Caesar the War Dog 2 by Stephen Dando-Collins

Author:Stephen Dando-Collins [Dando-Collins, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION
ISBN: 9780857980540
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
Published: 2012-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

Apart from the fifteen members of Strike Force Blue Dragon, there were a hundred members of the Afghan National Army at FOB Nero, plus twenty men from a US Rangers battalion. Each day, some of those Rangers went out with ANA men on the morning and afternoon patrols. This particular morning, Duke Hazard and his three American comrades from the strike force took the place of the Rangers on the patrol. Toward noon, as the day was heating up, the patrol returned to base. Their sweep along the district’s few roads and through lonely, silent hills had been uneventful. They hadn’t seen a single soul.

Later in the day, the Australians and Ali Moon joined forty Afghan soldiers for the afternoon patrol. The base’s deputy commander, an ANA lieutenant named Karzan, was leading the patrol. A handsome man with a neat moustache, Karzan was from the Hazara community. This was his home province, so he knew his way around. When the forty-five men going on the patrol had assembled, one of the base’s two iron gates opened a metre or so, and everyone stood aside to allow Ben and Caesar to go first. It was Caesar’s job to check for IEDs and mines buried beside the road and beneath the surface of the road itself.

‘Seek on, Caesar,’ Ben instructed, and with Caesar on a long metal leash, handler and EDD walked on.

Keeping his nose close to the ground, Caesar wagged his tail contentedly as they made their way down the road. To him, EDD work was like a big game – a game of ‘find the parcel’ that he could play all day if need be. Although Alabama and Corporal Lazar had checked this route during the morning patrol, it didn’t necessarily mean it was safe now. Insurgents could have snuck in to hide IEDs after Alabama and his handler had moved on.

Lieutenant Karzan came next in line, followed by an Afghan radioman carrying a heavy military radio on his back, with Charlie, Lucky, Baz and Ali close behind. ANA soldiers brought up the rear in a long, strung-out line as the patrol moved down the single dirt road that led to FOB Nero. All the soldiers were well armed, although mostly with light weapons. Ben carried a standard Australian Steyr 9 mm automatic rifle, a compact weapon that allowed him plenty of freedom of movement when working with Caesar. Charlie’s weapon of choice was an M4 carbine fitted with a grenade launcher. Lucky Mertz, an expert marksman, shouldered a SIG SAUER long-range sniper rifle and had a rocket-launcher slung on his back. Baz carried his regular F89 Minimi light machinegun, a weapon that was almost as long as he was tall.

Before long, they came to another road running through the swelteringly hot valley to the city of Bamiyan, which lay out of sight beyond the hills. As Ben paused to look to Lieutenant Karzan for directions, perspiration ran down his face. Karzan pointed east toward Bamiyan. Ben nodded in acknowledgement and quickly wiped away the perspiration with the back of his gloved hand.

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