The Storm

remember his tough demeanor when he addressed The Thirty and was curious about seein' him in his habitat in a 'one to one' meeting. I stepped in and saluted. 'Relax, Captain, and have a seat,' were the first words out of his mouth. The meeting was relaxed and casual, as I recall, and the Major was friendlier than anticipated. He didn't have his 'game face' on, and I was instantly at ease. 'Cigar?' the Major asked. 'No Sir, I don’t smoke,' I replied. The Major responded, 'Good. You definitely will not be smoking where you and your men are going.' I would soon find out why." "The Major went on, 'You and your men have had some pretty intensive training and I'm very pleased about what I hear. You have done an excellent job, and the word around my base is, that your men are ready for some action. Is that so, Captain?' 'Yes Sir!' I replied. The Major continued, 'I want to see you and your squad at the briefing room in one hour after you leave this office. That is the room you initially went to when you landed here. You have your men ready and alert to get the skinny on the overall tasks that you will be assigned as a group. You will then understand the overall mission, but not the particular targets. That will be information that only you will know and relay to your team only when necessary, when, and only when, previous mission objectives are met. You will personally receive briefs and mission objectives for your first task when you first land. You will then receive mission briefs and objectives while in-country, via sat-com. You will then inform your team when you are ready for the next objective. This is to be a quiet-in and quiet-out operation. Secrecy is of the utmost importance, and stealth is the name of the game. You will have the necessary resources to do your job quickly and efficiently. Do you understand, Captain?' 'Yes sir,' I replied."

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