Naval Special Warfare Operator Julian Cadell Gibbs has been assigned to SEAL Team 3 and is preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. Despite earning his way into the brotherhood he has sought to be a part of his whole life, he is still alone.
Jace hadn't been home in months, and when he got bumped up to E-5 Julian moved off-based to a one-bedroom apartment. It was a good run away from the base and had some nice restaurants and diners around. He had gotten so used to the Bachelor Enlisted Quarters that Julian was still surprised with his newfound privacy. Everyone had asked him about his time dodging the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, questions he didn't want to answer.
His neighbors knew he was in the Navy, he just told them he was a Hospital Corpsman and a Diver. The truth but not the whole truth, growing up he was a terrible liar, over time he became accustomed to remaining silent while organizing his thoughts.
A woman down the hall noticed that he lived alone, in the past few weeks she had taken a shine to him. Julian minded his own, waved hello now and then but he never bothered to strike up a conversation. Abigail invited him over for coffee, but Jace always had training exercises.
When he got back from Afghanistan Jace's Sniper School packet got approved. For the past three months, Jace had been subjected to scrutiny and analysis of a more intensive nature than BUD/S. The cadre dissected every shot or move he made. He managed to process through the entire course and graduate first in his class.
It had been months since he handled a sniper rifle, and he finally got to customize a set of rifles to his preferences. The MK12 Special Purpose Rifle had him curious, the custom 5.56 ammunition went well with it. Jace thought that it worked well for urban operations, especially if the area had enemy combatants blending in with non-combatants.
He swapped out the fixed stock for an M4A1 lower with a telescoping buttstock. Jace was issued two upper receivers, one with an 18" barrel, and the other with a 16" barrel.
He liked the options, the range, and mobility they offered but they didn't replace the pros of the 7.62s or the .300 Winchester rifles.
When he got back he got a call from a local Federal Firearms License establishment that he had two packages addressed to him. His father had gifted him a Springfield TRP Operator and an MEU(SOC) Pistol. Both were factory-new.
It looks like the Gunny had a few strings pulled.
Once he finished the paperwork he went home and put the pistols in his closet safe.
His teammates said that he lived like a monk, aside from a pullout sofa, coffee table, and TV his living room wasn't much. His kitchen had the essentials and an island counter that served as a dining table. He hung up a few photos from his childhood and some store-bought artwork.
Aside from occasionally letting his teammates crash on his couch after a few too many drinks, Jace didn't have any visitors. Unfortunately, this goaded the Navy wives at Coronado to set him up on blind dates and play cupid.
The last one ended with him walking his date to her front door and her slapping him in the face as she tried to drag him into her apartment as a part of some fetish. Thankfully, after that incident, the platoon members' wives stopped playing with his social life.
The next day they were running CQB drills, running different houses, and practicing urban warfare raids.
As a SEAL Sniper Jace didn't just have to be a crack shot, he needed to be a skilled assaulter, breacher, and corpsman. He even had to operate mortars, heavy weapons, and rocket launchers.
They were getting ready for their first tour in Iraq, Al-Qaeda had cells in Ramadi, Baghdad, and Fallujah. The Tier One Units were tasked with hunting down Saddam Hussein and everyone else was charged with Direct Action, Special Reconnaissance, and Foreign Internal Defense.
Their objective was to clear out a suspected cell in the industrial district of Ramadi. They expected the warehouse to be armed with heavy weapons and suicide bombers. They were going to approach the warehouse from two sides, machine gunners and snipers on overwatch. Jace and Reese were going to cover the team on the west, and Branson and Grayson were going to cover the east. Each team would have an EOD Technician.
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Jace set up his SR25 and Reese did the same with his MK48. The sniper took out a guard before he could find the squad around the corner.
"Hotel Six to Breach Team One, you are clear to Execute, over."
Branson gave the second breach team the all-clear. Both squads made entry, and inside they cleared their way to the point of interest. Bridgestone used a battering ram to break the door down.
Inside they engaged six enemy combatants, once the room was cleared the EODs rendered the explosives safe. An Army night patrol was on its way to secure the site, in the meantime, the operators were conducting sensitive site exploitation.
"So, your neighbor," began Reese. "The redhead, she seems nice."
"She is and no I'm not dating her," responded Jace, seeing right into his friend's intentions.
"That doesn't mean you're not sleeping with her," said the machine gunner, laughing.
"I ain't doing that either," said Julian. "And if you do her and it backfires on me then I may wind up moving."
"How could it possibly backfire on you?"
"I don't know, that's usually the fun part isn't it?"
The patrol arrived after 45 minutes, the SEALs dismounted and made their way to EXFIL.
Unfortunately, they came under heavy fire from the rooftops, they had entered a chokepoint.
The Platoons parked the Humvees in an alleyway for cover, they couldn't get past the RPG fire. They set a perimeter and radioed for Close Air Support, there were no gunships available. Jace took out three insurgents, his back against a wall. Branson and Ross were back-to-back until both took hits. Jace moved to pull them back, he slung Jacob over his shoulder and dragged Branson to cover.
He and the other Corpsman, Hunter, tended to them. Ross had taken rounds to both shoulders, gut, and hip. Branson had taken shots to the chest, through his ballistic plate. Once the former was stable Jace assisted with the Chief.
Finally, an AH-1 SuperCobra covered their escape. They loaded into the Humvees and made their way to the base. Tragically, Branson died in transport and Ross died on the operating table.
Hotel Platoon, Trident 1412, the Harbingers of SEAL Team Three had lost their OIC and Platoon Chief. Two leaders Killed in Action.
