Kozak’s Bradley approaching. Turning to her platoon sergeant, Matto told him to make a quick check along the line and hurry the demo teams up while she stayed where she was and “entertained” the CO.
Kozak, however, wasn’t interested in being entertained. After pulling up next to Matto’s personnel carrier and dismounting, Kozak came up to Matto for a report on their progress.
Matto rendered her report while they both watched the engineers on the bridge. In the light of a pale moon that just barely cleared the high ground behind them, they could even see the M-9 ACE as it continued to laboriously hack away at the frozen ground. “Well, ma’am, it’ll be another ten, maybe fifteen minutes until the highway bridge will be ready to be dropped. The cratering charge on the southern approach to the bridge is in place and ready, but the anti-tank ditch extended to the riverbank won’t be finished for at least another half hour. I believe the railroad bridge upstream is ready to drop now.”
Kozak listened to Matto’s report in silence. When Matto was finished, she began issuing orders. It was, to Matto, almost as if she had already decided what she intended to do before hearing the status of the work. “Go ahead and stop the antitank ditch. We don’t have a half hour. Use a very hasty minefield to close the gap if you can do it in ten minutes, which is all the time you have to finish the job on the bridge. I’m going to order the infantry platoon back now. The brigade’s shifting a company of attack helicopters covering the advance on Mukacevo to a battle position just northwest of here to give us some support. Between them and the mines, we can do without the anti-tank ditch.”
Not waiting for a response, Kozak began to turn to hurry back to her track when Matto stopped her.
“Captain, we can’t surface-lay the mines and then set off the cratering charge. The detonation and debris from that charge will set off most of the surface-laid mines. We’ll have to set off the cratering charge, then go back and lay the mines.”
Kozak looked at Matto, then at the bridge, and then back at Matto. “Okay. Forget the mines. We don’t have that kind of time. Do whatever you need to do in order to blow everything in ten minutes.”
Saluting, Matto turned and trotted off toward the bridge, calling out for her platoon sergeant as she went. Kozak watched and listened for a moment. Her voice, like Kozak’s, came out as a screech whenever she tried to yell, which was why Kozak seldom yelled. It was, she had been told by one of her sergeants years ago, both irritating and at the same time a source of amusement to the men under her command. So Kozak had learned to give orders and direct her subordinates in a way that all but eliminated the need to yell and shout. When shouting was necessary, she had one of her male NCOs do it for her when possible. Although few people in her company knew why their young female captain with a slightly crooked nose seldom yelled at anyone, most of the men and women in her command preferred it that way. It showed, one senior sergeant once said, that she had respect for her people as well as for their eardrums.
When she reached her Bradley, Kozak stopped next to it and called for her gunner. Because of her accent, Kozak didn’t emphasize the “1″ in Sergeant Wolf’s name, which resulted in her calling him Woof most of the time. As she stood there calling for Wolf to pop his head up while trying to keep from screaming, a young engineer fifty meters away stopped what he was doing and looked over to see who was going “Woof, woof.” From where he stood, it looked as if Kozak was baying at the moon. That sight, in the middle of what had been a tense and exhausting night, caused the young engineer to burst out laughing. His squad leader, wondering what was so funny, stopped what he was doing. “Are you losing it, Havarty, or is it a private joke?”
Havarty continued to laugh as he
Kozak, however, wasn’t interested in being entertained. After pulling up next to Matto’s personnel carrier and dismounting, Kozak came up to Matto for a report on their progress.
Matto rendered her report while they both watched the engineers on the bridge. In the light of a pale moon that just barely cleared the high ground behind them, they could even see the M-9 ACE as it continued to laboriously hack away at the frozen ground. “Well, ma’am, it’ll be another ten, maybe fifteen minutes until the highway bridge will be ready to be dropped. The cratering charge on the southern approach to the bridge is in place and ready, but the anti-tank ditch extended to the riverbank won’t be finished for at least another half hour. I believe the railroad bridge upstream is ready to drop now.”
Kozak listened to Matto’s report in silence. When Matto was finished, she began issuing orders. It was, to Matto, almost as if she had already decided what she intended to do before hearing the status of the work. “Go ahead and stop the antitank ditch. We don’t have a half hour. Use a very hasty minefield to close the gap if you can do it in ten minutes, which is all the time you have to finish the job on the bridge. I’m going to order the infantry platoon back now. The brigade’s shifting a company of attack helicopters covering the advance on Mukacevo to a battle position just northwest of here to give us some support. Between them and the mines, we can do without the anti-tank ditch.”
Not waiting for a response, Kozak began to turn to hurry back to her track when Matto stopped her.
“Captain, we can’t surface-lay the mines and then set off the cratering charge. The detonation and debris from that charge will set off most of the surface-laid mines. We’ll have to set off the cratering charge, then go back and lay the mines.”
Kozak looked at Matto, then at the bridge, and then back at Matto. “Okay. Forget the mines. We don’t have that kind of time. Do whatever you need to do in order to blow everything in ten minutes.”
Saluting, Matto turned and trotted off toward the bridge, calling out for her platoon sergeant as she went. Kozak watched and listened for a moment. Her voice, like Kozak’s, came out as a screech whenever she tried to yell, which was why Kozak seldom yelled. It was, she had been told by one of her sergeants years ago, both irritating and at the same time a source of amusement to the men under her command. So Kozak had learned to give orders and direct her subordinates in a way that all but eliminated the need to yell and shout. When shouting was necessary, she had one of her male NCOs do it for her when possible. Although few people in her company knew why their young female captain with a slightly crooked nose seldom yelled at anyone, most of the men and women in her command preferred it that way. It showed, one senior sergeant once said, that she had respect for her people as well as for their eardrums.
When she reached her Bradley, Kozak stopped next to it and called for her gunner. Because of her accent, Kozak didn’t emphasize the “1″ in Sergeant Wolf’s name, which resulted in her calling him Woof most of the time. As she stood there calling for Wolf to pop his head up while trying to keep from screaming, a young engineer fifty meters away stopped what he was doing and looked over to see who was going “Woof, woof.” From where he stood, it looked as if Kozak was baying at the moon. That sight, in the middle of what had been a tense and exhausting night, caused the young engineer to burst out laughing. His squad leader, wondering what was so funny, stopped what he was doing. “Are you losing it, Havarty, or is it a private joke?”
Havarty continued to laugh as he
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