Dagger 22 by Michael Golembesky

Author:Michael Golembesky
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250082978
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

(Courtesy of Bala Murghab Archive)

Zac, Captain Perry’s replacement as battery commander for the 82nd, was in the lead vehicle, and began to slowly move down Ring Road toward the west side of DP. Our team, along with our Afghan soldiers, started pushing south on foot using the narrow trail that led directly into the heart of the Taliban-controlled area. It was the same route we had used when Mark and Rob both had their near-death experiences a month before. Both of the QRF elements stopped just short of heading out into the large open area on the north end of DP.

(See Bala Murghab in map index.)

I moved up with Andy to a hip-high mud wall. We could hear the gunfire but couldn’t quite pinpoint the Taliban’s location within the village. On both knees, I straightened my upper body to give me a clear view over the wall with my Vector 21 binos. Mark was a few feet to my right, scanning through the scope of his trusty MK11 rifle.

Looking out across the field, we had an unobstructed view of the entire north end of DP; the green color of the vegetation was already starting to come back. It would only be a matter of weeks before everything would explode back to life, adding another layer of concealment and confusion to the landscape. The budding leaves in the upper branches of the trees were beginning to partially block the view of once fully visible rooftops.

It was a foreshadowing of the changing environment we were going to have to adapt to. This was going to be our future if we didn’t find a way to stop the Taliban’s spring offensive from taking root.

The gunfire between the village and the hills tapered off. The fighters squeezing triggers at that very moment and the men directing them were the key players. Mullah Jailan and his inner circle were the ones responsible for inspiring and coordinating all of the cells throughout the valley. These were the guys. They represented the head of the snake in Bala Murghab.

The team had been at this exact location before, staring south into Daneh Pasab. Everyone maintained a low profile as we held security around us. Andy was in direct contact with Zac via radio as the gun trucks sat parallel to us on the road with their engines idling. The faint sound of helicopters could be heard in the distance, echoing out of the hills and into the valley.

We sat and waited. All gunfire had ceased.

“Are we fucking going in or not?” George said.

I could tell by his tone that he was annoyed. Our team was set and ready to go, the gun trucks were in position, but we were all just sitting there with our thumbs in our asses.

“Barbarian Fires, this is HALO one-four, over.”

“Send it, HALO.”

“Danny, do you know what’s going on? We are kind of just sitting here,” I asked as Andy was contacting Zac to get an update on the situation.

“I don’t have a fucking clue.

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