AAR 2012 RECON Challenge

[MarlFox]

 I must say it's disappointing writing this while the rest of you are probably still out on the field. Leaving early never provokes happiness.

 

 As part of Just Joe's Hunter/Killer team Charlie, my assessment is that we performed our role quite effectively,taking out at least three Recon team members each patrol (I ended up leaving with two kills).

 One Recon team decided it would be an intelligent idea to make a run for the interior of Silo when our team engaged them at around 1945 hrs during our second (red) patrol . Let's just hope they learned that getting pinned in a building is  not an effective way to complete objectives. After two patrols,we took over guard duty at Nanny at 2000 hrs. This was a peaceful hour. We received no engagements,and I propped my gun up a few feet away,and lay down... almost fell asleep twice,just waiting in solitude. The silence was abruptly broken when a fellow HK teammate managed to entangle themselves in Bluewolf's trip wire... which happened to be attached to a Thunder B grenade. No one has confessed. After a brief firefight at the beginning of our third patrol, I had to leave the field.

 

  Overall,even with my brief stay,I thought this was an exceptionally well orchestrated Op,and I am already looking forward to a similar style of play again. Night games are often very confusing,with more team mates dead than enemies. However ,this problem was brilliantly solved with lights Vs. no lights. One idea off the top of my head...I think adding a vehicle transport of some type would be a fascinating element for next time. Also,it seemed that radio communication was not at it's finest,possibly more due to interference than anything else. Hopefully that can be improved upon in the future,as communication is vital,especially at night.Thank you to my teammates from HK Charlie for watching my back,and a special thank you to Just Joe for leading,and especially to Kommisar and all the others who made the 2012 Recon Challenge a fantastic experience. Hope the rest of the night was successful,one and all.

[Bluewolf]

I would personally like to thank Kommisar and Lady Kate for all the hard work and effort into this opt.  Squirrel, Dwarf, and Maverick, Higcap it was great to see you.  Tank, Flapjack, Gilbert (you better think of a call sign or be given one), and Ken I was thinking of ya!  A well put together opt!  I hope this will help others come up with creative ideas and locations to enjoy the sport we love.   You can all do it...just keep looking and help promote the sport we all enjoy.  Justin and Alicia thank you for putting together the opportunity to help a wonderful little boy.  Wishing the best!

Team Blues Clues ran as a very efficient team.  Communication ran very smoothy with al HK teams with minor "radio issues" that were addressed and corrected.  With daylight as our friend we made the best of situations by taking down the forces set to disrupt our happy (insert cause here) regime.  Friendly fire was a constant issue but with it is understandable with such limited resources to adequately train solders....ahh, better to just spend more money on bullets!  A box of cigars will be sent to the family's who lost a love one...and if no family...i will enjoy them myself and will smoke them in their honor.

When darkness came flashlights were nice.  They stopped me from tripping on my poorly made boots but they made me a beacon for those to wish to do me harm.  And there was another byproduct of by beloved AAA powered friend.  The enemy of my cause USED the light to trick me!!!!  I watched as a fellow comrade was mowed down by another light...my instinct was to shut down my light (another training flaw my unit was not taught!)  Tony the tiger with his personally painted gun was taken in his prime! ( I will get to smoke his cigars as he has no family).  I knew the enemy was near.  Other HK teams were in site and I directed their lights and fire to a location.  Risking an idea I hide my light knowing that their aim was to rescue the HVT.  Watching the firefight  I crept in the darkness shielding my light with my hand I listened to the sound of gun fire in the darkness.  At an ideal time I flashed the enemy knowing that I could be shot but the hopes of lighting the enemy to the comrades would show the way, with luck I took him out and again shielded my light.  Listening I heard movement and the desperation of fire from the enemy.  Once again I moved forward to find the enemy that I knew was close by...I found him and took the chance of a shot...in dying breath he asked me, "where was my light?"  Even though he was gone I answered, "My light was always on, It was hidden from you.  My light was from my comrades."

I moved back to my HK team, I spoke to a light that I had finished the job, to my shock it was a tree with a light in it!  My fellow operator Juice from Alpha was still alive...a tree was used as a lighthouse.  I had to smile....even in poor training my fellow soldiers evolved to adjust to the threats that came their way!

My team lived to fight the good fight another day.  Wild Bill....His dream to own his own repair shop with side dental shop will one day come true.  Dynomite will one day perfect the perfect explosion that is safe enough for youngsters to fight against for our cause.  Dane who one day hopes to perfect a jerky from goats that will surpass the desire for the under-flavored beaf product.  Sean...who hopes just to enjoy more ladies and more tequila and more of just everything!  Duck, who just wishes to be with his family and to help others....and to kill more ducks!  And Me....well...I have a lot of cigars....so just smoke them with my soon to be 10 year old son, wife, and daughter of nineteen (no...you have not my permission!!!!)  Viva la cause!!!

Note:  This was not Bluewolf's tripwire but team Blues Clues tripwire.  I gave the order of said placement tripwire. Team Charlie was very effectively notified multiple times as to where EACH tripwire was placed.  Charlie was notified as the first team to "NOT ENTER GATE' location at guard duty Nanny.  In retrospect this might not have been the ideal place to put the tripwire but a risk that our cause was willing to take.  HK team leader Just Joe notified his team the dangers of this placement of this tripwire.  He cannot be responsible for members who have more of an interest in Chiclets gum than to listen to orders!

[Edric]

About a year ago, Komissar came to me with a very basic idea: "Other event creators keep advertising a recon challenge but it always falls through. Let's make our own." I agreed and so did many others. So with that, Komissar had begun to plot.

Over the course of the next 6 months, and in between putting together other ops and a growing family, Komissar started to put together an outline and basic objectives. By the time I started planning my Operation: Assyrian Spearhead, Komissar had several more objectives added to the list. While I was in the midst of finishing my op's planning, we began to discuss props. We set a attentive date for April. I actually took inspiration of many of my op's objectives from the planning of Recon.

With my Op out of the way, I focused more on helping Komissar. We met on several occasions, and talked after many a fencing class (Thank you to my wife for being so patient). I began talking about build days. We knew we would need a check-in booth to better facilitate the "classroom" feel. We needed the tractor out to change the field a bit to make everything new and exciting. We knew that the POW camp needed building. We knew that the field needed some cleanup after a winter of windstorms. The check-in booth was built in two build days. The tractor was rented, and we ran it for 16 hours total. The POW camp was built in less than 4 hours. A new building was erected above Gamma. We wanted to do more, but alas, we did not always have consistent attendance. For the props, I tasked my self with researching ways to build glow sticks from scratch. I contacted Sigma Aldrich, Fisher Scientific, and VWR. Having talked to the sales reps, Komissar and I decided that spending 300 dollars on chemicals and solvents that would expire before we had a chance to use them all would not be a cost effective idea. Komissar had secured a supplier for our pyrotechnics while I was handling the failed chemical research project. Patches were ordered. March was finally coming to an end.

With the end of March, I started spending most of my weekends talking to Komissar and hanging out with him at his house as we planned and plotted the event. Once again, thank you to my wife for her understanding. Of course, she did get to hang out with Kattiana and their latest addition to the future DC team. Through phone calls and almost daily e-mails on the week prior to the event, I checked in with Komissar to ensure that he was still sane. I still have my doubts about that one though. Friday night, I spent my time packing my gear and making sure everything was ready. I ended up falling asleep on my office floor at some point, then finally waking up around 0200 and going to bed. My alarm rang at 0600, and I was up and packing my car. At 0730, with a breakfast shake in hand, I said goodbye to my wife and headed up to Komissar's house.

Upon arrival, I discovered Scramble had stayed the night and was twitching with energy as usual. Komissar was in a near zombie state as he stared at his computer monitor, finishing up some last minute adjustments. Zane and Logan (talk about people who need call signs) arrived and were immediately jabbed about driving a Prius. At some point, Kattiana fed Scramble a mocha... I am not sure what the thought process on that was... With that, we went down to the field to begin final set-up. Since much of what we were setting up would have made the Recon challenge a bit too easy for the operators, I assigned Scramble, Zane, and Logan to putting up the lighting in check-in and building a fire. While they were taking care of business, Komissar, Kattiana, and I went onto the field to place props, hang glow sticks, and make sure everything was set. We had our OpCom briefing on the field, and headed back in.

People started arriving from between 1200 and 1430. At 1500, we started briefing the troops; first the general safety and information briefing, then the individual MOS briefings. Finally the HK briefing. While the teams planned their adventures, Stierco's lovely wife was selling some delicious muffins and home made chili to go towards a great cause. I  bought 2 bowls.

With it quickly becoming later and later, we began to place the teams at 1730. With all the teams on the field and ready to go, we called game on at about 1800. I was OpCom for teams RNA and Nighthawk. Kattiana took teams MIA (aptly named) and DC. Komissar wandered the field, checking in on everyone and everything as well as filling the roll of OpCom for the HK teams. Jen played the roll of the VIP/HVT/POW/Nanny/Colonel (apparently the HK teams were fond of giving her many names).

The game progressed quite well, aside from some radio issues. I spent most of my time walking up and down the road, waving and chatting at people as I passed. I kept the fire going, stargazed with Kattiana and Komissar, and on occasion I even talked to my teams. I was particularly impressed with RNA's honor on the field. While all HK teams were on the same side, the Recon teams were all effectively enemies. RNA took it upon them selves to help reunite at least 2 wayward Reconners with their respective teams. Way to go guys!

With the night coming to an end (Technically 0000 is morning after all), we called the teams back in. Officially, the game ended at 2330. Jen, Kattiana, and I started going over the teams score cards, while Komissar and Drake went onto the field to verify that certain objectives had been completed. With the scores checked and verified, Team MIA was the clear victor. With RNA in second and DC in a close third. Every team did a fantastic job of completing the objectives that they had set out to do, MIA took the commanding lead is in their retention of all their original dog tags.

With the prize, a small recon pin, awarded to the winning team, we sat back and relaxed while our fellow operators regaled us with stories of their valor, or villainy as the case may be. Komissar, Katianna, Scramble, and I finally made it back inside around 0200. Katianna fed us turkey dogs or polish dogs and we listened to Scramble tell us more funny stories. I found that I had began dozing in mid conversation around 0320. I am not sure, but I think Komissar may have been as well. Scramble and I collapsed on the floor and that was that.

Scramble had to leave around 0800 this morning, but the rest of us didn't move until almost 1000. With coffee and breakfast, compliments of Kattiana, we are going to head down and do some clean up.

Komissar, thank you for the opportunity to assist you in this amazing Op. This was easily my favorite OpCom experience to date. Thank you Kattiana for lending me a place on your floor and for feeding me Mochas. Thank you to all the attending operators. Without you, this would have been just the Atkinson gang, Jen and I running around with blue glowsticks in the dark.

Team pictures will be posted later today.

[Michael Balaguy]

I was with H/K Charlie, my thanks to Just Joe for doing such a great job as squad leader. The greatest problem we had was communication with H/K Blues Clues, as our radios were not functioning well and we had few RTOs to begin with. We had to solve this problem by assigning temporary scout squads throughout the operation to run communications between the H/K teams. Our first hour on Blue patrol went smoothly, we had only one casualty and collected two dogtags.

Afterwards, struggling with communication issues, we took Red Patrol (upper loop) from 1900 to 2000 hours, during which we experienced prolonged skirmishes with two different Recon teams. One Recon team holed up in Silo, and we had a good time keeping them penned up from their objectives until we handed the job over to H/K Blues Clues at approximately 2005. Then we took over "Nanny Duty" at the HVT with no contact expect a friendly who upset Bluewolf's tripwire.

At approximately 2115 we experienced a humiliating skirmish about 150 feet from HVT, when a single isolated Recon member fought off about 10 H/K members for nearly 4 minutes at a range of only 30-60 feet. This incident made me feel that the "lights-on" rule was counterproductive to the dynamics of the Recon challenge as a whole, and I think that the H/K teams should have had the option of turning off their lights at least when bogged down in firefights. Not being able to turn our lights off made it too easy for the Recon teams to have an extreme advantage in a firefight, at least as I experienced it.

Unfortunately, I had to leave early at 2130. I thought that the challenge as a whole was a great success, and found it exciting even though I went through well under 100 rounds the entire night. Thanks to Kommissar, Katie and Edric for putting the event together, it was a new experience for me and I hope to participate next year as well.

[Squirrel]

Hats off to Komissar, Kate, Edric and anyone else involved in putting together this op. Man was that a blast. As part of the DC team, (Logan, Zane, Blazed) we started out on a bad note. We deployed on a HK route and while I was trying to assemble the bomb we came under fire. Within the first 10 minutes we were one tag down. We dicided to find a spot and dig in until sunset. We monitored a lightly used HK route and headed out at dusk to start missions. We successfully worked our way to R1 via the lower property line. It was at this point while measuring the distance from R1 to the ladder HKs found us and we split up. The muddy trench made it difficult to exit and I become seperated from the team. I played cat and mouse with the HKs for over a 1/2 hour all the while looking for my gear bag that tore from my belt. A final mad dash to the north property line (and many cuts and bruises later) I evaded the HKs and eventually rejoined my team. After that we accomplished many tasks and waypoint objectives on the north side of the Silo.

Again, this op was a blast. Thanks to all of the fellow operators for a great game and to those that spent countless hours putting it together. Your efforts payed off more than my words can express. I anxiously await the next recon challenge!

[Ken]

Well, sounds like I missed a great event. Hopefully soon I will be attending one with you all. So glad to hear all went well. As for me, my wife gave birth to our new daughter, Caroline at 0721 on Friday the 13th. See you all soon

[Northman]

Recon Challenge was Great!!!  I had a lot of fun. 

 

I arrived a little late just before 1600 hours, got to take my time getting my gear on while the recon teams got their briefings.  Joke and talk with the other H/Ks Then during the H/K briefing I found out that I was being put in Charge of a H/K team "Charlie".  Hooked up with the other H/K leaders and sorted out or patrols, call-signs, and rotation. 

 

Took my Team to Bird Dog Patrol (Blue Patrol) and waited for the game on.  I dont know about anyone Elses team But HK Charlie Did an awesome Job working together!  maybe 10 mins into our first patrol we had already collected some Tags.  Great Communication From our Point Man "Green Hat" (Cause I dont remember Names well and he was wearing a green Ball Cap) Sweeping back on the patrol we scored 1 or 2 more Kills complete with tag Collection and we only took a single casualty. At the End of the Patrol we traded a little fire, but no hits with HK Alpha, while we were trying to determine if they were Recon operators or not.  (Note to self Communicate with friendlies better!)  We tried to Raise HK Bravo on the Radio but there were mountians and trees and stuff in the way.  So we Let Alpha know that we were leaving and gonna find Bravo and send them back. Got to the top of the Hill and lo and behold Bravo was returning right on time.

 

Starting RockHound Patrol (Red Patrol) Bravo Let us know that they had encountered some folks below the road around Red, so we took a slow amble down the road in the twilight.  in the process of sweeping up the hill at Red our rear guard called a Contact below the road and started firing.  My guys swept back down to the road to engage but we couldnt find the reconners in the heavy brush and we ended up taking some Hits.  Rather than banging our heads aginst an unknown (and Full Auto) target we backed off to give them space to maybe come out of the brush where we coud attack them more effectively.  As we were backing off we saw a Recon Team heading into Silo and began taking fire as we moved to sorround the building.  Now we were running out of time on our patrol and we had only managed to kill one of the Reconners inside. This was too good to just leave, so rather than pulling all my guys off, we left 3 operators to keep the Recon guys penned in and moved back take guard of the HVT.  On the way back we made sure that Alpha knew they action ready for them as soon as the got to Silo. 

 

Taking custody of the HVT or Nanny duty, we got a break from the action.  we set up our perimeter line, and some of our guys sat or layed around.  I took 5 my self, but mostly stayed busy bouncing in between my team members making sure everything was ok.  It was easy duty.  No crys of contacts, no sounds other than us walking through the brush. Just our flashlights making circles in the brush as night fully set in.   At the end of the hour all the HK's gathered up at the little road to switch duties. 

 

A couple of my Operators let me know they had to leave early, and I got a couple replacements from Alpha. I let the replacements know we were gonna take the patrol nice and slow for them since they had just come back from Rockhound patrol and were not gonna get any of the nice relaxing Nanny Duty we had just had.   I told the guys that had to leave to just take the first leg of our patrol ahead of the rest of us and then just pack it in when they got to the road.  They didnt make it 40 feet when a loan Reconner gunned down 2 of them and then the rain of BB's happened. 8 or so HK's who had just been hanging out waiting for their shifts to start and had yet to get settled in lit up the bush with fire and lights.  We rooted the little guy out and then started our patrol.  My replacements being unfamiliar with the Combat Mosey took off like shots through the hills and brush. fast our pacing me and I lost them in the darkness.  I also found that I needed calories and hydration and my hydration pack was empty, so I took a walk up to the ready area to get some much needed munchies. 

 

Standing at the fire for a bit my HK team showed back up.  They wondered how I had gotten so far ahead of them and then laughed when I let them know they had out paced me.  Their patrol had been quiet and they were regrouping and getting read to move to Rockhound Patrol.  I rejoined them and we set off once again into the darkness.  Reports from other HK teams had a lot of activity near Red and we belived there to be a couple HK guys pinned down there.  So we were headed to go get them out and enfold them into our now only 4 man team. Moving down the road I got taken out by fire from the fuel Depot, but not before letting my guys know that we had enemy contact.  A brief fire fight near and silo saw hits on both sides, realizing we were out gunned we decided to see if we could move up the hill and come down into the trenches at Red, but that got us murdered from both sides as at leat one recon team was following us in the darkness.  3 of our 4 guys killed in the first volley our last Operator ducked into the brush keeping his light low and killed 1 or 2 Reconners that tried to take our tags.  With our time up we moved to respawn, leaving our last man to get hit as we walked away, I wish it hadnt been so.

 

During the walk we passed HK Alpha and watched as they got gunned down by some full auto fire from the side of the road.  So we ALL moved back to Respawn. HK Charlie was only 3 Operators now, and Alpha only seemed to have 5 and the HK's were supposed to Out Number the Recon teams, so Charlie followed Alpha to give them some support, and once again the teams with the flashlights got pinched and hit from both sides, slaughtered.  (and I hit my knee on a rock OUCH).

 

During the Respawn we all walked back to the HVT, grabbed a drink at the ready area and headed down the hill into a fire fight.  apparently some reconners were making a push for the HVT and hadnt counted on all the HKs coming back at just that moment.  they were fended off and a new perimeter was established with all the HK's in the area. Time was ticking to the end of the Op,  with just a few minutes left a loan recon Operator made a Glorious headlong charge at the HVT only to be stopped by the fence and gunned down, like a dog (but it was glorious!)

 

Shortly after Time was called and we all went back up to the ready area.  I didnt stick around to long, I packed my stuff and said my good byes.  there was a soft bed and some warm lasagna calling my name and I went home pretty happy with the days events. 

 

Thank you To HK Charlie you guys were awesome, your communication and control was outstanding.  Even when we were getting pinched.  You guys made my first time in charge of a group a great time and I look forward to any future operations were you will be in attendance.   Thanks to StierCo and Bluewolf for awesome communcation on your ends, not having to wonder "do they know what time it is and what shift is next" made the Op a lot of fun for me. 

 

Recon Guys, I hope you had fun, thanks for keeping it intresting and for coming out and getting shot trying to collect our tags!

 

Kommisar - Spectacular Op, Thanks for all the hard work you put in.  Im looking forward to next Years Recon Challenge

[John Jensen]

Great Op! Thanks for all your hard work put into it Chris and other various OpCom, it definately showed in the preparation put into everything. I had alot of fun and would look forward to doing another one if this is to be an annual event.

Sorry for all the team killing Blue, surprisingly your flashlight was very hard to see at night. Just for my own satisfaction I would like to know who tripped the tripwire over at Red base. If anyone comes forward I just want to know if it scared you enough for me to try using them again :)

Thanks to Stier & Family for bringing out the food and doing the raffle. I hope you were able to raise a good amount of money to go to the Hadrian fund.

Also Congrats on the new baby Ken, Sorry you couldn't come out but there is always another day to play.

 

John

[Squirrel]

John, if you are talking about the trip wire in the trench at R1, that would be me. Any ya, it scared the hell out of me. I didn't feel any bbs, so i didn't know if it was a grenade or just a noise maker. it also managed to quickly get several HKs over there in a hurry that i had to avoid for about 1/2 hour or 45 minutes. I now proudly sport several large cuts on my shins and more spots of poison oak than i can count from the aftermath of your trip wire!

[John Jensen]

Well I am glad it did its job but not too excited about the poison oak and cuts. Wasnt my original intention...

[Squirrel]

John, it wasn't the trip wire that caused my current grief, it was the ensuing pursuit created by the bomb and my unwise decision to run like Forrest Gump through a dark, poison oak covered area. I say the trip wire was an absolute success and would definitely use it again if i were you.

[SCRAMBLE]

RECON TEAM: “MIA”

Hi-cap = “leader”

Nate = “Land Navigation”

Maverick = “Communications”

SCRAMBLE = “demolitions”.

The specialized briefings provided for each role complete with specialized equipment made the feel of the event particularly more “real” than past events as we all had our own special jobs more than on a regularly missions day. As I was the demolitionist I had the best toys consisting of a very realistic looking “device” that was fantastic to assemble in the field. The attention to detail for the device was very impressive as it came with two marked “C4” packages which I wanted to keep as souvenirs of the event but felt they were better applied to the device.

The ability to also pick our drop zone was very pleasing as it gave us a since of having more control than having to start at B1 or R1 as is common on most missions days.

Commentary for Posterity of the events on April 14^th

We got to pick our drop location on the field so we picked the furthers out and furthest away from any known objectives so as not to get “hot dropped” or find ourselves sandwiched by another Recon team as there were a total of four. We picked grid coordinate Alpha, 22 and were delivered to shockingly green grass. We made a perimeter and listened in the brilliant green world for movement. We could hear nothing but birds and fogs but the sound of distant gunfire (provided by a neighbor somewhere in the canyon) added to the feel.

So as to save myself the trouble of assembling the complicated device in the dark or under fire I lay in the tall grass with my kit out and assembled the “device” with the assistance of Nate under protection from Hi-cap and Maverick. It was soon discovered that this device was rather complicated including wiring and I was glad I decided to do it now instead of later. After assembling the device we traded places and radioed in to OPCOM for the locations of our objectives so we could prioritize our path at the conclusion of which we began to move out into the green.

Our first objective was to collect an IED hidden along the road and then deliver it to another location across the map. We moved silently as the muddy earth and fresh grass made this easy. We found the IED quickly and took back to the green as staying by the road made us susceptible to detection from the roaming HK teams that were nearly twice our size and only a call away from three times our number.

The IED was a large mettle tube that resembled a 105mm shell with two ropes for “easy carrying” that weighed about 35lbs. Nate strapped this thing to his back and took up third position in the line so as to avoid potential ambush. Shortly there after we then stumbled across a second IED and made to steal it thus depriving another recon team of the points for completing that mission.

While moving this rather heavy object we were spotted by an HK team that came crashing through the brush above the road by R1. We fell back in twos to the green under suppressive fire killing several of the HK’s and disappearing into the thick green where we went quite to wait them out. They crashed in the brush around us hacking and whacking away at the thick brush trying to find us but never did. This was stressful as although the brush provided concealment it was in no way cover and had we started a fire fight due to detection they would have won. Fortunately they were called to regroup just as they began to get close to us and we were saved by the moment.

After that close call we decided to relocate and wait till dark for any further long distance movement. Sitting in the thick brilliantly green brush and fresh grass completely swarmed by mosquitoes listening to the HK’s chatter away on the radio and occasionally patrol past us on the road above or engage something in the brush a distance away was, for lack of a better word, “awesome”.

Once dusk came up we moved out, crossed the road and cut high across the top of the field attempting to circumvent most of the HK patrols and in more accuracy everyone who may be out there in the dark. There was very little light making movement difficult as the stars, though brilliant, were not adequate to use for lighting. As we moved we collected way point information from tags with orange glow sticks marking them in the night. Approaching this glowing tags was dangerous as obstructing them made it obvious that someone was near but this only added the thrill.

We skirted the field coming up behind Presidents rocks and then moved down the side to the edge of the staging area where we had to deposit the IED for inspection from OPCOM. We dropped it off and then headed back up the hill after a frantic discovery that we potentially had lost our teams designator tape which would have meant that we were incapable of marking any missions as ours. We did (eventually) find it and successfully moved out to cut the power to B2. On the way there we had to lay still in the grass more than once to avoid the sweeping HK’s, that in one situation were no less than 15 feet from Maverick and I.

We descended upon B2 in the dark and cleared it and then began looking for wires to cut. We found the wires for another team’s deployment of the radio attachment for their communications guy and we considered cutting it to keep them from doing it but did not due to the distraction of finding a large power conduit running up the outside of the base. We set up a parameter as best we could but we were in the open and sitting directly on a known HK route through the area. I took to cutting the conduit with a small saw I had but the noise was amazingly loud and the base amplified the rasping cutting sounds across the silent night. I tried to do it slowly to limit this but the sound was so bad that I instead took to it like a violin and sawed it through at a furious rate sending bits of plastic everywhere. This was done in total darkness which must not be forgotten as I was using my hand to keep me in the notch I had already made and when I skipped out of it there was a silent moment when I had to feel around for it instead of just starting a new one and restarting the time in the open with this wonderful sound. The saw punched through and we took off into the darkness to see what kind of attention this prompted but nothing came of it – amazing luck.

We then moved across the map and came down on the building where I was to deploy the device I had assembled at the start of the game. We came up silently on the back avoiding touching the walls for fear of alerting possible inhabitants and cleared the building.

We jumped inside ready for a fight but found no one so we deployed the bomb and took off up the hill to call into OPCOM to confirm our missions were complete. On several instances when we attempted to contact OPCOM we got pinned and had to frantically slither away in the grass to avoid being run over by HK teams as they searched for us.

One of these encounters that was very interesting took place just below president’s rock above B2. We had been attempting to contact OPCOM when an HK team came out of president’s rock and we slithered backwards down the hill as they walked down the hill keeping right with us but looking to the sides and not their front where we were fully exposed in the grass.

We decided to do a sweep from R2 all the way to silo knocking out the fuel depot on the way. We moved down on R2, Hi-cap and Maverick provided overwatch while Nate provided security and I ran up with the bomb and Maverick’s pistol. As we moved up on the back door someone came out that very same door and was dealt with silently by Nate. At this time I moved to the side window on the left side and lit the fuse. Inside the base we could hear other operators and so I threw it through the window and down the hall. Nate and I then took off across the road to the fuel depot while R2 billowed and the HK’s zoomed in. I bombed the depot and retreated to Gamma as the tank traps were overrun by incoming HKs who were attracted to the bombing of R2 and the fuel depot.

Fire fights broke out between a recon team and the incoming HK teams proving most fortunate for us as we were allowed to pass the blame to another. We hid in Gamma trying to pretend we were not around as the fight continued around us.

The recon team made for the brush and the HK’s followed so we made our break for Silo. We waited as HK teams passed us on the road below and the Silo got more and more dangerous to hang around. Eventually we were pinched too tight and had to make a break for the green again. We ran for the dark just before the HK’s fully figured out what was happening and once they did we fired upon them as we fell back. This was not too good as we attracted a TON of attention and kept tripping and falling in the brush as the lights cast dancing shadows of us which was very disconcerting as each light meant the attention of the HK member and his rifle. The mag in my M16 jammed up and I had to change it instead of fighting with it which pissed me off considerably. After evading the HK's with shockingly no further damage to our team we hid in the grass back where we usually call into OPCOM and waited for things to cool down. After some time we snuck back down to the silo and began to search for the location of our antenna mission. This was when two HK teams came down the road and nearly caught us in the act. We moved around to the other side of Silo but nearly walked into another HK team so we were forced to take refuge inside Silo. This situation was bad but it got worse as the HK teams got into it with a Recon team just outside Silo and we were trapped in the middle of a firefight. This fight got so close that at one time the HK team was stacked up on the window side with the Recon team stacked up on the door side shooting back and forth through the base we were occupying. Maverick made good use of this “setback” by assembling the antenna in the dark while the battle raged around us. When things FINALLY cooled down we snuck back out of the base, hooked up our antenna and lit off back up to Presidents rock and then cut back down to the road to set our tripwire. Maverick and Nate set it up while Hi-cap and I provided overwatch and then we cut back down the hill to attend to missions below the road. Before we made it down the hill the radios then cut out and we had to walk in to see OPCOM to resolve the issue. The radio to OPCOM had been being difficult all night which lead to frustration on both sides as well as other recon and HK teams I was later told.

After patching things up with OPCOM we went back out and moved down the hill to complete distant missions that had been unavailable as the HK’s had been sniffing around too much for us to get that close. However, now they were all; well, nearly all, down around the HVT in the lower portion of the field as the other Recon teams were taking their shot at it. We were very bold as the upper field was mostly unpatrolled so we ran down the road counting waypoints. I set my thermite bomb on the tank trap and then took off into the green as it strobe with brilliant white light behind me.

We concluded nearly all missions available above the road skipping the HVT and the satellite dish below the road that was currently swarming with HK’s. I really would have liked to attempt the HVT but as there was such surveillance of that area it was likely wise we did not attempt it. The missions were over far too soon and when midnight rolled around I was not ready to call it quits as I was having a wonderful time.

Overall this was a FANTASTIC op, likely one of the very best to date, and I hope that this “possibly” becomes a yearly thing (sorry Komissar, I heard you choke as you read that).

I hope this was not too long as I got a bit carried away; however, I felt that as much detail was needed in order to try to capture the happenings of our Recon team on such an elaborate op.

Thanks again

 

[Edric]

Fantastic write up Scramble! I wish there were more!