Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the New Face of American War

by Evan Wright

In a combat zone, military convoys aren’t supposed to just aimlessly pull over. When they stop, someone is supposed to issue orders—tell the men where to orient their vehicles, their weapons, whether to turn their engines off or keep them running. All of these details are supposed to flow down from command. But right now command in Bravo Company is in a state of confusion. A few moments ago, Fick radioed Encino Man about contact with a possible RPG team. Encino Man immediately ordered everyone to pull over, without issuing any further directions. Encino Man and Casey Kasem are now huddled by Doc Bryan’s Humvee, trying to figure out what do about the RPG team. Even though Christeson is sure he wounded at least one of the guys, and his fire did push them back into a tree line, Encino Man and Casey Kasem have become obsessed with the possibility of the RPG team reappearing and attacking the company. Fick runs up to Encino Man and asks him, “What are we doing here?” Fick’s concern is that the company is spread out willy-nilly along the highway directly across from a town of about 75,000, some of whose occupants are now shooting at his Marines. Encino Man ignores him. He and Casey Kasem are poring over a map, studying coordinates to call in an artillery strike on the suspected position of the suspected RPG team. Doc Bryan is growing alarmed. “Sir, I don’t like this,” he says to Fick. Nodding toward Encino Man and Casey Kasem, he adds, “When those two put their heads together it...

...n. They see no enemy where Encino Man is trying to call in the fire mission, and on top of this, they are taking fire, but it's coming from the other side of the road. Doc Bryan can't stand it any longer. He runs up to Encino Man and shouts, "You can't do this. That's a danger-close strike." "What's 'danger-close'?" Encino Man asks. Lovell, a few meters away, cites from a military manual he keeps in his Humvee. "Danger close is an artillery strike within six hundred meters of friendly forces." "You dumb motherfucker," one of the enlisted men shouts. "The most boot-fucking marine knows danger close!" Fick grabs the radio headset from Encino Man in an attempt to stop him from calling in the strike. Gunny Wynn now tries to intercede. "Sir, this is fucked up. Let's forget about the fire mission and get the platoons in a defensive perimeter. Then we can worry about the RPG team." One thing about Encino Man is that he's stubborn. Having lost face in front of the men, he digs in deeper. He takes the headset back from Fick and attempts to call in the strike. But it never happens. There are protocols for calling in a Marine artillery strike, and Encino Man, it turns out, doesn't know them. When the officer on the end of the line receives Encino Man's refused request, he turns it down. "For once," Doc Bryan observes, "we were saved by the man's incompetence."