Combat Missions, Episode 9: Is Bravo’s Success Just Luck?

This episode finds Bravo in the unfamiliar position of accepting a new player into their squad. Dexter Fletcher mentioned at the end of the last episode that if they had any problems with him they’d just make him sit in ‘Jody’s World’ and think about it. Could this be the secret to Bravo’s success? Time outs??

Sean Sirker had a few worries about how he would be received by Bravo. They welcomed him into the fold and made him feel even more worried about how well he would fit in as Dexter Fletcher showed him his portfolio of studly beefcake pictures. Bob Kain came over to poke fun and tease him about the photos while Sirker thumbed through the thick stack of sultry seductive poses. I wonder if Fletcher will ever live that down.

While Sean is getting to know his new compatriots, Alpha is in their tent listening to Eric Johnson try to convince himself that Bravo is nothing to worry about. He comments that Bravo’s winning streak is attributed more to luck than to anything else. Mel Spicer disagrees with him and tells him to give credit where credit is due. Johnson won’t give an inch and continues to malign Bravo’s abilities. Eventually it breaks down to Johnson calling Bravo names while Spicer shakes his head in disgust.

It's now time for the Training Exercises, and they begin with the rope climb. Since Bravo has lost no men, Claggett is chosen to sit out to make things even. Everyone must wear a 40-pound pack on his back during this competition. The procedure is as follows: A man from each team must climb his rope while carrying their weapon, touch the top, descend the rope, run to a bunker, fire his weapon, then return to his team. The team that completes this task first wins 25 points. The competition starts and ends predictably with Bravo losing. Nobody from Bravo even makes it to the top of the rope. While walking away from the competition Jeff Byers comments that Sirker isn’t the Superman they hoped he’d be.

The next Training Exercise is the Double Pit Cross. The men have to run a distance, cross a pit on a rope bridge, go through several other obstacles, jump into the second pit filled with water, swim to the dock and put on a 50 pound pack that’s waiting for them. Then they have to do it all over again wearing the pack. Sirker admits to being a weak swimmer and sits this one out. Jeff is once again disappointed in Sirker, but hey, at least he told them what he’s weak in. I’d rather know the weaknesses in my team than have a bunch of people trying to fake it ‘til they make it. Of course Alpha squad outperforms Bravo and gets the additional 50 points putting them a total of 75 points ahead of Bravo. Bravo is upset again about this loss and worries that even though it hasn’t stopped them from winning in the past that it will catch up to them. Sean Sirker isn’t looking too good to some members of his squad, but then again, Bravo hasn’t gotten to what they are good at yet.

It’s time for the mission briefing with SGM. Dever. A group of terrorists has stolen a missile guidance system and has it in an aircraft hangar. The squads will be dropped on the roof where they will first disable the communications satellite dish, set an explosive charge, and then radio headquarters that they have completed the first part of the mission. Then they must rappel into the hangar, defeat the enemy, retrieve the guidance system, which is in a black attaché case, then be lifted out in the waiting helicopter. As always they will be using the Miles Laser System and not real bullets.

Before the mission the SWAT officers prep both teams. Bravo has Bob Kain running the strategy meeting, and they are making sure that everyone understands how to work in Close Quarters Battle (C.Q.B.). Bravo is confident overall in their ability to handle this mission, and everyone is basically on the same page. This is one of the keys to their success.

Over at Alpha, Mark Jackson is not experiencing the same cooperation. He is the lone SWAT guy in a puddle full of SEALs. Every instruction, every suggestion is met with resistance and stubbornness. They don’t want to listen because they don’t seem to think that anyone has anything to teach them. Jackson can see the writing on the wall and even comments that he couldn’t teach them nearly enough to complete this mission even if he had the full 15 weeks that they are at Camp Windstorm to train them.

Now it’s time for the main event: The Missile Hanger Assault. The first squad to go is Bravo. They are dropped on the hangar roof; they disable the satellite dish, set the explosives, and radio headquarters. Now of course this is when the other shoe drops. They are informed that there is an ATF agent inside the hangar and that they now must rescue him as well as retrieve the missile guidance system. They are given the agent’s general description and told his name. He is Todd Nelson, he’s Caucasian, 5’10”, receding dark hair, glasses and a moustache. Failure rescue this man will cost them 100 points.

They continue their mission and encounter what looks like a young Groucho Marx convention. Almost every one of the terrorists in the hangar is about 5’10” with dark hair, a moustache, and glasses! Unfortunately within the first few seconds of the assault the ATF agent is killed. To make things worse, Byers and Corwin are also killed. They rescue one of the terrorists but unfortunately get no credit for that. They complete their mission in 8 minutes. Adding the deaths of the ATF agent and the deaths of the two squad members to those 8 minutes gives them a point loss of 240 making their remaining score 760 points. With Alpha’s extra 75 points it’s not looking too good for Bravo.

Alpha is up next. Zundel rappels first and bloodies his nose when he flips upside down and gets smacked in the face with his own rifle. The rest of the squad follows him and they all make it down unscathed. They spread out and as they enter the hangar the ATF agent runs into an office. Alpha squad kills quite a few terrorists, but before you know it everyone but Oates is dead and buzzing. The ATF agent has left the building and can’t be rescued, so Oates retrieves the missile guidance system and completes the mission. The loss of the four squad members and the ATF agent add up to 300 points lost. They started with an additional 75 points so that puts them at 775 points. We have to wait for the mission evaluation in order to find out how long it took Alpha to complete the mission, but doing the math shows that it would be impossible for Alpha to win.

Back at the camp Alpha starts to discuss who should be voted off if they lose, and it’s not looking very good for Jackson. Eric Johnson thinks that they should keep the SEALs together and ditch the SWAT cop. He actually tries to manipulate Jackson into saying he wants to go. The other members of the squad are pretty noncommittal about their choice and are looking for some leadership. Mel Spicer provides that leadership as he states that he thinks that the original members of Alpha squad should finish the competition together, and that he would be voting off Eric Johnson. Johnson obviously isn't too happy about that and tries to argue his position. He comments that if they keep the original four members that they would be keeping four men who contributed to all of their losses. That’s a good strategy to make them want to keep you. Call them all losers. I’ll have to remember that the next time I want to influence someone.

Finally the end results are in and Bravo beat Alpha, who took 11 minutes to complete the mission and ended with a score of 720 points. Alpha votes Eric Johnson off unanimously. I bet Harald Zundel (The German) breathed a sigh of relief since he wasn’t actually an original member of Alpha. He was selected from the Dossier room in Evolution 2 replacing Chris Pate.

Is Bravo’s success just luck as Eric Johnson said? Absolutely not. They may not be ‘soldier fit’ but they are definitely mission fit. They are a team, and that teamwork is the secret to their success. These men set aside their egos to accomplish their goals, understanding that their lives depend on the people they work with. They are competitors, but they aren’t arrogant. The other squads could and should take a lesson from these guys.

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