Where The Hell’s The Enemy is the story of a small army reserve transportation unit. For those unfamiliar with transportation unit, that means, “truck drivers.” Now, there are far more glamorous jobs in the army, but the guys hauling supplies, ammo and troops around are about as important as any. Without the proper transportation, an army would quickly find itself mired down, unable to advance on the enemy.
At least, that’s how the folks assigned to this particular unit thought of themselves, even though they seldom did anything on training weekends, except read girly magazines. A number of the men are without jobs and live at a Salvation Army Center for homeless men.
When Gerry Thompson retires from the regular army and joins the reserve unit, he quickly realizes their commander, First Lieutenant Larry Noble, knows as much about being a soldier as he, himself knew about being a rock singer. Which was nothing! Thompson suspected they might be deployed to the Persian Gulf, so decided he had better try to make soldiers out of the bunch of pot smoking “ne’er do wells.”
A few months after joining the unit, they were deployed to California for their summer encampment so they might learn to drive the Bradley Fighting Machine. Lieutenant Noble lays out a route which will take them hundreds of miles out of the way, so they can stay a couple of days in Las Vegas. When Noble loses all his money, he sells one of their deuce and a half trucks to a rancher that he might continue to gamble.
After Thompson recovers the truck and takes over command from the hapless lieutenant, they continue to summer encampment. Thompson has been extremely hard on the men to try to make soldiers of them, but they do well at Fort Ord and stay out of trouble. Thompson relents and allows a stop at Disneyland on the way back to San Antonio. He cannot help but laugh at the men, including Lieutenant Noble, because they are like a bunch of little kids at Disneyland.
Then, the call comes that they have been activated for duty in the Gulf. Now, Thompson is worried! He has to get this bunch of misfits shaped up. Hell, half of them don’t even have uniforms.
When they arrive is Saudi Arabia, Thompson is nervous as hell they’ll get into trouble after they learn there is absolutely no fraternizing with the local women and absolutely no booze of any kind allowed. But, he is pleasantly surprised, when even Anderson, the worst of the lot seems to take their job seriously, as they ferry munitions and vehicles to the border with Iraq.
The ground war begins, as they are delivering Bradley fighting vehicles to the Second Armored Division. The division pulls out before they arrive and Thompson makes the decision that they should try to catch up with the 2nd to deliver the Bradleys. Of course, they become lost in the desert and wind up farther north than any allied troops were supposed to go. They are in dire need of fuel, and learn there is fuel at a scud missile site close-by. Against all odds, and against Thompson’s better judgment, they do manage to take out the missile crews and fire the missiles off at an Iraqi oil refinery.
Now, they all think they are heroes of the first order, but find themselves being chased across the desert by an Iraqi armored force. But, it turns out the Iraqis want to surrender rather than fight. They accidentally come across an underground bunker and destroy it by dropping a missile from the Bradley down a vent pipe. Thompson and Anderson damned near kill themselves in the effort.
After an American aircraft spots them so far north in Iraq and reports it to the commanding general, Thompson’s gang of misfits are ordered to the rescue of a group of army rangers trapped in a small town and surrounded by enemy armor. They enlist the aid of the surrendered Iraqis to free the rangers, not realizing they are being touted as real heroes back at headquarters, even though headquarters has no idea in hell who they are.
The rescue is successful, but they are once more pursued by an enemy force, this one, not ready to surrender! They set a trap and destroy the enemy force, but not without their own losses. Thompson is stunned, when several of his people, whom he has finally come to respect as soldiers, are killed. The thought hadn’t even occurred to him that such a thing might happen. Hell, they were truck drivers, not combat soldiers!
Anderson, who has pretty much stuck close to Thompson, spots a bunch of pipes sticking out of the ground, and a captured Iraqi tells them the location of several more underground bunkers. All the while, Lieutenant Noble has reluctantly gone along for the ride, allowing Thompson to make all the decisions, but now, he decides to take part in destroying the bunkers. He is taken prisoner by Iraqi soldiers.
Quite accidentally, their Iraqi comrade-in-arms hears a conversation on the radio that reveals where the American prisoners are being held and aids Thompson and the rangers in their rescue. Then, they finish destroying the bunkers and marking the location of enemy tank emplacements so our air force can destroy them.
A cease-fire is called, and as they travel back toward Kuwait, they are pressed into road guard service at the Kuwaiti border. They stop and search vehicles heading out of Kuwait into Iraq for weapons and contraband stolen from the Kuwaitis.
Anderson stops an Iraqi in a Mercedes and finds not only a young Kuwaiti girl locked in the trunk, but box after boxful of money. He kills the Iraqi in a fight, rescues the girl and hides the money in his Bradley.
When they finally arrive back in Riad, Saudi Arabia, they are given a hero’s welcome and Thompson is overcome with pride for his gang of misfits and the soldiers they have become. He realizes they truly are heroes.
Against all odds, Anderson ends up back in San Antonio with millions of dollars in the trunk of a rented car. When Thompson and Lieutenant Noble learn of it, they are in a quandary as to what to do. When Lieutenant Noble suggests they form a not-for-profit foundation to hide the money, Anderson asks why they shouldn’t do it for real and start a ranch for homeless and abused children. He is a much deeper thinker than Thompson had realized.
At the grand opening ceremony for their childrens' ranch, General Swartzkoff attends and finds a sign at the entrance to the ranch that says the facility was founded by “THE ARMY FROM HELL!” They received this distinctive name from an Iraqi they captured. When they left Iraq, their Bradleys were all painted red,white and blue, with the name “Army From Hell” emblazoned on their sides. The General surprises Anderson by presenting him with the very Bradley he drove in the Gulf War, still sporting the red, white and blue paint job, to be placed at the entrance to the camp. He also informs Anderson he would never have gotten the money back into The States if authorities had not been told to forget any sort of search of their baggage. Then, he winks and walks away. The General had known all along!
Where The Hell’s The Enemy is the story of a small army reserve transportation unit. For those unfamiliar with transportation unit, that means, “truck drivers.” Now, there are far more glamorous jobs in the army, but the guys hauling supplies, ammo and troops around are about as important as any. Without the proper transportation, an army would quickly find itself mired down, unable to advance on the enemy.
At least, that’s how the folks assigned to this particular unit thought of themselves, even though they seldom did anything on training weekends, except read girly magazines. A number of the men are without jobs and live at a Salvation Army Center for homeless men.
When Gerry Thompson retires from the regular army and joins the reserve unit, he quickly realizes their commander, First Lieutenant Larry Noble, knows as much about being a soldier as he, himself knew about being a rock singer. Which was nothing! Thompson suspected they might be deployed to the Persian Gulf, so decided he had better try to make soldiers out of the bunch of pot smoking “ne’er do wells.”
A few months after joining the unit, they were deployed to California for their summer encampment so they might learn to drive the Bradley Fighting Machine. Lieutenant Noble lays out a route which will take them hundreds of miles out of the way, so they can stay a couple of days in Las Vegas. When Noble loses all his money, he sells one of their deuce and a half trucks to a rancher that he might continue to gamble.
After Thompson recovers the truck and takes over command from the hapless lieutenant, they continue to summer encampment. Thompson has been extremely hard on the men to try to make soldiers of them, but they do well at Fort Ord and stay out of trouble. Thompson relents and allows a stop at Disneyland on the way back to San Antonio. He cannot help but laugh at the men, including Lieutenant Noble, because they are like a bunch of little kids at Disneyland.
Then, the call comes that they have been activated for duty in the Gulf. Now, Thompson is worried! He has to get this bunch of misfits shaped up. Hell, half of them don’t even have uniforms.
When they arrive is Saudi Arabia, Thompson is nervous as hell they’ll get into trouble after they learn there is absolutely no fraternizing with the local women and absolutely no booze of any kind allowed. But, he is pleasantly surprised, when even Anderson, the worst of the lot seems to take their job seriously, as they ferry munitions and vehicles to the border with Iraq.
The ground war begins, as they are delivering Bradley fighting vehicles to the Second Armored Division. The division pulls out before they arrive and Thompson makes the decision that they should try to catch up with the 2nd to deliver the Bradleys. Of course, they become lost in the desert and wind up farther north than any allied troops were supposed to go. They are in dire need of fuel, and learn there is fuel at a scud missile site close-by. Against all odds, and against Thompson’s better judgment, they do manage to take out the missile crews and fire the missiles off at an Iraqi oil refinery.
Now, they all think they are heroes of the first order, but find themselves being chased across the desert by an Iraqi armored force. But, it turns out the Iraqis want to surrender rather than fight. They accidentally come across an underground bunker and destroy it by dropping a missile from the Bradley down a vent pipe. Thompson and Anderson damned near kill themselves in the effort.
After an American aircraft spots them so far north in Iraq and reports it to the commanding general, Thompson’s gang of misfits are ordered to the rescue of a group of army rangers trapped in a small town and surrounded by enemy armor. They enlist the aid of the surrendered Iraqis to free the rangers, not realizing they are being touted as real heroes back at headquarters, even though headquarters has no idea in hell who they are.
The rescue is successful, but they are once more pursued by an enemy force, this one, not ready to surrender! They set a trap and destroy the enemy force, but not without their own losses. Thompson is stunned, when several of his people, whom he has finally come to respect as soldiers, are killed. The thought hadn’t even occurred to him that such a thing might happen. Hell, they were truck drivers, not combat soldiers!
Anderson, who has pretty much stuck close to Thompson, spots a bunch of pipes sticking out of the ground, and a captured Iraqi tells them the location of several more underground bunkers. All the while, Lieutenant Noble has reluctantly gone along for the ride, allowing Thompson to make all the decisions, but now, he decides to take part in destroying the bunkers. He is taken prisoner by Iraqi soldiers.
Quite accidentally, their Iraqi comrade-in-arms hears a conversation on the radio that reveals where the American prisoners are being held and aids Thompson and the rangers in their rescue. Then, they finish destroying the bunkers and marking the location of enemy tank emplacements so our air force can destroy them.
A cease-fire is called, and as they travel back toward Kuwait, they are pressed into road guard service at the Kuwaiti border. They stop and search vehicles heading out of Kuwait into Iraq for weapons and contraband stolen from the Kuwaitis.
Anderson stops an Iraqi in a Mercedes and finds not only a young Kuwaiti girl locked in the trunk, but box after boxful of money. He kills the Iraqi in a fight, rescues the girl and hides the money in his Bradley.
When they finally arrive back in Riad, Saudi Arabia, they are given a hero’s welcome and Thompson is overcome with pride for his gang of misfits and the soldiers they have become. He realizes they truly are heroes.
Against all odds, Anderson ends up back in San Antonio with millions of dollars in the trunk of a rented car. When Thompson and Lieutenant Noble learn of it, they are in a quandary as to what to do. When Lieutenant Noble suggests they form a not-for-profit foundation to hide the money, Anderson asks why they shouldn’t do it for real and start a ranch for homeless and abused children. He is a much deeper thinker than Thompson had realized.
At the grand opening ceremony for their childrens' ranch, General Swartzkoff attends and finds a sign at the entrance to the ranch that says the facility was founded by “THE ARMY FROM HELL!” They received this distinctive name from an Iraqi they captured. When they left Iraq, their Bradleys were all painted red,white and blue, with the name “Army From Hell” emblazoned on their sides. The General surprises Anderson by presenting him with the very Bradley he drove in the Gulf War, still sporting the red, white and blue paint job, to be placed at the entrance to the camp. He also informs Anderson he would never have gotten the money back into The States if authorities had not been told to forget any sort of search of their baggage. Then, he winks and walks away. The General had known all along!
WHERE THE HELL'S THE ENEMY?: The Army From Hell
WHERE THE HELL'S THE ENEMY?: The Army From Hell
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781462841196 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Xlibris Corporation |
| Publication date: | 06/30/2000 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 258 KB |