War of Final Resolution

[Lt. Ketch]

[I'm trying something new and so please let me know if this format of AAR is interesting and if you would like to see more. The idea is to provided a fully dramatized view of the events of the battle. The following discription is of the opening action of a battle that I finished just a while ago. It's may be a little rough. I'm looking for suggustions, what people like to see in an AAR ect. Enough talk. I'll let the Lt. Col. Take it from here]

Lt. Col Hutchins stared out across the Afghan desert. The enemy was out there in large numbers but he didn't know where. His job was to not only find them but encourage them to be elsewhere. Like Hell for instance. Since the terrorist attack in Torino at the Olympic Games that killed over half the athletes from the US team, there was a sense of hatred that moved the American people to demand resolution. It had only been a few weeks since the state department had positively linked the attacks to the Afghan government and some of their pet terrorists. His men had been on alert and now prepared to embark on a war of final resolution.

He could just make out the hills surrounding the valley where he and his staff were set up in the predawn light. The sound of Major Fox's modified Calvary troop preparing to move out caught his attention. The "thump, thump, thump" of the blackhawks from Captain Ruiz's command starting their roaters also came to his ears from his left. And To his right could just make out the distant shouts of Captain Leonard mech infantry organizing and loading up. "I will need to talk to everyone about the element of surprise." he thought. At least Captain Gilmore had gotten his artillery park set up quietly and while he knew where Captain Eubank and his rangers were on the map, he knew they would be impossible to find out in the desert. Hutchins returned to the satellite map and looked over the battle plan again. The area was uneven desert with lots of hills and shallow washes. There were some trees, but they seemed few and far between. The landscape was dominated by two large hills that rose out of the desert like two great fortresses. The larger was located in the center of their operating area and was code named Castle Rock. CR, as they code went, was actually two hills with a saddle between them that dominated the area around it. Just north of CR was "the Hill," which rose like a spire and overlooked the north part of the area. Those hills would need to be controlled. On both flanks the terrain was even and clear. He had plans for those but they would have to wait. He reviewed his plan then gave the order to begin the advance.

With a whine of tension and the "thump thump thump" of the rotors, 2nd Lt. Krotiak increased the throttle and lifted the big war bird into the air. His two gunners were alert and ready. They were headed for Castle Rock and didn't know what they would find there. In the back Captain Ruiz sat with his men, reviewing the objectives of their mission. Krotiak wasn't rich enough to fly the chopper in formation between the low hills, keep an eye out for SAMs, AA guns and MANPADS, and pay attention to Captain Ruiz giving instructions for those that would get out of the helo. Krotiak was mildly surprised, but very happy when they drew no fire and spotted no enemies. As he landed on a clear area towards he base of CR, he watched as the thirteen other choppers landed and discharged their cargo of trained fighters and their deadly equipment. Those Javelin teams were so comfortable with their weapon that it made Ruiz wince as they rushed out of the Blackhawks and secured themselves in the folds of the hill. Once Ruiz had watched his troops secure the hill above and around him, he nodded to Krotiak and jumped out himself. Krotiak throttled up, watching his ground pounding fellows begin their preparations as he turned his bird back towards the protection of Captain Eubank's position.

Major Fox looked out over the advancing column with a sense of pride. He felt confidant that the M1A2 Abrams that were the backbone of his formation could handle anything the Afghans could throw at them. He was still a cautious man. Which is why he ordered the tanks to button up and lay low when a Kiowa chopper was spotted on the east side of The Hill. He was more worried about the element of surprise than any ability of the bird to destroy. It appeared to be armed with rockets, not ATGM, so that was a small grace. But where there were eyes for seeing there would be hands for beating. Sure enough, a moment later his communications man told him that Ruiz had conformation of two platoons of AFVs and APCs moving up the backside of The Hill towards his position. He knew that Ruiz's troops on his left had a good view of the area his troops would be moving through Well, Fox thought, between the four linebacker SP-SAMs that Gilmore had loaned him, Ruiz's Javelins, and his own units, Fox could see a bad day in store for the enemy...

The driver of the land rover moved up the backside of the castle-like rock with care. Army scouts that were noisy and blundered around didn't get promoted, often because they were dead. His partner, who manned the HMG were following there companion rover to a position where they could over see the American advance. Although he couldn't see them the man knew their tanks were located to the north and were in the process of skirting the south side of the hill in order to surprise the troops the chopper had seen. Between his position and the tanks he could just make out the trio of BTRs that were moving forward, watching the t55s flank. At that point the other rover crested the hill and they followed into the predawn light. They looked out over the valley and then everything went wrong. The radio buzzed to life. The chopper was taking fire from what appeared to be an attack helicopter and a mobile SAM platform. They had taken damage and were losing fuel rapidly. Before the man could consider the implications of losing their eyes in the sky he heard several noises and was horrified to see missile trails speeding from the as yet unseen slope in front of him towards the tanks that were hidden from his view. Again the radio buzzed with reports of surprise and alarm from the tank and BTR commanders, but half of the voices suddenly ceased. The other half continued to panic. Even though he couldn't see the tanks the man could see the fire and smoke coming from their now twisted wrecks. His eyes fell in sorrow. He started when the one of the BTRs exploded below him. The other two tried to maneuver, were also destroyed. Stunned the man realized that before the last one blew the driver and said the word "Abram." before his brain could even process this information, his companion land rover burst into flames with a roar. All of the sudden events had over ridden his body's survival instinct and he moved the rover closer to the edge of the hill. He saw multiple ATGM teams reloading, rifle squads and mmg teams set up all over the frontside of the hill like ants on an anthill. A movement to his left caught his eye and he turned to see a group of men lying in the short brush of the desert. He heard his gunner chamber the first round as the man turned the HMG towards this new threat, but it was too late. The last thing he saw was a soldier aiming a large tube at them and the tube belching fire. His last thought was, "How could they have gotten there so quickly?"