Marine Corps Stories: Land Navigation

Major Donna Coe studied her land navigation routes in an office hastily constructed. Expertly, she planned the routes for her junior Marines to traverse some rough territory in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She plotted every point of their journey with the help of satellites.

Captain Dennett Massey walked up to Donna.

“Hey, you know this is the biggest joke against officers, right?”

He swiveled around in his chair.

“I figured as much. I know the instructors at Quantico laughed at us for not being able to consider the land nav’ and they screamed in our ears for mistakes. So it doesn’t surprise me at all,” Donna said.

Massey got up and grabbed an energy drink from the desk next to Donna’s.

“That’s my last one,” she said. Massey put down the beverage, crumpled some paper, and threw it in the wastebasket.

“I would make the gunnies do all of this,” he said.

Donna didn’t take her eye off the navigation tool. “I’ve already got the gunnies and the first sergeants stretched. And the junior Marines are still vigilant….” Her eyes darted across the screen. She sent messages regarding potential hotspots where insurgents could attack the vehicles reaching a village. “...Throughout this campaign. Now, shut up. I’m busy.”

Massey put his hands in the air. “Okay. I throw in the towel.”

Donna focused on her task. Massey left the trailer. Donna opened her energy drink and took a swig.

Massey came running back. “We’re going outside the wire. The XO just said.” Donna grabbed her kevlar and ran outside.

“When I was at New Sweden University in Delaware, I knew I’d be an officer in battle leading Marines,” Massey said.

“Just make sure you keep your eyes and ears open. We’ve got Marines in hostile territory, and we’re going outside the line.”

“I told you, Donna.”

“But you didn’t believe it until I just said it.”

The two officers entered a round, explosive-resistant vehicle. The driver was Staff Sergeant Moses Kepp.

“Good afternoon Ma’am, Sir.”

“Good afternoon, Staff Sergeant Kepp. “When’s Mae supposed to pop?”

“She’s got three weeks the doctors say.”

“She’ll be just fine.”

“Thanks, ma’am.”

The vehicle rumbled out of the confines of the base. Donna still focused on the navigation device. She entered the correct coordinates to guide Marines through the snares in their path.

“It shows they just hit a roadside bomb, but it did little damage thanks to the vehicle’s armor,” Massey said. “Looks like the nav’ device can’t pick up on every IED.”

“Yes, but it can tell the driver to take the path with the fewest bombs and ambush sites.” She said.

Massey was mum.

The vehicle arrived at a home in Jeddah. The major and the captain met up with a woman named Ameera. She knew about routes the navigation system didn’t even register. Major Coe spoke Arabic, and sat on a carpet with the middle aged woman. Sand swirled up against a blue tiled wall. When Donna and Ameera finished talking, Massey asked, “How do you know she wasn’t bullshitting you?”

“She pointed out exact locations that could be hot. This,” she held up the device, “reroutes the convoy.”

Donna, Massey, and Coe all traveled over the best terrain. They traveled to where the convoy had started. Once they’d cleared a point, a roadside bomb lifted the vehicle. No injuries or negative impact, just ringing ears brought the officers and the SNCO to take positive control of their weapons. They snapped to and made life difficult for the insurgents after the blast.

All three Marines looked up from the dust. They checked to see if everyone else was okay. No one had time for a scratch.

“I guess the land nav’ device can’t get them all, and the woman wasn’t much help either.”

“I guess not,” Donna said.