by Harold Coyle
Having had a few seconds to collect himself in the wake of Shaddock's less-than-cordial greeting, Delmont folded his arms across his chest and leaned over to look down at the toes of his boots for a second. When he was ready he glanced up at Shaddock.
"I suppose I could say that I understand how you feel, that I am well aware of the goat rope we have been putting you through these past few weeks without allowing you the freedom to level with your men. Well, I'm not going to bullshit you. I'm not going to because you're a professional soldier and an officer who's been in the Army long enough to know how things work."
"You have no need to remind me of that, mister."
"Then climb down off your high horse, Colonel, and start acting like it!"
Having been called on his less-than-exemplary behavior by a fellow officer, Shaddock felt a sudden pang of regret. Though he was still angry over the way he was being kept in the dark about what was going on at echelons above him, Shaddock knew that he had been wrong to carry on the way he had. Tucking his hands up under his arms, Shaddock pulled away a few steps. Looking down at the ground, he kicked some dirt about with the toe of his boot as he regrouped. "Okay, Colonel. What are my new orders?"
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While the Ranger's demeanor was still far from being friendly, at least he had ratcheted down his tone to something resembling civility.
Delmont answered accordingly. "When Fanfare was originally planned it was meant to be nothing more than a deception plan, a not-so-veiled threat that would serve as a warning to the Syrians."
Without looking up from the circles he was drawing in the sand with the toe of his boot, Shaddock nodded. "Yes, that part I understood. We were to be the sword of Damocles hanging above the negotiating table."
"Something like that, yes," Delmont affirmed. "From the beginning, the administration took the position that this crisis would be resolved through diplomacy."
Glancing up from his sand art for a moment, Shaddock looked beyond Delmont and out into the open desert. "Let me guess. Someone forgot to fax the president's talking points to the Syrians."
Sharing the Ranger's contempt for the manner with which the crisis had been handled up to this point, Delmont agreed as he also gazed out into the vast, barren distance. "Yeah, something like that." Then, looking back at Shaddock, he picked up where he had left off. "The Commander in Chief has finally come to realize that something must be done to bring this crisis to an end."
It took Shaddock several seconds to realize that Delmont's pause was deliberate, Very deliberate. When he looked back into the eyes of the special ops plans officer, the commanding officer of the 3rd of the 75th Rangers understood what this unexpected silence implied. Whatever bitterness he still harbored left him.
"We are actually going to be sent in?" he finally managed to ask.
"There's nothing we can do to save Sergeant Hashmi," Delrnont explained. "And as well as our sources can determine, both Burman and Ciszak are beyond our reach."
Shaddock didn't need to ask what the Department of the Army staff officer meant by "beyond our reach." He was enough
'°f a pragmatist to understand.
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"Even the others," Delmont went on as he began to shuffle his own feet as he started in delve into a subject that he found difficult to verbalize, "may be a lost cause."
"Yet we are still going to try," Shaddock stated glumly. "That is why you are here, isn't it?"
Delmont decided that it was time to drop his evasive manner and get to the point. Stomping his feet as if he were shaking something off his boots, the special ops officer looked into Shaddock's eyes. "Fanfare has been modified. Instead of using Delta and Task Force 160, your battalion is responsible for the entire operation, from beginning to end. Delta and Task Force 160 will now become the deception while this battalion deploys from here directly into combat."
While he had been expecting something radical, it took Shaddock a moment to do the math. "We are going to fly halfway around the world nonstop, make a combat jump, and storm a military prison in downtown Damascus."
Delmont nodded. "Yes, something like that. Which," he added as he jerked his thumb up over his shoulder and toward the transport, "is why we brought along an entire company's worth of the new Land Warrior system the folks at Belvoir have been working on. It should give us enough of an edge over any resistance we encounter to pull this thing off."
"We?" Shaddock asked incredulously.
"For better or worse, Colonel, I'm here to stay."
Try as they might, the training NCOs who had accompanied Lieutenant Colonel Neil Kaplan, could not keep the soldiers of Company A, 3rd of the 75th Rangers from tearing into the boxes and crates they had been issued. The refrain, "Take it easy on the gear" could be heard echoing around the maintenance bay that had been converted into an ad hoc issue point and classroom Even the fact that their beloved company commander had been summarily relieved in the field and replaced by a total stranger was MORE THAN COURAGE
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forgotten as the Rangers of Alpha Company inspected the high tech gear that they would soon have a chance to play with.
In the middle of the organized bedlam, First Lieutenant Emmett DeWitt stood next to the officer responsible for issuing the Land Warrior systems to DeWitt's company and training them in its use. "You realize," Kaplan muttered, "we do not have the time needed to fully qualify your men on this system. At best they will be able to use but a fraction of its full capability."
As he watched his men go about defying the dictates of Kaplan's NCOs, and continue to rip into boxes like hyperactive kids on Christmas morn, DeWitt grinned. "Colonel, those are Rangers you're talking about. Every now and then they've been known to surprise folks with what they-can do."
Making no effort to hide the deadly earnest tone of his voice, Kaplan looked over at the new commander of Alpha. "For our sake and the sake of those poor bastards in Damascus, let's hope you're right."
Taking the hint, DeWitt nodded. "Yes, sir. You do have a point."
Not wishing to linger on that grim thought any longer than necessary, Kaplan cleared his throat. "If you follow me, Lieutenant, I will introduce you to the latest version of the new and improved Land Warrior. While it pales when compared to what the folks in Hollywood can dream up, it is the system that will revolutionize ground warfare."
"Colonel, I'm the last person in the world you need to convince.
I'm a believer."
With a sly smile, Kaplan cocked his head. "Good. Now, let's get down to making you a practitioner."
Weaving their way through the clutter of soldiers, instructors, empty boxes, packing material, and high-tech gear, Kaplan led DeWitt to a table off to one side of the room where DeWitt's executive officer and platoon leaders were gathered. On the table one of Kaplan's NCOs had laid out complete sets of the Land Warrior for each of them. "This is Master Sergeant Benoit, the 270
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NCOIC of the Land Warrior mobile training team. He has set aside a complete set for yourself and each of your officers," he announced as they stood before the mass of cables, electronic black boxes, weapons, sights, vests, and helmets. "I thought it would be beneficial if we gave you and your officers a leg up on the system while the rest of your command and my people complete the process of unpacking, sorting, and issuing the equipment."
With a nod DeWitt acknowledged Kaplan's forethought and courtesy.
"While the equipment before you is basically no different than any of the other sets your company will be receiving, these computers have several additional programs, which analysts in my office have concluded a company commander and his platoon leaders might need in combat."
"Excuse me, Colonel, I don't mean to be rude or to interrupt, but are you saying what I think you are saying? As in, Gee, we haven't tried this yet?"
For the briefest of moments the self-assured confidence that Neil Kaplan had presented
up to this point wavered. But only for a moment. "Well, yes and no."
Far from placating his concern, DeWitt cocked his head and folded his arms. "Colonel, if you don't mind me asking, exactly how much is yes and how much is no?"
Kaplan's expression made it quite clear that he did mind. Still, he took the time to answer DeWitt's inquiry. "The prototype of this version is the outgrowth of years of testing and evaluation.
This particular model was subjected to numerous tests under every imaginable environmental and combat condition with a great deal of emphasis on desert warfare. What we have here," he stated as he laid his left hand on a stack of equipment sitting on the table, "is part of the initial low-rate engineering-protection run, or LREP, that had been slated for full-scale evaluation later this year at Fort Hood."
After studying the equipment for a moment DeWitt turned and looked at his officers. To a man they were as unfamiliar to MORE THAN COURAGE
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him as they were with Kaplan's high-tech gear, so he could not read their expressions and determine what, if anything, they were thinking. Of course, he concluded, it didn't make a rat's ass what they thought. Nor did it matter if he had reservations over the reliability of the equipment before him. They were all soldiers.
They had their marching orders and that, as they say, is that.
Forcing a smile, DeWitt clapped his two hands together and rubbed them as he looked over at Kaplan. "Well, that's good enough for me, Colonel. Let's get started."
20:10 LOCAL (03:10 ZULU) t
Using the same well-rehearsed presentation that he used every time he was charged with presenting an initial orientation on the Land Warrior, Master Sergeant Benoit added a healthy dose of theory as he picked up each item and explained its purpose.
"This version of the Land Warrior is designed to be incorporated into the MOLLE battle vest and the Interceptor body armor. The personal area network, or PAN, consists of independent communications modules which are arranged so as to distribute their weight evenly without hindering the flexibility or agility of the soldier."
Unable to keep his peace, the most outspoken platoon leader of third Platoon, Second Lieutenant Peter Quinn chuckled. "Gee, that's really nice of them."
In a flash DeWitt turned and gave Quinn one of those piercmg looks that needed no translation. Sheepishly, Quinn bowed his head. "Sorry."
Having taken care of his unruly officer, DeWitt nodded to Master Sergeant Benoit. "You may proceed."
"If you would, sir," Benoit stated as he handed DeWitt the body armor and battle vest that had been set aside for him. Once he had finished adjusting the straps so that they were comfortably snug, the training NCO continued by picking up the first 272
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box on the table. "The heart, or more correctly, the brain of the system is this computer," Benoit stated as he handed it to DeWitt to inspect. "It is powered by a pair of rechargeable batteries that provide forty-eight hours of continuous use under normal conditions."
"Define 'normal' if you would, Sergeant," DeWitt insisted.
"Normal takes into account a day/night cycle," Benoit explained as he took the computer from DeWitt and slid it into the pocket on the combat vest designed for it. "It assumes the periods of rest that a soldier requires, using historical models when measuring the duration of combat in any given forty-eight-hour period. Quite naturally if the man is chatting over the wireless local area network, or WLAN, nonstop, has his thermal sight powered up and on around the clock and is tapping the GPS update button every ten seconds the batteries won't last that long."
DeWitt grunted but said nothing as Benoit continued.
"There are a number of modules built into the computer itself.
These include a GPS receiver, a pedometer capable of measuring the pace of the user, and a digital compass. In addition to the NAV, or navigational module, this system not only maintains your current position but also transmits this data to the situational awareness, or SA, module on other Land Warrior systems."
"So I can keep track of where each individual soldier in my company is," DeWitt stated as Benoit finished securing the computer module.
Understanding where DeWitt was going, Kaplan responded to DeWitt's question. "For some time now the problem has been not providing commanders or soldiers with information. This became painfully obvious to all the services during the First Gun War in 1991. Information management, or packaging data into usable products is the key to success in warfare on the digital battlefield.
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Hence the special programs keyed to specific users. On your system, for example, the default settings for locations of your command are platoons, battalion combat support elements, and friendly units to your left and right. Your platoon leaders will see their squads when they access their situational awareness program and, in turn, their squad leaders will see only the members of their own squad as well as their platoon leader and any friendly troops within a prescribed radius. Of course, if you want to zero in on a particular squad or call one of your platoon leaders to meet him face-to-face, you have capability of tracking that squad or platoon leader and finding them right off."
DeWitt nodded. "Sounds like a winner to me. Next?"
"Knowing where your people a~re is only the beginning,"
Benoit continued after he finished locking in a new cable into the computer module. "The secure, non-line-of-sight wireless local area network, or WLAN, has two voiceover IP push-to-talk buttons which allow you to contact anyone operating on the net. It will negate the need for a separate squad radio system."
Lieutenant Quinn raised his right index finger in order to catch Benoit's attention. Since Benoit was involved in hooking up DeWitt's Land Warrior system, Kaplan took the question. "Yes, Lieutenant. You have a question?"
"Does this local area network negate the need for our current tactical radios?"
Without pausing, Benoit responded to Quinn's question as he made a minor adjustment on the next component he would be dealing with. "Not at this time. The current family of SINCGARS
tactical radios have a greater range, frequency hopping, and secure voice capability. They will remain the backbone of our tactical command-and-control system for the foreseeable future."
"Not all units you may find yourself operating with will have the Land Warrior," Kaplan stated. "It will be some time before combat support and combat service support personnel have a system like this tailored to their specific requirements. And even 274
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then, given the attitude of many of our allies toward force modernization and the military, it is an open question as to whether other nations will field a system similar to Land Warrior."
From somewhere in the crowd, one of the platoon leaders sneered. "Three cheers for our allies."
Ignoring the interruption Benoit took up the helmet he had secured from DeWitt in advance and held it before him. "Up until now we have been dealing with command-and-control and land navigation. Now we start looking at the business end of the system, the weapons sights and laser designators."
This brought a smile to DeWitt's face. "Now, that's what I'm talkin' about. Bring it on, Sergeant."
Once Dewitt had his helmet on and had secured the chin strap, Benoit reached up and flipped a small oval disk down.
"This, sir, is your lightweight thermal weapons sight, or LWTWS."
Reaching up, Dewitt gingerly touched the edges of the thin disk between his index finger and thumb. "This seems rather small."
"Until we come up with a system capable of replicating data as images that the soldier can recognize without a second thought," Kaplan pointed out, "the soldier must still be free to use his own eyes. In future versions the soldier will have a completely enclosed helmet not unlike those used by virtua
l reality systems."
When his colonel was finished, Benoit continued. "You're going to need to adjust this over one of your eyes, sir, to where you can easily see whatever is displayed on it. The adjustments are done like this, and this."
After watching as best he could what the training NCO was doing, DeWitt fiddled with the weapons sight hanging from his helmet until he was satisfied with where it was. "Okay. What now?
A subtle shift in Master Sergeant Benoit's voice hinted that this was the portion of his orientation that he enjoyed. "The weapon s subsystem incorporates two sights, the lightweight thermal weap
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ons sight and the ultralight color video sight attached to the weapon. Images generated by both of those are viewed by the soldier on the monocular display attached to his helmet."
Just as eager as his NCO, Kaplan could not help but jump in when he could to point out key-points. "One of the most difficult aspects we have had with digitizing the battlefield at the individual combat soldier level has been the presentation of information in a manner that is immediately recognizable and useful. For example, humans are visually oriented. We respond to things we see based upon their shape, color, posture, and activity. A soldier on the battlefield does not have time to read a message being beamed across his field of vision stating 'Enemy, three o'clock.' The cognitive process required to translate that rhessage or symbols into a coherent thought upon which he can then base his response takes time, time which an infantryman cannot afford. For a system to be worthwhile it has to enhance a soldier's awareness and reduce his response time to threats, not impede it. Therefore all of our efforts have been geared to delivering information and images to the soldier in a form that is natural to him and elicits a response that is more instinctive. Hence the switch to full color instead of the black-and-white imaging used in initial prototypes. In time we expect to go even further by adopting some of the technologies used by the virtual reality people. Not only will the soldier be able , to see a three-dimensional world through his weapon's sight, threats will be highlighted or enhanced."