Golf India Juliet: The Cobra Insurgency

The Raid

Wild Bill

     His hands casually gripped the cyclic and the collective as he gave more power to the experimental aircraft.  The engines screamed as he controlled the delicate balance between forward momentum and spinning into a chaotic dive.  Everything was a pastel representation of his human sight under the night vision goggles.  The NVGs were the newest model to come down the pipe and his old unit were in the process of testing and evaluating them in small numbers.  The powerful devices turned the darkest night into a slightly overcast day, complete with colored hues of reds and blue.  This was literal night and day difference compared to the old green scale NVGs he was familiar with.

     He could see his escort birds out of the cockpit window.  They were from his old unit, and they were not happy about the current situation.  They had been alerted for a no warning mission and told very little more than 'Be here at this time', and were now flying into a sovereign country escorting an experimental stealth Chinook, carrying a fully loaded assault team.  His mind could not grasp the strangeness of the situation.  William Hardy was a senior pilot in the Army's most elite aviation unit.  Seventeen years flying and fifteen in special operations made him uniquely qualified for this new assignment.

     His navigator Vic, signaled the five minute mark, and Bill gave the warning over the intercom.  He glanced back to see heavily laden warriors standing and preparing to once more go into battle.  The ridge he was following would lead him to three small hills which was the last handrail to the target.

Torpedo Edward W Leialoha and Rock n' Roll Craig S Mconnel

     Chief Petty Officer Ed Leialoha leaned off the rear ramp of the Stealthhook stretching his retention lanyard to its maximum as he scanned for the Target building below.  The prop wash whipped his desert digital uniform as he looked over his shoulder to see his teammate Rock n' Roll with his signature Mark 48 machine gun slung, holding the heavy fast rope tightly.  Due to Fuel and weight concerns there was no crew chief on board the aircraft.  He and R&R had went through BUDS together and had been in the the same squadron years later.  R&R was a true warrior.  He had joined the Navy after two years in the Army Infantry, which he described as boring.

     The Stealthook banked sharply which brought Torp back to reality and he began once again to scan below for the Target building.  He knew the rest of the team were counting on him and he didn't want to let them down.  The Scottish countryside was a dark blur beneath the speeding aircraft.  The only lights were the occasional small farm house.  He looked back and could see his Recce team on the benches of the rear Littlebird.  They were sure to be frozen by the time they hit the objective.

     Three rolling hills passed below and to the North.  He leaned further out and could see the small square structure, the cold wind stinging his eyes.  He turned and gave the thirty second hand signal before nodding to R&R.  The two warriors were leaning precariously outside the aircraft when they felt the Stealthook begin to decelerate and level off.  The target roof was directly below when Torp gave the signal to drop the ropes.

     The elite troopers filed past and slid down the fast rope to the target. The last assaulter was past and Torp followed down the rope into darkness.

Beach Head Wayne Sneeden

     The fast rope was attached to the inside of the aircraft and disappeared into the blackness below, only illuminated by a chemical light at the bottom.  Wayne was the third man down the rope right behind R&R.  The heat from his grip on the rope was beginning to be unbearable when his feet hit the roof.  He moved forward with the explosive breaching charge, and attached it to the metal door.  The door was definitely not original to this Scottish village.  He trailed the shock tube out as he moved away from the immediate blast area.  The team had rehearsed this hit until every movement was automatic.  Beach Head heard Stalker give the go code and he fired the explosive.  The night gave way to an orange tinged flash, the over pressure was intense and the chemical smell of burned explosives filled the open roof area.  He was at the door before the smoke cleared and gave the failure report over the radio "No breach."  The breaching charge should have sent the door through the other side of the house.  Beach Head stepped to the side as Mainframe kneeled in front of the door.