Afghanistan, 2005

[John Callaghan]

In this thread, I will post John's time in Afghanistan. I will make other threads with his time in Iraq and his time with SG-twenty-something. If at any point I go AU, I will mark it as the following: Thread title [AU]...

[John Callaghan]

First Lieutenant John Callaghan
First Platoon//Bravo Company//1st Reconnaissance Battalion

Camp Leatherneck
Afghanistan, 2005
0500

Sand, sand and oh! More sand! As if John hadn't seen enough sand during the invasion of Iraq, he was now seeing even more! What was it with deployments in the sand? Why could they never deploy to a nice and warm country that had little to no sand? Was it really that much to ask? Hell, Callaghan would settle for being garrisoned at Hawaii.

It was five in the morning, and already John stood in the command center, fully packed and ready to get out there. He would get out there soon, after he was briefed. The man on the other side of the table pointed at a small valley. "Ah, Callaghan. Nice of you to join us this early. Intel reports that insurrectionist forces have been seen here..." the Major said as he moved his finger to another place in the valley. "John, I want your platoon to take out this position. You'll be inserted by a Super Stallion at around 0800. I'm sorry it'll have to be this late. I'm sure that you and I both would've liked to do this in the dark. Anyway, continuing. You will have to leg it from your LZ, about ten klicks."

The walking part was what concerned the Lieutenant. Ten klicks through the open. And there was a village in the way. They could go around, but that would add another 5 klicks. He'd have to make do, though.

The Major continued. "Once you've taken care of the Taliban, you'll be extracted by a Chinook from the British Army that’s in the area to resupply one of their FOBs. It’ll take you to Camp Bastion just up the road. It’s callsign is 'Ghostrider'. You'll be home for lunch. And believe me when I say, it'll be a good Christmas lunch. Now, then. Any questions or concerns?"

"Aye, Major. I have a few. To start with, I don't have a Corpsman. Hospital Corpsman Second Class Thompson was reassigned to Alpha last week. I was told there was a replacement incoming, but I haven't heard anything else about it. Furthermore, do we have anyone in support?" John asked.

The Major was silent for a bit, before he replied. "I can move Bravo-Two's Corpsman to your platoon for the duration of this OP. Also, you'll have Bravo-Three on standby here at Leatherneck. If you're in trouble, you'll need to hold out the hour it takes for them to get to you. Now, if that was all... You're dismissed."

Callaghan shook his head and turned around. He stepped out of the command tent and with his Gunnery Sergeant in tow moved to his platoon. The 20 men he had were already waiting for him. He was sure that the Major would pass the word for Second Platoon's Corpsman to join them anytime now.

The Lieutenant and the gunnery Sergeant went over the plan with the men. A few disgruntled mumbles went over the room as everything was explained. In the end, they'd do their jobs, though. At around 0630, the Corpsman joined the group, making it a full platoon again. A few minutes later, they boarded the helicopter.

During the ride, everyone prepared themselves. John checked every part of his equipment. The ride was smoother than he was used to. The Lieutenant closed his eyes for a few minutes and was woken by one of his teamleaders.

They descended, and John was the first to jump out of the helicopter hovering a few feet off the ground. After everyone was assembled, he said “Okay guys, you know the drill. Don’t fire unless fired upon. Until then, rifles down.” John then spoke into his radio. “Godfather, this is Hitman One-Actual. We are on the ground, and are moving towards the objective”

With that, the 23-man platoon moved out. The sun was up by now, and it was starting to get warmer and warmer. Ten klicks. It would take little over an hour if they kept moving. John ordered First Squad to take the right flank, while Second Squad took the left. He remained in the middle along with Third Squad.

After some twenty minutes, they came upon the village. Intel had no reason to assume they were still occupied, and as such paid no mind to them in the planning of the mission.

As the platoon moved in the village, several civilians left their houses to meet the soldiers. John talked to the radio again. “Uhhm. Godfather. This is Hitman One-Actual. We have civilians over here. They look pretty bad. Please advise.”

It took a few moments, but Command got back to him. “Hitman One-Actual, Godfather. You are to move on. Once the Insurrectionists have been taken care of, we will send someone. Out”

John gathered his squad leaders, and repeated to them what command told him. A few minutes later, they were on the move again, walking over the sand with a quick pace. Forty minutes later, they arrived at the rock formation that would provide cover against the insurrectionist fire, should they receive any. He positioned second squad to the left, and third squad to the right, with first squad with him in the middle.

John peeked over the the rock, and while looking down at the field he could see tents and small fortifications like sandbags and trenches. When he brought out his binoculars he spotted at least twenty men, and possibly more inside the tents. The men readied themselves, checked their magazines, and laid them down next to them for easy and quick access. John told the men to pick their targets, and wait for his command.

John checked his magazine, and then loaded it in his rifle again. Then he pulled back the bolt a bit and checked for the round in the chamber. He released it and took aim at one of the insurrectionist soldiers. He took a shot, and after he did, he could see the man falling to the ground, lifeless. Not a moment later, the other men started shooting as well. Some fired off bursts, others took single shots. There was even a guy who emptied his entire magazine, and John made a mental note of it. He'd have the man's squad leader talk to him after they got back to base. John himself kept firing off a few shots at a time until his magazine was empty. He ejected it, and shoved a fresh one he took from the ground in it. When he took aim again, he saw that more of the soldiers had fallen, and only then did a few of them return fire, if they fired at all.

John forgot how long the fight was. Hell, it was barely even a fight. The Taliban had no opportunity to even return fire.

When it was over, John took first and second squad to check out the camp, with third squad to cover them. The found signs of those people living here for several weeks now, and supplies that would last another three months.

After an hour, John concluded that they had gotten them all. He ordered explosives to be set in place. Then he contacted command again. “Godfather, Hitman One-Actual. Objective completed.”

“Roger that, Hitman One. Good job. We’ll see you in a bit.” Command said in return.

Immediately, John changed the channel on his radio to the British one. “Ghostrider, this is Hitman One-Actual. We are ready for extraction.”

“Roger that, Hitman One. We are on our way, ETA five mikes. Pop smoke to mark your location.” the British pilot replied.

“Copy that, popping smoke” John said as he took a smoke grenade from his vest. He pulled the pin and threw it out in the open. A few moments later, it started spewing red smoke into the air.

A few minutes later, the chinook landed. Everyone quickly got aboard it, John being the last. Once the helicopter was out of range, John hit the detonator. He didn’t look back at the explosion. He was a badass. And a badass looked away from an explosion. He just smiled.

After returning to the base, John and the sergeants were debriefed. Apparently not only his platoon was out. Several other platoons were out to strike at the insurrectionists, so that the cells could not warn the others, who would then go into hiding. The operation had been a success, and John dismissed the men. He was going to get his due share of christmas lunch before getting some shut eye.