There are many unknown heroes in the military. The elite members of the United States Army Ranger covert operation battalions are just a few of these heroes. The Special Operations Covert Infiltration Tactical Unit is a lethal collection of elite rangers that are well trained natural born killers. This unit silently penetrates the enemy camps and headquarters in the shadows of the night. Secretly, they eliminate major threats to our national security. The S.O.C. I.T. unit is the best unit in the covet ops battalion. A soldier is personally requisitioned by the sergeant major to be assigned to the S.O.C. I.T. unit. The sergeant major carefully selects the ranger that fits the unit specialty. The ranger selected for the unit must be proficient at killing the enemy. He must do what he was trained to do in Ranger School.
Sergeant Major Walter Monroe Wilson is an extremely well decorated war hero. He was among the original armored divisions to go to Vietnam in 1961. He completed four consecutive tours in Heong Nu with the 11th Calvary. After the war, one of the rangers requested that he become a ranger. The sergeant quickly accepted and completed the rigorous training. First Sergeant Wilson graduated number two in a class of sixty rangers. In 2000, he received a promotion to Sergeant Major. Later that same year, he was inducted into the U. S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame with over one hundred and ninety successful missions.
The sergeant major quickly selected Jamal for the unit because Jamal proved that he was proficient at killing the enemy. He accomplished the last mission and brought a donation for the office shelf. Jamal did what he was trained to do in Ranger School. Slowly, Jamal pulled the glistening midnight blue Ford into the Special Ops parking lot. The building faced the rising sun on top of the highest hill on the base. The Army Corps of Engineers assembled the huge three-story building with white marble blocks a few months after
Hurricane Camille demolished the old building in 1969. Four enormous circular marble columns supported the front entrance of the building. The base personnel office rested to the east of the front entrance. The base hospital sat on the south side of the building. To the north was the Officers Club. From the Special Ops building, you could see most of the base.
It was three months before Jamal received his next mission assignment. However, for three-months, the entire unit trained. They awoke early every morning to the sound of Sergeant Major Wilson beating on a bass drum. The sleepy unit ran 10 miles every morning regardless of the weather. At the end of each long run, the exhausted soldiers found their way to the Mess Hall for a quick twenty minute breakfast. Later, they marched to the training grounds and gun range to perfect their skills. The intense training consisted of different covert assassination techniques, hand to hand combat, long range shooting, covert surveillance, and a host of other useful skills. Most of these skills, they learned at Fort Benning. Nevertheless, a ranger knew over 1001 ways to slay a person with or without a weapon. An U. S. Army Ranger is a very dangerous enemy to have.
After three months of training with the unit, Jamal was ready for this mission. He opened the heavy metal door to the captain's office. He noticed that the sergeant major and the office clerk were not at their desks. The well groomed soldier slowly walked across the highly bluffed white tile floor to the unit's glass trophy case. The oak and glass case stood against the far wall. It contained the unit decorations, commendations, trophies, and a display of varies parts of the human anatomy emerged in embalming liquid. Jamal stood looking at the individual containers of grayish human organs emerged in the clear embalming liquid. The captain was sitting at his large desk with his door opened. He called to Jamal and motioned to him to come into the office.
Captain Jab never sticks to military traditions. ‘It is good to see you, Private Walker' he said as he rose from his chair and extended his large hand. Captain Jab continued, ‘Tell me how do you like being in SOC IT. The unit is the brainchild of the sergeant major.' Quickly, they shook hands and Jamal sat on the leather couch in front of the desk.
‘It is okay, sir,' Jamal quickly replied. “But, for the last three months, all we have done is train. I am ready some live action. Captain Jab, I am ready to get to work.”
‘Well, I have been watching you to see where you will fit in with the unit. I see you are comfortable with the sniper rifle. On this mission, I want to check out your stealth ability, though. I want to see how good you shoot without being seen. The sergeant major has a lot of faith in you, private. He said you are a carbon copy of him when he first became a ranger.'
‘You do not have anything to worry about, Captain Jab. I will do what I am trained to do. I am trained to be the best of the best. I can hit any target without casting a shadow and disappear before the corpse hit the floor,' Jamal said as he slowly smiled. He continued, ‘But, Me being like Sergeant Major Wilson; I do not know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, Captain Jab.’
Captain Jab laughed loudly, stood, and retrieved a top-secret folder. ‘Trust me, Walker that is the best compliment you can get. Wilson is the best ranger in the entire U. S. Army. Here is your next mission.' He handed Jamal the top secret folder and continued, ‘Report to the base airport at 2300. There will be a cargo plane waiting for you. Good luck on this mission, private. But, please leave the presents in the jungle,' he laughed and dismissed Jamal.
When Jamal first joined the Army, he dreamed of this day. He dreamed of being a United States Army Ranger. He stood and sharply saluted the captain. He executed a perfect about face and marched out into the inner office. Taking a quick glance at the trophy case, he thought about the two men he killed to get his presents. ‘With my skills, I am going to be the best ranger ever.’ He said to himself and walked out the office door. The ranger walked down the long tiled hallway toward the entrance of the building. A few minutes later, the Ford quickly left the Special Ops building parking lot and drove toward the barracks. It was 1100 on Thursday, October 11, 2001 and he was free until 2300.
The time for the mission arrived before Jamal knew it. The C-47 rested on the runway. The lone ranger loaded his gear onto the enormous plane. He packed his chute and double-checked his equipment before he left the barracks. Before arriving at the base airport, he stopped at the Armory and retrieved his usual gear. Instead of the sniper rifle, he chose a simple yet effective Winchester rifle. He climbed into the belly of the giant metal camouflaged plane. ‘This will be my twenty-sixth jump,' Jamal thought to himself. The pilots completed the last checks and the camouflaged metal giant rose noisily into the midnight sky.
It was a three-hour flight to the mission location. Jamal slowly retrieved the folder from his green backpack. Using his small flashlight, he painstakingly read the information on the target, his location, and the planned route of departure. Two hours later, the co-pilot yelled to Jamal through the open door. ‘It is time to jump, soldier.' One of the crew helped the ranger get his parachute and gear situated. When the gray metal door slid open, Jamal felt the strength of the invisible wind loudly whip around inside the plane. Fearlessly, he jumped out the open door and floated silently into the midnight sky.
After he pulled his white parachute cord, the ranger gently drifted down to the jungle floor. It sounds easy to do. The hardest thing to do is to jump out of a perfectly good plane. The scariest thing is to float down to the ground not knowing who might be shooting up at you. Nevertheless, Jamal just forgot about the dangers he would face and focused on completing the mission. He is an U. S. Army Ranger. The ranger will survive.
