The Bunker Ch 15 Training Day 5

Welcome back! Yes, it's been awhile, and frankly, the next chapter will take a biit as well. I haven't finished it for my top tier patrons, and Lit releases are 90 days after that. TBH, I'm stalled out on The Bunker for the a bit. I know where I'm going, but my brain doesn't want to build the bridge from here to there at the moment. In the mean time, I'm putting my efforts into Dave in Dallas and some Bunker side stories that will come out later, as well as a new story line that will be Patreon exclusive once it comes out.

All that to say, yes, there are gaps in releasing Buker, but I'm not done with it yet. Just hold on folks, it's still coming -- and you're going to love this ride.

All characters engaged in or observing sexual acts are 18 years of age or older.

******

The Bunker, Ch 15 -- Training Day 5

Everything looks different at night. It's worse for folks with weak or mediocre night vision. Even for those of us with strong night vision... everything looks different. We can just see more of the details.

Sounds are amplified too. A rat or possum shuffling through the grass or under a bush can sound like something much larger. Combine that with the unnerving darkness to which humans are ill-adapted, and you have the origins of many of our ancient frights.

Lightning was again tasked with assaulting a position held by Thunder. Given the constraints of night combat, there were only two night missions planned. Each section would defend once and attack once. Thunder held a position in a steep ravine. My orders were to advance from downhill, up the ravine. I requested more latitude in my approach march but the training leadership shot that down. In a real war scenario, I may have prevailed. But training is somewhat canned and training planners fall deeply in love with their scenarios.

During map recon with my team leaders, we noted an interesting -- or troubling -- possibility. Reading the contour lines, the ravine rose steadily from its mouth but eight hundred meters back the rate of climb dropped significantly. That meant the land nearly leveled off. Anyone approaching from downhill wouldn't know what lay beyond that intervisibility line until they popped their head over the crest.

Mind you, my orders only required I assault uphill. Nowhere did they specify I remain within the ravine.

The ravine was wide, the bottom forming a shallow basin. The last six feet of the walls were awfully steep on some stretches, nearly walkable in others. My battle plan accounted for the chance Kolson had learned his lesson earlier and set out flank security. Bravo and Delta would advance by bounds along the ravine bottom. Gonzalez and his guards would trail between them, remaining in their protection, and responsive to any casualties they encountered. These two were still the most likely to experience WIA's or KIA's. I think.

Charlie, led by Dawson, my marine ace in the hole, would advance along the ravine edge, bounding ahead of Bravo. The QRF, consisting of me, Forrester, Hoskins, and Walters would advance along the opposite edge and bound ahead of Delta. We took it slow. In part because of necessity. It was dark. At the same time, we wanted to locate Thunder's front line and flank security without getting spotted. The OC's issued each fireteam one rubber knife with a small reservoir of artificial blood. I had Bravo and Delta give theirs up to Charlie and the QRF. That placed two silent kill weapons in each team moving up on Thunder's possible flank security.

Bravo and Delta had to move up through the ravine with its rougher terrain. Charlie and my Q force had smoother terrain, but that left us more visible. Our progress was incredibly slow and deliberate. The tricky part came as we reached the change in slope. Charlie and Q reached that position first of course, as we were the screen. We each paused just below the intervisibility line. Bravo and Delta crept as close to the IV line as they could within the ravine and held their positions as well. I swear I could hear the men holding their breath. Time for our flank units to poke our heads above the line.

I led the way on my side. I'd bet good money Dawson did so on our left flank. I rolled to my side, then scooted forward. I let the side of my head breach the horizon line, screened by the grass. I rose steadily until I could see across the expanse. Twenty yards back, I could see three men arrayed behind a fallen tree. I crawled back a few feet to the rest of Q force. Walters crawled back from checking the ravine from the IV line. I filled the men in on what I saw.

"Matches what I saw, sarge." Walters added. "I spotted ten men arrayed in two vees, either side of the ravine, maybe ten meters back from the IV line."

"So security is back from the main line, just enough to watch for flank attacks, and close enough to support the main line. Okay, good work Walters. Hang tight guys." I called on the section net. Dawson replied with the same observations Walters and I had viewed. Now, before heading out, I'd communicated four basic attack options to my fireteam leaders. The second one was based on the premise that Kolson had learned his lesson about flank security and had taken the obvious terrain advantage of the bend in the terrain. "Lightning, this is Six. Activate Plan Bravo." At six second intervals, four pairs of double squawks on the radio answered.

I pointed, knife handed, out away from the ravine, then upslope. My Q force used the IV line to swiftly move across the enemy's likely line of sight until we were more than fifty yards out from the ravine. Then we breached the break in the slope in a high crawl. We kept up our movement until we were thirty yards back. Now we would be approaching from slightly behind the flank security post. All of us now moved on a line perpendicular to the ravine towards it. I signaled a halt when we were fifteen yards out. I pointed to Forrester and Walters. I pointed towards the outpost, then drew my hand across my throat. These two carried the fake knives for simulated quiet kills.

Part of me wanted to take part in the takedown, but those two had shown some skill at both stealth and CQB. I watched as Mike curved around to approach the OP from along the ravine edge. Walters approached from outside and behind. He measured his pace to match Forrester's longer arc. Hoskins and I readied our weapons as the other two closed with the targets.

Suddenly, Walters and Forrester leapt up and towards the trio of Thunder soldiers from behind. Each took out their first target with overhand strikes 'into' the chests of their 'victims'. The third was just turning towards Walters when Forrester got him in the back.

Hoskins and I jumped up and ran the short distance to the OP. Charlie reported similar success over the section net.

"Nice work, boys" I said in a whisper to my two knife wielders. Then I called for phase two setup over the radio. That entailed Q force and Charlie taking positions along the ravine edge. On my signal, both units would engage Thunder in the ravine below. Only then would Bravo and Delta rise into view. They would sweep across the objective and administer the death blow.

The plan worked perfectly. Thunder was wiped out in less than a minute. We took two KIA ourselves, though. Honestly, in a real combat situation, that would earn the whole section medals. I could be sickened at the thought, or I could accept the grim realities of warfare. I chose the second. It was a sobering thought though.

Both sections assembled on the edge of the road, about a klick away from the ravine mouth. The AAR would be later, after the second mission was complete. Two cattle cars pulled up as we made our way to the road. Thunder loaded into one, Lightning took the other. Our OC's decided to give Lightning 'something special' for this last mission. From the looks on their faces, I knew 'special' meant 'difficult', I just wasn't sure

how

difficult.

******

"Well, this'll be interesting." My section and I stood looking at an empty field, bound by a rock field on the left and a large copse of woods to the right. Our instructions specified we were not to take positions in either the rocks or the trees. Thunder would approach from our front. "Alright, fan out, look for any depressions, folds, or crevices. Step carefully so you don't injure yourself. We've got ten minutes until Thunder leaves their start line. They have a fifteen to twenty minute march to get here. Bravo sweep the sector from the rocks to thirty meters out. Delta take from the trees to thirty meters out. Charlie, you've got from mid-line of the field to Delta's left bound, Alpha, midline to Bravo's right bound. Let's find ourselves an advantage boys." The grass was knee high for most of the ground (assuming the ground was level) and neither side had NODs, so it wasn't hopeless, but it was going to be... interesting.

In ten minutes, I had reports from each fireteam. Delta found a small rise in their sector. Charlie discovered a small roll in the terrain, deep enough for a man to lie in. That depression was roughly linear, and across the expected line of march for Thunder. Alpha and Bravo found no significant terrain features. BY now, Thunder was moving in our direction.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do: Delta, take up an echelon right formation, anchored on the rise. Your primary sector of fire is the tree line. Charlie, take that trench you found, your sector is to our front. Bravo, echelon left oriented on the rock field. I'll take the Q force and fill the gap between Charlie and Bravo. Gonzalez, you and your guards take up position behind Charlie and maneuver as needed once the shooting starts. Until then, stay flat, we don't want them to see helmets bobbing in the middle of the field. Nothing in the Op order restricted Thunder to the field, so they could come through the trees or rocks. Stay alert boys. We've won more engagements than we've lost. That's due to teamwork and diligence. Keep your eyes open, watch your buddy's back and let's finish this."

The teams spread out to their designated areas and went about selecting individual positions. I observed Bravo's preparations before estimating the best position for Q to take. I posted Forrester on my right, Hoskins to my left, with Walters beyond him.

Silence fell over the field. We hadn't been making much noise in the first place. Sound carries well at night, no sense giving away too much. All four teams found positions with minimal noise and then went utterly quiet. Like an open grave, waiting for Thunder to walk in.

Twenty-five minutes later, Charlie called in, having spotted movement to their front. I saw figures moving across our front shortly thereafter.

I called on the net, "All units, standby, do not engage until they close within fifty meters." The only response was three sets of double-clicks. We all had Whisper mode selected on our volume knobs. That allowed us to whisper softly into the mike, but be heard clearly on the other end. Even so, avoiding making any sound was preferred.

A line of ten men advanced slowly towards Q and Charlie. The way they walked, the way they turned their heads suggested they were searching, not seeing us. Delta called in, saying they had possible movement in the trees. The troops to our front closed to fifty meters. Charlie and Q force opened fire.

The troops advancing in the open sprouted squealing MILES gear almost immediately. Within seconds, the forward group was wiped out.

As soon as we fired, however, the tree line erupted in fire. The other half of Thunder had come through the woods. They targeted our muzzle flashes. Which meant several misses. Then Delta engaged, targeting Thunder's muzzle flashes. There was enough fire coming from the trees to account for the rest of Thunder, though. There was no one coming through the rocks. Charlie reported down to half effectives. My Q force was intact, as was Bravo and Delta. Though Delta might start losing some soon.

I popped the mic volume knob out of Whisper mode. "Bravo, link up with Charlie, keep your heads down and your eyes towards the main line of advance. Delta, hold position, Quebec is on the way."

My men and I sprinted across the open ground leading to Delta. The darkness kept us from view for a part of our dash. Tunnel vision on the part of the attackers gave us a bit of extra protection. As we took kneeling positions behind Delta, Hoskin's Miles alarm went off. Two men on Delta were also out of the fight. Q opened up on the muzzle flash. A moment later, we could hear the chirping of another MILES alarm. Each time a rifle fired from within the woods, three or more responded from Delta and Q force's position. Eventually, the tree line was quiet. Ten minutes later, as the light grew on the eastern horizon, the all-call came over the radio, telling both sections to rally near the road that Thunder had been delivered on.

The field was not terribly even -- as evidenced by the folds and hillock Lightning used for cover and concealment. Rather than form the men up, We let them filter back to the rally point on their own. Thunder and Lightning mingled. Voices remained soft in the grey-rose blush of early dawn as the men swapped stories and told jokes. Occasionally, an NCO called out to a slow-moving cluster to pick up the pace. We still covered the distance in less time than it had taken Thunder to advance in the opposite direction. But we were expecting an AAR and breakfast, not moving to contact.

The first ones to arrive got first dibs on breakfast. Oatmeal was popular. Most picked up a chill during the overnight hours. Coffee was very popular -- nobody had slept since about this time yesterday. That was by design though. Kolson was the one to suggest it, but I heartily agreed that introducing these guys to twenty-four hour ops was a useful training aid.

Kolson and I went last in line, but called our team leaders over first. While we got chow, the NCO's herded the men into a rough semicircle. As we took our seats, MSG Opler began his After Action Review.

"First off, I want to commend each of you for your diligence and hard work. There was limited time for this training, and you all jumped in feet first to get as much out of it as you could. Your teamwork is spot-on. I also noticed some bonding between the sections. You'll be side-by-side in the defense, so that all works out to the good of all of us -- your two sections, plus the people you'll be defending."

"I'll be briefing your section chiefs on intake procedures for the Bunker once this review is over. As I understand it, you have a shindig planned this evening. It is well deserved. They will disseminate the information at the party."

"Now, to get on with it. First mission, Lightning in the attack, Thunder in the defense -- defending from behind the IV line was the smartest choice, but your OP's should have been placed

at

the IV line, so they could see the approaching forces. That was especially important since your opponents in this action have the ability to move as quiet as a damn snake."

A few chuckles greeted his words, and a few looks towards Sgt Dawson, our individual movement expert. That day training in movement techniques, everyone watched him instructing his section, so we all benefited from his skill. Clearly, it paid off.

Opler went on to praise the two-prong approach Thunder used in their attack, and admonish Kolson the second section would have been better used coming through the rocks. After a few more details on individual fireteam leader decisions during the night missions, Opler went into an overview of the Thursday missions. We'd already discussed them once, immediately after each mission, but now was the time for a consolidated wrap-up.

The Sun was fully above the horizon as he brought up his ending flourish. "SFC Kolson, matched against anyone else, you would have done far better. I certainly suspect you are in good shape to hold off any un-trained militia types, if they even show their faces. You had the misfortune of going against this guy," he pointed at me, "who cut his baby teeth on strategy games."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised." Kolson replied.

"Our FIST ell-tee was a big strategy game guy too. Ansen and he played board games all the damn time. Hell, one time the lieutenant brought a miniature chessboard to the hill during live fire. That was the easiest game they played." He turned to me.

"By the way, last I heard, he's now Colonel Manetti with the hundred and first. He also switched to Infantry. He's been a battalion commander for a year and a half and a division staff officer for two years before that. He was deep dipped for his star and a brigade command before the Rock was publicly acknowledged. I haven't gotten it confirmed if he's in one of the bunkers or not. All the usual NCO back channels are messed up with all the bunker restructuring. I know he's not in the West Coast Bunker with me, and he's not in the Southern Bunker in Georgia."

Then Opler turned back to the gathered men. "Good work, and good luck. Maybe we can catch each other for drinks in a decade or two." With that, he walked off to his truck, parked beside the chow hall truck. The 'mess specialists' had just finished stowing their equipment. He spoke with them briefly before they departed.

Kolson and I stood as Opler departed. Kolson addressed the men. "Alright, you heard the man. Good work one and all. I'm pleased with your performance. None of us were perfect, but we all did well. Take some time over the next two weeks to practice some of these skills so they stay fresh. We'll have more to share this evening regarding specifics. Everybody report to the base conference center, building 6045 on Sheridan Road at 1800 -- that's 6pm for you still-partly-civvies. Bring the family. We've been given some unit funds and used those to reserve the room and order in some catering."

"Chow hall food?" someone asked.

"Hell, no. I wouldn't do that to your kids. You, yes, but I'd never serve a child that slop." That was good for some chuckles all around. "We catered in a local barbeque joint. Man's been smokin' four kinds of meat for over a day. Plenty of sides too. We'll have karaoke, free food, and the first two drinks are on the unit funds also. Adult beverages, that is. Water, tea, and soft drinks are free. You can buy additional alcohol, but the bartenders will cut you off if you go overboard."

"Uh, Sarge, so, we getting gassed again?" Forrester looked straight at me.

I laughed, shaking my head. "NO, no gas this time. Just enjoy yourselves. Sing to your ladies, hang out with each other's families, and have a good time before we all leave tomorrow. We'll share the intake procedures at the beginning and then we'll all unwind from the week."

"Any questions?" Kolson asked. No one responded. "The first cattle car is going to Thunder's assembly area, the second is going to Lightning's. Clear outta here, get a shower and some sleep. Dismissed."

The men quickly formed lines boarding the transports. Kolson and I walked over to Opler. The first thing he did was hand over two small boxes. "In each box are twenty-two briefing booklets, freshly printed yesterday. They finalized what they wanted last week, but only finished puttering on spelling and comma placement Wednesday. The units that trained in prior weeks are getting their booklets mailed. Walk your boys through a quick overview. There's a printed sheet on the top of each box. Hand out the booklets, give them the verbal thumbnail, then enjoy your evening." He stuck his hand out towards Kolson. "Good meeting you, sergeant, Safe travels." Kolson nodded and walked off.

Opler turned to me, with his hand extended. I took it. The rims of his eyes matched what I felt in my own. "I was glad to see you on the training roster when I got it. I had no expectation to see you again, and now..." his voice cracked.