Charlie Phelps and Benny Jenness
Three dozen silhouettes glided silently through the dense pine forests. The platoon’s tactical movement was flawless, executed according to doctrine and in a manner honed by countless repetitions in training. Dusk was settling over the border region the platoon’s battalion—part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade—had recently occupied. For weeks, geopolitical pressure had mounted after a series of hostile cross-border air incursions, unattributed drone overflights, acts of sabotage, and cyberattacks on communications infrastructure. A NATO member had invoked Article 4, and US forces forward deployed to reassure allies and deter further escalation. That deterrent was failing. The previous night, a border guard post had been destroyed by a long-range loitering munition launched from across the frontier. The attack left little room for debate in Brussels. By morning, Article 5 was invoked, and the Sky Soldiers of the 173rd Airborne were directed to prepare for possible contact along an exposed eastern corridor.
The platoon leader received orders to establish a patrol base roughly three kilometers from the demarcation line. The intent was simple: Consolidate the platoon, conduct maintenance, and prepare reconnaissance teams for forward observation along likely avenues of approach. The platoon leadership knew the US Army Ranger Handbook like the backs of their hands and had rehearsed the steps of patrol base occupation dozens of times to include execution at the Joint Multinational Training Center a few months ago. The soldiers could establish a patrol base with the same tactical excellence with which had moved through the forest. Even here, on NATO’s eastern frontier, the platoon’s standard operating procedure remained unchanged. The patrol base would be triangular. The perimeter would be oriented outward along interlocking fields of fire. Security priorities were unaltered, the internal layout unchanged, and at the apexes critical weapons evenly distributed. The patrol base would have passed scrutiny from even the toughest Ranger instructor at Camp Darby.
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