Texas Nights - Book 13 of the Damned of the 2/19th

Fallout

Conference Room Alpha
Headquarter's Company Duty Area
15th Forward Support Battalion Area
Fort Hood, Texas
CONUS
10 February, 1992 - Monday
1330 Hours

The room smelled of hate, sweat, and exasperation as I leaned across the table to stare at Captain Hiddle.

"If you'd keep your men to their side of the barracks instead of letting them come down to Alpha and Charlie Company's area to cause trouble, none of this would have happened," I yelled into his red face.

"Everyone here can see you're just trying to protect a man who put eight of my men into the hospital, five of them in the ICU!" He screamed back.

"They fucking started it, both physically and verbally," I yelled. "Might I remind you, they are all lower enlisted and he's a Senior NCO!"

"Who shouldn't even be in the god-damned barracks in the first place!" Hiddle yelled.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Lieutenant Colonel Krait bellowed, bringing his hand down on the table with a crack.

"Sir, I want that man court martialled," Hiddle screamed.

"HE'S NOT A MAN!" I bellowed at the bow legged escaped little garden gnome.

That made everyone stare at me. I tried to stop it, but my mouth kept going.

"HE'S A WEAPON, AND YOUR DUMBASS SOLDIERS FIRED HIM OFF!" I yelled. "THAT'S WHY HE'S IN THE BARRACKS AND NOT ALLOWED OFF POST UNLESS HE'S UNDER SUPERVISION!"

"And if you maintained disciplined in that pack of retards you call a Company this might not have happened," Captain Arthur yelled. "I've told you again and again your men keep coming down to my company area and causing trouble."

"Maybe if your men weren't such pussies, they'd stand up for themselves and my men wouldn't..." Hiddle started.

"Oh, NOW it's about standing up for themselves," Arthur yelled, getting to his feet. "Well, one of my men did stand up for himself against your fucking thugs."

"FIVE OF MY MEN ARE IN ICU!" Hiddle yelled.

"MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE KILLED ONE AS AN EXAMPLE!" Arthur bellowed back.

"YOU SET OFF A WEAPON, YOU SHOULD EXPECT TO GET HURT!" I threw in.

"YOUR 'FRIEND' IS A GODDAMN MENACE, YOU FAT BITCH!" Hiddle screamed at me.

"I SAID ENOUGH!" Krait yelled, coming to his feet and slamming both fists into the table. We all turned and looked at him. The dumpy ineffectual officer was gone, in his place was the man I'd seen in the field and during discussions in his office.

"Compose yourselves, now," He snapped. "Two minutes of silence. The first one of you to speak will be ejected from this conference."

I threw myself in my chair, lighting a cigarette, glaring at Captain Hiddle. I picked up my sunglasses and put them on.

Anger made the air around the table shimmer.

The CO's, XO's, and First Sergeants were all drawn up in the office, with Colonel Krait overseeing it all. We were supposed to be talking about the incident in the Day Room. The only reason I was there was I'd witnessed all of it. The decision to send Stillwater to a court martial or give him a field grade article 15 was the discussion.

Tony was still in a cell at the MP station. He wouldn't be released until Colonel Krait sent someone down to sign for him.

Tearing through eight men in ninety seconds, hospitalizing all of them, and damn near killing three of them, had repercussions in the 'normal' Army, much less at Fort Hood and in First Cavalry Division.