Power Games: Operation Enduring Unity I by R A Peters Page A

much longer until they’re done. When they come, we got nothing to stop them, over.” The colonel chewed on that for a long time, all while fiddling with his VMI class ring.
    “Eagle 6, this is Gator 6. Did you copy my last, over?”
    The radio operator clicked the mike on and tried to answer. Anderson grabbed it back. “Roger, Gator 6. I copy…break…break…the surrender of your command is at your discretion, over.”
    Brown snatched the mike away from his commander. “Wait one, Gator 6.”
    Voice barely above a whisper, he growled at the enlisted men. “Let me talk with the Colonel alone.” The two enlisted soldiers melted away fast. Even the XO found somewhere else to go.
    “Don’t you fucking dare, sir! You make a command decision right now. Don’t force a junior NCO to make that type of call to save your reputation. Man up and tell them to…” he had to spit the word out, “surrender, or tell them to die to the last man, but it’s your responsibility, not his.”
    Someone burst away with a SAW light machine gun on the far side of the perimeter, towards the highway ringing the field. M4 rifles joined in a second later…not all as outgoing fire.
    The battalion executive officer came back to their huddle. “The Guard’s just probing the perimeter, sir. Trying to define the battle space. Don’t worry. We have tight 360 degree security.”
    Anderson finally spoke up. “Little good it does us when they have armor and artillery.”
    The XO finally stopped his perpetual scowling. “We’re working on that, sir. Brigade promised to scramble a few F/A-18 fighters. It’ll take them nearly an hour to get on station here and you’ll have to personally approve every strike, but it’s something.”
    The sergeant major needlessly kept pushing the forward assist button on his M-4, an old nervous tick of his. “They don’t have an hour. Minutes, tops. Make a call, sir. I’ll back you either way.”
    Anderson stretched out his hand. “Am I allowed to communicate with my command now, Sergeant Major? If you don’t mind, I’d like to be in charge of this unit for a minute.”
    “Hooah, sir.”
    The colonel never broke eye contact with him as he took the mike. “Gator 6, Eagle 6, over.”
    “Gator 6, over.”
    “You are authorized, correction, you are ordered to surrender your element to the enemy, over.”
    “Say again, over?”
    “This is Eagle 6, you heard me. You’ve all done a fine job, but there’s nothing more to accomplish there. This is not Afghanistan. I’m not going to throw any more lives away over this crap, over.” The radio was silent so long the colonel thought he’d lost another leader. The curt reply spoke volumes.
    “ WILCO , out.”
    The colonel bristled at the shorthand for “will comply.” He’d been around long enough to know it also served as polite enlisted code for, “Fine, I’ll do it, you jackass.”
    The livid executive officer ran back to their huddle and waved the Sat phone in disgust. “They called them back, sir! Straight from the president! He overruled headquarters. Only explanation was some bullshit about not wanting to ‘escalate’ things. That fucker even relieved General Jacobi for refusing to comply.”
    Brown dropped back on a knee. “So? I knew that promise of close air support was too good to be true. Fuck it; we didn’t have the fast movers before. We haven’t lost nothing.”
    “No, Sergeant Major. I don’t mean just them. I’m talking about the rest of the brigade! Our follow on relief, the Tallahassee task force…everyone! They cut us off. We’re ordered to hold in place until further orders. Oh, and avoid taking or inflicting casualties!” To the open-mouthed faces gathered around he added, “I swear, you can’t make this shit up!”
    A familiar, clanking whine far too close cut off the bitch fest. A short salvo of 25mm high-explosive rounds landed harmlessly in the middle of the airfield. Things just went from bad to worse beyond