Patriot Dawn: The Resistance Rises (11 page)

Jack
had got the use of a mountain bike from one of his new neighbors at the base, who had brought it in and would not be using it. He would be able to use it to make the trip between the two bases in breaks in the training, to see the family.

Chapter Six

V
ictor Foxtrot was up and ready. It was now late October and fall was progressing, temperatures falling. Major Cassidy had moved into the farmhouse and turned it into his headquarters along with a small staff.

The barn
had turned out to be a large warehouse type affair of steel and aluminum construction with a concrete floor. It was ideal for conducting training classes, and provided weather protection and concealment from aerial observation. Jack had the building divided up using plywood partitions, creating a sleeping area with rows of cot beds, a large open training area, several smaller classrooms and a stores area.

They kept ammunition and explosives in one of the separate outbuildings. Another outbuilding was turned into a
field kitchen. Latrine and hygiene areas were built back in the wood line behind the barn.

Jack
had been working with Jim on the training program. They had the advantage that they would be effectively overwintering at Victor Foxtrot and thus had considerable time available. Weather and temperature conditions over the winter would make it harder to operate against the enemy, though not totally impractical.

The fact was that although they had supplies, they were limited, and there was no central heating. Conditions would be harsh, in the same way they used to be harsh in the old days
before modern conveniences. They had to factor this in.

This meant that although they had the advantage of time, and were planning a long three
or four month training program, they had to pace the volunteers. They were arranging for wood burning stoves to be put into the barn, to keep the worst of the chill away, and they were creating a dry room in one of the outhouses where wet clothing could be hung out to dry.

If
they were going to push the volunteers, they would have to do so with full consideration to the weather, their calorie intake, and the need to recover in the conditions.

They were not planning
on a physical trainingprogram: the training base wa
s
itself in a tactical environment, without the benefit of being separated from the theater of conflict, and thus it was impractical to go out running in the local area. Army style PT in formation and all that would have to be foregone. Physical conditioning would be conducted simply as a part of the tactical training. They also didn’t have the excess calories available and did not want to exhaust the fighters.

Jack
and Jim were in agreement that they would make it plain to the volunteers that this was not like the sort of training or selection course that they may have been used to, or heard about, in the army. There was no badge collecting here.

The fact was that the course would be hard, but the purpose would be to effectively train the volunteers as fighters in small unit and insurgency tactics, from team to
company level. It would not be Ranger School or Special Forces Selection, but it would be realistic, challenging, and it would produce fails and voluntary withdrawals. The training course was not set up with the express aim of doing this, but naturally not all personnel would be suited to the role.

The
plan was that those who did not make the grade would be dealt with delicately and kept on side, being given duties more suited to their abilities. Some would be rotated back to the guard force at Zulu, closer to their families.

The basic
organizational concept was based around four man teams, each team split into two pairs. In each team, one pair would be the IED specialists, the other pair would be a cover team selected for their ability to shoot well. The volunteers would be selected for their talents and allocated to specialties as appropriate. This would facilitate the deployment and infiltration of these small four man teams to conduct independent operations.

At the next level up,
the teams would become fire teams, two fire teams to a squad, making an eight man squad. An additional squad leader could be added as the ninth man if one was available. Three of those squads would make a platoon, with a headquarters element added.

At the
company level, Jack also intended to create a fire support platoon, within which he hoped to have machine-gun and mortar squads. He would work the details out as the personnel and equipment became available.

Their first challenge would be to identify who
exactly they had to train. This would involve interviewing everyone. From this, they would make initial allocations into teams. It would also allow them to identify those with experience and potential leaders.

There was an element of identifying potential instructors also, so that
they could ‘train the trainer’ and spread the burden – there was no way that as they got up to company level operations they could run the whole program themselves, monitoring everyone. So there would be a phased element to it, as they ‘trained the trainers’ and allowed these instructors to work with new recruits as they were phased in.

The allocation of teams and leaders would be reviewed, amended and reorganized as necessary. No doubt there would be problems and personality clashes a
s time went on. Some would be solved; others would result in reorganization and even removal of personnel.

If teams were working, then the priority would be to keep them together to maintain small unit integrity. Teams would not be reorganized simply for the sake of it, only if personality clashes or leadership failures needed to be addressed.

However, again they were adamant that they must deal with people in a fair manner and not squash too many egos – they did not want disaffected fighters informing or defecting to the Regime. In fact, Jim was adamant that if he got the feeling someone was really bad news, he would take care of them himself. Given the safety issues at stake, Jack did not raise too much complaint about this.

Over the next few days, the fighters already recruited by Bill started to arrive in small groups, transported in by the Resistance movement network utilizing multiple routes and modes of transport. Some came up the trail from Zulu, just as Jack and Jim had. Others arrived in small convoys; still more had been dropped off a distance away and hiked in through the woods with a guide.

There was a hard core group that
filtered in as the first arrivals. They were the original platoon sized group, three squads and a headquarters element that had been working with Bill as an ad hoc militia grouping since before the collapse.

This group
was mostly veterans and had been training together for a while. Jack was hoping that this group would provide him with a solid cadre of instructors. The success of this would depend on how malleable they were to his training ideas, and the leaving of any excessive egos out of the training camp.

Since the collapse, with the wild living out in the woods, personal grooming had taken a backseat. The groups that were showing up looked like mountain men, with beards and hair growing in, often cut off raggedly at the collar. They turned up in a variety of outfits and clothing.

Jack and Jim had discussed this and were not planning on doing much about it. It had the potential to turn into a sore point with Major Cassidy, but they were an irregular force fighting an insurgency style conflict, so uniforms and being ‘dress right dress’ was not what it was about.

They had agreed that the focus would be on strong self-discipline within an organization of
leaders appointed into command tasks; some permanent, others temporarily allocated a command role for specific missions when groups came together. Leadership roles would be merit based and could be taken away for poor performance or if the team lost faith in an individual.

It would be trial by ordeal and fire for all of them. Given that there was no pay or
career advancement involved, they hoped to foster a culture of excellence based on personal motivation rather than organizational politics.

As for the uniform thing, clothing was to be policed for serviceability and alternatives provided if personnel did
not have it. Acceptable clothing included military or outdoor clothing in military or hunting camouflage, as well as drab and earth tone colors. No blue jeans, they did not work well when wet.

Clothing had to be serviceable and workable in the outdoors environment, and the right color. More mainstream civilian clothing would be retained for use in necessary covert o
r close reconnaissance operations.

Boots were a key factor, and if personnel turned up without suitable footwear then it had to be sourced for them. They would be out working through the winter and good footwear, layers of warm clothing, waterproof gear and changes of socks were essential.

In terms of tactical gear, the focus was not on being uniform or identical, but rather that each fighter had the correct equipment in some format, depending what could be sourced or foraged. Everyone that did not have it already was issued body armor, including ballistic plates, and the necessary tactical pouches for carrying magazines and equipment. The extra supply came from the purloined truck that Major Cassidy had produced.

The minimum personal protection allowed was a plate carrier, with the preference being for a full set of soft armor with plates. Helmets were also issued, but their use was to be reserved for conventional set-piece operations, when they happened, as well as defensive tasks.

Each fighter had to show that he had magazine pouches for a minimum of eight thirty round magazines on his tactical vest or battle belt. He also had to carry an IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) as well as an additional CAT (combat application tourniquet) on his vest. He had to have a rucksack, daypack and water source. If he was deficient any gear, it was sourced or reallocated to bring everyone up to standard.

The rest of the fighters’ personal load, such as sleeping and outdoors gear and all the various ancillaries was either provided by the fighters themselves or found from other sources. Some gear was donated from Zulu where those static there had no need for it.

It caused a little consternation, but Jack and Jim decided on a specific weapons policy. The aim was ultimately for everyone to run a personal rifle that fired 5.56mm NATO. The preference was for M4 style weapons. The idea was that this was the ammunition that the Regime was using and it would make ammunition resupply and reallocation easier.

Inter-operability was the key. 7.62
mm NATO was also useful, because it was used in the Regime 240 machine-guns. They already had a number of captured M4, SAW and 240 weapon systems, as well as sniper rifles, and these would be allocated as required from the central armory. This meant that AK type weapons, utilizing the 7.62 x 39mm short round, were out in the long run.

The Regime
military mostly used military 5.56mm 62 grain ammunition for their M4 rifles. Those fighters with AR15 style weapons, many of which appeared on the surface identical to the M4 but were not chambered for 5.56mm, could only use .223 ammunition.

As far as Jack and Jim knew, 5.56 rifles could
successfully use .223 ammunition, but the other way around could cause problems to varying degrees. Even if it simply caused stoppages, it was an issue in combat. There was a limited supply of this .223 ammunition in the hands of the Resistance, just what the fighters had personally stored, and any looted resupply from Regime units would be 5.56mm.

This posed a problem, and just as with the AK style rifles, Jack simply couldn’t tell the guys to dump their AR15’s. The compromise was that captured M4’s were handed out, as many as they had, and those left w
ith AK or AR15 rifles, using either the 7.62mm short or .223 ammunition, would continue to run those rifles until suitable replacements could be found as operations were conducted.

Jack had been standing outside the barn talking to a group of the arriving original platoon. They were a wild looking bunch but he was getting a good feeling off them. He was just thinking that his worries about problem egos were ill founded and it looked like the training should go smoothly. The group was dispersing to go to the accommodation area.

The shout came from his left, “Hey, Berenger you douche, you owe me twenty bucks!”

Jack turned and saw a wiry man dressed in filthy outdoor clothes, a pair of intense blue eyes staring at him out of a heavily bearded face. Jack stared at him intently, and then the recognition dawned.

“Caleb! What the hell! Get
off my farm before I kick your ass!” This grabbed the attention of the group, who were turning back in anticipation.

Jack
advanced on Caleb, who put his hands up. Suddenly, Jim appeared from the flank and was on Caleb, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck.

“Wait, wait!” called
Jack, “I’ll let you beat him later, it’s just Caleb. We’re buddies.”

Jim let him
go, a little reluctantly, and Jack and Caleb shook hands.

“Jim, this is Caleb
Jackson, we went through Ranger School together. He’s an asshole, but don’t worry about it,” Jack grinned. Turning back to Caleb, “What’s the deal buddy?”

“I’m the platoon leader of this sorry bunch,” said Caleb, “good to see you man.”

The atmosphere had visibly relaxed and the onlookers started to disperse. Jack, Jim and Caleb went to grab a coffee and catch up on the porch of the farm building. They spent several hours sitting around catching up and discussing the tactical readiness of Caleb’s platoon, as well as the training program. Caleb had been a lieutenant in a light infantry Battalion.

“Hey you!” came the forceful female
shout from over by the barn.

What now?

Jack looked up.

“Oh no,” said Caleb, shrinking into his chair.

Advancing across the farmyard was a healthy looking young woman dressed in boots, BDU pants and a tight thermal base layer top, red hair streaming out behind her. She was fixed on Jim, and it did not look like it was going to go down well for him. Jim was looking confused, which was a first for Jack.

She halted at the bottom of the porch steps
, “Which of you sorry assed cowboys are responsible for organizing the female accommodation?”

Jack
and Jim shared a look, understanding dawning.
Oops
.

             
Jim stood up. The woman put her hands on her hips, and smiled at him.

Jim went red.

Jack stood up.

             
“Who are you,” said Jack.

             
“THAT is Megan,” said Caleb, grinning.

             
Megan shot Caleb a look. “I’m Megan, I’m your paramedic.”

             
“Ok,” Jack said, “Megan, my apologies. I’m Jack Berenger, I’m running the training here. We overlooked the female accommodation. What do you need?”

             
“Look, it’s not a big deal, but you just need to partition an area off. We don’t want to be changing in there with the guys.”

“Ok,” said
Jack, “give us a minute to figure this out.”

“No problem,” she said with a smile, before giving Jim a look and walking away.

“So, you met Megan,” Caleb chortled.

Jim was still looking a little embarrassed.

“She’s not short on character, I’ll tell you that. She was a civilian paramedic and a flight medic in the army reserves. She knows her stuff, and don’t mess with her, she’ll bust your balls.”

“Well,” said
Jack, “that was our little ‘Xena, Warrior Princess’ moment for the day. Jim, what the hell were we thinking? What are we going to do with the females?”

“Boss, it’s bigger than that
,” said Jim. “We can partition off a sleeping area, but what about all the extra-curricular shenanigans that will end up going on?”

“Yea,” said Caleb with a grin, “maybe you need to ban the weari
ng of thermal base layers then?”

Jack
gave him a look, “Ok, let’s fix this.”

They sat and discussed it. It was relatively simple to partition an area for the females to sleep in, and they called over one of the carpenters and asked him to get on to it immediately.

The issue was bigger.

The solution they came up with was that the females would go through the training exactly the same as the guys. If they made the grade,
with the same standards applied, they would be deployed in the teams with the men. If they fell short, they would be employed in other roles, just like the guys.

It was apparent that a
good portion of the females were medics, and they would be useful in a medical role at base.

The
‘fraternization’ issue was bigger. They needed more time to figure it out, but they came up with a short term conclusion that it was not really going to pose a problem. If couples got together, that was fine, so long as it was discrete, at appropriate times, and did not get in the way of training.

If it ended up affecting training or operations, then a solution would be contrived, usually moving the involved people around as best as possible. If people go
t up to anything that was considered unseemly, like having sex at inappropriate times and places, it would be dealt with accordingly.

Common sense seemed to be the best solution.

It looked like out of the projected one hundred and twenty strong fighting company that they would train after all the recruits were in, around forty of those would be females. It was a new thing for Jack and Jim, but they would incorporate the females into areas they were qualified for, showed aptitude at, and could handle just as their male counterparts were expected to do.

One of Jacks pet projects involved what he was calling the ‘thermal poncho’. He had a bunch of the ladies back at Zulu working on the creation of them based on a prototype that he had designed.

He had taken an old style BDU camouflage poncho; on the bottom side he had placed a mylar thermal space blanket, one of the green ones so it remained tactical.  On the top side, the side that
faced up when the poncho was used as a shelter, he had laid a swathe of drab colored cloth. Onto this cloth he had sewn strips of burlap and camouflage cloth.

             
The poncho on its own would have been a better waterproof shelter, but he was concerned by the shine of the plastic waterproof material. The cloth laid over it would get wet but it would appear more natural. The sewn in pieces of cloth created a ghillie suit effect, although a lot less densely packed; to sew on massive amounts of cloth like a ghillie suit would have created a huge and unwieldy item, particularly when wet.

He could have used something like the army poncho liner instead of the poncho, which would have reduced the shine effect, but he wanted the thermal poncho to actually work as a rain tarp that the fighters could use
when sleeping out, and thus be waterproof. The poncho also added strength to the whole thing, as well as having the eyeholes to string it up.

The effect was that the mylar blanket blocked the h
eat signature from the person underneath, the poncho allowed it to be strung up and kept the rain off, and the cloth on the topside gave it more of a natural surface appearance through optics.

What was also important about this thermal masking concept was the clearance between the blanket and the person underneath; if the person touched the blanket, body heat would transfer and heat up the blanket, thus eventually showing the thermal signature.

Jack hoped that the standard use of these thermal ponchos when conducting operations out in the woods should allow for thermal screening.

Jack
intended for the fighters to develop a standard operating procedure so that for all halts of more than a few minutes, and tactical positions, they would always put up the poncho between pairs of fighters, however much of a chore it became.

He wanted them to carry it at all times as part of their personal equipment, rolled up like a bedroll. They would also carry tent pegs and
paracord or bungees pre-attached to the poncho eye-holes. Using this set-up, and sometimes a couple of cut sticks, they would always be able to string it up, whether off trees or from the cut ‘tent poles’.

Thus when they overnighted in a patrol base, or laid in ambush, or whatever they were doing, they should be a
ble to conceal themselves from aerial surveillance. The ponchos themselves were also well camouflaged, with the ghillie suit effect, from visual surveillance, so in that sense they were an excellent camouflage asset.