There are a few things that will stop everything in the Army. A Red Cross message, a congressional inquiry, and the sound of a pager that never goes off. The reason it never goes off is because nothing ever happens. There are never any test pages. You sign it out, go off base, have your fun, and turn it back in later. So when the permanently silent pager makes noise, you answer.
Scott Darby is sitting back and enjoying the show, literally. Since he is on Red Cycle, he can’t drink, neither can his squad mates. So they decide to hit the strip club. Because they are traveling together, only one person has to sign for a pager. When it goes off he reads the message and stands to leave. All he has to do is raise his index finger in the air and make a circle and everyone else gets up to follow him. The “rally” signal is pretty common and is unmistakable. Of course it is easy to follow the guy who has the car keys when he is leaving.
Drew is the only one who didn’t see it, of course he is distracted by the lap dance he is currently enjoying. When Scott whispers, “Ranger Down” into his ear, he pushes the half naked stripper off him and follows them out to the car.
Sergeant McCoy is in the middle of chatting up a girl when his hip vibrates. It startles him so much he almost spills his soda on her. After reading it, he gets the guys who are came Downtown with him and tells them all to, “stand by for further instructions” he makes a quick call on his cell phone and continues to talk to the girl. Not that he is interested in her anymore; he is just killing time until someone contacts him.
Staff Sergeant Samuel Isler has made an investment in both time and money. He has been seeing Janet for a few weeks. They both knew how tonight would end, but she still wanted the dance. So he took her out to a nice dinner, they took a walk along the Tacoma waterfront, then as he dropped her off, he politely waited to be invited in.
Sam isn’t what you think of as your typical Ranger, he is smart, articulate, level headed and well read. He isn’t just trying to drink away his military career, or try to see how many notches he can put in his bedpost. However he does share the qualities with how you think of your typical Ranger, he is in top physical condition, he is an aggressive fighter and can outshoot your average soldier even on his worst day. He is also takes a lot of pride in his Ranger tab. It is no wonder that he checks the pager as soon as it chirps.
“You have got to be kidding,” Janet mutters looking at the naked man reading the text message on the pager.
It reads, “RANGER DOWN! REPORT IN, THOSE IN SEATTLE STAY THERE AND WAIT FOR ORDERS ALL OTHERS RTB.”
Knowing there is no way she will understand Sam looks at the Trojan package with the single tear in the wrapping and throws it away as he grabs his clothes. He does manage an “I’m sorry,” but he is not sure if she will believe, understand, or forgive. And right now he doesn’t have the time to get into it.
Specialist Walter Chong found himself in a similar situation, but his girlfriend lives in Seattle, not far from where he was raised, so he jumps back into bed. While he is waiting for further instructions he might as well pass the time. And this is indeed his favorite pastime.
Rangers take pride in being Rangers. There are a couple distinct ways that the pride is manifested. Some believe in the Ranger Creed like it is a mantra. They believe that it is up to them to “Set the example for others to follow” that being a Ranger means that you live by a higher standard. They accept that burden and live in that way.
There are the others that believe the hype. They think that “elite” means better. They are the ones with the arrogance, the ones getting drunk and fighting. They look down on “big Army” soldiers and consider everyone who doesn’t wear the Ranger Scroll unit patch to be lesser. They even look down on those in the Special Forces community as glory hounds who get the better press. It is exactly this type that Sergeant Wright is.
Since he is better than the rest of the Army, their rules don’t apply to him. Unfortunately he also thinks that some rules of the Ranger Battalion don’t apply to him either. He is very wrong. The halls are alive with activity everyone is running around grabbing uniforms and checking gear. Even those on their cell phones are moving with a purpose.
He is standing in Alpha companies barracks when he hears the shouting “Ranger Down!” echo through the halls. No one really knows exactly what this means, but Rangers aren’t exactly lacking in enthusiasm, especially when it means looking after one of their own.
The company duty NCO walks the second floor of the barracks and calls out, “Stand by, you will have more information as it comes in. If you are in Bravo company you are to report in formation….in uniform…time fucking NOW!”
That announcement runs a chill through Wright’s spine. He is standing outside a friends room, holding a beer. Yes he is on Red Cycle, but they never get called up. The idea of being n formation with alcohol on his breath is not a pleasant one. There is nothing he can do except pour out his beer and head to his unit. At least he can grab some mouthwash once he is back in his room changing.
He is stopped by Bravo company CQ. The Charge of Quarters private is stopping everyone coming in and says, “Top says that formation is come as you are.”
That is not good. The company First Sergeant is already there and doesn’t want to wait for people to get changed into uniform. He sees soldiers in civilian clothes and BDU pants, but civilian t-shirts or sneakers and not boots. No one is getting yelled at, they really mean come as you are. There is no way he is going to be able to disguise his breath. He is screwed.
The benefit of the phone tree is that most people only need to call one person. Platoon Sergeants call squad leaders. Squad leaders call their fire team leaders. Everyone just calls the name on the list below his own. If he can’t get reach that person, he calls the next name on the list. The last person call the top person and reports who they could not get a hold of.
Command Sergeant Major Roc pulls into his parking space and walks right up to the First Sergeant for Bravo Company. He is in the middle of getting the report when the very familiar car of the Battalion Commander pulls into the fence that separates the Ranger Battalion from the rest of Fort Lewis.
“Shit.”
