Team Lightning Deploys

We deployed before first light near the ruins of a Buddist temple. As the chopper lifted off we moved into the ruins to wait and see if Charlie had spotters out. We waited for 15 minutes and then keyed the radio twice to let the chopper know that we were all clear. We moved out in a single file back toward the east parallel to Highway 19. We moved across dried rice patties and through small clumps of bamboo. We were tasked with checking out the largest clump of woods just to the south of Highway 19. This was the largest area that Battalion couldn't easily recon by air. Buck and his squad were to be moving parallel to us one klick to our north. They were going to check out the village of Tho Loc. Their chopper dropped them off 1 hour before us. I knew Buck was in place and OK as we heard his team. Buck's mission was to sit on Tho Loc for the day from a distance while we swept south of the Highway.

I had Choi take point to take us to the woods, followed by Hagey with the M-60. I was next with Jones and the radio right behind me. Newberry and Gardener brought up the rear. As we neared the woods I moved up to take point. I had Newberry move up with me as I needed to see what field craft skills he had before we got into anything. We moved into the woods just as the sun was cresting the eastern horizon.

We stopped for a quick break once we were 100 meters inside the tree line. We secured the perimeter and alternated 3 on 3 off while we rested and drank water. While Newberry sat on a log sipping from his canteen he tapped the butt of his rifle on the ground. It sounded hollow "Sarge, I think I found something".

We cleared the leaves and branches off and found a small cache of weapons and ammo. Thinking back to Buck's training yesterday I grinned and told Newberry to give me a grenade and pay attention as class is in session.

Game Notes - the pre-dawn segment of the day resulted in an encounter that resolved into a small weapons cache. 5 rifles and 1000 rounds of ammo were located and booby-trapped.