The sergeant nodded, then eased himself back down to keep an eye on the platoon’s prey. Decon made his way back to where the platoon waited. There was little he needed to tell the squad leaders. What they were there for and how they would accomplish their mission had already been discussed. All Decon needed to do was point to where the buck sergeant waited and wish them luck. Decon joined the last of his squads, the one that would take out the tank behind the berm.

Within minutes they were in place. Decon watched as the squad leader he was with placed his tank killers. Because the platoon had only two Javelin antitank guided missile trackers this squad had to rely on the lighter, less sophisticated AT-4 LAW, short for Light Anti-tank Weapon. While capable of penetrating fifteen inches of armor, and much improved over the Vietnam era LAW, the AT-4 lacked the punch of its more lethal brothers, the Javelin and the TOW. Since one shot cannot be counted on to achieve a kill, the leader of the third squad had four of his men, all armed with AT-4s, line up in a semicircle behind the tank they were about to ambush. On his command he would direct them to fire in sequence. Should that still fail to do the job, each of the tank killers had a second AT-4 that he would ready once his first rocket had been expended.

Set, the squad leader gave Decon the high sign. Now Decon’s moment had arrived. Judging that the other squads had more than enough time to get into place and set up their Javelins, Decon signaled to his RTO for the hand mike. He keyed it even before he had it up to his ear. “Bravo Six, this is Bravo Two Six. Set and ready.”

“Roger that, Two Six. Stand by to execute.”

With nothing else to do Decon listened to the company net. His company commander was growing impatient as he tried in vain to contact the leader of his third platoon. Impatiently he looked down at his watch. Finally, with his exasperation coming over the radio loud and clear, Decon’s CO called him. “Bravo Two Six. I have negative contact with Bravo Three Six. Have you seen him? Over.”

Decon keyed the mike. “Negative.”

“Have you heard any firing off to your right?” the company commander asked.

Decon again keyed the mike. “Negative.”

After a short pause, the company commander came on. “Okay, we can’t wait any longer. Two Six, when you are finished, beat feet over to where Three Six was supposed to be. If he is there, give him a kick in the ass. If he’s not, take out the tanks he was supposed to. Acknowledge, over.”