Soldier Up Read online

  Over the next few days Soldiers, Marines and Seabees worked the area around the train station. They were clearing the parking lots of all cars that had been sitting in them for months, of course they tried to start them first, no point in letting a good car go to waste. The ones that didn’t work were towed off into various areas. There was definitely something going on with the Military but no one was talking, even as small as the community in Pleasanton had gotten people talked. They also went down to watch when they could; there wasn’t much else to do. They did like having the military people there though; they knew if they were there the gangs weren’t.

  At Fort Irwin Colonel’s Clayton and March reported to Major General Watkins as ordered. General Watkins was happy to have visitors, outside of the A-Team a week ago; they hadn’t had any since the event. General Watkins was ecstatic to have his own plane, the pilot he got was also happy to make the move to Fort Irwin, he would seek out other pilots on post and in Barstow to fill their ranks. They would also start to search the local airfields for other planes they might use or could rebuild to be used, God knew they had the time.

  Word spread like wild fire about the A-Team jumping into post and now another plane from the outside, Soldiers were an inquisitive bunch and looking for any information. The biggest news was that 11 ACR was preparing to move they were heading to the rail head and rumor had it that a train was coming to load the entire regiment.

  General Watkins gave them the VIP tour of Fort Irwin and some of the things they had done to improve their lives after the event. They were nowhere near where Camp Parks was but General Watkins was all about improving the lives of the men and woman within his command as well as their families. The majority of Soldier’s have been stuck on Fort Irwin with no way to get to Barstow or any place else for that matter. Cabin fever had set in a long time ago, that’s one reason the train was such a great idea, but first things first; there was a mission at hand.

  It took the train almost three hours to reach Fort Irwin with little to no problems, they had set up water stations along the way and weren’t sure how much coal they would need so they had that set up too. It was all logistics and there was a steep learning curve do to the fact that the people who used to do this stuff had died or left the area. Since the event happened on a weekend most of the civilians were not on post when it happened and most never returned, unfortunately the civilians ran a lot of the operations and planning for the post all of that was lost.

  General Watkins asked Colonel Clayton how they got all of the stuff going for families, Colonel Clayton honestly told him he didn’t really have much to do with it, it was his wife who ran family services for the post. Like Fort Irwin, when the event happened the civilians were sound asleep at home. Fortunately though many of them lived in Dublin and it was easy walking or bike riding distance from their home to Camp Parks, but there were many who never showed up.

  They talked for hours what each post could do for the other they agreed that if the train and planes worked out then it would help with over all moral. They could also open up communications between the two posts building using some of the older telecommunications technology that was now in use at Camp Parks. After talking for what seemed for hours they headed down to the railhead to see how the loading was going. Colonel Boxer said the first load which was about a quarter of the unit would be ready to leave post in two hours, he also advised them that this was going to take two to three days to move the entire regiment by train. He asked the General about moving perhaps a company by road, a road march to show the colors.

  General Watkins was a bit apprehensive about it he had a lot of concerns but Colonel Clayton also agreed with Colonel Boxer as well as Colonel March. General Watkins gave his permission and asked when they would be ready to leave. Colonel Boxer told him right now, they all had combat loads with live ammunition; they had fuel tankers with enough fuel to get them to Camp Parks and more. He told him they would leave now if that was ok. General Watkins gave the go ahead he asked how long it was going to take; Colonel Boxer expected a ten hour march at the earliest. The General asked him to keep him updated. M1A1’s and M1A2’s were heavily EMP shielded, one thing just about everyone believed for certain to survive an EMP event.

  Within twenty minutes the first tanks headed out the main gate of Fort Irwin, it was a brave new world for all of the Soldiers involved, no one really had any idea what to expect. Colonel Clayton said he would be able to spot for the convoy for a bit once they left in a couple of hours, if they topped off before they left they should be able to keep over the convoy for a good part of their trip and let them know if there is anything out in front they needed to worry about. The General wanted to know how they would do that with no radio contact, damn Colonel Clayton thought we could have set them up with tank to aircraft radios before they left, something to work towards next time. The Colonel told the General they would simply land on the road and tell them. General Watkins seemed satisfied with that for now, but he also told all of the commanders they needed a better way, in other words it was an order.

  The Commanders moved back to the main conference room in General Watkins HQ and continued to plan the operations to secure the port and refineries in the Bay area. It wasn’t all about securing the facilities and port as much as it was about holding them. They needed to make sure they eliminated that gang and militia threat in the area. If was going to be a large operation which would take an additional week to plan. Units back at Camp Parks were also preparing for the upcoming battle. Unit commanders were inspecting everything, and then train, train, train. The new Soldiers from Basic/Boot and AIT were now streaming into their new units, which was the reason why the training was so important. All units were under orders to be back on main post and ready to move out in approximately ten days. Of course the plan wasn’t to move out in ten days that was a diversion in the event someone got too chatty. Only the General and the Colonels knew the exact date, once the plans were solidified each commander would meet with their senior staff and divulge the details and the actual execution date.

  They planning meeting went on for three more hours an hour longer then Colonel Clayton thought it would, but he was not in charge any longer. The next planning meeting would be in forty-eight hours at Camp Parks and from there General Watkins would remain at Camp Parks as long as the mission lasted. The General’s XO and the Sergeant Major would hold down the Fort while he was gone. Hopefully he could convince Mrs. Clayton to go out to Irwin and repeat what she did at Camp Parks that was one of his top priorities once he was there.

  Colonel Clayton and March hurried back to Bicycle Lake they wanted to get into the air to see how the convoy was doing. They were excited at the possible benefits this could bring to everyone in the region. They would pass through Barstow where they expected no trouble at all, when they did people word spread quick that 11 ACR was on the move heading north west on the 58, people started to line the highway waving at them but they didn’t dare step near the vehicles as they were moving at convoy maximum speed and it would be impossible for a tank to make that quick a stop. The next big city they would hit is Bakersfield where there could be problems, when the 58 and 99 interchange was overflown they didn’t see any issues, since the event happened in the middle of the night on a weekend there weren’t a lot of vehicles on the road to block them. When they hit Bakersfield tank commanders were standing in the turret manning the machine guns the other crew members were ready to react at a moment’s notice.

  As they moved through Bakersfield they didn’t see a sole, it was a ghost town as far as they could tell. They passed several crashed airliners that had bodies spread all over the place and those bodies in various stages of decomposition. It was the first time the Soldiers had seen anything like it well the tank commanders had each crew member come up, except for the driver who needed to keep the vehicle moving. Most thought it was better that way, in some cases there were bodies on the highway and you could see that animals had been at them. Eve
n for the combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan it was a grisly scene.

  The hooked up to the 99 and I-5 interchange and it looked like the I-5 was wide open heading north; there weren’t many vehicles they had to worry about so they stepped up the pace. About that time they heard or saw the plane that Colonel Clayton and March were in, they passed over the column and the wings of the plane moved back and forth. The plane flew several miles ahead, then circled back some and then headed back out again. Now and then it would venture to the west or east for a few miles and then head back to the column; they did this for three hours.

  At the refueling stop they landed on the freeway and met with the Company CO, they told him as far as they could tell for the next thirty miles they were clear. They were running low on fuel and didn’t want to use any of the tankers; they said that once back at Camp Parks in about forty minutes, they would send out another plane to scout for them.

  As the column was approaching Patterson the first train was pulling into Pleasanton. The Soldiers that were there started to go to work removing all the chains that held the vehicles in place, blocks and everything else. The Seabees had built large super reinforced metal structures along the rail line to accommodate the loading and unloading of the vehicles. It took several hours to unload them and get them into the vehicle park that had been set up for them. Tents had been set-up near the parks for the time being to house the crews so for now they could stay close to their vehicles. A mess tent has been set up along with latrines and showers.

  While that train was being unloaded the other train left to head for Fort Irwin to get its load, that’s the way it was going to work. While the train was unloading it would be inspected for any problems, fueled with water and coal and the Soldiers and Marines who guarded the trains were switched out with fresh ones. When the next train arrived to unload the other train would leave this would assure that the plan was constantly in motion.

  Sergeant Major Aleho and Anzio Dogillo had met the first train when it arrived and welcomed the Soldiers. They showed them where to park the vehicles, refueling points, where to bunk and eat. There was also a shuttle set up to run the Soldiers back and forth to Camp Parks all of about ten to fifteen minute away. There they could go to the PX or see a movie, there were no new movies to see obviously but they were able to play DVD’s which could be projected onto a large screen. There was free popcorn and drinks, the purpose of doing this was to bring the community together and to give the sense of normalcy to the people who were living there. They were in the process of setting up the same thing in Dublin; there was no shortage of DVD movies and shows.

  As soon as Colonel Clayton arrived he and Colonel March made their way to Pleasanton to see how everything was going. By the time they got there the other train had left for Fort Irwin and three quarters of the train had been unloaded. Once the train was unloaded the Seabees would inspect the structure they built was instrumental in the entire process. Since it was the first time it was used they wanted to make sure there was no stress issues, they reported back to Colonel Parks that everything was good to go.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  RPG! RPG! Left yelled out the tank Commander in the lead vehicle into comm’s. He quickly turned his machine gun and fired in the direction of the RPG launch cutting down two men, one of the men holding the launcher. Two Bradley’s moved toward the area where the RPG was launched hunting for potential targets with their 25 mm guns. Then small arms fired on the vehicles, the bullets easily bouncing off the armor. The 25mm gun’s let loose toward the gun fire ripping to shred’s the men that fired them.

  The rear ramps of the two Bradley’s dropped and Soldier’s quickly exiting while engaging fire coming from there left and right, one of the Abrams fired a round at several men firing at the Soldier’s, those men ceased to exist. The Soldiers moved quickly to dispatch their attackers while being covered by the Bradley’s and Abrams. It took about ten minutes to kill all of them and capture one, SSG Erikson looked at all of the attackers, “You notice anything special about all of them?” he asked Specialist Thomas.

  “Yeah, there all Hispanic, what the fuck?” replied Specialist Thomas.

  “Let’s go talk to the one we captured. The man was brought back to the Bradley’s SSG Erikson was senior man present, he stared at the man, “Why did you attack us?”

  “No habla English.” said the man.

  SSG Erikson shook his head thinking, Ok he wants to play games, “Get Cruz,” he said to Corporal Ramadi.

  A few moments later PFC Cruz arrived, SSG Erickson said, “The guy wants us to believe he doesn’t speak English, only Spanish.”

  PFC Cruz nodded then started to rattle off Spanish to the man who was caught off guard. The man didn’t answer, Cruz then pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the man’s head and rattled off some more Spanish. The man still didn’t say anything, PFC Cruz cocked the hammer then rattled off some more Spanish, and still the man didn’t say anything. He then fired and took off part of the man’s ear; the man grabbed his ear yelling and screaming dropping to the ground.

  Two Soldiers grabbed the man and lifted him up, PFC Cruz pointed the pistol at then man’s head again and cocked the hammer, he told him in Spanish the next round goes into his forehead. The man then startled talking, as it turns out his English was good, “I knew it,” said SSG Erikson.

  The man was part of a gang MI-13 that was moving up the coast from Los Angeles, they had been on the move for weeks basically murdering and raping their way up north. He was asked if there were anymore, he said yes about two dozen more near a bridge about half mile away. PFC Cruz thanked him for the information and pulled the trigger.

  Captain McCabe was the Company Commander for the Column of tanks that was moving toward Camp Parks, he was watching what was going on with the Bradley’s when he heard over his helmet intercom, “Sir we have eight to nine vehicles heading towards us fast, dumb and stupid.” said Sergeant Landau.

  “Type of vehicles and weapons?” asked the Captain.

  “Sir three trucks with what look like m249’s mounted in the rear and the rest are cars, but they look to have four to five people in them apiece.”

  Captain McCabe raised his binoculars to see the approaching vehicles, and then he heard plink, plink, blink against the armor of his tank. “Sir,” said Sergeant Landau. “We’re taking fire.”

  “No shit Sergeant, so they want to play.” Said Captain McCabe. “He radioed the first three tanks in the column and told them to engage the trucks and make their shots count.”

  Within sixty seconds three trucks were engulfed in flames, well what was left of them after being hit with a 120mm cannon. The other Bradley’s that were in the column who didn’t go out to deal with the first encounter were able to flank the vehicles that were left. The men in the vehicles stuck their weapons out the windows and fired at the vehicles. The Bradley’s racked the vehicles with 25mm fire, the vehicles slowly veered off and stalled. The vehicles were peppered with holes the men inside were bloody messes.

  Captain McCabe ordered cease-fire and all vehicles back into formation; they then continued their march without another thought to just what happened. The weapons the gang had was not unheard of, they had been briefed before they left Fort Irwin that gangs for years had been collecting machine guns, RPG’s, grenades and other automatic weapons, but as far as anyone knew they had no anti-armor weapons.

  As they were wrapping up their engagement with MI-13 the second train had already reached Fort Irwin and was being loaded up, things were moving along, so far so good. The troops that were guarding the train on the way there were from Camp Parks and like the first group that arrived at Fort Irwin people at the Fort had a ton of questions they were starved for information from the outside. One of the visitors was Mel who had come to meet with the Sergeant Major and several of the civilian leaders on post. She had met briefly with the General when he was at Camp Parks who talked to her about what he thought they needed at Irwin and any help
she could be would be appreciated. Mel was more than happy to help.

  The problem was they were trying to attack the issues as a military problem instead of a family problem. Most families were not in the military there spouses certainly were but they didn’t operate their households like a squad or platoon. Families were chaotic sometimes especially with kids, try getting 5 year old to fall into formation, good luck with that. Fort Irwin had set up a family council but that was about it, there was really no heart in it. She needed to find a leader for it that had heart and wanted to see things get done in the community, someone who was not going to sit around and wait for things to happen, but who was going to go after General Watkins relentlessly to the betterment of the community.

  Then that person would have to have a board that was the same way she was, they had to want it regardless of the shitty circumstances that surrounded the EMP event, everyone was dealing with that. They needed to stop feeling sorry for themselves and step up for the challenges that faced them. They needed to stop depending on the Army to do everything for them; they needed to fend for themselves within the Army framework.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The move of the 11th ACR from Fort Irwin via rail and road was a success, there were lessons learned and that’s how they would be marked up as. The overall troop strength at Camp Parks and Pleasanton was now just over 5000, they had armor, artillery, infantry, special operations, signal, military intelligence, quartermaster, for the most part everything they needed to move forward with the operation at hand, they hoped.

  Special Forces teams were still deployed around the bay and gathering Intel, word had spread to everyone within a hundred miles or so it seemed that the military was getting ready for something, even the most hardened militias that thought they were unbeatable were scared and attempting to build their own defenses. One of their biggest problems was that many of their Soldiers if you want to call them that, had little training and were forced to be there. Lots of the militias and people in general thought military type training was over-rated all you really need to know how to do was point and shoot.