Above the Best by Major Dick Hale

Author:Major Dick Hale [Hale, Major Dick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781477206409
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: 2012-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

MAJOR NATHAN DREDD was becoming known for his skill at the controls of the Command and Control ship. He didn’t have any.

Whenever Dredd managed to get his head out of his hands and his butt out of the chair in the operations tent, he managed to get in the way.

He damaged one aircraft by hitting a raised area during an approach to a landing pad, and on numerous occasions, during operations, he had been told to get out of the way by one or more of the gunship pilots.

Dredd was simply not good Troop Commander material. He was likeable, and he portrayed interest, but it was obvious to everyone that he was self serving. Dredd was a mill stone around the necks of everyone.

During an operation, shortly after Dredd’s arrival as Troop Commander, a gunship had gone down in a valley near Bong Son. The crew was safe, but an extraction was required immediately. In the past, getting the crew out had been the first priority.

By the time Dredd made the decision to get the infantry and gunships in the air, the enemy had managed to move in close and were lobbing mortar rounds at the downed aircraft. For the first time since Baker’s arrival, a crew came close to being lost due to slow reaction time.

When the lift ship made the crew extraction, the enemy was dangerously close to making a capture. The lift ship was receiving fire as they pulled the crew out. Had the Troop commander made the decision to cover the crew sooner, the threat of losing a crew would not have existed.

During the latter part of the extraction, Dredd arrived on the scene in the command and control helicopter. The gunships were suppressing the enemy fire, and the situation was well in hand. Nothing remained but the downed aircraft, which was not salvable

A few weeks later, it was discovered that Dredd had been put in for a Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in the operation. The other pilots had not been mentioned in the citation.

Captain Baker avoided Dredd like the proverbial plague. He had already been in one or two small encounters with the Major and wanted to avoid any further contact if possible.

ii

“Captain Baker, Major Dredd wants to see you in the operations tent!”. “Crap, what did I do now”, Baker thought to himself. “I’m getting too short for any long conversations with that dumb son of a bitch’ “.

“Captain Baker, I’ve never fired the 40mm grenade launcher and have been told that you are the one to teach me!”. Dredd continued, “I’ll fly with you tonight, and after the mission, we’ll fire the launcher out in the free fire zone!”

The night mission went smoothly. No enemy fire was received during the flight along highway i, and, so far the time with Dredd had not been too bad. He was likeable, and he talked a good game, So far, so good. Baker was beginning to think that all that he had felt and heard about Dredd was wrong.

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