FOREVER AND A WAKE-UP (MILES TO VIETNAM Book 3) by William Peter Grasso

Author:William Peter Grasso [Grasso, William Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2022-06-28T04:00:00+00:00

*****

Over a pre-dawn breakfast at Camp Evans, Colonel Chastain, 1st Cav’s Division Artillery commander, told his S-2, “Theo, I’m not a happy man. I’m taking heat from generals all the way up to the big guy at MACV.”

Major Theo Baumann, the Divarty intelligence officer (S-2), replied, “Heat, sir? Over what?”

“That fucking fort near Khe Sanh…the one you estimated would be destroyed by artillery fire within two hours of our batteries being in place along Route Niner. Well, it’s been nearly twenty-four hours and that fort is still standing, stopping our troopers in their tracks. And it’s all your fault.”

“Begging your pardon, sir, but my fault? What about the Marine fire support people who’ve been controlling—and restricting—our use of the one-seven-fives at Camp Carroll? And what about the Air Force, who said the enemy at that fort would be neutralized before we got within ten kilometers of the place?”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about those people, Major. They don’t work for me. But you do…and I need you to get out there and rectify your mistake. You made me look bad. Now fix it…immediately, if not sooner.”

“But sir, we already have FOs and LNOs on the ground with the assault forces. What am I going to add to the party?”

“Your ass, Theo. You’re going to add your ass. Those boys we’ve got out there aren’t getting the job done. You’re going to figure out where they’re fucking up and turn this shitshow around.” The colonel paused and took a sip of coffee. His voice took on an even more chilling tone as he added, “What’s your promotion board date again, Major?”

Baumann understood the threat in the colonel’s rhetorical question: Screw this up and you’ll be passed over for promotion again, I guaran-damn-tee it.

And if he was passed over this time, Theo Baumann would be relieved from active duty, drummed out the second this tour was over. Maybe sooner. He’d be eighteen months short of the twenty years’ active service required for retirement with government pension. Nearly forty years old, he’d be forced to find civilian employment for the first time in his adult life…

And there weren’t any artillery jobs in the private sector.

He’d seen the careers of so many officers stall as they hit the limits of their intellect, resourcefulness, interpersonal skills, and political savvy. The only advantage they carried into the civilian job pool was the five-point veterans’ preference on civil service exams.

Theo Baumann could feel his own career on the verge of that stall. He had no interest in becoming a letter carrier, policeman, or prison guard. His wife would leave him for sure. She’d delighted in wearing her husband’s rank, lording it over the wives of captains and lieutenants at those dreary, mandatory social functions, anticipating the day her Theo would wear the silver leaf of a lieutenant colonel and then the eagle of a full bird. She’d even dared to dream of a general’s stars, oblivious to the fact that the dashing young lieutenant she’d married all those years ago had matured into one of the dimmest of the Army’s dim bulbs.

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