09-17-2016, 11:10 PM
After gearing up at the quartermaster, Toni took Ms. Weber back to her barracks. There were two twin size beds in her room with foot lockers at the end, a desk with a touchscreen, a fridge and not much else. Some pictures of her father and some of Toni's awards. "There isn't much in the way of women's acommodations here at the camp, so you'll bunk with me for now,
" she told Ms. Weber. "Although I don't know how long we're staying. Put your ruck and other stuff on the bed, but keep your canteen, belt and protective equipment."
The girl nodded very slowly. "Sounds good, I'll try to keep it quiet."
Toni kept a straight face at that. Why would she be loud?
Weber dropped her rucksack on the bed and paused. "I'm actually participating in that survival thing, aren't I?"
Toni blinked. "You want to survive, don't you? I can't make you a Ranger overnight, but I can at least make sure you don't get my squad killed out of ignorance."
"No, I get it."
She looked at Toni. "You just surprised me, that's all. This is my first time being an embed. I'm usually out there on my own."
Well, this was Toni's first time with an embed also. Toni geared up herself and rang up a Joint Strike Vehicle to get them to the range, stopping at the armory to draw her M6. No live fire today, but the squad needed to get this reporter acclimated to their movements. Which shouldn't take long. She gave Weber a quick walk through of land navigation, reading a map and determining coordinates that could be communicated over the communications link. "If you get lost and something happens to us. When we're outside the wire, don't go wandering off by yourself. Ever. If one of my soldiers grabs you by the back of your kevlar, you move with them. Copy?"
The girl nodded. "I won't fight them."
That was good to hear, because as if to drive the point home -- though it was mere coincidence -- the artillery simulators began screaming in. "Cover!"
she yelled and the squad turned to face the sound and dropped to the prone position. Toni reached up and dragged Weber down to the ground by her canteen belt. The girl fell face first, clearly not expecting it, but at least she got down before the explosions came.
"Whoever's controlling that has great dramatic timing,"
she spat out, along with a little dirt. She didn't look to be enjoying herself much. For some reason that filled Toni with a bit of self-satisfaction. Aw, Barbie got her face dirty.
Toni popped up. "Two hundred meters, two o'clock,"
she yelled to the squad. She turned to Weber. "That means we're going to run as fast as we can in that direction. If they're firing for effect, we want to get out of the kill zone."
They hoofed it to the trees, and repeated the exercise a couple more times. Weber was doing all right, and to her credit was fit, and paid attention, but there was no way she'd be able to keep up all day at this pace.
They paused for water and then practiced a close ambush situation, complete with an IED. They piled into the Joint Strike Vehicle, eight squad members marching beside it. Toni took the command seat and put Weber in the back with one soldier on each side of her. While they were rolling down the dirt path, a shower of dirt suddenly erupted alongside the vehicle, and chalk rounds began flying toward them.
"Hernandez! Bail out left!"
Toni yelled, and rolled out the vehicle. The soldiers on the outside were attempting to regroup and form a defensive line. Corporal Hernandez grabbed Weber and led her out the left side of the vehicle. He kept a hand to her back and crouched with her while two other Rangers came around from behind.
The OPFOR was really good at making this seem like a realistic ambush. There was shit flying everywhere and they were assaulting hard from the far treeline. They had no cover out here until they got off the road. "Get down!"
Toni yelled from the other side of the vehicle. "Low crawl off the road! Hernandez, get her to cover!"
Corporal Hernandez pushed Weber down and indicated how to crawl with her head to one side, flattened out on the dirt. Toni took her eyes off Weber for a minute to scurry to the far side of the road in order to throw a training grenade at the assailants. She was focused. Going to get the area cleared,
she thought, unconsciously touching daddy's dog tags. She glanced back as the other squad members started putting down more cover fire.
And that's when Toni saw Weber up on her elbows peeking around the side of the Joint Strike Vehicle to watch what was going on.
Smack. It was as if Toni saw it in slow motion, the chalk round striking Weber right in the bridge of her Land Warriors. Sure, it was a glancing blow, but it wasn't going to feel good. Aw, fuck!
Toni saw Weber drop and ditch her Land Warriors, squeezing her eyes shut as she gripped the bridge of her nose. Was she crying or laughing? Or just trying to catch her breath?
"Time!"
she yelled. The firing ceased. Toni got up and ran over to her. "You okay?"
She looked over Weber. Yeah, that would leave a bit of a bruise. But she looked like she'd survive.
Toni turned to Corporal Hernandez. "Corporal Hernandez. Why is our reporter dead? You were supposed to keep her down."
"Fucking fuck,"
Weber interjected before Hernandez could reply. . Then she chuckled. "Who the hell decided to make those hurt that much? It was my fault, I was being stupid."
Toni kept her eyes trained on Hernandez. "Your job is to keep Ms. Weber from doing stupid stuff like that. So she doesn't endanger herself and the rest of us when the shit hits the fan. She is not a trained soldier. You are. Copy?"
Hernandez nodded. "Yes, sergeant."
She turned to Weber. "As for you, your job is to stick with your escort and do what they tell you when the shit hits the fan. It is not time to be curious. The real thing will hurt much worse. And where we're going, anyone daring to attack us won't care how much a special snowflake you are. They will shoot you dead just the same. I hope you learned something today."
Toni motioned for the squad to round up their equipment and proceed to the classroom for rules of engagement and local customs instruction. What would normally be an awesome hardcore range exercise instead left her with nervous butterflies in her gut. This was going to be the worst deployment ever.
" she told Ms. Weber. "Although I don't know how long we're staying. Put your ruck and other stuff on the bed, but keep your canteen, belt and protective equipment."
The girl nodded very slowly. "Sounds good, I'll try to keep it quiet."
Toni kept a straight face at that. Why would she be loud?
Weber dropped her rucksack on the bed and paused. "I'm actually participating in that survival thing, aren't I?"
Toni blinked. "You want to survive, don't you? I can't make you a Ranger overnight, but I can at least make sure you don't get my squad killed out of ignorance."
"No, I get it."
She looked at Toni. "You just surprised me, that's all. This is my first time being an embed. I'm usually out there on my own."
Well, this was Toni's first time with an embed also. Toni geared up herself and rang up a Joint Strike Vehicle to get them to the range, stopping at the armory to draw her M6. No live fire today, but the squad needed to get this reporter acclimated to their movements. Which shouldn't take long. She gave Weber a quick walk through of land navigation, reading a map and determining coordinates that could be communicated over the communications link. "If you get lost and something happens to us. When we're outside the wire, don't go wandering off by yourself. Ever. If one of my soldiers grabs you by the back of your kevlar, you move with them. Copy?"
The girl nodded. "I won't fight them."
That was good to hear, because as if to drive the point home -- though it was mere coincidence -- the artillery simulators began screaming in. "Cover!"
she yelled and the squad turned to face the sound and dropped to the prone position. Toni reached up and dragged Weber down to the ground by her canteen belt. The girl fell face first, clearly not expecting it, but at least she got down before the explosions came.
"Whoever's controlling that has great dramatic timing,"
she spat out, along with a little dirt. She didn't look to be enjoying herself much. For some reason that filled Toni with a bit of self-satisfaction. Aw, Barbie got her face dirty.
Toni popped up. "Two hundred meters, two o'clock,"
she yelled to the squad. She turned to Weber. "That means we're going to run as fast as we can in that direction. If they're firing for effect, we want to get out of the kill zone."
They hoofed it to the trees, and repeated the exercise a couple more times. Weber was doing all right, and to her credit was fit, and paid attention, but there was no way she'd be able to keep up all day at this pace.
They paused for water and then practiced a close ambush situation, complete with an IED. They piled into the Joint Strike Vehicle, eight squad members marching beside it. Toni took the command seat and put Weber in the back with one soldier on each side of her. While they were rolling down the dirt path, a shower of dirt suddenly erupted alongside the vehicle, and chalk rounds began flying toward them.
"Hernandez! Bail out left!"
Toni yelled, and rolled out the vehicle. The soldiers on the outside were attempting to regroup and form a defensive line. Corporal Hernandez grabbed Weber and led her out the left side of the vehicle. He kept a hand to her back and crouched with her while two other Rangers came around from behind.
The OPFOR was really good at making this seem like a realistic ambush. There was shit flying everywhere and they were assaulting hard from the far treeline. They had no cover out here until they got off the road. "Get down!"
Toni yelled from the other side of the vehicle. "Low crawl off the road! Hernandez, get her to cover!"
Corporal Hernandez pushed Weber down and indicated how to crawl with her head to one side, flattened out on the dirt. Toni took her eyes off Weber for a minute to scurry to the far side of the road in order to throw a training grenade at the assailants. She was focused. Going to get the area cleared,
she thought, unconsciously touching daddy's dog tags. She glanced back as the other squad members started putting down more cover fire.
And that's when Toni saw Weber up on her elbows peeking around the side of the Joint Strike Vehicle to watch what was going on.
Smack. It was as if Toni saw it in slow motion, the chalk round striking Weber right in the bridge of her Land Warriors. Sure, it was a glancing blow, but it wasn't going to feel good. Aw, fuck!
Toni saw Weber drop and ditch her Land Warriors, squeezing her eyes shut as she gripped the bridge of her nose. Was she crying or laughing? Or just trying to catch her breath?
"Time!"
she yelled. The firing ceased. Toni got up and ran over to her. "You okay?"
She looked over Weber. Yeah, that would leave a bit of a bruise. But she looked like she'd survive.
Toni turned to Corporal Hernandez. "Corporal Hernandez. Why is our reporter dead? You were supposed to keep her down."
"Fucking fuck,"
Weber interjected before Hernandez could reply. . Then she chuckled. "Who the hell decided to make those hurt that much? It was my fault, I was being stupid."
Toni kept her eyes trained on Hernandez. "Your job is to keep Ms. Weber from doing stupid stuff like that. So she doesn't endanger herself and the rest of us when the shit hits the fan. She is not a trained soldier. You are. Copy?"
Hernandez nodded. "Yes, sergeant."
She turned to Weber. "As for you, your job is to stick with your escort and do what they tell you when the shit hits the fan. It is not time to be curious. The real thing will hurt much worse. And where we're going, anyone daring to attack us won't care how much a special snowflake you are. They will shoot you dead just the same. I hope you learned something today."
Toni motioned for the squad to round up their equipment and proceed to the classroom for rules of engagement and local customs instruction. What would normally be an awesome hardcore range exercise instead left her with nervous butterflies in her gut. This was going to be the worst deployment ever.