The Prodigy paradox

CHAPTER 4

First Lieutenant Mark "Mother" Hilliard was an ROTC grad from the University of Ohio. He had worked for both Major Deanore and Captain Epps in the past, and was one of the most professional and knowledgeable junior officers that David had ever met. While he liked to joke with Mark about being the team's Den Mother, David knew that half of the mistakes he had made in his first few weeks with the team were fixed by Mark long before the captain or the major ever found out. But that was just Mark. If he knew you were trying hard he would make sure you succeeded, and then make sure you could succeed on your own the next time. He was also a hell of a shot with the M14, and was one of their team's two squad designated marksman going on this hike.

Sergeant First Class Ray "Tongue Punch" Bragg was a sarcastic hard-ass. Twelve year veteran of the United States Army, Bragg had seen two combat tours in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan before finding his way to the 101st for another trip to "the Stan". Bragg could show you how to operate any weapon in the US and Afghan arsenal, and probably a few more that neither army had ever seen. He was the other squad designated marksman for this trip, carrying the team's second accurized M14 rifle. Everyone on the team flatly refused to explain to David how he got the nickname Tongue Punch, but he was called it often.

Staff Sergeant Jason "Pappy" England was the oldest member of the SFAAT. Over forty, he had gotten a late start in life, joining the Army after his 38th birthday. He was an exceptionally cynical man, but still in great shape for his age. At six feet four inches tall, and over 230 pounds he was the team heavy gunner. He carried the Mark (Mk) 48 light machine gun (LMG) and spare ammo easily with the rest of his gear.

Specialist Bill "Doc" Simmons was the team's medic, and their youngest member. Currently only 20 years old, he had enlisted as soon as he turned 18 and had spent the next year and a half becoming the US Army's own franchise on the Angel of Mercy, the combat medic. Doc went on every SFAAT mission. Long or short, near or far, two hours or two weeks, it didn't matter. If even one member of the team had a chance of getting shot at, Doc made damn sure he was there just in case. So far the team had been in a handful of dust-ups with the local insurgents, but thankfully the worst injury sustained so far was the major's knee.

Lastly there was himself, First Lieutenant David "Kenny" Kennisham. He had completed a degree in Psychology from the University of Tennessee, but postponed his Masters to go home and help run his parents' farm when his father died of a heart attack. He had always planned to do something else with his life, but only a few years after his father's death, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Facing mounting hospital bills and not able to find reliable help to run the farm, he had convinced his mother to sell it. Then he heard about the Army offering signing bonuses for recruits, so he decided to enlist to help his mom out. Her cancer had responded to the chemotherapy-radiation double tap, and she had started to recover, so he figured he could make enough in the army to take care of them both as an officer instead. He still remembered how proud she was when he graduated Officer Candidate School (OCS), and pinned his gold Second Lieutenant bar on. She died less than a month later. Her cancer had returned with a vengeance, but she refused to tell him because she didn't want to distract him from his training. With no family, and nothing else to focus on, he had decided to master his chosen profession. In the process he learned he was very good at calling in fire support from artillery and aircraft, as well at teaching those skills to others. He also loved guns, and could operate nearly every weapon system assigned to his team.

Jolted from his reflections by Doc's tap on his shoulder, David walked with the rest of their team out to the MRAPs they were riding to the Afghan OP. As they loaded up and stowed their gear for the ride out, David wondered how boring this mission was going to be. There was a very slim chance the insurgents hadn't already been tipped off by the locals or spies in the Afghan Army. But if they had not, he might actually get a chance to do his job for once, and blow some shit up.