because he was a thinker, and a deep thinker at that. He was fascinated by human behavior and what motivated people to act in certain ways. Because of that, he'd also taken as many courses in psychology and sociology as he could.
He'd graduated with a 3.94 GPA and had done so while devoting himself to extreme physical conditioning and the occasional romantic interlude. Being a very good-looking young man meant he had all kinds of opportunities for hooking up or even something more substantial. Being a deep-thinking young man, he also knew what he liked and the kind of women he found attractive.
A brief fling with a married professor confirmed what he'd suspected was true for some time now—that was that he found older women more attractive and appealing than girls his own age. It wasn't all that hard to understand as the often silly demands of girls from 18-22 were off-putting in the extreme. Blackman loved physical challenges, but when it came to love, romance, or even just sex, he avoided battles like the plague. If a girl made demands on him, that was it and whatever had been up to that point was over.
Physically, Blackman was what some called a PT animal where PT stood for physical training. During college, he routinely put himself through some of the most grueling workouts the human mind could devise. He would strap on a ruck sack with 25 pounds in it, run five miles to the gym, do a monster Cross-Fit workout, then run back home with the ruck sack on his back. He wasn't sadistic or masochistic, he just seemed to thrive on physical pain when it involved his mind pushing his body to its limits.
Even so, BUDS had been the ultimate challenge of Ensign Blackman's life. The failure rate in his class was 'only' 78%—a whole two points better than the average BUDS class. The biggest amount of attrition came during Hell week where roughly half of the his class quit one at a time as they gave up and 'rang the bell.'
Ringing the bell was an age-old tradition in which anyone who'd had enough need not say a word. All they had to do was walk over to a bell that went everywhere they went and ring it. An instructor would then ask them if they were sure as the decision was final. If the candidate said 'yes' he was gone without further shame beyond walking away in front of his peers followed by a return to a less-demanding job in the Navy.
'Pool comp' was another grueling cut in which swimming, diving, and other underwater requirements 'washed out' another large group. Most who made it that far didn't quit, they simply couldn't cut it when it came to the rigors of the water and were dropped from the program.
For those who survived both Hell week and pool comp, graduation rates reached 80%. A small number who made it to the third and final phase would be dropped for physical injuries or safety violations, but if one made it to the final phase, the chances of graduating rose to 90%.
Ensign Blackman had the kind of calm, methodical personality the SEALs sought out. Hotheads, jocks, and braggarts had no place among their ranks. Officers received a certain minimal level of respect, but they were first and foremost members of a SEAL team and had to not only lead but do everything their men did, and they, like everyone else, had to be willing to sacrifice anything for good of the team.
After completing BUDs, Blackman went on to attend SQT or SEAL Qualification Training which was another 2 1/2 months of grueling work. It wasn't until after completion of SQT that sailors were able to wear the coveted Trident (Naval Special Warfare insignia) on their uniforms and became full-fledged Navy SEALs.
From there Blackman had been assigned to a SEAL team and began preparing for his first deployment to Afghanistan. There are eight SEAL teams in the U.S Navy. Each team has six platoons and a headquarters element. SEAL platoons consist of 16 SEALs - two officers, one chief, and 13 enlisted men. A platoon is generally the largest operational element assigned to a mission. Blackman never operated at any level beyond the team while in Afghanistan.
Once in country, his team had been given the mission of capturing or killing a high-value member of Al Qaeda who was holed up in the village of Shewan in Farah Province. Marines had been engaged in a fierce battle there in August of 2008 and nine weeks prior, a different Marine unit had been viciously ambushed when it entered the town.
Blackman was directed by the team leader, Navy LT David Rust, to take half the team and go house to house on an isolated street where intel had last seen their target. At about 0230 (2:30am), Rust's men found themselves under fire from the second floor of a building on Blackman's side of the street.
He led his men into the two-story building from which the gunfire was coming. They immediately encountered two armed insurgents and dispatched them as they moved upstairs to the second floor. As his team entered the room there were loud noises and flashes from weapons and he and his men returned fire.
The insurgent firing at Rust's men was killed along with two other insurgents in the ensuring gun fight. The problem came when they realized a civilian woman had been killed, as well. One of the insurgents had used her as a human shield, something each of the SEALs knew could happened and for which they'd repeatedly trained. However, sometimes, due to the fog of war and as the old saying goes, shit happens.
They were required to report any such civilian deaths as soon as reasonably possible and all of the men were aware of what could happen if they failed to so. In November of 2005, Marines in Haditha, Iraq, had sat on civilian casualties and several careers were ended, not because anyone on the ground had acted inappropriately, but for failing to report the deaths of civilians in a timely manner.
LT Rust had the primary responsibility to report and ensured Blackman he would do so after the mission was complete. For now, the immediate threat was over, but they still hadn't secured their intended target and the mission always came first.
It took another four hours to corner and capture their man, then another 20 minutes for a helo to arrive and extract them. LT Rust told Blackman he'd make a full report back ant HQ but later decided not to and didn't inform Blackman of his decision. Also unknown to Blackman was that the team's senior enlisted man, Navy Chief Doug Phillips, was aware of LT Rust's decision and had supported him. Loyalty to team members was fierce, but this was clearly crossing a line.
Three days later, Ensign Blackman asked his team leader how the debrief went and Rust told him he'd decided not to report the incident.
"You what?" Blackman had asked unable to believe what he was hearing. "We killed a civilian. It was unintentional, but it has to be reported."
"No, it doesn't," Rust told him. He went on to explain his justification and although it had some merit, it wasn't his call. He had a duty to report it.
Blackman told him he'd give him another 24 hours and if Rust didn't report the incident, he'd have no choice but to do so himself.
It was some 20 hours later when a Navy JAG officer, a lawyer, sent runners to round up LT Rust, Ensign Blackman, and Chief Phillips. Each of them were informed that they were being formally charged for failing to report the death of a civilian and were read their rights then asked if they wanted to answer questions. All of them said 'no' and were informed they were being administratively removed from any and all combat operations and were advised to seek counsel immediately.
To make a long story short, all three men were returned to the U.S. and Blackman was faced with being referred to a general court martial or requesting to be discharged. He'd explained what he'd seen to his commanding officer and to his own lawyer. The problem was every other team member had chosen loyalty to the team leader over the truth, something Blackman found incredibly disturbing on several levels. Therefore, it was his word against theirs and he had therefore decided to leave active duty.
Normally, the only discharge the military would offer in a situation like that was called an OTH or 'Other Than Honorable' for the good of the service. But because the prosecution wasn't sure it could convict Blackman, it had offered him—and the Navy—a way out.
Caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place, he'd elected to take the option and return to civilian life.
"So what's next, Hunter?" his lawyer, a Navy lieutenant commander asked him.
"I don't know, sir. Being a SEAL was all I ever wanted to do and I managed to serve a whopping two years and not even make JG." (JG is lieutenant, junior grade, the next rank above ensign.)
"Yeah, that might be a first," the commander said wryly.
