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when the dreaded code came over the radio... the army was requesting our assistance.
Now in a disaster nobody gives a hoot, kind of expected... but this was not the case
This was the second or third shoot out between Federal Agents and the Arellano Felix Cartel... and the Feds were outgunned so they asked for military aide... and the army complied, no Posse to stop this. In mexico there is no Possee
We arrived on scene and closing one side was a Mexican Army Humvee with the obligatory 50 cal HMG on top, manned by a trooper in full kit.
The other side of the boulevard had the same.
In the middle there was roughly a company of combat troops, with a couple M-113, or Bradleys, one of them serving as a command vehicle. IN the middle of this mess was one of my rigs, manned by a very YOUNG crew, who got a talk that day about the Rules of Land Warfare and the Geneva Convention and how easy it is to loose neutrality, did I mention lit like a christmas tree? Yep, lights going... NICE... and every trooper around away from the nice, shiny target. Yes, the times that cold shivers run down your damn back.
On board my young EMTs had an Army Lt... in full kit, and fully armed with both a FAL Assault Riffle (5.56x45 standard Nato rounds, and 1911 .45). Suffice it to say that my first action before we did anything else was disarming this young Lt... not that we were neutral any longer. After that we transfered to my rig for transport, put a traction splint O2, started IV and the rest of that jazz, while we started to move. I heard a zing by my ear, and never in my widest dreams did I think a thing about that... just that I felt the sweat and could smell the fear... oh and protocols in those situations revert to combat medicine... do what you can.. mostly.
When all was said and done my partner and I were shot on the way out of that scene... as we were no longer neutral... and the bullet passed scarcely centimeters from my O2 regulator and ME... yes, that close. As we aproached the army base I told my partner, to get the lights going, we went out in silent response with all internal lights off, since NOBODY, and I mean NOBODY had any idea if there were kill zones anywhere. So he turned the lights on, just as the troops were locking and loading to defend their post... scary shit I tell you.
That was the third shootout in that many weeks. The first we transported the wife of a cartel head... her son died in that one...
The second we transported cops to local trauma center, shot with high powered weapons.
I knew then that things had come to a head.
So I was talking to a cop I know here in San Diego and he described how the violence is increasing and how they have had some fun shootouts with the same folks in the southern part of the county. It sounds like Tijuana ten years ago... and yes, President Calderon may want to tell whatever he wants to tell us... the war was lost ten years ago... in my judgment. And that violence is now moving north.
Oh and the fun part of this story, swear to god the Marines got mobilized to the border, the border patrol was proof positive there had been a coup when they saw that much military grade hardware moving... on the other side of la cerca... fun, to 'splain to a young Marine Officer that no, there was no coup... just a major shooting that involved the army. Remember, ten years ago NORCOM did NOT exist. Perhaps it is time to reach for the tinfoil hat...
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