to make sure that he had done his job properly.
I thoroughly inspected the carriers and noted that the machine guns on three of them had been fired recently and that the boxes of expended ammunition had not been replaced. On some patrols if things were quiet the officer in command might authorise some ‘unofficial’ target practice to take place in a quiet part of the desert. On their return the patrol was supposed to replenish the missing ammunition, but this was often overlooked in their rush to wash the desert dust out of their dry throats in the company’s air-conditioned bar.
Added to this I found that the batteries were nearly flat in the radios on two of the vehicles. The length of our mission would ensure that long before we returned, the suspect equipment would have ceased to work. I wrote down all the problems I had found and headed for the company office.
Bradsure International Security Service (BISS) had been the only company to express any interest in allowing me to join them. On reviewing my medical record the rest had declined my offer, fearing that I could become a burden to them if my wounds were to deteriorate. With the money they were offering, these companies had more than enough fully fit men offering their services and they could well afford to ignore my past valuable experience.
BISS on the other hand were not quite so selective. Run by a board of directors who had their eyes fixed solely on the bottom line they offered lower wages than the rest and accepted nearly anyone who applied as long as they had some military experience and they didn’t have to waste money training them. The company also kept their profits high by cutting corners whenever they could, particularly when it came to basic maintenance, and it was not unknown for a patrol of five vehicles to set out for the day and only three returning with the extra crew members crammed into the few remaining vehicles.
Inside the office I handed my list of necessary replacement parts to the officer on duty. He had been a former major in the engineers and had never seen action in his life. In a moment of liquor-induced candour he had revealed that the nearest he had come to actual conflict was when a disgruntled local had chosen to express his displeasure by lobbing a mortar round into the Green Zone.
He read through my list while sipping at his morning cup of coffee. ‘I can get you the ammunition – we’ve plenty of that – but the radio batteries are another thing. Are you sure you can’t muddle through with what you’ve got?’
I gave the man behind the desk a withering look. ‘Would you like to be out there,’ I said, pointing off into the distance, ‘under attack and unable to call for support?’
The man cleared his throat and blushed. ‘Quite so. Well, we haven’t any spare batteries in stock. They’re on order and should be delivered later today. Can’t you recharge the ones we have, or perhaps borrow some from another company?’
‘We’re supposed to be leaving in an hour. There’s no time.’
‘Why not use your mobile phones?’
I exploded. ‘Jesus Christ, mate! Don’t you know anything? They can track the patrol if we use our mobiles. The first time a call is intercepted they will set up an ambush. Besides, the network doesn’t extend out into the countryside!’
‘Calm down, Sergeant!’ came a voice from behind me and I turned to see my group officer enter the room. ‘What’s going on?’ he asked.
‘We don’t have radio batteries for two of the vehicles and I can’t risk taking men out there and placing them in any more danger than we have to.’
He shrugged. ‘Okay, so we leave them behind and take the three operational vehicles. That way we won’t need as many men and we won’t have to split the bonus in as many ways.’ He grinned. ‘There’ll be more money for each of us.’
I was totally blown away by the man’s crass stupidity. ‘Sir, we need all five vehicles. One lead vehicle, one to cover our rear and the three in the middle changing places regularly so the enemy can’t tell which one has the VIP in it. Going with three vehicles will be like waving a flag at the terrorists, saying “Come and shoot us. Your target is in the middle”.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ scoffed the former engineering major. ‘You’re worrying about nothing.’
‘The Major’s correct,’ agreed my patrol commander.
I thought about taking the matter further but knew that it would be useless. All I could do was make the best of a bad situation. ‘I’ll go through the roster and see who we can leave behind.’ I wanted to be the one to do that task so that I could ensure that the most experienced men went along in case anything went wrong.
‘No need, Sergeant Briggs. I’ll do that. You go and make sure our three vehicles are in order.’
I went off to do what I was ordered to do, but I wasn’t at all happy. My gut feeling was that this mission was going from bad to worse very quickly and we hadn’t even gotten under way.
At the appointed time our patrol assembled at the vehicles and I saw that my worst fears had been realised. The two officers had selected the most inexperienced men available for the mission. All were first-timers on the lowest paying contracts, ensuring the two officers would have the maximum amount of bonus to share among themselves.
I would have taken the matter further, but it was important that we pick up our VIPs at a precise time and so I was stuck with the assembled crew.
Cursing under my breath I climbed aboard my carrier and ordered the driver to start the motor while at the same time I made a visual check to ensure that all was in readiness. It was just as well that I did so because one of the men had his Kevlar helmet resting on the floor at his feet and his bulletproof jacket was draped casually over his shoulder, exposing his chest.
‘What the fuck do you think you’re dressed for?’ I thundered at him.
‘Sorry, Sarge.’ He grinned. ‘We’re still inside the compound, so I thought I’d leave the helmet off till we get outside.’
‘Friggin idiot! Get yourself squared away. There are plenty of Iraqis inside the Green Zone that given half the chance would love to blow your head off your shoulders.’
The other men smirked at the young man’s discomfort as he hurried to don his helmet and secure his jacket. I turned to glare at them as well. ‘I want every one of you on guard every second. You don’t have the luxury of sitting around giggling like schoolgirls. Get your faces up against your windows, your weapons at the ready. Check every face that you see outside. I want to know the instant you see anything unusual.’
‘What are we looking for?’ asked the most junior man. He had joined the company the day before and his previous military experience had been as an aircraftman in the RAF.
‘Shit!’ I swore. ‘Haven’t you even looked at the information sheets you were given?’
‘Sorry, Sarge. I haven’t had time.’
I took a deep breath to calm myself down and began to speak slowly. ‘The faces, watch the faces in the crowds as we pass. We have guns and they know we’d like the least excuse to use them. They should be afraid of us. They will look in our direction, but they won’t look us in the eye. If you do catch them looking straight at us without flinching, or if they stand too confidently, it could mean that they know something we don’t.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like
