Alice2015
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Sergeant Caroline Edwards and Corporal Phil "Fish" Spahn
0300 hours local time, 30 minutes after TLWO
Sunday, 19 January 2025
Oregon Army National Guard Station, Springfield (OANGS-Springfield)
Springfield, Oregon:
(Caroline's first/last post here; continuing from Spahn's last post here.)
.................
Caroline Edwards had spent the last hour directing her troops in a series of small tasks, some of them part of the established blackout procedures, some just common-sense housekeeping. She had slow burning but brightly lit petroleum fuel fires started in dozens of empty ammo containers all around the station. Other than the light of the quarter moon, it was all the illumination they had.
She kept telling herself that their CO, Lieutenant Caldwell, would arrive any minute to take command, and yet an hour has passed without sign of him. All forms of electronic communication were still down: radios, cell phones, internet and computers in general. They were very much isolated without any way of connecting to their higher ups or their troops who weren't now on weekend duty but would be required to report in the case of an emergency, which this blackout could possibly become.
"Pass the word," she told her junior Non-Comm, Corporal Phil Spahn. "I want two men at the gate and two on the roof providing overwatch. I want them carrying rifles and sidearms but not loaded. Clips on their hips." That was just a cute saying, of course, as magazines were typically in pockets on flak jackets. "Everyone else to the armory."
Five minutes later, in the lamp-lit armory, she counted the last soldier hurrying into the armory; including Caroline, Corporal Spahn, the two soldiers at the gate, and the two on the roof, there were 15 soldiers in all. Most of them were weekend warrior types, men and women putting in their one weekend a month. It was Sunday morning, which meant that under normal circumstances at noon they would have departed to return to their families and their civilian jobs.
A few of them, like Caroline herself, were active-duty Army personnel. OANGS-Springfield was her permanent duty station, where she had two primary jobs. She was the Station's Senior Non-Comm Administrator during the week, taking care of the location's operation, from paying the bills to restocking the commissary. On weekends, she trained the weekend warriors in handling and maintenance of small arms; pistols, rifles, and shotguns had been a passion of Caroline's since she was a young girl, long before she'd joined the Army.
"Our first priority is the protection of the Station, particularly this Armory," she reminded them. She recapped the argument she'd been making for years that OANGS-Springfield was not as well guarded as it should be, considering the number of arms and ammunition they kept on the grounds. "We're all very aware of the internal political instability this country has been facing for the last few years, and the threat that anti-government groups pose."
Specifically, Caroline was talking about the many armed militia that existed throughout the country and even here in Oregon. The serious political and social divides that were growing wider with every passing year frightened Caroline. It seemed as if every aspect of American life was now black and white with no gray remaining. This would have been bad enough, but the number of gun toting nuts who thought they had the right to support their side of things through force was terrifying.
"This Command has a priority list as you all know," Caroline continued. "What we are tasked with doing in the case of possible civilian unrest is determined by the number of personnel we have available. Right now, including those on guard duty, we had just 15 people available. That means we are reduced to just two assignments: the protection of this Station, and the protection of the grocery across the street."
"The grocery?" one of her soldiers asked in surprise. "Why?"
"Because it will be one of the first buildings to fall prey to looters," Caroline explained. "It is our task to prevent that."
"Permission to speak freely, Sergeant," one of the soldiers asked.
Caroline knew better than to do that, of course, and instead moved on, giving specific directions on what arms, ammo, and armor they were supposed to equip themselves with. She pointed to specific individuals, giving them specific duties. When she was done, she asked, "Any questions?"
There was silence, leading Caroline to draw a deep breath, release it slowly, then say, "Speak freely."
The group erupted, with some of the soldiers saying that this was crazy, that they should all just go home, that they should let the store be looted, and more. Caroline let the mayhem go on a couple of minutes before calling them all quiet. "This is your job. This is your duty. You are United States soldiers, and you will follow your orders."
She got her share of dirty looks, but Caroline knew these people, and she believed that they would do as they were ordered. Wouldn't they? To help alleviate any doubts she had, Caroline offered, "Okay, so, I don't have to do this, but I'll make you all deal. Do your duty tonight, and tomorrow at noon, when your weekend duty is scheduled to be over, if we haven't gotten any orders to the contrary, anyone who wants to leave can."
She looked to each of the soldiers, trying to gauge their feelings. Before anyone could respond verbally, though, she ordered, "Okay, get to it."
As directed, the soldiers headed out. The most skilled sniper and a spotter went to the roof to replace the two soldiers there, sending them down to get orders from their Sergeant. The two soldiers at the gate were switched out, with the pair there joining Caroline to hear what they'd missed. A pair of soldiers began perimeter patrols, and one final pair stayed inside the armory, the protection of which Caroline had stressed was their primary task.
That left Caroline and six remaining soldiers to protect the Grocery King. The six divided into pairs, with one pair going left, another going right, and the third -- with Caroline -- going down the middle. The only reason she'd split them up was that even from just outside the Station's gate, they could already hear people trying to break through the grocery store's heavy steel grating. Nearing the men -- they discovered four of them -- Caroline called out Army National Guard, then commanded the men to leave the area. One of the men immediately ran off, while two others just stood there looking startled.
The fourth man, though, pulled a pistol waved it around, spit out some threats, and then took a shot in Caroline's general direction. Caroline had given instructions that no one fired on civilians without her permission; to better ensure that they followed this instruction, none of them had been allowed to chamber a round. She didn't like sending her soldiers into potential harm without the ability to protect themselves, but Caroline had seen situations like this go horribly bad overseas.
"Drop the gun or we'll open fire!" she called to the man. When he fired another shot in her general direction, Caroline pointed her rifle high toward the cinderblock wall of the grocery and let loose with a dozen rounds on automatic fire. The man practically tossed the gun through the air as he dropped to his knees. She hollered, "On your belly! Down, down."
The three men did as ordered, and from all sides the soldiers closed in and took control of them. They zip tied their hands, and two soldiers took them back to the station to be locked up in the brig. After that, Caroline's troops set up a secured post in front of the store and established patrols around it.
By the time they'd finished, there were other neighbors coming out, either to see what was happening or to perform their own looting. Caroline made it clear that no one was to approach the grocery until sunup. There were plenty of firearms amongst the gathering neighbors, but Caroline was delighted to learn that none of them had it in them to open fire on United States soldiers who themselves were armed, more heavily so.
The rest of the neighborhood wouldn't fair as well as the Grocery King. From where they set up, the soldiers saw looting and destruction within their view. Caroline ordered her people to stay out of it. "We don't have enough people to save the entire neighborhood."
There were some exchanges of gunfire between other combatants, though, when looters were confronted by gun toting residents of the neighborhood. Again, Caroline ordered the soldiers to stay out of it. "Local law enforcement'll take care of it."
0300 hours local time, 30 minutes after TLWO
Sunday, 19 January 2025
Oregon Army National Guard Station, Springfield (OANGS-Springfield)
Springfield, Oregon:
(Caroline's first/last post here; continuing from Spahn's last post here.)
.................
Caroline Edwards had spent the last hour directing her troops in a series of small tasks, some of them part of the established blackout procedures, some just common-sense housekeeping. She had slow burning but brightly lit petroleum fuel fires started in dozens of empty ammo containers all around the station. Other than the light of the quarter moon, it was all the illumination they had.
She kept telling herself that their CO, Lieutenant Caldwell, would arrive any minute to take command, and yet an hour has passed without sign of him. All forms of electronic communication were still down: radios, cell phones, internet and computers in general. They were very much isolated without any way of connecting to their higher ups or their troops who weren't now on weekend duty but would be required to report in the case of an emergency, which this blackout could possibly become.
"Pass the word," she told her junior Non-Comm, Corporal Phil Spahn. "I want two men at the gate and two on the roof providing overwatch. I want them carrying rifles and sidearms but not loaded. Clips on their hips." That was just a cute saying, of course, as magazines were typically in pockets on flak jackets. "Everyone else to the armory."
Five minutes later, in the lamp-lit armory, she counted the last soldier hurrying into the armory; including Caroline, Corporal Spahn, the two soldiers at the gate, and the two on the roof, there were 15 soldiers in all. Most of them were weekend warrior types, men and women putting in their one weekend a month. It was Sunday morning, which meant that under normal circumstances at noon they would have departed to return to their families and their civilian jobs.
A few of them, like Caroline herself, were active-duty Army personnel. OANGS-Springfield was her permanent duty station, where she had two primary jobs. She was the Station's Senior Non-Comm Administrator during the week, taking care of the location's operation, from paying the bills to restocking the commissary. On weekends, she trained the weekend warriors in handling and maintenance of small arms; pistols, rifles, and shotguns had been a passion of Caroline's since she was a young girl, long before she'd joined the Army.
"Our first priority is the protection of the Station, particularly this Armory," she reminded them. She recapped the argument she'd been making for years that OANGS-Springfield was not as well guarded as it should be, considering the number of arms and ammunition they kept on the grounds. "We're all very aware of the internal political instability this country has been facing for the last few years, and the threat that anti-government groups pose."
Specifically, Caroline was talking about the many armed militia that existed throughout the country and even here in Oregon. The serious political and social divides that were growing wider with every passing year frightened Caroline. It seemed as if every aspect of American life was now black and white with no gray remaining. This would have been bad enough, but the number of gun toting nuts who thought they had the right to support their side of things through force was terrifying.
"This Command has a priority list as you all know," Caroline continued. "What we are tasked with doing in the case of possible civilian unrest is determined by the number of personnel we have available. Right now, including those on guard duty, we had just 15 people available. That means we are reduced to just two assignments: the protection of this Station, and the protection of the grocery across the street."
"The grocery?" one of her soldiers asked in surprise. "Why?"
"Because it will be one of the first buildings to fall prey to looters," Caroline explained. "It is our task to prevent that."
"Permission to speak freely, Sergeant," one of the soldiers asked.
Caroline knew better than to do that, of course, and instead moved on, giving specific directions on what arms, ammo, and armor they were supposed to equip themselves with. She pointed to specific individuals, giving them specific duties. When she was done, she asked, "Any questions?"
There was silence, leading Caroline to draw a deep breath, release it slowly, then say, "Speak freely."
The group erupted, with some of the soldiers saying that this was crazy, that they should all just go home, that they should let the store be looted, and more. Caroline let the mayhem go on a couple of minutes before calling them all quiet. "This is your job. This is your duty. You are United States soldiers, and you will follow your orders."
She got her share of dirty looks, but Caroline knew these people, and she believed that they would do as they were ordered. Wouldn't they? To help alleviate any doubts she had, Caroline offered, "Okay, so, I don't have to do this, but I'll make you all deal. Do your duty tonight, and tomorrow at noon, when your weekend duty is scheduled to be over, if we haven't gotten any orders to the contrary, anyone who wants to leave can."
She looked to each of the soldiers, trying to gauge their feelings. Before anyone could respond verbally, though, she ordered, "Okay, get to it."
As directed, the soldiers headed out. The most skilled sniper and a spotter went to the roof to replace the two soldiers there, sending them down to get orders from their Sergeant. The two soldiers at the gate were switched out, with the pair there joining Caroline to hear what they'd missed. A pair of soldiers began perimeter patrols, and one final pair stayed inside the armory, the protection of which Caroline had stressed was their primary task.
That left Caroline and six remaining soldiers to protect the Grocery King. The six divided into pairs, with one pair going left, another going right, and the third -- with Caroline -- going down the middle. The only reason she'd split them up was that even from just outside the Station's gate, they could already hear people trying to break through the grocery store's heavy steel grating. Nearing the men -- they discovered four of them -- Caroline called out Army National Guard, then commanded the men to leave the area. One of the men immediately ran off, while two others just stood there looking startled.
The fourth man, though, pulled a pistol waved it around, spit out some threats, and then took a shot in Caroline's general direction. Caroline had given instructions that no one fired on civilians without her permission; to better ensure that they followed this instruction, none of them had been allowed to chamber a round. She didn't like sending her soldiers into potential harm without the ability to protect themselves, but Caroline had seen situations like this go horribly bad overseas.
"Drop the gun or we'll open fire!" she called to the man. When he fired another shot in her general direction, Caroline pointed her rifle high toward the cinderblock wall of the grocery and let loose with a dozen rounds on automatic fire. The man practically tossed the gun through the air as he dropped to his knees. She hollered, "On your belly! Down, down."
The three men did as ordered, and from all sides the soldiers closed in and took control of them. They zip tied their hands, and two soldiers took them back to the station to be locked up in the brig. After that, Caroline's troops set up a secured post in front of the store and established patrols around it.
By the time they'd finished, there were other neighbors coming out, either to see what was happening or to perform their own looting. Caroline made it clear that no one was to approach the grocery until sunup. There were plenty of firearms amongst the gathering neighbors, but Caroline was delighted to learn that none of them had it in them to open fire on United States soldiers who themselves were armed, more heavily so.
The rest of the neighborhood wouldn't fair as well as the Grocery King. From where they set up, the soldiers saw looting and destruction within their view. Caroline ordered her people to stay out of it. "We don't have enough people to save the entire neighborhood."
There were some exchanges of gunfire between other combatants, though, when looters were confronted by gun toting residents of the neighborhood. Again, Caroline ordered the soldiers to stay out of it. "Local law enforcement'll take care of it."
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