necessary, all the Team's vehicles would have to go uphill, at times exposed to observation and fire from the enemy on the other side of the valley. In addition, the only positions from which most of the Team would be able to fire were immediately inside the tree line. This position was so obvious it hurt. Bannon could visualize some Soviet artillery commander plotting likely targets and coming across their hill during his terrain analysis. Glee would light up on the Russian's face as he told his trusted subordinate,
'There, there they will defend, in this tree line. Make sure we target that area with at least five, no six, battalions of artillery, comrade.' Bannon had been over it all before and if they came out of this deployment without going to war he resolved that he would go over it again.
But for now, he, and Team Yankee, were obliged to fight on the ground where they sat.
As Bannon approached the 3rd Platoon's position he heard a slight rustling followed by the two low voices. He had reached the 3rd Platoon's OPLP. 'Halt, who goes there?' came the challenge in a voice that was a little too loud and sounded surprised. Bannon had no doubt caught the soldiers manning the OP half-asleep and had startled them. The voice that had issued the challenge sounded like Private Lenord from the 32 tank. The sentry repeated his challenge, 'Who goes there?' It was Lenord. 'Captain Bannon.'
'Oh, okay. You can come on in then.'
While this homey invitation was a refreshing change of pace from the less-than-cheerful thoughts Bannon had been pondering, it was definitely not the way to do business while on guard. As he approached, he could hear a second soldier telling Lenord that he had screwed up. When Bannon was no more than arm's distance from them, the two men quietly stood up to face their commanding officer. As they were just inside the tree line, none of them could see the other's face. But Bannon was reasonably sure there was a pained expression on Lenord's face. Not knowing which of the two forms facing him was Lenord, Bannon directed his comments to both. 'Is that the proper way to challenge someone?' 'No, sir, it's not, sir.'
'How are you supposed to challenge a stranger when he approaches your position, Lenord?'
Without hesitation, and as if he were reciting from a book, Lenord went through the correct challenge and password procedures. With a plaintive voice and a few expletives, Bannon asked Lenord why he hadn't used the correct procedures. 'Because you said you were the CO and I recognized your voice, sir.' The answer was honest but wrong. Bannon explained that everyone gets the full treatment. Lenord didn't seem to understand the logic in this but promised that he wouldn't forget the next time. As Bannon walked away toward the 32 tank he could hear the second soldier tell Lenord, 'See, I told you so,' as they settled down into their positions again.
Upon reaching the 32 tank, Bannon started climbing up on the right front fender but stopped halfway up when he heard the cocking of a .45 and a low, firm 'Halt.' The voice belonged to SSgt Joelle Blackfoot, a full-blooded Cherokee Indian and tank commander of 32. Bannon had no doubt that there was a .45 cocked, loaded, and aimed at him. 'Who goes there?'
'Captain Bannon.'
'Advance and be recognized.'
Bannon finished climbing up and moved slowly to the edge of the turret, now able to make out the figure in the cupola with an outstretched arm holding a .45. In a lower voice just audible to him, Blackfoot gave the challenge, 'Wrinkle.'
'Bait,' was Bannon's reply.
Satisfied with the answer, Blackfoot raised his pistol and slowly let the hammer down. 'When's the war going to start, Captain?'
Pulling himself up onto the top of the turret so that he was lying across the length of it with his head near Blackfoot's, Bannon spoke to Blackfoot about Lenord's failure to challenge properly and how things were going with the crew's preparations for combat. Being the thorough NCO that he was, Blackfoot was not happy with the crew drill between him and his gunner. Blackfoot explained that his gunner was slow to pick up targets that he had acquired and on which he had laid the main gun. He wanted some time on a road or someplace where they could move the tank and practice their crew drill. Bannon explained that for security reasons all vehicular movement had to be kept down to a minimum. Blackfoot, like everyone else in the Team, would just have to do the best he could from a stationary position. Blackfoot replied that he knew that but he saw no harm in asking. After getting the weather prediction for the day and his best guess as to when the fog would lift, Bannon climbed down and proceeded to Lieutenant Garger's tank, the next in line.
As he approached the 31 tank, Bannon began going over the 'counseling' he would use with Garger this morning. Garger wasn't a naturally bad lieutenant. In fact, he was no different from any other second lieutenant, including himself, that Bannon had known. It took time, training, and a lot of patience to develop a good second lieutenant tank platoon leader.
For only having been in the country for three weeks, Garger wasn't doing half bad. But while half bad was all right on a training exercise, it wouldn't hack it in combat. The time and opportunity to teach the lieutenant- everything he needed to know just wasn't there anymore. The Team was about to go into combat and Bannon had no faith in Garger's ability to perform.
The platoon sergeant, SFC Gary Pierson, a veteran of Vietnam and an outstanding trooper, had been doing his best to train the lieutenant when Bannon wasn't. Pierson was also trying to cover for Garger so that the platoon didn't look bad. But Pierson couldn't do it all. Either the lieutenant had to perform or he had to go. At this late stage of the game, Bannon wasn't about to put lives in the hands of a lieutenant who had, so far, screwed up most of the tasks given him. He intended to talk to the battalion commander about the matter later that day. But first, there was the business at hand.
Climbing up onto the right front fender of the 31 tank, he was stopped as he had been on Blackfoot's tank with a 'Halt, who goes there?' Only instead of using a .45 to keep the unknown intruder at bay, the figure in the cupola tried to crank his M2 machine gun down and in Bannon's direction. As the firing mechanism is part of the gun's elevation handle and is easily activated, a brief moment of panic swept over Bannon. He 'considered whether it were better to jump, scream, or hope for the best. Fortunately, inept handling of the machine gun's controls frustrated the figure in the cupola and he decided to go to his .45 as an alternative. As the figure fumbled for his pistol, Bannon identified himself and finished climbing on board.
Abandoning all hopes of covering the intruder with a weapon, the figure simply finished the challenge and password procedures in a dejected and apprehensive voice. Lieutenant Garger was running true to form this morning.
Bannon crawled onto the turret and propped himself up on his elbows so that he was less than a foot from Garger. 'Well, what shall we talk about this morning, Lieutenant Garger?'
Garger paused for a moment, not knowing if he was expected to answer or if the Team commander was simply going to lay into him. Hesitantly, he replied in a halfquestion, half-statement, 'RTO procedures, sir?'
'No, no. Close, but a no-go. How about radio listening silence? You remember our discussion on that subject yesterday morning?'
'Yes, sir.'
'THEN WHY IN THE HELL DID YOU BREAK RADIO LISTENING SILENCE AGAIN TODAY? ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID OR JUST SOFT IN THE HEAD?' While waiting for his answer, Bannon did his best to pull himself back and calm down. He had a tendency to become excited and abusive. He had told himself time and again that it wouldn't do to get this cranked up; he had to be calm and logical. But habits are hard to break, especially so early in the morning. There would, no doubt, be plenty more reasons for getting excited later today.
Falteringly, Garger replied, 'No, sir. I just wanted to make sure the radios worked since we changed frequencies and all.'
With his composure regained, Bannon continued, 'Did your radio work yesterday before I chewed your ass out for breaking radio listening silence?' 'Yes, sir.'
'And did your radio work the day before yesterday just before I chewed your ass out for breaking radio listening silence?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Then why did you do it again? I mean, by now even you should be able to figure out that, a, your radio works every time you use it and b, every time you use it I am going to come down and jump in your shit. Do you understand what I'm telling you, I mean, do you really understand?'
'Yes, sir, I do, it's just that, well, I…'
'One more time, I swear, one more time…'
