Walt and Charlie loading their magazines as well. Walt was on Steve’s team, and since arriving out of Green Team he’d become tight with Steve and me.
I’d heard about Walt when he was coming through Green Team. All of the East Coast SEALs seemed to know him, and they kept an eye on him as he worked his way up to the second deck.
No taller than my armpit, he had hair that was already shaggy and a thick brown beard covered his face. He was short, but his cocky swagger compensated for it. He had a healthy dose of little-man syndrome and an inordinate amount of body hair. It seemed like the guy could grow a beard in days.
Walt was supposed to start Green Team a year prior, but got in some trouble and had to delay his plans for an extra year.
Walt and I got along almost immediately. He liked to shoot and loved guns as much as I did. One day on the range, I invited him out to the SHOT show, a shooting, hunting, and outdoors trade show in Las Vegas. Schedule permitting, we would go every year, to meet with vendors and see what kind of new guns and equipment were on the market.
The first day of the trip, I introduced him around to all the vendors. By the second day, my contacts were asking me where Walt was hanging out. At a bar after the show the third night, I found Walt holding court with executives from the National Rifle Association. He had a cigar in his mouth, and he was slapping backs and shaking hands like he was running for office. They all loved him.
Walt was the little guy with the big personality.
The team had a quick huddle and I told them the goat trail idea was scrapped. We were now going to patrol up together.
“We are going to go up the main trail and adjust as we get closer to the target,” I said. “Any issues?”
Everybody shook their heads no.
“Nope,” Charlie said. “We’re good.”
It was like playing pickup basketball. We knew what needed to happen and all we needed was the basic plan. If you know how to “shoot, move, and communicate,” the rest will fall into place. When operations get too complicated, it tends to slow things down. Every single man standing in the weight room that night had years of experience. Plus, the plan always changed, so it was easiest to keep things simple. We’d done this before and trusted the team.
The patrol snaked out of the gate and started down the paved road toward the village. It was a nice road, probably built with American tax dollars. Less than a kilometer from the gate, we slowly fell back from the main group before taking a right turn and heading up our valley to the west.
We followed the road for two hours. It cut back and forth, with each switchback steeper than the last. Soon we came upon a cluster of cars. I could see a Hilux truck parked on one side of the road and two station wagons with racks on the roof. As I passed, I gazed into the windshields. All of the cars were deserted.
This was as far as they could go.
It was the end of the road. The trail narrowed and got steeper as we patrolled deeper into the valley. With every step I could feel the altitude and the weight of my equipment trying to slow me down. I was getting tired, and we were only halfway. I hoped all this effort was going to be worth it.
After another hour on the trail, I could see the target compounds and at least two small faint lights on near one of the buildings. Clumps of trees blocked most of my view. The buildings were made of stone and mud and seemed to emerge from the valley walls.
Taking the main road the rest of the way would have been easier, but we knew there were sentries watching the route. We couldn’t risk being compromised. The drones continued to report roving patrols in the trees around the main road and compound.
Surprise was key. In most cases the quickest way between two points in Kunar was a goat trail. I’d heard the same line in Alaska growing up. We had no choice but to find another way around. Nobody wanted to be in that valley when the sun came up.
“We’re going to move directly up the ridgeline and move our way around,” I heard the RECCE team leader say over the radio.
I could almost hear my legs scream, but we all knew it was the right call. The RECCE element was confident that if we shot straight up the ridgeline we’d find the original goat trail that my team was going to use.
From the road, we literally climbed up the mountain searching for the goat trail. Several times I had to tighten the sling on my weapon so I could grab boulders in front as I climbed. If I wasn’t pulling myself up the side of the mountain, I was making my own switchbacks as we climbed. No one spoke, but I could hear my teammates grunting as they climbed.
We all saw this as a juicy target. We were willing to do it if we could get the jump on them. Still, with every step, the only thought running through my mind was the target better be worth it.
After a couple of hours of climbing, we finally found the goat trail. My legs were beyond sore now, and it was tough to catch my breath because I was tired. But making it to the trail gave us renewed hope. Without a doubt our RECCE guys were the best in the business and if it weren’t for their meticulous planning before the mission there is no way we would have ever been able to pull off this operation successfully.
The goat trail wasn’t wider than a foot and straddled the ridgeline. On one side was the cliff face towering over us and the other side was an almost straight drop into the valley. We didn’t have time to dwell on how a false step could send you sliding down a near-vertical face. We just spent an hour finding the trail, and dawn wasn’t that far away, so time was of the essence.
We had to move.
We finally caught a break when the trail emptied us out into a perfect position slightly above the target compound. There were three central buildings with a courtyard in the middle, and several additional small structures scattered around the perimeter.
At the foot of the trail were a series of fields cut like stairs into the rock face. It was between seasons and the dirt was dry. Sometimes, the fields were flooded and we’d have to slog through the mud.
Setting up on the tiers, my team took the one that was level with the main target compound.
“Alpha is set,” I said over the radio.
Steve’s team climbed up one tier above my team and moved to the right flank.
“Charlie is set,” Steve said on the radio.
Bravo team climbed down one tier to focus on the southern compounds farther down the hill.
“Bravo is set.”
I could feel the adrenaline start to flood my body. I no longer felt tired or sore. Each one of my senses was heightened, and we were all on full alert. If everything went according to plan, we’d catch the enemy by surprise. But if things went bad, we’d be in a gunfight in close quarters.
“Take it,” troop chief said over the radio. “Nice and slow.”
We started to creep forward. Everyone was quiet, and each step was deliberate. Nothing got our blood pumping more than creeping into an enemy compound, sometimes directly into the rooms of enemy fighters while they were sleeping. This wasn’t like other units that had to react to a roadside bomb attack or ambush. This was deliberate and calculated. Our tactics weren’t unique. What made us different was our experience level and knowing when to take violent, decisive action and when to be patient and quiet.
I could feel my heart beating in my chest. Every sound was amplified. We’d take four or five steps and hold. Shouldering my weapon, I focused on my laser as it tracked from window to door to alley searching for any movement. I could see my teammates’ lasers doing the same thing.
“Go slow,” I thought. “Slow is quiet.”
When I got to the first building, I tried the rusty knob of the thick wooden door.
Locked.
Charlie tried the same kind of door on the building right next door. It was also locked.
There was no talking. We didn’t have any fancy Navy SEAL hand and arm signals. I just nodded at Charlie, and we started to move around the building to the other side that faced the courtyard.
A small gate led into the courtyard. Walt reached up and cut the cord that held up a sheet that blocked the way.
Moving inside, Steve, Walt, and the rest of the team stacked on multiple doors across the courtyard. I saw a
