My next mission was an easy one.

I am now good at killing the enemy.

I just do what I am trained to get done.

I have a very natural killing ability.

Captain hands me a top-secret folder.

I am told to read on the plane.

I place my gear over my shoulder.

I am off to kill another enemy, again.

I jump out the door of the plane.

I floated out in the night sky.

I glide silently to the jungle floor.

The U. S. Army Ranger will survive.

I camouflage myself from head to toe.

I recheck the picture inside the folder.

Into the dangerous jungle, I now go.

I sling my sniper rifle over my shoulder.

The enemy camp was five miles away.

It is setting in the middle of a wheat field.

The night had just started turning to day.

I will wait for nightfall to make my kill.

I climbed high up in a magnolia tree.

I waited for the moonlight to shine.

Inside the whole house, I could see.

My target was not very hard to find.

I scoped him sitting in the hall.

Someone was brushing his hair.

Then, his brain is splatter against the wall.

By a bullet traveling silently through the air.

My job has now been done.

The man slumps in his chair.

Again, I am a man on the run.

I run like hell away from there.

Chapter 1: The Special Operation's Covert Infiltration Team

Sergeant Major Walter Monroe Wilson was an extremely well decorated war hero. He was among the original armored divisions to go to Vietnam and completed four consecutive tours in Heong Nu with the 11^th Calvary. After the war, one of the generals of the rangers requested that he become a ranger. The sergeant major graduated number two in a class of sixty rangers. In 2000, he was inducted into the U. S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame with over one hundred and ninety documented kills.

Every ranger craved to be a part of the best covert operations unit in the 23^rd ranger battalion. The sergeant major's S.O.C. I.T. unit was that unit. A soldier must be requisitioned by the sergeant major to be assigned to the S.O.C. I.T. unit. This covert ops unit was a lethal collection of elite rangers that were natural born killers. Jamal had proven that he was proficient at killing the enemy. He was assigned to the sergeant major's unit because of how well he accomplished the last mission and the donation he brought back. Jamal was just doing what he was trained to do in Ranger School.

Slowly, Jamal pulled the glistening midnight blue Ford into the Special Ops parking lot. The building was on the highest hill on the base. The Army Corps of Engineers, right after Hurricane Mary, assembled the three-story building with white marble blocks. Four enormous marble columns supported the front entrance. The personnel office was placed east of the front entrance. The base hospital was built on the southside of the building. To the north was the Officers Club. From the Special Ops building, you could see most of the base.

Three months passed by before Jamal received his next mission. During this three-month period, the entire unit trained daily. Jamal was intensely trained in many different covert assassination techniques. This included the use of hand to hand combat, long range shooting, surveillance, and a host of other useful skills. Most of these skills, he learned at Fort Benning. Nevertheless, he now knew over 1001 ways to slay a person without a weapon. An U. S. Army Ranger is a very dangerous enemy to have.

The ranger was ready for this mission. As he opened the heavy metal door to the captain's office, he noticed that the sergeant major was not there. Jamal walked across the highly bluffed tile floor to the unit's glass trophy case. The captain was sitting at his large desk with his door opened. As Jamal stood looking at the grayish human organs emerged in the clear embalming liquid; the captain motioned to him to come into the office.

Captain Jab has never been one to stick to military traditions. ‘It is good to see you, Private Walker' he said as he rose from his chair and extended his hand. Captain Jab continued, ‘Tell me how do you like being in SOC IT. That unit was the brainchild of the sergeant major.' Quickly, they shook hands and Jamal sat on the leather couch in front of the desk

‘It is okay, sir,' Jamal quickly replied.

‘Well, the sergeant major has a lot of faith in you, private. You are a carbon copy of Wilson when he first became a ranger.'

‘I do not know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, Captain Jab,' Jamal said as he slowly smiled.

Captain Jab laughed loudly and stood to retrieve a top-secret folder. ‘Trust me, Walker that is the best compliment you can get. Wilson is the best ranger in the entire U. S. Army. Here is your next mission.' He handed Jamal the folder and continued, ‘Report to the base airport at 2300. There will be a cargo plane waiting for you. Good luck on this mission, private. Oh, leave the presents in the jungle,' he laughed and dismissed Jamal. Jamal quickly left the Special Ops building parking lot and headed toward the barracks. It was 1100 on Thursday, October 11, 2001 and he was free until 2300.

The time for the mission arrived before Jamal knew it. The C-47 was on the runway and the ranger loaded his gear on the plane. He had packed his chute and double-checked all his equipment before he left the barracks. As he climbed into the belly of the giant metal camouflaged plane Jamal thought to himself, ‘This will be my twenty-sixth jump.' The pilots completed the last checks and the camouflaged metal giant lifted noisily off into the midnight sky.

It was a three-hour flight to the mission location. Jamal slowly retrieved a folder from his green backpack and painstakingly read the information on the target, his location, and the planned route of departure. Two hours later, the co-pilot woke Jamal from his sleep. ‘Time to jump, soldier,' he said as he helped the ranger get his parachute and gear situated. When the gray metal door slid open, Jamal could feel the strength of the invisible wind that loudly whipped around inside the plane. Fearlessly, he jumped out of the open door and floated silently into the midnight sky.

After he pulled his white parachute cord, the ranger gently drifted down to the jungle floor. It sounds easy to do. The hardest thing to do is to jump out of a perfectly good plane. The scariest thing is to float down to the ground not knowing who might be shooting up at you. Nevertheless, Jamal just forgot about all the dangers he would face and focused on completing the mission. He is an U. S. Army Ranger. The ranger will survive.