Page 14 of Confessions of an Apache Pilot

In the world of combat medics there was what we referred to as the “Golden Hour”. It meant that if you bandaged up the wounded properly and got them to a hospital in one hour, they would make it. It wasn’t an absolute rule, but in my experience it was damn close. Our route there and back was already more than one hour. We couldn’t afford to waste any time once we got there.

My muscles tensed as I flew us out. Knowing that a life was hanging in the balance always wound me up. Relaxing wasn’t an option until we got the patient back to base and into the care of a doctor.

As we drew close, I reached out over the radio to let them know our ETA. Sheppard was flying under the call sign Archer. Being MEDEVAC, we were Dustoff. “Archer flight, Archer flight, this is Dustoff, how do you read?”

Chief Sheppard answered me, “Dustoff, Archer Zero-Nine, standby.” His radio was staticky. His voice was cutting in and out, but I heard enough to understand. We knew it was likely we wouldn’t get clear communications with him until we were through the valley. He had said as much during the brief.

“Stand by my ass,” I muttered. As far as we knew, taking a few extra minutes would result in the death of the soldier on the ground. Over the radio I said, “Archer Zero-Nine, Dustoff, we are six minutes out. Approaching from the west.”

There was a slight pause before he responded. “Dustoff, the landing zone is static, need you static.” His transmission was barely readable.

Nick looked over at me, “Ma’am?”

Biting my lip, I stared at the radio. It was too much to hope that he’d repeat his transmission. Even if he did, it wasn’t likely to come through. We were in the middle of the area he’d warned us about. What was the right call? If he was telling me the landing zone wasn’t safe, then we’d be in danger. If he was telling us that it was clear and we waited, we’d be dooming the man who was injured. Taking a deep breath, I made up my mind. “We keep going, three more minutes and we’ll be through the valley and we’ll deal with whatever the situation is.”

“What if the landing zone is hot?” he asked me.

“Then we have to hope the Apaches can clear out the enemies before they shoot us down. We can’t stand by, hoping to get better communications. We have to get through this pass before we’ll even be able to talk to our guys.”

“By the time we’re out of the mountains, we’ll basically be at the landing zone,” Nick replied. “You’re right, we can’t just hang back.”

It was a less than ideal scenario, but there wasn’t much we could do about it. It helped having Nick on board with my plan.

“Sheppard said to trust him, that's exactly what we’ll do,” I said, tone wry. Hopefully, he was as good with his airframe as I’d heard he was. And all I could do was hope he would give me the same trust.

CHAPTER 8

Mark

The MEDEVAC was inbound. They were quick. It seemed like the call had just gone back to the Tactical Operations Center. The sun was dropping behind the mountains and darkness was creeping in. I was okay with that. Our night vision goggles and infrared sensors would give us the advantage.

The fighting hadn’t died down since Dozer had been hit. They had been ambushed by a group of insurgents hiding out at the edge of the town. Since then we had killed three of the bastards, but the others had scattered into the hills and now we were waiting. For the MEDEVAC, and for the insurgents.

“You having any luck?” I called out to Brady over the radio.

“Negative, the fuckers know we have night vision and heat sensors. They must have fox holes dug into the mountains. They were ready for us to be here.” I could hear Brady's frustration through his growls.

I knew that would be the answer before I asked the question. If he had seen something, he would have said so. This was the part of the fight I hated the most. The waiting.

We couldn’t get our guy out of there until we cleared out these hills. Sweat dripped down my back as I waited. Dozer was patched up for the moment, but it wasn’t good. His team was in a decent defensive position, but the landing zone was wide open. I knew how this would go. The insurgents were hiding in premade dug outs or holes, probably with a good vantage point on the landing zone. They would wait for the MEDEVAC to land and then light it up. The whole situation was fucked. They were hidden too well for us to see them. Once the MED helicopter landed, they would be an easy target.

“Keep your eyes sharp, maybe we’ll get lucky and see some movement before the MED gets here.” It was a long shot. They knew that the Green Beret team had been dropped off by helicopter. They would also leave by helicopter. So the insurgents just had to stay in their hiding places and not move. They likely didn’t know that someone was hurt. They didn’t need to. Sooner or later a helicopter would come back, and they could shoot it when it landed. That was all they needed. We would have a very small window to stop them.

The MED bird was close now. Communications still sucked. By time we could talk clearly they’d be right on top of us. They hadn’t acknowledged my last transmission, so I was pretty sure they didn’t hear it. I’d been trying to tell them to standby. The area wasn’t safe.

“Archer Zero-Nine, Dustoff, we are through the west valley and inbound to the landing zone, two minutes.” It was Captain Walker.

“Fuck!” I yelled in the cockpit. My gut twisted painfully with worry. She was flying right over the hills that the insurgents were hiding in. It was too late to tell her to turn around. The minute she did they’d light her up. She was already an easy target on the approach, but the assholes were waiting. Biding their time until she landed.

It was the only opportunity we had to come up with a plan, so I didn’t call her and tell her to go back. The thought of Walker being shot at made my gut cramp. I didn’t want any of our people being shot at, but knowing it was her made it worse.

Artie responded to my outburst from his station in the front seat, “Hey boss, I have her in sight. Maybe push them to the south and hope the creeps come out of hiding?” He’d taken stock of the situation and knew sending them back would be a death sentence, same as I did.

That tactic rarely worked, by now the insurgents knew our playbook and knew to be patient. They would wait for her to land, that's when she would be most vulnerable. We didn’t have much of a choice though; it was the only option. “Dustoff, Archer one-nine, the landing zone is not safe, need you to push south until we can clear it.”

“Negative Archer, patient is critical. We don’t have time to wait, we’re bypassing the landing zone and going straight to the patient.” God dammit. The landing zone we had picked before the mission was the only flat terrain that could be landed on easily. If she was going straight to the team she’d be landing in a tight area, making her more vulnerable. She was already on her approach to land, all we could do was make sure the MED chopper didn’t get shot at. It was going to take some skill on our part, and some luck on theirs. Good thing my team was the best.

“This chick’s got some balls, Boss.” Artie said, a hint of admiration in his tone.

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