Unnamed Battle over South Sahrani

14^th June 2009 2131h Zulu

Early this afternoon the situation surrounding the negotiations in Southern Sahrani broke down

and Insurgents began to claim cities. Both US and SLA forces were deployed to reclaim the cities in their names and fierce fighting broke out.

I’m Skipper, a Special Operations trooper based in the US Marine base in Estrella. Let me introduce you to my team.

I’m 1, commander of my squad. 2, 3 and 4 are my artillery crew, based in Estrella, 5 is my AH-1Z Gunship gunner, 6 is a Rifleman who is also a capable driver and gunner of tanks and other vehicles. His sub squad is 7 and 8 who are also Riflemen, who double up as gunners and drivers of tanks, there is also 9, 10 and 11 who do the same, though 9 is a sniper and 10 is an Anti Tank specialist. 12, 13 and 14 are my M2A2 Bradley crew.

So, this is what happened from my point of view. 5 and myself spent a large part of the mission flying close air support for the other marine squads based at Estrella, mostly around the cities of Paraiso, Cayo and Dolores. During this time Paraiso was captured by the USMC forces and we were able to return to base, but on the return journey the aircraft developed a fuel problem. I ordered 5 to eject and followed him out shortly, but his chute failed to open and he sadly passed away. Uppon rescue I returned to base and took another AH-1Z with 6 as 5 and myself had spotted an enemy supply truck on radar near the city of Dolores. We flew over Vallejo hotel and monitored it on radar as it led us to the enemy base. We then flew a number of dash passes over the enemy base, firing off hellfire missiles at strategic targets, such as Tripple A emplacements, Anti Tank defences and SAM missile batteries. On the final fly over we were intercepted by a missile which caught the rear rotor. I attempted to stabilise flight, but it proved ineffective, and by this time we were over the sea. Using the last control I managed to get the bird over the desert to the north of Geraldo and ordered an ejection again. This time both “6”s and my parachute opened and we safely landed 2km away from the enemy base. We had a good over look on the enemy base and were able to guide 2, 3 and 4 into a number of successful artillery strikes on other strategic targets, but the SLA forces quickly realised there were enemys in the area and sent out hunter squads to find 6 and myself. We snuck though the desert north of Geraldo until we arrived above Ortego, however we were both low on M4 ammo. I gave my ammo to 6 and took an AK-74 from a fallen SLA soldier and we proceeded into the heavily defended town of Ortego undetected. While sticking to the outskirts we encountered little resistance and were able to capture an unoccupied camp, and we all got much needed ammunition for our M4s and M203s. The positioning of the captured camp was such that we were able to set up an ambush for a passing enemy ammunition supply truck. Using the truck we escaped though the mountains to Paraiso, which was back under insurgent control. It was a hair raising few minutes as we raced though the streets trying to avoid enemy road blocks. I’ve never been so happy to see 10 Squadron in their AH-1Z Cobras giving us some Close Air Support, and as we left the city 14 squadron joined us with their M113s and escorted us back as far as Paraiso Airport. On the way to the airport we picked up the body of “5” which was brought back with us to the base for the proper burial. From the airport the rest of the territory was friendly so the remaining few miles was uneventful. Uppon return to base and after the debrief 6 took his tank crew in an M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, and I took the Bradley crew in their M2A2 back to Ortego and, assisted by 2 other M1A1s and 2 M2A2 Bradleys from 5 Squadron, we mounted an epic assault on the enemy base. During the initial assault the 3 M1A1s took point line abreast with the M2A2s interspaced between the M1A1s and slightly behind to neutralise ground troops and Anti Tank weaponry. Before the tanks arrived at the base the base was bombarded by artillery from 2, 3 and 4 which shook up the enemy a bit and took out a number of anti tank emplacements. 1 M2A2 Bradley was sent to the west of the camp to draw out their tanks, which were then picked off by the M1A1s that were positioned north of the camp on a hill. All the units then converged on the enemy base to mop up remaining ground forces and to neutralise any reinforcement tanks. During this I took a number of satchel charges and set the charges on their Barracks, the tank factory and the command track. These were detonated from the safety of one of the Bradleys. With the reinforcements of troops and tanks cut off there was considerably less resistance, however 1 enemy anti tank specialist got lucky and one of the Bradleys from 5 squadron exploded in fire. 4 well placed Sabot M256 rounds flattened the aircraft and light vehicle factories, raising the enemy base to the ground. The remaining enemy troops promptly surrendered and were taken into custody. USMC reinforcements were brought in and the rest of my squadron and 5 squadron were extracted by UH60 for debrief. No doubt there will be more action for us. Many of the cities remain under insurgent control, but for now it’s the day off for some much needed rest and recuperation.