The rest of us would be moving up and down the tables, checking and helping where we could. It was a total gang f.u.c.k. We had to interpret to the soldiers what was going on; they then had to come back with any questions, which had to be answered. It just went on and on.

In the end we'd just start laughing, and they'd join in. Gar would go mad and shout: "Stop! Come back in half an hour." He would then compose himself, after giving us a b.o.l.l.o.c.king for not taking it seriously.

We had to teach them how to look at the ground and interpret the map-to be able to say, "Okay, we found a DMP; now we've got to tell people where it is." It's hard enough in the British Army to teach soldiers how to map-read; it's not a science, it's in art, and the only way a recruit can get a feel for it is by getting on the ground and practicing the skills.

Once they'd got the basics of using the compa.s.s, that was it; as far as they were concerned, it was the best lesson of their lives.

Officers started calling by, saying, "Any chance of one of these compa.s.ses?" Not to use, mind-they just wanted them dangling on their uniforms to make them look good.

These guys were going to be fighting in a "real time" war, and they needed a taste of realism. More important, though, we were practicing in the areas where they would be operating anyway, so if the s.h.i.t hit the fan during training, we had live ammunition on hand. They weren't too impressed to start with, most of them looking very worried about the possibility of shooting themselves. After a while, however, they got into it and then started to come over all macho, swaggering all over the camp.

"They think they're going to go off and kill every f.u.c.ker," I said.

Gar said, "We'll soon put paid to that."

He got some P.E, and we rigged it up around the training area. We had all the boys lying down ready to go forward, as if they were on a start line. One or two of them were lying there giggling and chanting, "Rambo!

Rambo!"

As they started to move forward, we initiated the explosives.

There was s.h.i.t flying everywhere; they could feel the pressure of the explosives, and then dirt and bits of wood showered down on them.

They hit the ground, then looked around sheepishly, suitably cut down to size. Some of them looked as if they were going to cry They quit the Sly Stallone routine after that.

We had to knock all that s.h.i.t out of them because as soon as the first one of them got killed, and there probably would be quite a few killed, they would be in for a very nasty shock.

We were getting invitations back to their houses when they had their two days off every couple of weeks. We had to try to dodge and weave as diplomatically as we could, because we didn't really want to get too familiar.

We wanted the bonding relationship, but we wanted it in slow phases; otherwise it would affect the training.

Apart from that, we wanted to get downtown, have a shopping frenzy, and generally get around and see the place and have some fun.

By now we'd gradually weaned them off the great big daggers and six-shooters that had been hanging off their kits. We'd convinced them that the thing about kit dangling all over the place is that it gets entwined in the undergrowth and leaves sign. We'd actually got them looking fairly professional.

We'd got them tactically okay and they we're doing live attacks on different targets, training for every eventuality. What we now started looking for was certain apt.i.tudes required by a recce-c.u.m-OP-c.u.m-attack force.

Their job would be to find the locations, look on the map, find out where they were, and get as much information on the places as possible.

They would then go forward with an attack force to take the place out or put in an OP and gather more nformation.

OP work calls for people who are naturally quiet, not active or hyper sorts. They have to spend a long time in a cramped position, just observing-two, three, maybe four of them in a location, gathering as much information as possible and sending it back over the radio so that the F.O.B can plan and prepare. The ideal is to attack when.the processing personnel are there and all the equipment is in place. Then you can get the personalities, as well as the kit, and close the place down.

The people in the OP might be there for two or three weeks, living on hard routine, s.h.i.tting in plastic bags, 418 p.i.s.sing in water canisters, not moving around, and under severe pressure because they were right on top of the target; because they were operating in the jungle, they were going to be much closer to the target than if they were out on the savanna.

We were also trying to pick out the natural leaders.

There were designated leaders with ranks, but that didn't mean to us they were the right ones; people got ranked for certain things, not necessarily their command of man management or leadership.

It was a pain in the a.r.s.e trying to bring on the natural leaders because the system was so regimented. Everything had to be done diplomatically and by giving the prospective leaders responsibilities rather than stripes.

By picking the most capable blokes, we had more chance of getting the result that we wanted: the successful completion of a task. And because it was highly likely we would be there with them, we'd also stand more chance of getting out alive. The best man in my group was One-of-three-Joses.

Every chance we had we'd get downtown. I found it quite a modern, cosmopolitan city, with mega office blocks, big shopping centers, and good-cla.s.s hotels. But as in many other places, it was very evident that the locals had either enormous amounts of money or absolutely none.

Ultramodern skysc.r.a.pers stood next to derelict shanties; Mercedes limos drove over holes in the ground where the sewage system had collapsed and kids had taken shelter.

The city was also one of the dirtiest and noisiest places I'd ever seen.

People seemed to throw away their rubbish wherever they were standing, and music blasted out in the streets, restaurants, and long-distance buses; it seemed to be an integral part of daily life, culminating at night in discotheques, tabernas, and private parties.

The blare of TV was just as bad. It appeared that sets in Latin America had two unique features: It seemed impossible to switch them off until late at night, and the volume control had only two settings-very loud and deafening.

The traffic noise was something else. I'd heard antiquated A.P.C.S that were quieter than some of the deathtraps running around. Traffic jams seemed frequent, and the etiquette if you were stuck in one seemed to be to lean on your 'horn until you moved. When vehicles were not stuck in a traffic jam, it seemed important to the locals that they be driven at well above maximum recommended revs. I'd already seen buses flying at breakneck speed down twisting mountain roads; in the city they speeded up. There was an amazing variety of taxis, ranging from old American Fords, made during the time of JFK, to brand-new Mazdas.

There were traffic lights everywhere. You could cross the road on either green or red and have an equal chance of being hit. I found it paid to look both ways several timels before sprinting across, even if it was a one-way street.

Living and working in Dodge City, we all needed to wear concealed weapons. I was sitting in the breakfast bar of the hotel one morning when a couple of whiteeyes turned up. Normally I'd have just given them the once-over, but this time it was a double take. By the way they wore their shirts I guessed they were carrying weapons. Then it dawned on me that I knew their faces: They were two ex-members of G Squadron.

Sometimes, on different jobs around the world, we'd be working and see somebody we knew. Nothing would be said; everybody would ignore one another. They didn't know what we were doing or who we were supposed to be, and vice versa. Until one approached the other, there'd always be a silly little standoff.

Eventually the ritual finished, and it was okay. They came over and sat down.

"How's it going?"

"Not too bad', Another part - of this ritual was not really getting straight down to what you wanted to talk about. Most people were cagey when it came to discussing their activities.

We chatted away about normal things, as you do when you b.u.mp into ex-members of the Regiment on the other side of the world. We stagged everybody down that we knew and discussed what was going on in downtown Hereford.

After a while I asked the question, expecting a "f.u.c.k off, big nose"' in reponse: "So, what are you doing then?"

"We have a close protection job here for a while, up north. Are you still in or are you working?"

Straightaway I realized that they were having the same doubts about me.

I decided to play them along for a while.

"Yeah, I've been here for a few weeks now on a training job. The money is good, but the people can be a pain in the a.r.s.e."

"What's the money like? Maybe we could get a job with you?"

"Same as if you were a corporal in the Regiment."

T. their job, it turned out, involved protecting people against the cartels.

I wondered if ex-members of the Regiment really were working for the cartels, earning fantastic amounts of money, adopting the same att.i.tude as everyone sitting around us in this hotel; if these people want to use drugs, more fool them. Allegedly lots of Americans and Canadians were working for the drug barons; the Yanks were advising, teaching, and sorting out the business end. The cartels had fantastic wealth; working for them would probably be a cozy number. But lucrative as it might have been, I didn't think it was for me.

A meeting was fixed for the following week, but by then other events had overtaken us.

Things had not been going well. We'd been intheater for a while now, and every time we'd gone in against a DMP we found we'd captured the Marie Celeste. Security had been fearsomely lax.

Corruption appeared to be a part of life; it wasn't unknown for helicopters, on the way to pick up troops for an attack, to fly over some of the processing factories as anearly warning. I felt we were fighting a losing battle.

However, Gar gpt us in the hut one day and said, "Right, there's a change in the system. We're going to go and look for a plant over in the west.. We'll get you in there covertly. You go and find the place, take it on, and then and only then will we brin the helicopters in.

What's more, you'll report directly to us on the net back in HQ."

We looked at a map that was spread out on his table.

"We know there's a plant in here somewhere," he said, indicating an area of about sixteen square kilometers.

"We'll take four patrols in to go and look for it-that's four Ks each.

The patrols are Tony's, Andy's, Rod's, and Terry's. If we find it, we'll take it, because this is getting to be a pain in the a.r.s.e.

"Once an'y of you find the target, I want you to put a CTR in. I want photography, I want video, and I want as much information as possible sent over the net to me.

I'll then organize the helis. We'll keep it strictly between us; the boys are not to know until we actually go on the op. Once we're on the ground we'll give them orders.

Helis will be on standby, but they won't know where or when they're going. The only people who'll know what's going on are us and the head shed at HQ."

None of us had any questions, and everybody probably felt the same as I did: absolutely delighted that we were breaking out of the vicious circle and that everything suddenly looked so positive. "All we have to do now is find it," said Rod.

I sat on the steps of the hut and ate some food as I watched Wayne, who had chatted one of the policemen into letting him ride his horse, come screaming past on an animal that 'Was well and truly on Za.n.u.ssi. Wayne was tali, dark, good-looking, funny, and intelligent-all the things you hate in a person. He had been brought up with horses, which was probably why he hated everything about them apart from riding. They disappeared from sight behind some buildings, and the next time I saw him, about an hour later, Wayne was covered in cuts, bruises, and abrasions.

"f.u.c.king thing," he said. "How come of all the b.l.o.o.d.y nags in this country I get the one that's just snorted a nose bag of white powder?"

Each recce patrol, consisting of four policemen and one of us, would search an area of four grid squares-four square kilometers. Time out on the ground would be anything up to ten days, and the object, as always, was not to kill the people in the manufacturing plant but to arrest them-especially the European chemists-and then to destroy the equipment.

At the muster parade the next morning Gar announced to our trainees, "We're going to go out and do some training. We're going to be away for about two weeks. Pack your kit,and be ready at lunchtime to move off."

We drove to an area about an hour away that we had been using for training. Gar told the boys to relax and get a brew on, then said, "We're not going training.

We're going out on another operation. The lack of success that we've been having is because of leaks by informers in the system.

We're going to take you out of here now, and you're going to go and look for a DMP that is to the west.

"It's up to you to make sure that you put in all your best efforts.

You've done all this training, and you're getting really well paid.

We're expecting you to perform.

We know you can do the job, we know you're good, and we're going to be with you all the way. We hope we're going to find the target-imagine the prestige when you succeed. All you have to do is exactly what we tell you, end everything will be fine. Now let's get out there. The quicker we do it, the quicker we can all get home."

We got into our own little groups around the wagons and started to do our orders. I could hear the others talking to their groups around the area of the wagons.

Wayne and Gar were sorting out rations for the patrols.

To my four boys I said, "Once we've succeeded, you will have all the credibility that you want and deserve. If we fail, maybe they will disband the paramilitaries."

I saw four worried faces, perhaps picturing themselves back on traffic duty.

I said, I hoped in my best Spanish, "So, we're going to go and locate a drug manufacturing plant. We've been told that it's roughly in an area sixteen Ks square somewhere in the west. We don't know where it is or how big it is. We don't know if people are still there.

If we find it, we're going to put a CTR on it, bring all the other ap trois in, and then we'll get a plan together to go and attack it.

There'll be lots of helicopter support coming in, and plenty of other troops. if another patrol finds it, we'll go to meet them, join forces, and attack it."

The ' boys were still looking worried. This operation was going to be totally alien from what they were used to. Usually it was the helicopter screaming in on top of the location, and everything all over and done within a couple of hours. What we were looking at now was a prolonged operation, a very different kettle of fish.

"Another change is that this time we're not going to helicopter in; we're going to drive in the vehicles down to the area and gradually patrol in. We don't want anybody to see us or to know that we're there.

This time we might find something. Do you say yes to that?"

Four nervous smiles and a chorus of "Yes!"

"It might take a couple of days to get into the area," I went on, "but it will be worth it. We'll be taking our time; we've got plenty of food; we know what we're doing. There'll be no problems."

I laid out as much information in front of them as possible: a small-scale map, some drawings, the area in general, and then a large-scale map for the detailed briefs. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't dealing with professional soldiers. I had to sit them down and say, "Before we start, does anybody want to go to the toilet?

Anybody need to do anything before I start?"

After every phase of the orders I made a point of pausing and asking, "Are there any questions?" They had to feel comfortable about asking, no matter how stupid the question. It was important not to take the p.i.s.s out of them when they did come out with something really bone, and not to allow others to either.

I first gave them all the political and military factors and made sure they realized how important it was that they pushed themselves forward to stop the trafficking. I then talked about the ground, starting with the area in general-all known enemy locations, all old processing sites, and all our own locations.

We didn't have a target as yet, but I talked about the terrain, the weather conditions, what we expected the going to be like, what the locals were like, the names of any towns and villages, the direction of the ma' in rivers. al If the s.h.i.t hit the f and they were on their own, they would know that if they followed a certain river downstream, they were going to hit a town. As I spoke, they checked everything on their maps.

I then went into the situation. I told them everything they needed to know about the enemy in order to carry out the task, including the fact that the local barons were feeling pretty confident at the moment and would fight if we came up against them. I described what weapons they had and what they dressed like.

"Now-friendly forces," I said. "There will be another three patrols that are going to be patrolling in other grid squares." On the detailed map I showed them the rough area where the other patrols would be operating.

Next came the mission. "Mission: to locate and CTR the DMP in these grid squares here." I repeated it, then went into the execution, which I had broken down into phases.

"Phase One, the infiltration. We're going in by vehicle- As you know, once the stuff is ready it has to be moved out by aircraft or vehicle.

There is usually a road within ten to twenty kilometers of one of these plants.

With trucks, we'll keep control of security. It might take us two or three days to patrol into the area, but that's what we get paid for."

We'd be on hard routine. "I'll have a scout out at the front, and I'll be doing the map reading myself, with the local patrol commander checking. There will also be pacers and check pacers. If it's dense canopy, we'll probably patrol in daylight and bin it at nighttime. If the terrain allows us to patrol at nighttime, all well and good, we'll do that as well. But in that sort of terrain I don't antic.i.p.ate any movement by night."

We understood the boys well by now, and they understood us. We had mutual respect that bordered on friendship; when we said we wanted something done, we expected them to comply-and they did. They no longer questioned our orders because they trusted us.

The slings had disappeared long ago from the 7.62 Galits, following our example. The swing swivels had also been taken off or taped down; they were designed to move, and therefore they made noise. Every man had about four to five meters of paracord, so if we-had to do any river crossings, they could tie their weapon securely.

As a navigation aid, I had taped a Silva compa.s.s onto the stock of my weapon, with the big arrow covered up to avoid having a fearsome luminous object moving through the jungle. If I was moving forward as a lead scout, I knew the rough bearing that I wanted to go on and the compa.s.s supplied an instant reference. As the patrol commander, with the scout out in front of me, I could also give an immediate indication of direction if required.