Going to War

by burmafrd

AR, very AU. No Aliens. CC. Mostly Liz/Max. All hail Jason Katims for creating it; but he also messed it up as well. This is just for Fun. This is still our Liz, just different going in a different way. No Roswell.

5. Chapter 5

Needless to say. Very AU. No Aliens. CC, but only in passing. This is M/L all the way. You might want to read the first chapter for all the background. Katims thought them up but abused them. I am just doing this for fun and revenge on him. For those not familiar with the military this site will help you with military acronyms and abbreviations

/cat/2

Liz found that the only place she could really get away from the facts of her life were in the air and at home. Outside of those two areas, her reputation and fame tended to get in the way. Her new copilot was fresh from Flight School, WO1 Roger Sikes. He was a real newbie; fresh from WO school right to Flight school. He had one tour of Iraq with the 10th Mountain as a regular ground pounder. But he had been pretty lucky and had been in a quiet area. So he had not seen much action. He was also in serious awe of Liz. It was sweet in some ways but annoying in others. She could not deny that being treated like someone really special did feed her ego or make her feel better when other things dragged her down. But it was a bit much and from a cold practical point of view was a problem

Ted had been willing to argue with her; and was not afraid to point out when she made a mistake. Which is one of the primary functions of a copilot. Roger was too intimidated and too unsure as a pilot to say as much as boo to her.

She decided to talk to Scooter Winston, the Battalion XO about this. He still commanded C company, so he was still a regular flyer. How long that would stay that way no one knew. Usually the paperwork and the rest gradually pried someone out of the cockpit.

"Jim, I really worry about Roger as my copilot. He is so in awe of me that he is afraid to even point out mistakes I make. And you know how dangerous that can get."

Jim leaned back with a sigh. He could see her point of view; but he also was not really willing to push for the kids reassignment. Hah. The Kid. He was actually only a year younger than Liz was. But in this world he was a kid.

"Liz, you need to give him some more time. He has only been your copilot for a few weeks. Outside of the hero worship, do you have any other problems with him?"

"Outside of him being really green, not really. Any deficiencies he has right now will probably disappear after more time and training. I just worry if he has the assertiveness you need to be a pilot. Or even a copilot. The ability to make snap judgments and decisions fast; to see how the situation is going soon enough to be able to react and respond."

"And that should come with time."

"I hope."

Luckily, Liz's guardian angel was once again at work.

Ted had been noticing that Liz was a little put out by her copilot; as her wingman he was in a position to see more than most. And knowing her helped as well. So one day he was in the mess hall and noticed her copilot by himself, studying a flight manual. He decided the kid needed some help.

Roger looked up as Ted sat down. Ted looked at the manual.

"Roger, you do not have to study 24/7. You are allowed to eat without it."

He blushed. Ted sighed inside. This kid was so young.

"I know, but I still have so much to learn. And I don't want to disappoint Liz. She deserves the best copilot she can get."

Ted blinked. Now he began to see the problem.

"Every pilot deserves the best copilot he can get, Roger."

"But Liz deserves better than me."

"Do you really think that Liz went right into flight school and started tooling her Apache around like she does now?"

"But she is so good. She is better than my instructor was at Flight School and he had 10 years as an Apache Pilot. Liz is much better and she has only a little over 2 years."

"Liz had problems early on; we talked about it. She had to work real hard to make it; and even harder to get to where she is now. She was not a natural pilot; she had to learn it all. Combat really teaches you a lot; I was lucky in that because of various things I got a fair amount of time as a pilot over there in combat conditions. So when I was formally promoted I had a big edge over most copilots. And of course watching Liz helped. But I was her copilot from day one; and I saw a very good pilot with rough edges. Who worked like her call sign to file them down. And who kept getting better because of how hard she worked. BUT it takes time and you will not learn as fast when not in combat. You need to take a deep breath and relax a little. And talk to Liz about it."

At that his eyes got big then he dropped them. "I don't want to disappoint her."

"She will understand. More than most will because of who she is. You do know that she hates all the attention she gets, right?"

"Yeah it's kind of hard to miss. When I was told I was going to be Captain Parker's copilot the guys told me I was lucky but that I would be in a tough place. I am figuring out what that meant now. I feel like I have to run as fast as I can to just stay in the same place."

Ted slowly nodded. Yeah this kid and Liz needed to talk.

"Well when you are finished I will scare up Liz and you two will talk. You both need to hear each other."

As a company Commander Liz got her own office; it was not big but it was hers and she liked being able to shut the door.

So when someone knocked she was a little bit annoyed; but at the same time interrupting paperwork was rarely a bad thing.

"IN." she had seen that in a movie and had liked it.

Ted stuck his head in the door.

"You got some time?"

Liz grinned at him. "For you always."

"Well not for me." He then reached out of sight and dragged her copilot in and plunked him down in the chair in front of her desk to her raised eyebrows.

"You and Roger need to talk before the kid burns himself out. He does not realize that we were all newbies at one time."

Liz sat back with a sigh as Ted left and closed the door behind him. She looked at Roger. This needed to get done, she knew that.

"Roger, If I have shown impatience with you then I should not have and I apologize. Ted was right; all of us were newbies at one time. None of us sprouted from flight school as master pilots. We all have to work at it all the time."

Roger screwed up his courage.

"Liz, I just want to be the copilot you deserve."

Liz sat for a moment trying to figure out how to do this.

"You are doing pretty good for being as green as you are. And there is no quick fix for that; just time and flight time. You know the basics; you know the foundation of what you need to learn. You just have to build on it. And a lot of that is my responsibility. I was spoiled having Ted; he was already an experienced copilot when I got him. But I bet he told you I was nowhere near as good when I first arrived in Campbell as I am now. And I had a diversion while I was first here that took a couple of months of flight time away from me and I had to catch up. And Ted helped there. So I need to make sure that you are learning while I am polishing; you see that is the difference between us. I have the time and the combat time in the Apache under tough conditions so that I had to learn quick or die. That is one HELL of a motivator. You have not had that. There is no way you will be able to learn things like I learned in Combat here. Just not possible. So clear your mind of the feeling you have to be great. You are learning. All Pilots continue to learn for their entire career; if they do not then sooner or later that will catch up with them. I am at probably 90% of what I can learn in the apache and maybe higher. You are about 50%. You just keep learning and working and you will catch up. I can only get slightly better in comparison. So you will make up the distance."

Roger took a deep breath, and felt some of the tension that he had been feeling ever since becoming her copilot leaving. He looked at her.

"Thanks, Liz."

"I should have had this talk with you without Ted having to force it. That was my failing. I should have noticed that you were scrambling. But it is also the duty of the copilot to tell the pilot that he is having trouble and he needs help. So we both screwed up. I just have less of an excuse. Now I am always happy to ignore paperwork but we have reason. So let's head out to the bird."

They spent the next several days working together and Roger did begin to make up the ground.

Both Ted and Jim Winston watched with satisfaction.

Liz found that being company commander added lots of other 'little' duties that when put together sucked up the time. But she made a point of working with Roger as much as she could; and getting more flight time. Rather evilly she started palming off some of that to Lt Rivers. Who was not appreciative.

"Come on Liz, this is BS."

"Of course it is, Sam. But it's BS that has to get done and since there is too much for me you get your share. Comes with being the Company XO."

One other thing Liz did not like about being company commander was that she had to evaluate everyone in the company from pilots to the ground crews. And also if anyone screwed up it landed on her desk first.

So when a tech on a ground crew got himself drunk and arrested for it, she was the first one called. So she went by Security and the base clink and proceeded to rip him a new one. Which was OK in one way as it allowed her to let off some steam. However it highly entertained a number of people in Security.

"It was funny as hell. He had to be easily a foot taller and 100 lbs heavier and she just ate him up and spit him out."

"Yeah, I heard her call sign is Doberman."

"I believe it now."

Liz then proceeded to convince the JAG to let it go as company punishment. Then had him do every dirty detail for a whole month straight. And she got very creative about dirty details. Which had the whole Battalion talking.

"I heard he just about begged to be sent back for Court-martial."

"Gotta admit I never saw that done by hand; can see why now."

It got to the point where his crew chief talked to Grunt.

"Man, is there any way you can get her to let up on the poor jerk. I ain't never seen anyone that miserable in 11 years in the Army."

"He survives this and it does not go on his record. Seems pretty fair to me."

But it was noticeable that little incidents tended to not happen to those in A company after that.

"What unit you with?"

"Company A, 1st Battalion, Aviation Brigade"

"Wow. I heard you have Doberman Parker as your CO."

"You heard right and that is why you can go drinking on your own. I saw what she did to the last guy caught drunk and it ain't gonna happen to me."

Max had started his job, which while not exactly challenging did have him around the flight line most days. So they got to eat lunch together most of the time.

Aliya was dropped off at the MWR Children's center where she would be spending her days during the summer until school began. At first there were not many around as everyone else was in school; but she was busy as Liz had talked to the center personnel about her unique needs to become more familiar with life in the US. So some at the center took her in hand and worked so that she learned English and other facets of modern life.

The fact that Aliya had been adopted by Liz flew under the radar for quite a while; it was not until they had been at Campbell for over 3 months that the media twigged on that.

For some time the Army just flat out would not say where she was. When the media began to get very persistent they were then told she was in the US. But not where. Finally some reporters put two and two together and began to visit Campbell. It took them several more weeks to finally spot Aliya at the MWR Children's center. It was the middle of June and school had just gotten out. So Aliya got to meet more of the children. She had met some from the immediate housing area, but right around where she lived there were not many of her age. Liz had gotten a rather good place and the officers around her were somewhat older; and those that had children were mostly older than Aliya; or younger.

The two reporters, from newspapers out east, had agreed to work together so as to cover more ground. It had mostly been a hunch when they came to Campbell. Since this was where Captain Parker was, they were acting on rumors of how close she had gotten to the little girl whose life she had saved. One day they went to the Children Center since just about any kids of her age would be there and they spotted her.

Aliya was shy; but luckily for her she happened to meet some girls who were not as shy and very friendly. The girls were still too young to really understand her situation. Aliya just told them she came from Afghanistan and had been adopted. Her English was not too bad; and the 3 girls who she got to be friendly with thought she sounded interesting. So they began to pump her for details about her life in Afghanistan. She stayed away from talking about what had happened to her. She just told them she had been adopted by her new mother and she had married a man so she had a new father as well.

The two reporters were not allowed to speak to any of the children nor take pictures which was frustrating. Captain Parker was still a pretty hot news item. She had gotten the Presidential Medal of Freedom only a month earlier. And she had refused hundreds of requests to speak to the media and the Army made it clear they would not order her to.

However they were very sure that that little girl was Aliya. And that Captain Elizabeth Parker had adopted her. Which made the story even juicier. But they had to confirm it.

The Division PR officer was an old hand at dodging questions and giving answers that said nothing at all. But when two reporters have the facts and then dare you to deny them there is nothing a good PR officer can do but try and fall back on the old chestnut, "NO COMMENT." Which as all PR officers know is admitting that the reporters have the story correct.

So the very next day headlines in two midsized Newspapers in the Eastern US have front page stories about the fate of Aliya. The story was identical in both papers; just which reporter listed first changed.

"Over the last several months there has been a great deal of speculation over the fate of Aliya, the young Afghan girl that most of the world saw shot by a Taliban official. For some time the US Military has refused to give her location. Finally they did confirm she was no longer in Afghanistan. After more delays it was admitted she was in the US. It was thought that she had been adopted somewhere in the US. And it turns out that was true. What these reporters have been able to find out is that Aliya was adopted by Captain Elizabeth Parker, the Apache pilot that rescued her, currently stationed in FT Campbell, Kentucky as commander of A Company, 1 St Battalion of the 101st Aviation Brigade. Captain Parker, who was recently married to a former Marine that had been working at the Air Field at Bagram, apparently adopted the child soon after she was released from the base hospital. We have been able to ascertain that after leaving the base hospital she stayed with Captain Parker in her quarters; then left Afghanistan with her adoptive mother when Captain Parker redeployed back to the US in March of this year. Aliya Parker is now just one of the young girls that live on Ft Campbell with their parents. She seems to be fitting in very well."

The story went on to talk in detail about how apparently the President had made a personal request of the President of Afghanistan and that it had all been carefully kept quiet.

Liz got a call early the next morning. It was the Division PR officer.

"Captain Parker, I am sorry to tell you that the media found out about you adopting Aliya. And the story is in the newspapers out East. I am sure the networks will pick it up quickly. You still refusing to meet with them?"

Liz sighed. "Yes."

"They are not going to quit."

"They are not allowed to take pictures of dependents, right?"

"No they are not."

"Then let them squawk. Another story will come along. I am not feeding that monster."

She hung up and then called Max.

"Max. The media has printed a story about Aliya being here and adopted by me. Could you get off work and go get her and take her home?"

"No problem, Liz. At least it's a Friday. That gives them a whole weekend to get tired of it."

"True. Thanks, Max."

"Why thank me? She is my daughter too."

Max stopped by the center and saw that Aliya was with three other girls and seemed to be talking and seemed comfortable. He decided to wait; and went to one of the workers. She was one that knew about Aliya. Max figured a whole lot of people on Campbell knew; but none of them had said anything.

"A couple of newspapers have printed a story talking about Aliya being her and being adopted by Liz. I was going to take her home just in case but she seems to be getting along well.

"We keep an eye on her; and yes she appears to be making friends. She is learning English very quickly; and beginning to fit in."

"Liz and I work on her English every day at home; so I guess it's no surprise. She is a smart girl."

"Yes she is. And the more she interacts with other children, the better it will be for her in the fall when she starts school."

Max went off to the side where he could watch her without being seen and called Liz.

"Good news. It is looking like she is already making friends and right this moment is talking with three girls about the same age. I am just going to wait here until they leave then take her home."

Liz smiled. That was the best of all possible things; Aliya making friends with other young girls her age.

As it turned out Liz was able to get free a little early and headed for the Center. Nice thing being a Company CO you could do that. She came into the center and looked around. Aliya saw her and immediately ran to her and Liz picked her up and swung her around.

"Honey. How are you doing?"

"made friends, Mommy. Come see." And Aliya dragged her over to meet her new friends.

Max had started to go over and decided to wait as at almost the same time 3 women headed for the same spot.

Becky Jackson was the wife of a Sergeant in the 1st Brigade, her daughter was Sandy; Ruth Winston was the wife of a sergeant in the 2nd Brigade, and her daughter was Ann; Susan Willis was the wife of a sergeant in the 2nd brigade and her daughter was Nancy. They immediately knew who Liz was.

Aliya quickly introduced her friends, who were a little awed by Liz as they recognized officers by now. The three mothers then moved in and introduced themselves. Liz smiled at them.

"I am so glad that Aliya is making friends. That will help her so much."

Since their daughters had known each other for years, the three wives had become good friends as well. Susan was the most direct and outgoing of the three and she started things off.

"It was an incredible thing you did for her. And then adopting her? It's like out of a Hollywood movie. Our three have been friends since they started school here; we all got here just over 3 years ago. So if they want Aliya as a friend, which means something. Liz, we know how tough being a mother is. And you are brand new at it. So if you have any problems at all call one of us."

"Thank you all so much. It is different being a parent out of the blue; but I love her so much. And to have good friends is another great thing. Especially if their mothers don't mind a phone call now and then asking stupid questions."

"What may sound like a stupid question to you won't be to us. Don't worry about it."

Liz then spotted Max hovering and called him over. The three mothers had an appreciative eye for Max. Liz saw that and grinned evilly.

"Ya, he is good eye candy, isn't he?"

They grinned and Max felt himself start to blush which had Liz peeling with laughter.

"OOhh, Maxy is very red."

They all then headed to their cars and Liz promising that she would indeed call.

Later that evening the three wives were talking to their respective husbands.

Susan: "Met Liz Parker today; her daughter Aliya is becoming friends with Nancy and the others. I guess the media has the story now on where Aliya is and that Liz adopted her. "

Her husband, Ralph, cocked his eye at her. "So the POSSE has decided to get to know her?"

She gave him the evil eye which got a smirk from him.

Becky: "Met Liz Parker today. Aliya is becoming friends with Sandy and the others."

Her husband, Sam, nodded. "Having friends will certainly help her get used to things here."

Ruth: "Ran into Liz Parker at the center; I guess Aliya is becoming friends with Ann and the others."

Her husband, Joe, grinned. "So you guys are going to make Liz Parker into a stepford mom?" And ducked the roll thrown at him.

Liz went home with Aliya and Max and had a good evening. The next morning she was wondering what they would do that weekend. She got a call at around 9AM from Susan.

"Liz, this is Susan Willis. Our girls really want to see Aliya. I guess curiosity has taken over. "

"Well that is great. Where and when?"

"We were thinking of having a get together at Wilkes Park. Everyone brink pot luck around noon. Spend the afternoon since today is supposed to be good weather."

"Even better. Just tell me what I need to bring besides Aliya and the ball and chain."

Susan laughed hard. "Oh, I got to tell the girls that. Grab drinks. There will probably be about a dozen of us all together including our worst halves."

"No problem. We will be there."

Then Liz had a thought and called the Crew.

Vicki answered at their apartment; they had decided they needed more and went for outside the base housing.

"Vicki, this is Liz. You guys doing anything today?"

"Not really – this week was kind of hard and we are looking at kicking back."

"Well I just got invited to Wilkes Park at noon; some of the mothers of some girls that Aliya has become friends with; and their husbands. Its Pot luck. But their hubbies are all ground pounders and I think Aviation needs reinforcement. Waddya Think?"

"Let me see what the other two are thinking."

A minute later.

"They are game. What should we bring?"

"Snack stuff."

"Gotcha.

"See Ya there."

Aliya was intrigued at the idea of a picnic. Max was happy to be with Liz anywhere so he was in. They swung by the Commissary and brought a batch of drinks and a couple of coolers and Ice. It would be in the upper 70's.

Max blinked as he saw Liz in shorts and tank top. And sandals. She looked like she was barely 21. With a baseball cap on she was the cutest thing he had ever seen.

They got there about 1145 and Susan and her family were already there. Just behind them Liz spotted Becky. They greeted each other as they parked their SUV and began to unload. About 5 minutes later came Ruth and hers. And dead on at noon came the Crew. Liz greeted them and they all proceeded to spread out the food and dived in.

They had barely finished eating when the girls wanted to go out and talk. Indulgently the mothers and Liz let them go. Becky had a two year old boy and Susan had a one year old that they put in porta cribs and they proceeded to sleep.

Meanwhile Max and the guys started talking NASCAR and Baseball while Liz and the Crew and the mothers proceeded to girl talk. They were all about the same age, with Liz being just slightly the youngest and Susan the oldest by a year.

Liz looked around a while later and realized just how comfortable she felt. This was life. It was a good two hours later that the talk seemed to inevitably turn to the war and deployments. The mothers had had to stay at home and worry while their husbands had been in Iraq twice.

Liz sensed that Ruth was the most worried of them, just by nature. So she made a special effort to emphasize to her that with the current situation, Iraq would be breeze for the next deployment, scheduled for spring of the next year.

"Way things are, we may be doing very little the next deployment. For us Aviation types it might be a little more busy. For me odds are not much at all. Probably not all that much of a demand for air support."

Vicki chimed in. "Yeah we might still be busy, but the ground pounders and Liz might be bored to tears. Of course Liz seems to be able to find situations that are downright hairy but that is just her."

"Hey. I am not that bad."

Jesse and Ellen rolled their eyes. The mothers grinned. Liz then noticed that Ruth seemed to want to ask a question but was shy about it. Liz reached over and touched her arm.

"Ask us anything, Ruth. It won't bother us."

"It is something that I always wanted to know. You said in that press conference that you were going after Aliya no matter what. Weren't you worried at all about getting in trouble?"

Liz got quiet, and then shook her head. "Did not even occur to me. When I got the first report about that POS locking her in that shed, I knew for certain she was in danger. The Spec Ops guys knew me pretty well by then; they did not hesitate and one of the Crew there was not worried either. When I was close and heard they were beating her, If I had to level half that village I would have done it. I was looking through the 30MM sight when I saw that bastard shoot her. My only regret was that he didn't suffer enough; though I believe he is roasting nicely in hell. I remember holding her as Ted redlined our bird towards the medcenter. Praying she would make it. Then sitting in that waiting room. The next morning when I saw her in that bed, so thin and pale and hooked up to all the machines, I think at that moment somehow inside me the decision to adopt her was already made. She was my child now. And now she is."

The guys had come up just in time to hear that and Max sat next to Liz and put his arm around her.

"My warrior Princess."

Ralph, deciding things were much too serious, proceeded to put an ice cube down Susan's neck which earned a squeal and a can of coke poured down his shirt. That definitely broke the atmosphere. And the talk became general again.

Late that night as Liz curled up with Max in bed, she smiled thinking back on the day.

"I think Aliya is going to be fine now that she has made some friends."

"So have you; getting to know some other mothers is good for you."

The next few weeks things went pretty well; the media was not allowed to bother them and things gradually settled down. The group began to almost every Saturday gather there and get together. Liz noticed that the Crew were regular attendees as well. She began to notice a few other unmarried soldiers seemed to start showing up as well with the Crew in their sights. OR they were in the Crew's sights; it was hard to tell. But fun to watch.

Aliya blossomed with the close friendships that she was making with the three girls. Her English seemed to get better by the day and she was acting more and more like a typical American pre-teen girl.

Roger was steadily improving both in his skills and his maturity; he began to question Liz on things that reassured her that he would make a good copilot.

The relaxed times ended in early August when word came they were going back to Afghanistan; this time to the south to Kandahar Airbase. The entire division would be there; though some would get there before others. The 101st aviation brigade would deploy in March of 2010. The good news, such as it was, was that the deployment would be only 12 months not 15. Liz got the news at a briefing for the Brigade before most others knew. The Brigade Commander made a point of talking to her right after.

"Captain Parker, you should know that there was some talk about not deploying you for obvious reasons. I made the call and put it to the Division commander who took it upstairs. The final decision has not been made."

Liz nodded then set herself. "Thank you sir. I belong with my company and my battalion. Wherever they go."

He nodded. "I knew that would be your response. We should know in the next few days."

Liz left the meeting and headed back to her office where she made a phone call.

"Captain Elizabeth Parker; I would like to talk to the Congressman."

Not a minute later he was on the phone.

"Liz, I am guessing something has happened."

"They are sending my unit to Afghanistan. South this time to Kandahar. There is talk they will not send me. I go with my company and my battalion. Sir I am calling in that favor."

The congressman sat back. Calling in a favor to GO to war; that was a new one. But not surprising considering who he was talking to.

"I will get right on it Liz."

He looked at his aide. "I need to talk to the SECDEF."

CENTCOM was looking at his XO. "This is getting up here? That is a decision at Division Level."

"Yes sir. Apparently the Brigade wants her to go; the Division does not."

"So I get to be the tie breaker?"

"Basically."

"Congressman, I sense there is something urgent here."

"Somewhat MR Secretary. A officer I admire very much has been told she might be left behind when the 101st Aviation Brigade is deployed to Kandahar. She is not happy about that; she is very clear that she belongs with her company and her battalion."

SECDEF did not need to ask who this was about.

"Normally I leave that to the unit commanders, Congressman."

"Who would not usually bow to political pressure or appearances."

SECDEF got the message.

"I am sure that Captain Parker will be with her unit. May I ask if she called you to make sure she went with her unit?"

"About five minutes after she was told she might not go."

SECDEF smiled. "That is definitely in her character. We need more like her."

"That we do. And they belong leading in the field; or in this case above it."

"That they do. You can assure her that she will be going."

CENTCOM was wondering in this case whether he might have to take it higher; when he was told the SECDEF was calling.

"Mr Secretary. Is there a problem?"

"Not as long as Captain Parker is going with her unit to Kandahar."

"Sir I was going that way but with all due honesty I was going to call you about it."

"She is most adamant about going and we need leaders like that."

"I certainly agree."

The Brigade commander answered the phone.

"I am guessing Captain Parker used her pull as I was told by CENTCOM that the SECDEF expected her to get her wish."

The Brigade commander nodded. "That did not take her long. It is a very different thing when someone uses their pull to go INTO combat."

"I am told that that happened a lot more in the past then it does now. Which is sad."

"I guess it is. Thank you for acting quickly, sir."

The Battalion commander answered his phone.

"This came from VERY high up. Captain Parker goes with her unit."

"Thank you sir."

"Captain Parker."

"Captain, you are going. This came from HIGH up."

"Thank you sir."

Liz then emailed the congressman.

"Thank You."

Liz then went home after making sure her whole Company knew the score.

After she left Ted looked at Grunt.

"I was worried they would not let her go. If they had done that her resignation would have been on the Battalion commanders desk 15 minutes later."

"Would not have taken that long. I think she keeps a resignation letter that is not dated or signed in her desk."

Liz dreaded telling Aliya and Max; who would have to stay behind. She knew if they did not have Aliya Max would find a way to go there.

Max had picked up Aliya at school and as they came through the door they saw Liz sitting on the sofa looking at them soberly. They both knew right away that something had happened. Max sat on one side and Aliya on the other. Liz put an arm around each.

"Afghanistan, Kandahar, in March for a year."

Aliya moved closer to Liz who tightened her grip on her.

Max sighed. "I had hoped for Iraq which is pretty quiet."

Liz nodded. "We go where it is hottest; and that is Afghanistan now."

Aliya softly said "As long as you come back."

Liz cuddled her daughter and smiled. "That is a big 10-4."

The next gathering at the park was quieter and less joyous. Liz knew the wives had been counting on Iraq and a less stressful deployment.

Ruth was very quiet and Liz once again made a special effort to reassure her.

"This is the best unit in the US Army ground forces; you have to remember that. And me and my company and the other Apache's will be there as well. And the Crew and the others will make sure they get there and back."

Ruth nodded. "I know, Liz. But it is still war. I am going to try and talk Joe into going into recruiting. That is a three year assignment and hopefully when that is over with this will all be over."

Liz sighed. Actually she thought that Joe would be good at recruiting, but doubted he wanted to be one. And he would not walk away from this next deployment.

A little later the three wives got Liz off to talk to her away from the others. Liz suspected that they had recruited the crew to distract their husbands by having their boyfriends get a serious NASCAR debate going.

As usual Susan took the lead.

"Liz, you know Afghanistan. What are we looking at?"

"Well I was up north at Bagram. But we did talk about Kandahar while I was there so I do know a few things. The Country is lower; the mountains are to the north and most of the fighting will be to the south. Kandahar city will be mostly the Special Forces area; I doubt regulars will be used much. So I am figuring that the ground pounders will be mostly doing garrison duty with some units taking part in attacks to clear areas. Those units will rotate the duties. Even now the Taliban does not like to actually fight our forces because they lose. And they know it. Realistically the biggest threats will be IEDs and bombs. Most of the toughest fighting will be done by special forces. That is pretty much as it is right now; though that could change in the 7 months to go before we deploy."

Becky and the others nodded.

"Thank you for giving it to us straight Liz. The guys will try and sugar coat it to try and make it easier for us."

"I know it is dumb but that is what guys do that love their women. We kick their asses for it but it's in their DNA."

The three smiled at that and agreed. Liz hoped that she had helped.

Interestingly not long after that the Guys cornered Liz and asked her if the girls had wanted details about Afghanistan.

"Yes they did and I gave it to them straight. Anytime they ask they will get the truth. They know you guys will try and make light of it if you can."

Which left the guys with nothing to say.

The Crew was sitting with their boyfriends, all grunts from the 1st and 2nd Brigades. Jesse and Vicki and Ellen pulled Liz down and surrounded her.

Liz looked around and muttered

"It is so nice to be popular."

Jesse grinned some but the smile slid away.

"Liz, we know this deployment will be different than Bagram. Everything we have heard says it will be harder and more dangerous."

Solemnly Liz nodded. "Yes it will be. But honestly I think overall you guys might be in the most dangerous positions."

Vicki and Ellen blinked and Jesse cocked her head.

"What do you mean?"

"The Taliban and everyone else don't even try and ambush apache's anymore. Even their dumbest know better than that. The ground pounders are realistically going to be somewhat limited in their missions. More security and guard and garrison duties than anything else. Probably not that many missions where they will really be in a hairy situation. BUT because of how tough it is to run anything on the roads anymore because of IEDs, more and more resupply is done by helicopter. And most assaults are done the same way. And hawks are the easiest target to be had. So in a lot of ways it's you guys that will be in the crosshairs more than anyone else."

They all considered this and Liz noticed that their guys had all pulled them in a little closer. Jesse looked at hers.

"You agree?"

He nodded. And so did the rest of them.

Liz sat for a moment. She then looked around. "I promise you guys that A Company will not fall down on the job. We WILL be there if called. As a matter of fact the whole 1st Battalion will be there as well. We got good pilots and good commanders, modesty aside. You guys call and we will get it done. Take that to the bank."

Liz was not aware of how she appeared. The smallest adult present, in shorts and tank top, sandals, looking barely old enough to vote let along take a drink. But suddenly she stood very tall.

The training regimen began to speed up and intensify. They still had 6 months, but they figured that by the end of January their birds would be in the process of being packed; early February at the latest. And there would be Christmas Leave to factor in. So most of the training had to be done before Christmas. They could do some after but it would not be all that much. Ft Carson training would come in October. While the likelihood was that they would do a lot less mountain flying in the South versus the North as last time, the newbies still needed that training. There had been some discussion about doing that training in January, which would have probably been better, but in the end it stayed in October.

Liz was not very happy about leaving Max and Aliya; she had wanted more time with them to bond as a family. But what was was. So she made it a point of trying to spend as much time with them as she could.

A Company, even to Liz's somewhat jaundiced eyes, was doing well. Sam Rivers was a good XO and leader of 2nd Platoon. He had experience in Afghanistan as well. Liz had made a point of pulling out maps for the area around Kandahar province and having all the pilots and copilots study them until they were familiar. Then every chance she got she would throw scenarios at them; various possibilities of missions. What do you do under this situation in this area; and so on.

The Battalion Commander was talking to his XO, Ed Griffith on the companies.

"So how do they look to you?"

"Pretty good. C Company is still a little rough, but then they also had the highest turnover. They are coming along. B Company is solid; Scooter Winston has them well in hand. A Company is doing very well; Liz is pushing them hard. She has them constantly working on scenarios. Which is something we need to have all the Companies doing."

"Still wish you were flying?"

"Of course; but the reality is anymore that neither one of us can spend the necessary time staying sharp with all the administrative crap we have to do. And it is stupid and selfish to try and fly when you have not put in the time staying ready."

"Glad you think that way. It took me a while to admit that. When you reach our level it has to be what is best for the mission and the unit, not what we want."

Ed cocked his eye. "Why do I feel there is something else in that?"

"Because I got early word that my promotion to Brigade XO will probably happen some time after we deploy. Which is lousy timing. That means that you will probably get a quicker promotion than you might have expected. Which is what happens in wartime. Scooter will probably become your XO. I know we try and keep pilots in these slots but sometimes that is not possible. Scooter Winston is too junior to get bumped up into Major but that is the way it could be.

Ed grimaced. "Well the extra pay is nice and making light colonel is good; but otherwise that sucks. I see how much administrative shit you deal with and I do not want it."

"Suck it up."

The other companies started doing more complex scenarios as well; Scooter kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner.

It seemed time flew and they were heading to Ft Carson. Luckily that was uneventful. The training was tougher this time because they all were pushing harder. Just about every prior veteran from Afghanistan seemed realize that this would be a rougher deployment. Liz had her people simulate battle damage and practice auto rotations at higher altitudes; it got hairy a couple of times.

Sam was talking to his copilot.

"Liz is really pushing hard. It is like she has an idea of what is coming."

"Ted was telling me that at the start of that mission she did the barrel role on, she had a feeling something bad was coming. She never said anything like that again. And that was by far the closest they came to getting splattered. So maybe she has a hunch again."

Liz was addressing the company after the last training flight in Ft Carson.

"OK, people, I think we are about as ready for the mountains as we could get"

She looked at her people and felt very proud. She knew they were sharp and ready. "Hustler" Rivers, "Whistler" Logan, "Stomper" Simpson, "Lobo" Dugan, "Slinger" Wilson, "Hammer" Jones, "Pug" Terrel. She had in her platoon Whistler, Lobo and Pug.

She had decided after the Christmas break that they would try and get as much flight time as they could for the Copilots. They were all pretty green.

November went by and the Christmas season came close. Nancy and Ed would be coming to visit. She had also been determined to visit Maria, Tess and Isabelle. They, interestingly, all settled in Savanna. Liz was amazed that everyone was able to get jobs there considering the state of the economy but all three families were doing well. Liz, Max and Aliya would be visiting them for a few days between Christmas and New Years. The three women had all gone into the reserves to finish out the rest of their enlistment.

Aliya was very wide eyed at her first Christmas. Liz loved showing her the holiday season for the first time. She was truly a joy. And she and the three girls had become as thick as thieves; one of the reasons Liz figured Aliya was doing so well in her first real school. She had adapted very well to life in America.

"So, Chica, how do you feel about this deployment?"

As usual Maria cut to the chase. Liz and her family had just gotten into town; they were all gathered at Maria's house, since she had gotten ambitious and found a big older home that needed work. One lucky thing about the bad economy was that homes were cheaper than ever. All three had found good ones. The home had been built in the early 20's, and was three stories high and had been modernized some in the 80's. Maria was just looking at finishing it. Michael had his own studio so he was happy. It had 7 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. Liz looked at it and cocked her eye at her friend.

"So just how many kids are you two planning on?"

Maria's blush said it all.

But the good news is that there was plenty of room for Liz and her family, and Maria's mom as well was there. Diane and Phillip were staying with Isabelle and Alex; and Kyle's father was staying with him and Tess.

"It is going to be tougher than my last one; I just know it. I can feel it."

Maria nodded; they had all gotten used to Liz just "knowing" things.

The girls made a point of spoiling Aliya rotten; which Liz loved to see.

The second night the men had all been exiled elsewhere and the ladies were in the massive living room of Maria's mansion, as they had all taken to calling it.

Aliya had been worn out with all the shopping and was safely asleep on the third floor. So that left Liz and her three friends and Diane and Amy. Diane kept thanking Liz for getting Max to settle down. Much to the eye rolls of everyone else.

Amy voiced the main concern everyone there had.

"Just how dangerous will this time be, Liz?"

Liz considered the question.

"More dangerous for me? Probably not. This is a lower altitude area; most of the fighting is down on the plains. Kandahar City is not where Apache's will be doing much if anything. Part of what made the northern area dangerous was we were at a higher altitude; which for helicopters is not a good thing. The Taliban has pretty much learned trying to shoot down Apache's is not a smart thing. They have just about given up on that. Now they try and target the Blackhawks and the Chinooks. So for them it will be more dangerous. The only mountain fighting going on is pretty much done by Special Forces, and they usually have their own lighter and smaller attack helicopters. The reason we spent so much time escorting the Special Ops guys last time was that the range of the operations made it hard to use those smaller ones. And one of their Aviation battalions had been assigned to help others, actually down where we will be this time. I doubt we will be helping them out nearly as much. And most of the most hairy missions last time involved Special Ops. So for me personally overall it is probably not going to be as dangerous."

Tess was shaking her head and Diane looked at her.

"What is it Tess?"

"What Liz is NOT saying is that since the Blackhawks and others will be under a greater threat, she will be taking her Apache's in lower and slower to protect them."

They all looked at Liz who proceeded to blush. Maria whacked her with a pillow.

"Chica, we expect the straight dope from you. No sugar coating."

Liz sighed. "Guys, I guess it is no surprise to you that I already know this will be a hairy deployment. The only good thing about it is that it will be only a 12 month one, not 15 month. Apache's are the big guns of the Aviation Brigade; it is up to us to protect the others and give support to the grunts. It goes with the territory."

Diane decided to ask another question that she had asked Max, but he had not really known the answer.

"Liz, after what happened the last time, it was a pretty sure thing that you would not be going back to Afghanistan due to the fact that you had become the Taliban's Public enemy #1. What happened?"

Liz blushed and Isabelle snorted.

"Liz used her pull with that congressman to make sure she got sent."

Amy and Diane stared at Liz in shock.

Maria shook her head. "Liz has a very overdeveloped sense of responsibility. As Company Commander she was not going to have her people go in without her."

Liz grimaced. "It is not just that. I am a very good Apache Driver. I have experience there. There is no excuse for me staying. I signed up with eyes wide open. I will not back out. That is not me. If I had stayed behind I would have resigned from the Army. I guess I could have requested assignment as an Instructor; and I might do that after this deployment. But I was not going to be forced into that decision."

Amy shook her head. "I guess maybe you really are a warrior. Jim has said that a couple of times."

Deciding she was getting too much attention, Liz then grinned at Amy.

"So how is the courting going, Amy? I hear Jim is getting pretty persistent."

Maria glared at Liz. "I do NOT want to hear about this. Kyle as my step brother is a thought that does not BEAR to be considered."

Tess protested. "Maria he is not as bad as he was. I have been working hard on civilizing him. He only burps at the table now and then and he has remembered to put the toilet seat down for several months now."

They all laughed at that. And things eased up.

Diane was interested in how Aliya was doing.

"Aliya seems to be adapting well to life here."

Liz smiled brightly at that.

"Ya. She really has. Making friends like she did early on has made a huge difference. She is no longer as shy or as timid. She is growing up and getting more confident. I just wish I had had more time with her before deploying again. But Max will be there for her."

Diane shook her head. "Max told me that otherwise he would have found a way to find work with a contractor there. I am glad that he is staying here."

"I will miss having him close. But I will also be happier with him here taking care of Aliya."

Maria shook her head. "Enough depressing crap. Now for the good news."

She blushed slightly. "I am pregnant."

And that took care of depressing subjects for the rest of the night.

Going back to the base and preparing for the deployment was not the most cheerful thing to do, but as always Liz did what she needed to do.

True to her plan, the company spent a lot of time during the remaining month they had their birds getting as much flight time for the Copilots as they could. And practicing shooting everything. While 2.75 rockets were being used less and less Liz insisted that everyone keep practicing with them. She pushed for more live Hellfire shooting as well.

Finally they saw their choppers taken off of flight status and starting the process of preparing them for shipment. That left them with working on all the other details of preparing for a combat deployment. One thing that Liz had to do that she had not done much with last time was prepare a will. Before it would not have mattered as everything would have gone to her mother. But now with a husband and child things were much more complicated and she did a proper will.

One night Liz and Max lay in bed and Max realized that Liz had something to talk about. So he spooned her and whispered in her ear.

"Come on, Liz. Just get it out."

"Max, if I don't come back…"

"Liz, please…"

"No Max we have to talk about this. We need to make contingency plans just in case. I know for instance that you do not think much of your job. So you will quit it and find something you like. I think it would be best to try and stay in this area; Aliya needs continuity if that happens. And her friends are here. Between my savings and your savings and the increased Life Insurance I have taken out, there will not be any hurry for you to find something. So take your time. If you can stand it, I would like you to think about moving to Savanna where all my friends are and they would help take care of Aliya. After a year or so. I would hate for Aliya to lose her friends, but it might be better for her to go elsewhere where she would not be reminded so much. I know that kind of conflicts with Savanna but it will be your call. And you will not become a monk or hermit. You will give yourself time to grieve and then you will find someone else who can be a mother to Aliya and to give you children of your own. I want Aliya to have brothers and sisters if possible."

Max was silent for a long time.

"Liz you cannot think you are so replaceable. I never really loved a woman until you."

"Everyone is replaceable in one way or another. People remarry all the time. Just give yourself a chance. And think of Aliya as well."

"OK. I promise I will try. Just please do not give me a reason."

"I will try my hardest to make it back to you and Aliya, Max. You know that."

This was a very different leave taking; before there was no one waiting for her back at the base; and that made it so much harder. Liz realized that now she had so much more to lose than just her life. She hoped that that realization would not affect how she led her company and fought her Apache.

Flying into Kandahar was much different than Bagram; Kandahar was so much more built up and busy. There was only one runway which was insane; although apparently another was in the works. One good thing was that the barracks and quarters were better than Bagram. They actually had some other amenities as well; though the current commander had run a bunch of the fast food places out of town so to speak. His name was taken in vain quite often.

Liz had quietly politicked to get quarters with the Crew, even though as a Captain she actually rated something a little better. As it turned out in their particular quarters she was the senior officer. Once again four to a room, and there were 12 rooms in the two floors of that building. It was built like a cheap hotel, though the rooms were better than that. Each room had its own shower and bath and a small kitchenette.

Rocket attacks and small arms fire at the perimeter were fairly common, and they were told most just sat them out rather than going to shelters. Liz told everyone that it was up to them; she would not order them to go to shelters.

While there was definitely a threat from the outside, Kandahar still offered far more than Bagram did. Jesse summed it up well: more risk and more reward.

The bubble idea had spread from Bagram and the hangers at Kandahar were full of them. Their helicopters had arrived just the day before and it would be at least a week before they were flyable. Then the Brigade would take several weeks to get a feel of things before they took over the duties of the Aviation Brigade about to leave. There were more facilities and better facilities that had just been built than Bagram had, so from that point of view things were better.

They took over the offices of the outgoing brigade, who were still operational, but who had moved temporarily so as to let the new brigade get up and running as soon as possible. Liz found that as a company commander she ended up at more meetings than she had before. Which was one more pull on her time. She was very grateful that Sergeant Alexander Roberts was still the E8, the First Sergeant, and was to her the unsung hero of any aviation company. He was the direct commander of the crew chiefs; he was technically a crew chief himself but rarely had the time to get his hands dirty.

In the so called glamorous world of Army Aviation, not much was ever said about the support units. Which sucked in Liz's view because without them the helicopters became massive paper weights. The complexity of an Apache is staggering once you take a close look at it. Avionics (Aviation Electronics) for an Apache is the equivalent of any modern Airliner; with extra things like computers to keep track of multiple targets for Hellfire Missiles and the like. Encrypted communications; hardened for combat. And so on. That takes a lot of work to keep it running in friendly climates; for hot, dry, dusty Afghanistan it's much harder.

One of the briefings early on consisted of a no holds barred dead straight evaluation of the current situation in Kandahar city and Province. To be blunt, it was not good. Sympathy for the opponents of the National Government (more honest then claiming they were supporters of the Taliban) was high. The National Government was not trusted. Neither was the military or the National Police. Part of that was due to tribal feuds and differences; but a lot of it was due to the plain fact that they were both incompetent and corrupt in all too many cases. Kandahar City was especially hostile. Outside of the City it was a little better. The current overall commander in Afghanistan had been pushing night raids that while better for the troops going in tended to cause more civilian casualties and overall was questionable in its value. What Liz got from all this was that basically the overall plan was just to wear down the enemy over time. And the 101st Aviation Brigade was going to be one of the primary parts of that wearing down; between moving the troops to and from and the Apache's covering them.

Things began to accelerate as the choppers were made flight ready; vs combat ready. First they were flown to make sure that they had not broken anything on the way; then all their systems were tested; then practice at maneuvering, and firing. Weapon's practice was a fair amount of fun. This took about three weeks before they were considered combat ready. So right at the beginning April, 2010, the 101st Aviation Brigade took over the aviation mission for the Kandahar Province. Now the Special Ops crews had their own aviation section that supported most of their efforts, but they just did not have enough assets to spread over all the areas that Special Ops covered in Afghanistan, which for all intents and purposes was the entire country of Afghanistan. So on occasion the 101st would be supporting them. Liz had a very good relationship with the SF in general, and had found out that Captain Forrest had ended up down here for his current tour. She had supported his teams on several fairly hairy operations. And then he came by shortly after they became operational. His visit was not by chance and had come from a meeting with the area commander of Special Ops.

"This is not any news to you I am sure."

"Well, sir, I would have to have been dumb deaf and blind not to notice that we just do not have the organic aviation support necessary to perform all of our missions."

"Very well put. Down here in this part of the country especially. There are plans to increase the 160th, but that is in the future. Now the good news is that the 101st Aviation Brigade is about to take over. And we have some friends there already, and most of their people worked with us in Bagram on their last tour. Now the real problem is that our friends in the Company pretty much trashed their reputation with the last Brigade here."

"I was never aware the Company had a reputation that could be trashed."

"Well that is the semi official story anyway. The problem was that the company nitwits in their typical way managed to screw some people in that brigade and from that point on no one wanted anything to do with them. Now I do not blame them at all; in their shoes I would have done the same. The problem is that I have no doubt that the new guys were very explicitly warned about doing anything for anyone from the company. So I will need someone from Special Operations to serve as the go between. So in addition to your regular duties when the company needs to get something done and neither it nor the units of the 160th here can do it, you will need to talk to them."

"Well I can guess what kind of rep I will get after a couple of those missions."

"We all have to make sacrifices, Captain."

"Well, Captain Parker now has Company A of their Apache Battalion and I know her fairly well. Though I was really surprised they sent her back here, considering the size of the Bullseye the Taliban will have on her."

"The word I got was that she had her tame congressman call the SECDEF and demand she go along with her unit."

"You don't see much of that anymore."

"You don't see ANY of that anymore is the factual answer."

"Well then I guess I will have a talk with her and clue her in. Then ask her to talk to the Battalion Commander. That is probably the best we can do as regards having some Apache Drivers on our side."

"Good Idea. Now to be brutally honest, Captain, I would prefer any favors asked to be for our people and not the company."

"And if they say no to the Company that is the Company's problem."

"Now you get it, Captain."

So when Captain Forrest stuck his head his head in her door Liz was quite happy to talk to him.

"So, Joe how goes the snake eating?"

"Try rattlesnake sometime; tastes like chicken."

"I will take your word for it."

He then got up and after a quick look down the hall closed her door and sat down in front of her desk. Liz raised an eyebrow.

"OK, so this is not just a meet and greet. I was there with you on more than a couple of interesting missions, Joe, so just give it to me straight."

"Liz, this is a request from my area Commander. It's not about any particular mission; what it is about is that in addition to all the other fun things I am doing here I am also now saddled with seeing to it that important missions for the CIA get support when our own or their own people are not available."

Liz looked at him. "The outgoing brigade was very informative about CIA missions and their people."

He snorted. "I bet they were. And they were right. The Company will screw anyone anytime anywhere. As they proved once again to the people in that brigade. I have no doubt that the 101st Brigade commander will refuse to have anything to do with them subject to a direct order from higher up. And then will do his best to delay obeying until nothing can be done. I do not blame him a bit and neither does my CO. But there are occasions when they actually do have good reasons to do something. What I am here asking is if you are willing to talk to your Battalion commander and agree to listen. I will be the point man – they will not come to you directly. So technically you will be responding to Special Operations requests for assistance. But you will know who really is involved. I can promise you right here and now that you will get the straight dope from me on any mission they are part of."

Liz sat back and thought about it. Then looked at him.

"That is of course if they tell you the whole story."

He grinned; no flies on Liz.

"There is always that possibility, but we have our ways of finding out things as well. Anything they come up with that really smells I will let you know. And give you the high sign if I think it's a good time to have serious maintenance problems with your birds."

Liz slowly nodded. Captain Forrest had always been straight with her.

"OK. Let us go have a talk with the Battalion CO and his XO, who used to be my Company Commander."

The Battalion commander and Ed Griffith looked at Liz then at the SF Captain as they came into his office.

Ed shook his head. "Liz, I thought I taught you better about who to hang out with."

Liz grinned. "Hey, what is a little conspiracy among friends?"

The Battalion commander rolled his eyes and signaled the Captain to close the door.

"I probably officially do not want to know but tell me anyway."

Liz began. "Captain Forrest was always straight with me the last time I was in Afghanistan. I agreed to forward his request. You are on Joe."

Joe then made his pitch. Ed just grunted and the Battalion Commander sighed.

"I understand your situation. But do you really understand the problems the Company caused for the last brigade here?"

"Yes sir I do. They got screwed royally. But then they should not have taken it personally; the Company will always screw everyone. It is not personal; it is just the way they are. I promised Liz that if I had any suspicion that they were pulling something I would let her know and she could find out that suddenly none of her birds were flight capable for various reasons. I agreed to be the go between. I will not, and I give you my word on that, screw you. If the Company finds out that they are not going to get anything that is their problem. It is not like they can complain to anyone that gives a damn."

The Battalion commander slowly nodded. Then looked at Liz. "So you get to be the designated Liaison to Special Operations Command. That is the only way I can sell it to Brigade. Joe asks Liz who then decides if we need to get involved. If She says no that is final."

Captain Forrest nodded. That was a pretty good deal and frankly better than he had hoped for. He figured Liz vouching for him counted a lot. And that is what he told his CO.

"Well, considering her reputation maybe that is not surprising. But it is also something to remember. If she thinks we screwed her or her people, I would not be surprised if she dropped a dime on us to her tame congressman. Who could really make us regret it."

"I will just have to make sure that it was the Company and not us. I have never done it and will never do it knowingly."

Flying her Apache was still the most enjoyable thing Liz did with her clothes on; before Max it was #1 period. Early April in Southern Afghanistan was not much different than early April in Northern Afghanistan. Getting hotter, still as dusty and still as dry. But up in the air, 3000 feet above the ground, in her Apache, it was a very different world. This day was the last one before they began to support combat operations. The entire company was flying with her, as they practiced some formation flying. And she got to enjoy one last fairly carefree day in the air.

That afternoon came the briefing for their first mission. Two FOB's would be resupplied by Chinooks from 6 Battalion; Liz would take 1st platoon and cover one while Hustler took the other platoon for the other mission. The entire Battalion was out covering supply missions this day. Actual assault and combat missions would start pretty quickly.

"Well there you have it. Pretty simple really. At least until the bullets start flying. Targets of opportunity are well known; but you do not leave your area unguarded just to pot shoot a couple of insurgents. They could be doing that specifically to lure you away and leave the Chinooks vulnerable. For you newbies, I will remind you all once again that sacrifice for the hard core Taliban means to them a sure path to paradise. Just like the Japanese Kamikaze's of WW2. No real difference. Those of you that were here in the last deployment learned that the hard way. We were very fortunate that last tour by not having one single Apache seriously damaged let alone shot down. But they came close as Lobo and I can FORTUNATELY testify to. Do not relax; do not take anything for granted ever. You let down, you relax, you get careless the Gods of War will strike you down. Which will be only SLIGHTLY worse than what I will do to you if you are lucky enough to survive."

The mission began early, before dawn, which would be the usual pattern; less chance of anyone seeing which direction they have gone and maybe getting out warnings. The FOB was about 40 minutes flying time from Kandahar; the Apache's had one external fuel tank. One good change in procedure was that now it was up to the Company Commander how much fuel they took on any single mission. No more having to go to Battalion. Liz intended to go with at least one aux tank on every mission; and if it was much longer on this one, two. One hellfire pod and one 2.75 pod would be standard. The number of Hellfires shot in Afghanistan had dropped significantly; more and more work was done by the 30MM, which was the most accurate weapon they had. With so much attention on civilian casualties, the pressure was always on to be more precise.

Liz checked the area as they got close; the FOB reported the area clear; it was just dawn. She took her platoon down low and over flew the landing area before taking station at 1000 feet while the Chinooks landed and began unloading. Liz tended to have her people alternate around, switching places and generally trying to be unpredictable in their movements. It took about an hour for the Chinooks to unload. So far nothing. Liz took them down low and buzzed the area then moved out and hovered; watching as the Chinooks took off. Once the Chinooks got to 2000 feet they took off towards Kandahar and Liz kept her Apache's flanking them. There was no real need to stay around once the Chinooks got to that height; the Taliban had very few SAM's and most of them were over age Soviet models that were not very effective. Still it just made everyone feel a little better to stay together. The flight back was happily uneventful.

That days flying had been very much routine; no one had really had to deal with anything bigger than some insurgents trying to pot shoot at ranges far beyond the capability of their AK-47's.

That afternoon came the briefing for an assault mission on a village about 100 miles from Kandahar, slightly north in the foothills before the mountains. A company from the 1st Brigade would hit it; they would be flown in by 14 Blackhawks of A and B companies, 5th Battalion. 6 Blackhawks would be in reserve, 2 of them Medevac. The Crew would be in the lead choppers. Once again A company would be their escort. Since it was thought that they might have more time on the ground, Liz would have her birds take 2 aux tanks.

The Company commander wanted the ships to land right at Dawn, with no flyover by the Apache's. He wanted his people in that village before most of them woke up. The Division Commander did not agree with the night raids the Theatre Commander preferred and would go that way until ordered not to. It was a lot harder figuring out the real Taliban from civilians as it was, without throwing the dark into it. Now if someone shot at you, they got bullets right back. No matter whom they were. As usual a unit of the Afghan Army would go with them to interpret and to make it clear that this was not just Americans coming to visit.

0500 and they were in the air; Dawn was about 0630. If they got near the target early they would hover and wait; better too early than too late.

As usual the flight there was uneventful; later on in the tour when the machines began to get worn down by the constant missions, it would not be unusual in an assault this big for one of the choppers to have engine trouble. Which could cause all sorts of problems depending on the severity. If it had to turn back one of the reserves would have to go with it as well as one Apache as escort in case it had to land short of the base. As the machines got more worn down more reserve choppers would be going along.

They did get in the area a little early and hovered for 10 minutes 10 miles out before continuing. Liz had her platoon as low cover while Hustler had his as high.

The 16 Blackhawks swooped in and landed on all four sides of the village and the Troopers poured out and swept in. Liz, listening in, did not hear anything out of the usual and the Blackhawks took off and came back to altitude. The Apache's stayed at 1000 feet, watching everything in the increasing light.

For the first few minutes not much appeared to be happening; then Pug called out.

"Have six armed firing at troops from wash"

"Can you clearly identify them?"

"Roger. One has RPG."

"Take them."

"Roger used 30MM they are took."

That apparently turned out to be the only armed fighters in the village; and subsequently showed to be the only Taliban there. So using a full company was definitely over kill. The good news was that no civilians were wounded. The only shots fired beyond the Apache's were a few that tore down a door on a shed that was locked; in it were found arms and ammunition that was probably Taliban. After a hurried conference with the Afghan Military, it was decided to leave them. There were so many AK-47's and so much ammunition floating around Afghanistan that why bother with a few. Besides that might be the villages only protection against bandits. So only 45 minutes after touchdown the Commander ordered dust off. The Hawks came in and in one hour they were all heading home.

The next day came two smaller assaults on smaller villages; Liz split the company up with 1 platoon for each. Once again there was very little opposition and this time the Apache's did not fire a shot in either case.

Other units were not so fortunate and there was some heavy fighting. But no one was killed and no choppers were more than slightly damaged.

The next two weeks were pretty much the same; Liz had yet to fire her weapons which really surprised her. Everyone else had. But all the 101st Brigade missions were successful, though not without loss. No choppers had been lost; or pilots or crew killed. But several Troopers were. And some of the flyers were wounded if only slightly.

One month into the combat part of the tour, early in May, came the first mission where it got a little hairy for Liz's company.

IT was another larger assault; this time half a company in 8 Blackhawks and 4 in reserve with 2 Medevac. This village was not that big but rumor had it that it was fully Taliban. The thinking was that there were probably no civilians in this one; but of course no one could be sure of it. But the predators had been watching it for several days and no children or women had been seen. It was over 150 miles from Kandahar. There were two ways to handle this one; everyone have maximum auxiliary tanks or have a refueling point set up. Just about everyone preferred a refueling point and that was the way it finally went; Liz pushed a little when Battalion was hesitant. They picked an open area about 40 miles from the target and kept a watch on it with UAVs. Then at 0400 they headed to that point; with two Chinooks carrying fuel and a security detail. The landed at that point at 0445 and were refueling at 0500. By 0545 they each had been topped up and they headed for the target. The Apache's had one external tank; the Blackhawks none.

Like the pattern was at this time, the Blackhawks came in with the Apache's; this time Liz let Hustler take the low road. They landed on both sides of the village and the troopers poured out and headed in. They started taking fire early on and returned it, steadily pushing in. Due to the previous intelligence, Hustler was cleared to fire on any armed personnel they saw as long as not accompanied by women or children. Unarmed were NOT to be fired on.

Then the troopers started to take RPG fire and Hustler's platoon moved in close to assist. More and more it appeared this was a Taliban stronghold.

Liz took a careful look around the village in the increasing light and spotted no movement towards it from any direction. With that she brought the rest of the company down; the blackhawks had all pulled back. Then the word came in for MEDEVAC and the first one began to land. Liz and Lobo moved down to cover them; and as it landed several Taliban rose up to fire at it; Liz and Lobo blew them away with their 30MM before they could cause damage to the MEDEVAC. Several injured troopers were carried to the first medevac and it took off immediately. Liz detailed Pug to escort it.

More Taliban popped up and were hosed by the Apache's. Then word came in for the other Medevac. Command indicated that resistance had just about ended. Liz and the others stayed low and watchful. Then the call for Dustoff came for most of the troopers. The other medevac left and Liz had one of Hustler's people go and he sent Whistler. The troopers had quickly gone through the village and found some arms and weapons caches and set demo charges on them. Nothing else had been found of interest. They were all in the process of taking off when word came back from the refueling point that they thought some enemy forces might be coming close. Making a quick decision Liz left Hustler with the escort duty and took her two remaining Apache's with her at full throttle. It took only 20 minutes to get there and they did indeed find some moving in and Liz and the others went down low and hosed them. Fuel reports indicated that everyone could get back comfortably with current fuel load so the refuel point rather quickly packed up and took off. They were only a little behind the rest of the flight and Liz stayed with them.

That was the most action they were to see for a few weeks; the other companies got more.

One day just after a couple of milk runs Captain Forrest stuck his head in Liz's door. She looked at him and sighed; he came in and closed the door.

"The Company has an operation going and needs some heavy support; everything we have is already committed."

"What kind of operation and where."

"They know where a Taliban official is and want to bag him. But they want the Taliban to think he got blown up. So they want to place a body there dressed appropriately and have the building he is in blown up. The Idea is to have the Taliban find traces of the guy and figure he is in many pieces. Now to do this they want an Apache there to use Hellfires; that way the Taliban does not suspect the charges will be set on the ground; you will fire the hellfire and a couple of others and big booms. This place apparently is a bomb making factory so big booms would not be surprising. And this is a full night operation."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Complicated much?"

"That is their specialty and you are right. But this one is pretty high priority. Liz, I think you ought to take this one yourself; they want as little known about it as possible."

Liz looked at him. "Like I would send anyone else. So how are we going to do this?"

"You load up and fly out this evening and to one of their bases. About midnight we hit the place. The buildings to be blown will be laser designated by a predator; you just have to make sure the Hellfires are locked on and let them go."

"Why not use a predator?"

"Because they want to blow up four separate buildings; and if it is done clearly by a helicopter the Taliban will be less suspicious."

"OK. I will talk to the Battalion commander."

Right after dark they took off and flew on a precise heading for one hour at near maximum speed. Roger was kind of excited about this; Liz just shook her head and told him he would learn. At one hour they were called and given directions from there. They landed in the middle of what appeared to be a cleared area surrounded by old milvans. After landing and instructions they both got out. Liz told Roger to stick with the bird and she followed a man dressed in civilian clothing into one of the milvans that had been set up as a HQ.

Once inside the door closed and a dim light was switched on. Liz figured it was no coincidence that the only light focused on a map on a table. The faces of everyone was dimly seen at best; almost certainly on purpose. One of the men did all the talking.

"Captain Parker here is the area; you will be here at exactly 1250. At 1300 the operation should be ready and you will wait for the laser designator and then fire four hellfire's as directed by the lasing. After firing you will fly low over the area and then return to Kandahar. With a full tank from here you should have an excellent margin. You are further directed to not mention this mission to anyone anytime in the future. You will make that clear to your copilot as well. Am I understood?"

Liz calmly looked at him and said. "Yes."

"Very well you may return to your aircraft and wait; take off will be in approximately 3 hours."

Liz turned and walked out the opened door and followed the company man back to the chopper. She saw Roger supervising the filling of the one auxiliary tank that they had. After it was done and they had checked that the cap was shut and tight she told him to just sit down and wait. Which they did. Liz nodded off after about half an hour. 30 minutes before taking off Roger woke her up.

Hovering and waiting, Liz waited for the word to drop down to 500 feet where she would fire. The word came at 1305; she lowered from 1000 and took position; the designator buzzed and one by one she fired the Hellfires. 4 very nice explosions. She waited a couple of minutes to let debris settle then flew over the village at about 100 feet. No one would mistake that. At that point she turned the bird on a bearing for Kandahar and took off. She let Roger fly them back to give him some experience in night flight.

Once they got back they just gave blank looks to anyone that asked where they had been. They got back in at 0300. Luckily her company had no missions that morning so she was able to sleep in some; they had a milk run that afternoon, a supply run to two separate FOB's. Nothing happened. So she was able to get a full nights sleep that night.

The next few weeks were a steady pattern; some milk run resupplies; other escort operations.

There still was the occasional rocket attack, but nothing had ever come close to their building. IT was actually fairly comfortable there compared to the time in Bagram; there was more variety of things to do and get. Liz tried to spend some time in the gym, to stay fit. Vicki and the others were frankly Jealous as Liz seemed to have no problem staying small. They were all comfortable with each other; and that was good. Liz emailed Max and Aliya every day or so, keeping them informed of things. And they emailed back with details of their everyday life that Liz clung to. She was coming to the conclusion that while flying her Apache was the best; the rest of the job was not so great. And she was seeing it more and more as a job. The paperwork and other BS that she as a company commander had to wade through was a real downer.

Liz was seriously thinking that before her next deployment she would request a transfer to the Aviation school as an instructor. With a little luck she could make that assignment last several years. By then she would be a Major and be looking at becoming a Battalion XO. Her active flying days would be about over. Another possibility was to bite the bullet and start taking college courses. But that would inevitably lead to staff positions and the like. She would rather be a flight instructor and then run her string out. Then get out and fly in the civilian world. Without modesty she knew she could just about write her own ticket. She just was not sure how far to take her military career.

It was the beginning of June and the campaigns really began to heat up. Special Ops were all over Kandahar City; that was a real tough nut to crack. The rest of the Division had just about arrived; for the first time in a very long time all the 101st Airborne was deployed in the same place at the same time.

Max picked up Aliya and took her home; Ft Campbell was very empty. Basically only bare bones military left; just dependents mostly. Aliya was doing well; she was worried about Liz of course but the constant emails helped. Liz was usually able to call once a week as well. Max was very lonely without Liz; he began to finally comprehend the feelings of other military men who had left their wives home on deployments. Only for him it was the other way around.

The Special Forces senior command had made the expansion of the 160th SOAR a priority; but that still took time. A new whole unit was being planned as well; many grumbled that this had been obvious for a long time and ignored. Which was true.

Women had been allowed in Special Forces only for staff positions for a long time; but that was gradually changing. They were slowly infiltrating all areas; and aviation was one of the first. Command was actually beginning to consider recruiting them.

One special project was an attack helicopter that was more survivable then the current models. The Direct Action Penetrator version of the Black Hawk had been one. But a tougher more heavily armed helicopter was needed. A new design would take 10-15 years before it could fly. And no one had made any kind of a major breakthrough that would make it worthwhile. So the geeks started to look at taking what was already out there and significantly improving it. They kept coming back to the Apache; but with some modifications. Making the tail rotor a fenestron; more particularly an electric one. With the new generations of electric motors so much more efficient and powerful, you would not need to bleed power from the main engines; the generators on the Apache already had the necessary extra power. And that kind of tail rotor was less vulnerable to enemy fire. With two separate cables to run power to the motor, which would also make it less likely to be damaged. The tail boom could be significantly narrowed; weight savings. Going titanium for the frame and the body while very expensive would save over 1000 lbs and maybe more; using more powerful engines. A complete upgrade of the aircrafts avionics and communications. The engineers went to their computers and figured that they could overall gain 20% on range; and add 15% on speed. Maneuverability would also increase. New glassine based Kevlar armor would give greater protection for less weight. It would be expensive; but it would outclass easily anything else in the world. An extendable air refueling boom. New composition rotors that would be stronger and more rigid. The stub wings would be articulated fully; the pods built into them, which would then allow auxiliary tanks to be added while not losing any firepower. And tied into the control system would allow better high speed maneuverability.

This project had been started in 2007; by 2010 the first model was ready to fly. And the initial flights exceeded expectations. Veteran Apache pilots test flew it and loved the new bird.