As the first bomb impacted the ridgeline, it erupted in a fireball that shook the ground. They were several hundred meters away, but he could feel the hot air on the back of his neck as he hunkered down.

“Cajun 35 in, heading 355,” the second fighter called. This time it was a female voice. Carpenter popped back up to ensure the fighter was indeed pointed at the correct target and not his own position.

“Cajun 35, cleared hot!” Carpenter replied. Again, he gave the troops a “Thirty seconds!” call and they braced for the second bomb. Like the first, it hit on target.

“Good bombs!” Carpenter said on the secure radio.

Carpenter turned to the medic that was treating Gomez. The medics had his helmet off and were talking to him, but there was a pool of blood around him. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s stable, but we need to get him back on base soon, can you get a medevac?” the medic asked.

“Negative, LZ is too hot at this point,” Carpenter said, ducking as another mortar landed on the opposite side of the road.

“Cajun, this is Sandman, advise when ready for next talk on,” Carpenter said as he picked up his binoculars to find the enemy mortar position. The shadows from the mountains were making it hard to see as it was nearing sunset. They had been entrenched for over an hour since the IED took out the lead MRAP.

“Cajun 34 ready to copy,” the voice replied.

“Call visual friendly positions,” Carpenter said.

“Cajun 34 visual,” the A-10 pilot replied.

“From the friendly position, the road bends to the north, call contact the bend in the road.”

“Contact.”

“From our position to that bend, we’ll call that one unit of measure. From that bend in the road, move your targeting pod two units of measure to the south and you will see a group of trees near a ridge line.”

“Contact. I’ve got a group of individuals huddled around what looks to be several mortar positions,” the A-10 pilot responded.

“Roger, that’s your target. Call in with heading, expect clearance on final,” Carpenter responded.

As the A-10s set up for their next attack, Carpenter switched to the backup radio and called in the urgent MEDEVAC mission back at the FIRES desk at Bagram. The LZ was currently too hot, but he was hoping that with a few more attacks from the A-10s, it would be clear for the helicopter to land to pick up Gomez and any wounded from the initial IED attack.

A minute later, the first A-10 called in, “Cajun 34, in, heading 200.”

“Cleared hot,” Carpenter responded. Again, he gave the thirty second call to warn the troops around them to keep their heads down.

As the first bomb hit, shaking the trees and throwing up a fireball, the second A-10 made her “in” call.

Carpenter again confirmed that her nose was pointed at the correct target and called, “Cleared hot.”

The second bomb hit the remaining mortar position as the A-10 pulled off target back into its overhead orbit.