Page 80 - 100 Hours to Destiny

ENTER THE DRAGON

Three-eighths of a click further Delta was ordered to stop by Task
Force Ripper coming up from behind. We were getting too far ahead, too far
out in front to be supported by the heavy, slow-moving assets of 3rd Tanks
and support elements of Col Buster Diggs.
“Delta Company this is Delta 6, halt in place. Gunners stay on your
gunsights and pan your fields of fire. Be advised one-quarter click north is a
suspected minefield. The report is this minefield is not as intricate as the first
one, but it is still causing us to halt until mine-clearing tanks and the line
charge Amtracs arrive from Ripper. Be advised Delta we are also observing
enemy activity to our direct front.”
No sooner had Rock finished that statement than Delta found itself
under attack from enemy artillery erupting somewhere in the distance. The
unseen guns began to rain down heavy shells which began to impact close to
various vehicles of Delta Company. Impacting in the sand, creating shrapnel
laden guizers of death as they buried deep into the desert floor. Delta
Company Marines began to cavalcade Deltas radio comms with concerning
reports of these incoming rounds, and the reports were intensifying of the
accuracy as somewhere a forward-observer or group of forward-observers
were walking the deadly artillery into Delta’s lines. Something had to happen
fast, or we were going to start losing Marines….Delta was in the crosshairs of
an artillery attack!!!
Now comes the response on behalf of Delta Company in the form of
perhaps one of, if not the greatest air controller ever to grace a battlefield
during a firefight, Deltas own Executive Officer 1stLt Scott Williams and the
rest of his staff on the LAV-C2 - battle named Missile Magnet. On Station and
dedicated to the protection of Task Force Ripper and now Delta Company
was the immense firepower of Airborne Attack Cobra Gunships of Task Force
Cunningham. The choppers of Cunningham had been hovering on-station
somewhere in between Col Diggs and the now ultra-forward Delta Company
3D LAI.
Response from 1stLt Scott Williams was quick and precise. Utilizing
the MULE rangefinder, Scott worked hand-in-hand with the TOW gunners to
see who in the hell was now orchestrating this artillery attack. There they
were, spotted by Scott, on temporary scaffolds built high above the desert
floor, perched the directors of mayhem, the enemy forward observers that
were at this moment adjusting fire for teams of gunners “walking in” the