up and cut them to ribbons.”
“What if they don’t bite? How do we react?”
“We can slide the kill zones by repositioning the machine guns. Now, for the assault. We have to draw the soldiers to the west.”
Sandra Collins stepped in. “They should have trip flares set out. Let’s set them off.”
I responded, “They may be hard to find.”
“What if we carried some of our own? We could set them off to draw attention.”
Karen responded, “That’s a good idea. Five soldiers with two trip flares should work. The rest of the company will attack across the creek into the defensive area from the East. Colonel, anything to add?”
I grabbed a large file folder off a table and walked in front of the table. “This is our battle plan.” I dropped the folder in a trash can as everyone gasped. “The plan only works if the enemy does everything we want. We must be ready to adjust our battle plan as we fight. Who has been trained in night fighting?”
Everyone just stared at me until the smallest girl in the company, Corporal Samantha Meyer, broke the spell.
“Sir, do you mean fighting at night?”
“I mean how to engage targets at night.”
“We’ve fought at night, but no one said how to engage targets. We just shot at lit up pop-up targets on a range.”
“Then we will show you how to engage targets Wednesday night. If there are no further questions…that is all.”
Katie hollered, “On your feet,” as I left the stage and out the theater.
I had to wait on Katie to come out of the theater. Once in the car, Katie spoke up. “Do you know what you did in there?”
“I hope I inspired them to do their best and win the exercise.”
Jamie jumped in. “You did more than that. They will follow you into hell itself.”
“I think you’re exaggerating a bit, Jamie.”
Katie countered, “No, Jamie’s right. They see you as someone who cares about them. This is all for them.”
“Katie, this is so I can get the regiment together.”
“No, Katie’s right. This is to get the troops out of the training brigade. We seem to learn faster than most soldiers. The commanders just don’t understand us. Can you get them out of the training brigade?”
“No, however, I can get Jane Minder to get them out.”
“Who is she?”
Katie jumped in the discussion. “She is the assistant secretary of the army for manpower and reserve affairs. She’s my sister.”
Jamie asked, “You mean she’s your sister?”
“I’m sorry I said that. Jamie, please don’t tell anyone about this.”
Jamie smiled. “For you, my lips are sealed.”
“By the way, Jane and me have a good relationship. She’ll see the troopers are treated fairly.”
I entered the briefing room. The Platoon Sergeants and Squad Leaders were waiting. I turned on the holographic map of the area.
“This is the area for the exercise. We will set up a defense of three Platoons abreast. Third Platoon will have to bend with the creek. We will use trip flares twenty meters to our front. We will put a kill zone 10 meters to the front of 1st and 2nd Platoon. The trip flares will tell us where they are at.”
“LTC Reynolds do we open fire when we see a flare?”
“Open fire when you see the enemy. I will put everyone where they should be prior to the exercise.”
“What about the unit being released from training?”
“Colonel Preston doesn’t have the authority to release you from training.”
“Then what difference does it make if we win or lose?”
“This will be proof that you aren’t ready to leave training.”
“So you think we need more training.”
“You still have a lot of training to do yet.”
“I think Alpha Company will split their forces to attack the west flank and the central front. We will be ready to cut them down.”
Paul Wiseman asked, “When will the attack come?”
“They will attack late night in darkness. There will be only 12 percent illumination during the exercise.”
Dale Richards asked, “What do you mean?”
“There will be very little light to see by. The flares will show where they are.”
“Then we open fire on them.”
“The next three nights, we will shoot targets on the range at night. That will give you some idea how hard it is to engage targets at night.”
I looked at my Platoon Leaders.
“I need you to work up where to place troops and machineguns.”
“Yes sir.”
I watched my leaders leave. Thinking how easy it will be.
Monday night, I took Katie, 2LT Karen Rivera, and the rest of my staff to a rifle range to learn night fighting skills. We were greeted by Major Thomas James with a salute. “Howdy, Colonel Preston.”
“How are you doing, Tom?”
“I’m doing great. I made the lieutenant colonels list. I should pin them on in September.”
Katie interrupted us. “Do you know every officer in the army?”
Tom responded, “Jim doesn’t know every officer, but every infantry officer knows Jim. Jim trained a lot of us while we served under him.”
“I see, it’s nice to see all Jim’s friends.”
Tom asked Katie, “So how long have you been in the army?”
“I…um…well…”
I interrupted “Tom, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“It’s just she looks so young.”
I told Tom, “No older than one of your lieutenants.”
Tom’s eyes got big. “And she is a lieutenant colonel?”
“Jane approved her promotion, and I approved her promotion.”
