2006: The OEF operation MilitaryStories

"Captain Royce, we are two miles away from the city", the military van driver announced looking at the GPS map.

"Good", I replied turning around my seat.

In the back of the van, twenty military officers were sitting on two banches, staring at me.

"We're close", I shouted so every single squadmate could hear me. "Arm your guns and act according to the plan. Remember, get off the van as soon as the driver stops. God bless you all."

The regiment nodded their heads "yes".

I turned back to my seat and picked the Bowman C4I radio.

"Here's Captain Derrek Royce from The British Army, in mission of taking the gas station located near Spin Buldak, as part of the OEF operation, September 12, 2006." "Colonel Christopher Reign, NATO.You have the permision to begin the assault. Are you aware of the afghanistan guarding troops?" a strong, calm voice asked.

"Yes, Sir" I responded. "There are two tanks and fiveteen to twenty infantry troops, most of them civilians or employees at the gas station.My column of trucks transport up to sixty brittsh officers. We don't expect any ressistance through", I concluded.

"Alright", the voice replied. "But be careful, this mission is meant to get a safe spot in order to take the city. Do not damage the station in any way."

" I'll keep that in mind, Sir" I promissed ending the transmission.

"One mile", the van driver announced.

I glanced down and cocked my L85A2. The van was moving fast. I could see in the rear-view mirror the second military truck following us. I couldn't see the third one. We were driving in line because of the road's short width. Electrical yellow signs started to show up in the dusty view. Fuel dispencers. We were getting closer.

The Bowman radio started flashing.

"Sir, we are ready to go", a young male voice declared.

"Alright, Markus" I said recognizing him. Lieutenant Markus Tyson, my right hand. "My group will take the dispencers while yours is going for the convinience store ", I continued. "

"I thought mine was going for dispencers", he said uneasy.

"It's safer this way", I decreeted.

I could see the whole station as we were approaching our target. Huge dusty dispensing columns were placed near the A75 road.

The driver hardly handled the stearing wheel. A violent sound crushed my ears when he stopped the truck.

"EVERYBODY OUT", I screamed as I was opening the vehicle door. The L85A2 was softly carried in my hands.

I reached for the southern dispencer when two afghans jumped over the ice refrigerator near the convinience store. They were dark complexion civilians, both of them about 40 years old, black hair, dark hair. The first one, who was wearing a red t-shirt and dirty blue-jeans, pointed his pistol at my face but someone from my squad was faster. The civilian felt on his knees, screaming in pain. Blood started to spread around the body. The second afghan rissed an AK-47 to my group and pulled the triger. First bullets missed, hitting our vans instead. I got closer and fired. The afghan's forehead erupted. I turned around and beckoned my squad. They were carefully moving forward the two bodies, securing the perimetre and guarding the zone.

A small group and I got closer to the store. We sticked our back to the wall, protecting ourselfs from any potential harm and also blocking the main entrance from both sides.

A grenade passed behind us. My squadmates quickly laid on the ground. It exploded right near a fuel dispensor.I started cursing nervously.

The explosition violently shaked the ground, blasting fire in the whole area.The heave brick roof smashed to the ground and I heard dozens of people dying.

I entered the store alone, looking for whoever did this masacre.

I saw a group of people sitting behind a shelf. A exchange of fire took part for a couple minutes, me wilding out in the large hallway, hiding behind their back and shooting just to keep distance between us.

I took my radio and asked for backups. In short time ten military officers quit helping the injured people and entered the store.

I heard the afghans arguing each other. Altrough I didn't understand their language, I was instinctively sure of what they were arguing about: they were out of ammo. We got them.

I stepped outside the shelf and got closer to the insurgents. Two of them tried to defend themself with dagers, but all in vain. One bullet and they were gone. The other afghan dropped his weapon, surrending.

Four officers and I started looking for other insurgents. The rest of our forces returned to the injured squadmates.

We slowly began to relax ourselfs and managed to find the backdoor. I opened it carefully, moment when my mind freezed. 20 meters from that spot, a civilian was laid on the dusty road.

He was aiming a bazooka.

Submitted June 08, 2015 at 11:33PM by DerrekRoyce http://ift.tt/1Iqlewx MilitaryStories