In the middle of the road, five hundred yards out, sat an armored half-track. It showed a mounted weapon that the captain said was a .50-caliber MG, after checking it with his binoculars.
The scout pointed to the sides and down one connecting street. It looked like more than a hundred riflemen behind good cover.
“Yes, a small problem.”
“The fifty could take down that rig,” Murdock said. “We use it mostly for destroying hardware, vehicles, radar installations, and a chopper now and then. Want some help on it?”
“Take out the truck, we still have those eighty men down there.”
“Do the truck, then more of the forty-mikes. Your men must have thirty or forty under-barrel launchers. We have five. Throw in a couple of hundred rounds before they can scatter, and all you have to do is clean up.”
Captain Browser stared at the scene ahead as he thought about it. At last he nodded. “Okay, we move all the launchers up to within two hundred yards. We launch, and at the same time, your man blows that fifty and the truck into scrap metal. Let’s do it.”
When the riflemen and Murdock’s five SEALs were on line and ready to fire, Captain Browser gave Bradford a nod. The first fifty round caught the truck’s windshield and blew it out. Before any reaction came, Bradford’s second round drilled through the engine. The third hit the fuel tank, and the truck blew up in a huge gasoline fireball, spraying flaming gasoline and truck parts for fifty yards.
With the first .50-caliber round, the forty-mike rounds sailed into the air. About half were short, but enough hit inside the range of the infantry to kill and wound many. The rounds continued to rain down now with more on target. Some shooters lifted their range to catch those who ran to the rear to avoid the death from the sky.
The Marines had been using their M-16s as rifles, too, and blasted anything that moved below. Four minutes after the first round, Captain Browser called for cease-fire.
Ten or fifteen Bahrainian soldiers came out from solid cover and ran to the rear. Let them go, Murdock decided.
The 350 men moved out again with the SEALs. So far, Adams and Holt had been the only casualties.
Captain Browser came up with a man packing a SATCOM. “The force on Beach B ran into a whole shitpot full of trouble. Underwater obstacles ruptured the first LCU. Only half the men made it to shore. They hit ten or twelve mines before they detoured around the open sand and ran into a force of two hundred men who had them pinned down for three hours. Only now are they starting to move toward the capital.”
“We picked the right beach, Captain.”
“Yeah, but that puts them way behind schedule. We were supposed to have this wrapped up before nightfall.”
“Not now,” Murdock said. “Not if the B team was supposed to capture the army headquarters.”
“So, we take over the airport, leave a force there, and charge on into town eight miles away and do a frontal assault on the army’s GHQ?”
“I hope no frontal assault,” Murdock said. “It all depends on the situation…”
Captain Browser stopped him. “And the terrain. I took that same course at the academy. Hell, let’s take down the airport, then we worry about what to do next. Maybe the other battalion can move fast enough to get it done without help.”
“Wouldn’t count on it,” Murdock said.
They ran into no more trouble or even enemy snipers and came to the boundary fence to the airport just before 0900. Captain Browser and Murdock surveyed the airport from the roof of a small building near the fence. Lam and the Marine scout also studied the layout.
“Kid gloves in here,” Browser said. “We’re supposed to do as little damage as we can while we take over the airport, without getting ourselves killed.”
“No fifties into the control tower or into the military transports on the macadam,” Murdock said.
“Yeah. The tower and the administration offices are the primary targets. Also, we’ve learned there is a hangar being used for troop housing. Three targets. A hundred men for each one. I’ll split up the force and make assignments. Murdock, you come with my group. We’ll do the admin building.”
“Right. Captain, can your SATCOM contact your ship? I need to know how my wounded man is doing.”
The captain nodded and pointed Murdock at his radio operator.
The corporal made two calls on the box and gave the phone-type handset to Murdock.
“I’ve got sick bay for you, sir. They say your man is there. The doctor who treated him will be on in a minute.”
17
Airport
Bahrain
“Commander? This is Dr. Alspaugh on board the Boxer. You’re inquiring about Petty Officer Adams?”
“Yes sir. How is he?”
“He’s alive. It was questionable when we received him here. We stabilized him and treated his other wounds. He’s out of danger now. The arm is the problem. We have the body part on ice and will try to reattach it when he’s ready.”
“Do your best, Doctor. He’s a good man. What about Holt?”
“Superficial wounds, but we’re worried about his eyes. It may be a temporary blindness. The intensity of the light from the blast could have damaged the retina. We’re watching him closely.”
“Thanks, Doc. Do your best.”
Murdock and the radioman ran to catch up with Captain Browser and his men. They were on an end run around the airport to come in through the main entrance. They moved down a side road around this back part of the airport and saw no military units.
Their lead men came around a corner, and they could see the main entrance. Two military trucks sat there across the lanes of traffic. A dozen soldiers stood around with their weapons slung, muzzles pointing down.
The Marines went to the ground along the side of the road and began firing at the trucks. The Bahrainian troops scattered, then the trucks started, backed around, and raced down the highway away, from the airport.
The Marines moved up cautiously. Murdock had his SEALs in the second unit. When they arrived at the entrance to the airport off the highway, there was only some broken glass on the pavement to show the encounter. The Marines rushed through the driveway and turned left down a circular road toward a five-story building away from the passenger terminal.
“Administration building?” Jaybird asked Murdock.
“Must be. Where are all the troops? Is this colonel a military man or a ringer?”
Just after Murdock said it, six RPGs slammed into the Marine force. A dozen men went down, injured or dying. None of the rounds hit near the SEALs. Captain Browser dispersed his men and moved them forward slowly, clearing cars and vehicles parked along the road. He made sure the medics took care of the wounded. Then he called for choppers from the Boxer to do a medical evacuation.
“Yes, Lieutenant. I said we have wounded. Nine men who need immediate medical care and two KIA. We want them out of here at once. Get those choppers moving.”
Captain Browser left six Marines behind to protect the wounded and the medics, then they moved toward the big building.
The Marines were running, charging across the parking lot at the front door of the five-story building. Murdock and his SEALs went with them.
“A fucking frontal assault,” Murdock shouted at Jaybird. “I told the captain not to do this.”
They were thirty yards from the front door when Murdock realized they weren’t taking any enemy fire. Browser split his force, sent half of them to the back and the rest of them charged directly into the building.
Murdock and the SEALs went in the front and stayed on the first floor as some of the Marines moved up the stairs and others froze the elevators and generally cleared the building. Murdock heard no firing.
Five minutes later, Captain Browser came back to the lobby.
“Not a single military man in the place,” he said. I talked to one of the people who spoke English. He said the military had been here, but they pulled out this morning. They said something about
going to the beach to fight an invasion.”
Browser used his radio and contacted his other units attacking the other two targets. The Marines had taken their objectives. They, too, had found no military. The captain told the units to hold fast, let the normal business go on uninterrupted. Flight schedules would be maintained.
He called up his radioman and talked on the SATCOM to a colonel on the B force that had landed on the other beach.
“Yes sir. Understood. Two miles from the edge of the airport. Yes sir. Right away.”
He hung up the handset and shook his head. “We leave twenty men at each of the three facilities here and push on to the army GHQ two miles toward town. You want to stay here or come with us?”
“Captain, I’ve been wondering who fired those six RPGs. Had to be somebody in this facility. Why don’t we do security here and try to find those shooters. Should be at least three men, from the way the rounds came in.”
“Yes, hadn’t thought about that. We’ll leave this place in your hands. There should be some choppers from the Boxer here soon to evacuate those wounded. When they do, keep the security Marines with you. We’ll link up later.”
“Make some noise leaving, Captain. We’ll lay low here and try and find the shooters.”
The Marines left the building, formed up outside, and marched away through the airport parking lot, back out the entrance, and toward town.
Murdock told his men the problem. He put two SEALs in the stairways on each floor with instructions to crack the door an inch and watch for any uniformed men or men with weapons. He and Dobler went behind the reception desk and crouched down, waiting.
Ten minutes after the Marines had left, Murdock heard his earpiece come on.
“Skip, third floor. Just saw three men in brown uniforms get on the elevator. Didn’t see any weapons, but they wouldn’t be showing them off, would they. Should be in the lobby shortly.”
Murdock waited.
“Skip, second floor. Those three men got out here and went down some service stairs. I’d guess heading out the back door.”
Murdock and Dobler left the reception desk, ran for the only back door they saw, and waited outside against the building. A service door opened fifty feet down the side of the structure. One man came out and looked around, then the other two left, and they walked toward where Murdock and Dobler hid behind some exterior machinery.
Murdock stepped out when the men were thirty yards away.
“Hold it,” Murdock barked. The three men stopped, then drew pistols and fired. Murdock and Dobler dove to the ground and kicked out two three-round bursts each from their MP-5s. The bullets caught all three men and put them on the ground. They dropped their handguns. By the time Murdock and Dobler moved up, two of them were dead. The third one rolled over and tried to fire his hideout gun. Murdock jolted three rounds into his chest, and he died with a scream.
USS Boxer LHD 4
Commander Alspaugh shook his head. “We can’t do it here. There’s a chance we can save his arm on the Enterprise. They have the experts who can do it. I’ll make the arrangements. Get him ready to travel on a litter. Now.”
The medic looked at Al Adams again. He was under heavy sedation. They had another three hours to get that arm attached, or it wouldn’t be possible.
The commander used the radio and told the hospital on the carrier that they were coming and to get ready to attach an arm. He wanted everything ready when the chopper landed on the deck.
Dr. Alspaugh took one more look at the other SEAL, Holt. He was awake, alert, and worried.
“I still can’t see, Doc. When do I get my eyesight back?”
“Holt, we can’t be sure. We’ve inspected the back of your eye, the retina. It doesn’t look damaged, but this is a touchy situation. You could blink once or twice a minute from now and your eyes be entirely back to normal.”
“Yeah, Doc, what’s the other side of it?”
“You already know that. You could be blind for life, but I really don’t expect that. I checked with our experts, and they say a mine doesn’t have that much of a flash effect. Its main thrust is with shrapnel. Which leads me to think that your eyes will be okay. I want you to get some more sleep. I’m going to order a mild sedative for you, then you have a good eight-hour nap.”
“Sure, Doc. Whatever you say. How is Adams? I heard he lost an arm.”
“We’re going to put it back on, if it all goes right. You just worry about resting those eyeballs of yours. I’ll check with you when I get back.”
“Yeah, Doc.”
Dr. Alspaugh watched the young man a moment. Amazing that he wasn’t dead. Taking the flash from that mine meant he had to be almost on top of it. Most of the shrapnel simply went around him rather than through him. He was hoping for the best.
Three hours later, on board the Enterprise, the medical team tried to relax. The attaching operation was over. Now they had to wait and see if everything worked right. Veins, arteries, nerves, tendons, all had to be reattached, sewn together. The two arm bones had shattered and had to be rebuilt and pinned with lengths of rods.
Two of the doctors on the team had done this type of attachment before. Dr. Alspaugh had assisted.
“Will it take?” he asked. “Will he be able to use the arm again?”
“There’s a good chance,” the senior surgeon said. “Everything went well. But we can’t tell for at least a week if the basic veins and arteries are working, then the muscles and the nerves. Somebody say he’s a SEAL?”
“Yes, he was on that Bahrainian landing,” Dr. Alspaugh said.
“The arm will never be as strong or as good as it was before, even with optimal recovery. Don’t tell him, but he’ll never be a SEAL again.”
Manama City Airport, Bahrain
Murdock called his men together in the parking lot at the airport and made a casualty check. His medic wasn’t there. There were no reports of any wounds or problems.
“Did Al Adams make it?” Fernandez asked.
“They kept him alive. Now they’re trying to attach his arm,” Murdock said.
“Either way, he’ll never be a SEAL again, will he?” Fernandez asked.
Murdock shook his head. “Not a chance. I just hope they get his arm put back and it’ll work.”
They saw a civilian van driving fast up the highway. It screeched around the corner, slowed as it came into the airport, then speeded up, heading directly at the SEALs. They scattered. The rig stopped and a Marine jumped out.
“Commander Murdock. Captain wants you guys up front, pronto. He says you all can fit in this van we liberated. Climb on board. He has some special work he needs done up front near the army GHQ. Some nasties in there don’t want to give up.”
“What about the casualties?”
“He said the Marines here could take care of them until the evac helos get here.”
“Load up, SEALs,” Murdock shouted. “The Marines need us up at the front.”
“What they need us for now?” Ching asked.
“Who knows. Something we can do, they can’t. Let’s go see.”
The thirteen SEALs crammed into the van with all their gear. It jolted out of the parking lot and drove three miles down the road through increasing numbers of buildings and houses. They came out on a city street with a large four-story building across from it. Murdock, riding in the front seat, saw Marines in cover all along the block. The van pulled in back of a small building halfway down an alley, and the SEALs piled out, ready to rumble.
Captain Browser came out of the building.
“Commander. We’re in a standoff here. We have the general penned in from this side. The B troops have him cut off to the rear. They finally got here about six hours late. I’ve talked with the general inside by phone. His English is better than mine. Oxford, I think. Anyway, he wants to negotiate.”
“Better than a frontal assault on the place.”
“Then there’s our directive not to harm any real estate if we can he
lp it. Here we can help it and save the lives of a lot of Marines.”
“So, negotiate,” Murdock said.
“That’s the problem. He said he would negotiate only with an admiral or a general. I told him I was the highest-ranking Marine here. He kept off the phone for an hour. When he came back, he said he would negotiate with a U.S. Navy SEAL officer. Were there any with my forces? I told him.”
“So, I’m it?”
“Afraid so. No weapons. No hideout if you have one. You’ll strip to the waist, and they’ll check you out at the door.”
“What does he want?”
“He didn’t say.”
“When?”
“Right now. I’ll let you talk to him on the phone. Inside.” The two officers went into the small building and the captain handed Murdock a phone.
“General Nassar, this is U.S. Navy SEAL Commander Blake Murdock.”
There were some sounds over the line then a strong voice came on.
“Navy SEAL? Where did you train?”
“BUDS/S at Coronado, California, General.”
“Yes, yes, I had a tour of your facility there. I love the O Course. I want you to come now and talk. You have safe passage to the front door of the main entrance. Wear only your cammies, no hat, no weapons. Clear?”
“Yes sir, General Nassar. I’ll be there shortly.”
Murdock stripped out of his combat vest, took a hideout.25-caliber revolver and holster from his right ankle, and emptied his pockets of everything. He was clean.
He left his cammie shirt on and hiked down the alley to the street with the captain.
“Right across there, down the sidewalk, and right up to the front door. We’ll cover you in case of any firing. We haven’t fired a shot down here and don’t think we’ll have to. You ready? Tell him anything you negotiate has to be approved by our colonel, who’s running this operation.”
“Not my kind of assignment, Captain. This is strange, but I’ll do my damnedest.”
Murdock walked across the street. He had no idea what to say to the general under attack from both sides and evidently deserted by his army. He’d play it by ear.
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