Chapter Thirteen - Rick
It took all Rick had in him to hold his tongue and not flatten Penston into dust. What the actual fuck had Penston been thinking?
Oh, wait, he hadn’t been. They were running mock assaults, taking turns planning out the different elements.
The cadre had split them up into four different sections.
Each had been responsible for a scenario.
Each section had two men with high scores and two with not-so-high.
Probably hoping it would help those struggling.
Maybe that had worked in the past but Rick damn well knew that Penston wasn’t going to learn a damn thing.
Penston’s scenario was to execute a simple recon of one of the mock buildings in the training area.
They were supposed to do a bit of surveillance and then report back the number of persons in the location and what they’d done.
Easy enough, unless you were Roger Penston.
He’d gotten it into his brain that they needed to breach the inside and neutralize the occupants.
Totally not in the orders they’d been given.
Rick had tried to politely question Penston’s OPORD.
Suggested that maybe Penston had overestimated what could and should be accomplished within the guidance they’d been given.
Penston had told Rick to shut it. That he didn’t know what he was talking about.
After that? Rick decided he’d just kick back and let the cadre handle Penston.
Oh, he would do his part; follow whatever bullshit order that Penston issued, but he knew that there was an ass whooping coming.
Rick moved to peek over the edge of the stairs leading into the building. He couldn’t see any of the others. “Where the fuck are Penston and Marsh?” Rick asked.
“Did they get lost?” Nelson sounded about to lose his shit. “We are so not going to hit our objective. We don’t get marked down for this, do we? I need to do good on this so I have some kind of choice where to be stationed. You’ll be wherever you want.”
Rick wasn’t going to tell Nelson that he’d already been told he’d get his first choice.
He just had to make his decision. Hopefully, Coop could get a chance to FaceTime over the weekend.
Rick really wanted an airborne slot but…
could he give it up if Coop couldn’t handle him knees in the breeze?
Before Rick got too caught up in his thoughts, a bright spotlight lit up the area.
“Stanton! Nelson! Report back to the command tent. Your part in this fiasco is over,” Captain Lewis said from behind the light. As Rick and Nelson stood, the captain held out a hand for them to stop. “Do either of you know or have any idea where Penston or Marsh are?”
Rick looked at Nelson, who stepped back slightly behind Rick. Great. Now he was on the spot. Falling back on his ROTC training, Rick snapped into attention position. Hands at his side, eyes looking past the captain’s shoulder, chin slightly up.
“We were instructed to approach the structure and maintain a position next to the front entrance, Captain. The movement of the others was not shared with us.” Rick kept it short and concise. He wasn’t going to volunteer his opinion. Unless he was commanded, he was keeping his mouth shut.
“That didn’t answer my question, Lieutenant Stanton. Where is your section commander?” Lewis demanded.
Well, fuck him sideways. Rick took a deep breath and met the man’s eyes. “Sir, I have no idea where my section commander is.” There, he answered the question.
“Do either of you have a copy of the OPORD from Lieutenant Penston?” The captain wasn’t letting them off the hook, apparently. “Lieutenant Nelson, you’ve been suspiciously quiet while Stanton spoke up.”
Rick couldn’t see Nelson as he was still somewhat in the shadow and outside of Rick’s line of sight. He heard Nelson shifting on the gravel.
“Sir, we weren’t given a written copy of Penston’s orders.” Nelson’s voice squeaked, like he was going through puberty again.
“He only issued verbal orders?” Rick thought he heard a growl from the captain, but it could have just been the vehicle pulling up next to him. The captain didn’t acknowledge the soldier who climbed out of the vehicle. “What were the orders as you understood the objective, lieutenants?”
Rick looked over his shoulder at Nelson who just shrugged. Oh Lord, help him. Guess Rick was in the hot seat. “Sir, it was our understanding that we were to do some recon on the two-story structure. Report on the number and movement of the occupants.”
“And what were the orders you were given by Lieutenant Penston?” Captain Lewis didn’t seem upset with Rick’s answer so his shoulders dropped somewhat. He didn’t move into an at-ease position but he did relax a tiny bit.
“Lieutenant Penston instructed that we were to split into two sections. Nelson and I, and Marsh and him. We were to approach the structure and, on his signal, breach the inside and neutralize the occupants. When we questioned his orders and suggested that possibly he was misreading the mission we’d been given, the lieutenant was adamant that we were to follow his orders.
” Look at Rick being all politically correct.
He hadn’t thrown Penston under the bus, but also hadn’t protected him either.
“Is that your understanding as well, Lieutenant Nelson?”
“Yes, sir.” Nelson was quick to back up Rick.
Lewis turned to the sergeant and asked, “Have you located the missing section commander, Master Sergeant Dash?”
“Yes, sir, we’ve located the other two lieutenants approximately half a mile from here,” Master Sergeant Dash said.
“And? Where are they?” Lewis sounded like he was about to kill someone.
Dash stood in front of Captain Lewis and Rick would swear the master sergeant was fidgeting.
He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.
He watched as Dash put his hands behind his back and straightened his shoulders before he met the captain’s eyes.
“The lieutenants were found standing on top of their Humvee in Upatoi Creek.”
Had he heard Dash correctly? It was fucking September in Georgia and it hadn’t rained in days. “They were in the creek on top of their Humvee?” Rick realized what he’d done. “My apologies for speaking out of turn, Captain Lewis.”
“Relax, Stanton. You were able to find your voice before me and asked exactly what I would have. What a good commander would have asked for clarification,” Lewis said before turning to the NCO. “Do you know what happened, Dash?”
“Not from the lieutenants, sir. I have a guess, and I think it’s pretty accurate. I believe the lieutenants did not pay attention to the safety briefing regarding the engineering brigade training over at Upatoi Creek,” the sergeant offered.
“They did not…are you saying they…?” Lewis seemed stunned. He couldn’t finish his sentences.
He couldn’t hold it in. Rick started to laugh, then said, “They drove over the temporary bridge that the engineers are constructing as a field exercise? Guess the bridge isn’t finished yet?”
It didn’t take long for Dash, Lewis, and Nelson to join Rick in laughing. Once they got themselves back under control, Lewis said, “They did what Stanton said, didn’t they? Dumbasses.” He shook his head. “Did they have an explanation as to why they were so far from their objective?”
Dash shrugged. “Sergeant Nixon hasn’t approached the lieutenants, sir.”
Captain Lewis looked to the sky and let out a harsh breath.
“Dash, take these two back to the tent. Tell the first sergeant that I’m done with them for the night.
I’m headed to deal with our wayward lieutenants.
Radio Nixon. Tell him I’m swinging by to pick up the Lieutenant Colonel and to continue to observe until we arrive.
” Captain Lewis turned on his heel and strode off.
Oh, it wasn’t good if the lieutenant colonel was going out.
Rick followed Dash to the Humvee, saying nothing as he climbed into the passenger seat. Nelson scrambled into the back seat, moving faster than Rick had seen him move before.
Master Sergeant Dash put the Humvee in gear and drove off.
They hadn’t been in motion for more than a minute before he said, “You two followed the orders that you were given. You were found outside of the correct location. I wouldn’t be overly concerned with your actions tonight.
I’d be happy to have either of you as my platoon commander. ”
The master sergeant’s statement left Rick speechless. Having a senior NCO pay him that compliment meant a lot. Nelson seemed just as shocked.
“Thank you, Master Sergeant. I learned from my roommate that the best way to keep everything moving as it should in a unit was to listen to the NCOs. Hearing I’m on the right track reinforces that.”
The sergeant parked the Humvee next to the tent and climbed out. “After you, sirs.”
When Rick and Nelson stepped into the tent, Rick could only describe the atmosphere as controlled chaos.
Four simulations were happening concurrently.
Soldiers monitored the communications for each one and kept the cadre informed of the status.
Rick felt kind of bad for the sergeant who had been in charge of theirs.
The cadre couldn’t have been happy that they didn’t seem to be conducting the assigned scenario and to have two missing?
Yeah, Rick was glad it wasn’t going to be his or Nelson’s ass on the line.
“Top is in the far corner. Lieutenant Poole and his team were closing in on their objective when we went in search of your section commander,” Dash said as he pointed off to Rick’s left.
“Thank you, Sergeant. We’ll find him.” Rick moved toward the corner, Nelson right on his six. Maybe they’d get out of here early enough that he could catch Coop for a few minutes before he crashed for the night. Coop dragged any time after ten when he spent enough time on the track.