Defense of Hill 781

by James R. McDonough

  Major Walters joined the staff midway through the discussions and reported that reconstitution was moving along smoothly. A herculean effort was being put forth to repair the equipment. Always gave some guidance, prioritizing the tanks and air defense guns for repair, although it was imperative that enough Bradleys be brought into the battle by dawn. Somehow Walters had been able to get a hot meal prepared, which would be coming up just before dark. That would help out, as food would compensate to some extent for the fatigue the men were now feeling.

  Although time was slipping away rapidly, Always felt it necessary to get a look at the route of movement as far forward as it was safe to do so. Since yesterday’s reconnaissance from the air had proven deceptive to actual conditions on the ground, he elected to take his Bradley this time and get a closer view. He would have to be careful not to fall prey to an enemy ambush, but the risk was worth the look. He took the operations officer’s Bradley with him for security, having one of the sergeants from the TOC take the place of Major Rogers so that he would be free to continue planning. As it turned out, this little trip went a great deal toward giving Always a feel for the early conduct of the operation.

  The operations order was given at 1730, the orders group assembling on the high ground overlooking the valley where they would attack in the early stages of the operation. A few spot reports had come in from the scouts, and one of the infantry patrols clearing the close-in area around BLUE had picked up a prisoner, an enemy scout left behind to watch and report on the task force. He was recalcitrant, but a map on him gave a clue, nothing more than that, of some enemy dispositions in the valley below. It was enough to divert the few scouts Always did have to check out the possibility of an ambush beyond CP2.

  The order went much smoother this time. The written product was reduced to only two pages, the bulk of the information being written on the operations overlay prepared for each subordinate element. A great deal of the administrative instructions that had dominated the last order was omitted from the briefing and placed in a written annex to be given to the company execs. Only information that was pertinent to the operational mission was included in the order. Nonetheless, there were still a few vital holes. The aviation coordination still had not taken place, so their incorporation in the plan could only be tentative. The helicopter liaison officer did arrive toward the end of the briefing, but it was too late to confirm exactly how the aviation assets would be employed. The best employment of the engineers could not be determined until more intelligence came in. It was clear that their priority would go to the mobility of the attacking task force, but the objective was so far away, uncertainty remained as to terrain conditions and the location of enemy obstacles. Ominously, the intelligence officer briefed of the possibility of chemical release by the enemy. This necessitated the movement of the battalion in chemical suits, with masks at the ready for instant donning. This could take a heavy toll in a movement that would last several hours into the heat of the day.

  At the end of the briefing, Lieutenant Colonel Always stood before his battalion’s leaders and explained his intentions for successful accomplishment of this mission. He sensed their complete support and was quietly astonished at their willingness to place their faith in him again despite the rough mission he had led them on that morning. He acknowledged the uncertainties that lay before them, and ordered that a radio net call of all key subordinates take place at 0330 to share in the latest intelligence uncovered and to make any modifications necessary to the existing plans.

  In the last ten minutes of the briefing Always drew out the questions of his subordinate commanders. He had gained an appreciation of the complexity of their jobs, and realized that any misunderstandings of intentions could result in confounding the entire mission. As soon as they left the TOC they would be racing to do their own planning, orders, and preparations. Any confusion would be compounded a hundredfold before dawn came. It was, therefore, with great care that Always listened to their comments, and only when he was sure that each man understood what his battalion commander wanted him to do did he dismiss the group. As he watched them go, he hoped that he had given them enough time to complete their preparations. It would be nine hours before the attack kicked off at 0400, but all of that time would be dark, and there was a myriad of tasks yet to accomplish.

  Command Sergeant Major Hope had been present at the briefing, and in the short interlude after the meeting and before Always moved on to other matters, he came up to render a report on the state of the battalion. Morale was high, discipline holding; although the men were feeling fatigue from their exertion, they had plenty of starch left in them and were eager to get another crack at the enemy. As the noncommissioned officer spoke, Always realized how many problems Hope had taken care of for him during the day. Not that Hope claimed any credit for having done so; he was much too modest a man for that. But it was clear that he had taken a great deal of the burden off his commander by setting things right where they had gone astray, by understanding the intentions of the commanders and putting forces in motion to accomplish their ends. It was ironic that this soft-spoken, gentlemanly sergeant could breathe such fire into the men. Several times during the day, Always had seen an NCO fall afoul of the sergeant major by failing to follow up on responsibilities, only to receive a blistering admonishment that left him with a preference for contact with the enemy over another engagement with the wrath of the battalion’s top soldier. Yet for the most part his demeanor was quiet, reassuring, offering encouragement to the soldiers to redouble their efforts, and offering praise for all they had done well. Only at the end of their discussion did Hope inquire as to the gash over Always’ eye, express concern that his commander take care of himself, and mildly suggest that he take an opportunity to get some sleep that night. Always marveled at the balance in his sergeant major—strength without arrogance, authority with deference, concern without solicitude. There was a lot of leadership in that man and he was glad he was on his side.

  At 2000 Always moved out to his jeep in order to visit the subordinate units as they conducted their preparations.

  “Good evening, Specialist Sharp. How are you doing?”

  “Good evening, sir. Fine, thank you. Sir, I’ve saved you some supper. It’s pretty good. Roast beef, corn bread, and some peaches. I got you some salad, and here’s some salad dressing. I’ve got us a thermos of coffee. Do you take cream and sugar?” Sharp was a good soldier. He had stayed up on the radio all day, following the battle as closely as he could, eager to get into the fight, but prudent enough to wait for his commander’s call before he came up. He had not missed a beat, ensuring the radios were set, recording the call signs and frequencies on a handy pocket card (called a “cheat sheet”) for Always, updating the map, and now making sure he had a full meal for his commander.

  “Thanks, Eric. This is great.” It was the first time Always had addressed any of his men by their first name. He believed in formal address; it went with his strong sense of discipline. Yet it seemed somehow awkward in the face of Sharp’s exuberance to remain so stiff. “Let’s head on over to B Company.” Always wanted a few quiet words with Baker, whose loose use of words had caused so much damage that morning.

  “Did we kick their ass, sir? I mean did we beat the enemy good?” Sharp was eager for the commander’s interpretation of events. He had had several conversations with some of the other drivers during the afternoon, and he wanted support in his high opinions of how well the battalion had done.

  “Well, we kicked them off the objective. But to tell the truth we paid too high a price for it. We shouldn’t have let them get away either.” Always was aware of how meaningful his comments would be, echoed a hundred times as they passed from mouth to mouth. “One thing you can be sure of—the men fought well, and the enemy sure as hell knows he’s been in a fight with a top-notch outfit.”

  Sharp smiled as he pulled up in front of Captain Baker’s command post. He had a good report to pass on to some of his buddies
in B Company.

  Always spent twenty minutes with Captain Baker, avoiding any harshness in his voice, sharing culpability in the morning’s error, and encouraging him for a renewed effort the next day. Bravo Company would be split again, with some of their infantry being helicoptered in on the far objective at dawn, while the bulk of the force, the armored vehicles, would move to eliminate the suspected enemy waiting along the route (scouts were trying to confirm their disposition even as they spoke), and then culminate in the supporting attack by the helicopter-inserted infantry on 781. It was a tough mission, and evidence of Always’ continued faith in Baker’s abilities. The two commanders parted on an upbeat note, Always directing that Baker put himself with his mounted force this time, leaving the senior platoon leader to take the airmobile forces in.

  As he moved around in the darkness of the night Always could sense the anticipation of the upcoming mission. A great amount of activity was taking place, from reloading ammunition, to maintaining equipment, to pockets of soldiers forming to receive hushed orders in the dark by the poncho-covered glow of red-filtered flashlights. Now and then Always stopped to talk to a soldier, sometimes with the soldier not discerning in the dark that he was talking to his battalion commander.

  At 2300 Always listened in on the orders Captain Dilger gave his platoon leaders. His company had now been converted to what the military calls a “team” (implying combined arms at the company level), having lost one armor platoon and gained an infantry platoon. Dilger did a good job of specifying the tasks for his tanks, Bradleys, and infantrymen. He would have twenty of the latter, assuming all the replacements made it in at midnight. D Company had been given the lead in the main attack. Over a movement of this distance, with all the uncertainties that implied, it would be best to lead with tanks with enough infantry nearby to react to any unpleasant surprises the tanks could not deal with. The engineer platoon leader was also present. He would be following some distance behind Dilger, ready to react to the captain’s call should Delta encounter obstacles. Satisfied that Dilger understood his intent properly, Always moved back to the TOC, but not before giving a word of praise and encouragement to the platoon leaders. He also stopped by to make a specific acknowledgment to the company first sergeant, whom Hope had singled out in his discussion earlier that evening for a particularly exemplary action.

  Back at the TOC the staff was waiting for him with an update on the intelligence picture, a weather report, and recommendations on modifications of the mission. Major Rogers had done a superb job of integrating the efforts of the several staff officers, who with the exception of the aviation officer had completed their coordination down to the company level. The limitation on helicopters flying at night had forced the liaison officer from the aviation battalion to depart at dark; he, therefore, had missed some of the late-breaking intelligence. Despite this bothersome omission, Always was able to complete his guidance to the staff as the final order took form.

  The task force would cross the line of departure at 0400 along two axes of advance. The main effort would be made in the north toward Objective JAB along Axis LEFT, Team Delta leading, followed by Team Alpha, then by the engineer platoon and Echo Company with only one platoon left under its command and control.

  The supporting attack would proceed along Axis RIGHT, led by Team Charlie. Team Bravo, with only one platoon of infantrymen staying with it, would advance to Objective HOOK, where the scouts had located a platoon of BMPs waiting in ambush. They had already reduced an obstacle that was set at CP 2, but which the enemy had left uncovered. The scouts would leave an element there all night to ensure it was not reset. Bravo would additionally have a platoon from E Company attached to it. Once HOOK was reduced, Bravo would follow Team Charlie (two tank platoons, one platoon of Bradley’s without dismounts) onto Objective CROSS to the east of Hill 781. The airmobile assault consisting of two platoons of infantry from Bravo would take off at 0415 and go into a landing zone (LZ) south of Objective CHOPPER. One scout team was making its way up there now to mark the LZ.

  At the culminating point of the attack, pressure would be put on Hill 781 from the east, west, and south. Always was trying hard to achieve the mass he had missed the previous morning. To ensure that he got it the helicopters would approach along the high ground north and west of Axis LEFT, adding their fires on Objective JAB and then on Hill 781 at the crucial moments. Since the winds would be blowing from the northwest, smoke would be used to cover the crossing of the LD at 0400 and the approach of Bravo on HOOK. As the task force approached JAB and CROSS, the infantrymen on CHOPPER would fire up their smoke pots to screen their approach from direct fire. Artillery priority would go to Team D, mortar priority to Charlie. Since the pass at CP 4 was a possible enemy avenue of approach into the flank, an artillery-emplaced mine field would be planned northwest of the checkpoint, where the pass narrowed to single vehicle width. Air defense would be split left and right to cover both approaches. Always had been careful to give explicit instructions for the command and control of the air defense assets.

  The operations officer would go with Team C to overlook the supporting attack. The fire support officer and the air force laison officer would come with Always in an armored personnel carrier following behind his Bradley along Axis LEFT, tucked in behind Delta. The colonel wanted to be sure he did not lose control of either critical fire support officer, although the air force officer protested that he would be severely restricted without his jeep to talk to the air force. After some severe squeezing by the infantry colonel, the young lieutenant admitted he had a portable radio, but protested it did not work very well. Always growled at his communications officer to fix the necessary radios to keep him in contact with his fire support. The whole business seemed excessively unwieldy to the task force commander.

  At 0045 Always made his way over to his Bradley to get some sleep before the intelligence update at 0330. Spivey and Sharp had stretched out a cot between the infantry vehicle and the jeep. With a quiet word of thanks, and without taking off any of his uniform, Always collapsed on the cot and drifted into a deep sleep.

  A voice from way off in space called Always back from the bottomless well into which he had sunk. “Sir, it’s three-twenty. It’s time for you to get up.” Sharp talking.

  Always’ tongue must have swollen three times its normal size. Either that or he had a sock stuffed in his mouth. Sand and dried sweat combined to seal his eyes shut. He was struggling to come out of his sleep. A chill shook his body in the relative cool of the desert predawn. He regretted he had not put a poncho over himself when he laid down. The stitches over his eye throbbed, and his head felt like it would split open as he brought himself to a sitting position. Altogether, he felt like be was on the losing end of a fifteen-round decision.

  “Have you set the radios, Sharp?” Always would never have dropped the rank if he had been more awake. It was a rule he set for himself.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “What’s my call sign?”

  “You’re Romeo 36 today, sir. Here’s the ‘cheat sheet.’” Sharp handed him the board with markings of the battalion’s call signs and frequencies.

  Always tried to memorize the critical alphanumerics as he relieved himself, his eyes straining in the faint moonlight.

  Wearily he climbed into the commander’s cupola to establish radio contact. He was tempted to walk back over to the TOC for the exercise, but knew he had to ensure that he could talk to everyone from his own radios. Even the artillery officer and the air force liaison, themselves just getting up into the personnel carrier only fifteen feet away, would be compelled to check in over the radio.

  While answering the colonel’s question Sharp had stripped away the sleeping gear, cleared the jeep and the Bradley for action, and departed with the jeep. Everyone in the battalion was ready to move.

  Two scout vehicles had been fired upon in the night, one apparently destroyed since no further word had come from it after the initial report of contact. The
other had escaped after being chased back from the vicinity of Hill 781. It had been able to drop off a dismount team with a radio, smoke, and a panel marker to bring in the airmobile assault. Precise locations had been given on the enemy vehicles on Objective HOOK. Always told his artillery officer to plan a fire mission to put in on them at precisely 0415, the time he figured Team Bravo would be deploying for its assault. The winds were as predicted; Always confirmed the smoke missions. With a final response from all parties on the net, Always closed out the conversation and moved with Delta to an attack position just short of the line of departure. At 0400 the battalion started to move across.

  The smoke covered the attackers well and blew to the southeast, hiding their advance up the valley. It had a slowing effect on the movements of the columns, but the ground, particularly along Axis LEFT (Always had made his reconnaissance along Axis RIGHT the day before), was so rough as to force them to a five-mile-per-hour pace. The combined effects were advantageous to the task force. It was moving unheard and unseen along its attack routes with no interference from the enemy. Captain Baker, on his toes this morning, called and asked to defer the artillery strike until 0430. Always approved and passed the order to his FSO.

  Remarkably, everyone’s radio was operating in secure. The colonel was thankful for small miracles. He had been driven almost mad switching back and forth the day before. As bad as his head ached this morning, he did not want to repeat that grief. He munched on a hunk of chocolate cake from his MRE stock. His only difficulty at the moment was the beating he was taking in the cupola as the vehicle lurched up and down a maze of wadis wildly intersecting the valley floor. A belt held him in his collapsible seat, exacerbating Always’ savage pivoting as it pressed against his hips. He didn’t know how Sergeant Kelso could stand to keep his eye pressed against the gunner’s sight under these conditions. The colonel concluded his gunner was one tough hombre.