Davis was an outstanding logistics sergeant, efficient, organized, and to the point. In under two minutes, she explained the purpose of her visit.
It was just as Long Zhan had suspected.
Davis was there to deliver the Bravo Team foreign aid orders, and surprisingly, there wasn't just one spot, both Long Zhan and Clay had been selected.
Long Zhan earned his place through sheer overwhelming skill, dominating the other trainees.Clay, on the other hand, relied on a bit of luck to get in. This mission happened to need an Urdu speaker, and coincidentally, the only person in the entire base that fit the bill right now was Clay!Bravo Team’s mission deadline was already very tight, they had no time to wait for Green Team’s assessments to end and select the foreign aid they needed. They had to fly out at dawn tomorrow, leaving them with no time to hunt for another Tier 1 operator fluent in Urdu.
Despite the circumstances however, Long Zhan's individual prowess was too exceptional, too good for Bravo Team's commander to pass up.
To find a win-win solution, the Bravo Team commander made a snap decision, requesting the squadron commander to expand the foreign aid spots to two.
Thus, Long Zhan and Clay both became foreign aids for Bravo Team's mission.
After understanding the full story, Long Zhan couldn't help but inwardly grumble, "This has to be the legendary 'side character halo' in action."
Of course, complaints aside, Long Zhan was genuinely thrilled that Clay had made the cut alongside him.
Sure, Clay was a bit of a lone wolf, driven by an intensely competitive nature that had him constantly measuring himself up against Long Zhan.
But at his core, he wasn’t a bad guy, he was just burdened by his father's tarnished reputation, making him desperate to prove himself.
That overwhelming pressure he put on himself forced him into becoming a lone wolf, pushing himself to the brink just to keep up to his own standards.
Long Zhan believed that once Clay broke through his mental barriers, he'd grow into an outstanding Tier 1 operator, just like in the original TV show.
And for his own future, he’d need a partner. Clay was the perfect choice.
...
Clay had all but given up hope on the foreign aid spot after hearing about Long Zhan's perfect assessment score.But now, out of nowhere, an opportunity fell right into his lap. Not only did he get selected, but he'd be executing the mission alongside Long Zhan.
Upon hearing the great news, Clay nearly jumped for joy and planted a couple of kisses on his buddy Brian.
As one of Green Team's "Three Musketeers," Brian was the only one left out, and though it stung a bit, he still offered his congratulations.
Long Zhan and Clay didn't console Brian, guys didn't need that sappy stuff.
They just made plans with him. Once the mission was done and they were back, they'd hit the bar for a big night out and help him find a hot date.
"You two hurry up and change and follow me to the conference room."
"We get to attend the meeting?"
Long Zhan and Clay were both stunned by Logistics Sergeant Davis's words. Normally, trainee reinforcements like them weren't allowed in meetings.
They'd just get a file packet in advance, hole up somewhere to study it, and show up at the appointed time to depart.
"You should thank Jason."
Davis pursed her full, sensual lips as she revealed the reason, then added a reminder: "Time's short, you've got one minute."
"Thirty seconds is plenty."
Being able to participate in the Tier 1 official team member's action meeting was a valuable learning opportunity, and Long Zhan was thrilled.
Before he'd finished speaking, he turned and rushed back to the dormitory like a gust of wind.
"I only need 20 seconds. I'm going to beat you this time!"
Clay, even more excited than Long Zhan, challenged him as usual, shouting as he ran back to the dormitory.
Brian, speechless, watched the two men's departure with envy.
7:00 PM sharp!
Led by Davis, Long Zhan and Clay rode the elevator of the headquarters building for the first time in their lives. They stopped at the third floor, accessible only to official team members.
As they made their way down the hallway to the meeting room, Long Zhan and Clay became more and more curious.
After a quick glance, Long Zhan confirmed by the Velcro pattern on his shirt that the entire third floor belonged to Red Team.
The vast building was divided into several areas, each with a similar structure.
Long Zhan guessed that each area corresponded to a squadron, designated for the full-time members of that squadron in order to prevent confusion between the teams.
From the various signs on the doors, and through his humble consultations with the "local boss" Davis, Long Zhan got a rough idea of DEVGRU, a group that had never been officially revealed and was arguably the most mysterious organization in the world.
The headquarters building functioned like an office building, prohibiting any training.
However, all matters other than training operations were centralized there, including the DEVGRU command center, which was connected to its own spy satellite.
DEVGRU's organizational structure and command structure were completely different from those of the Navy SEALs.
From top to bottom, it went, battalion, squadron, assault group, and squad.
Although senior chief petty officers were numerous, with many boasting over a decade of service at the E6 level, the group was organized at the battalion level.
The group commander was a Lieutenant Commander (O5), assisted by a Chief Petty Officer (E9).
Under these are seven squadrons: Red, Blue, Gold, Silver, Black, Gray, and Green. Each is equivalent to a company-level unit, commanded by a Major (O4). Each squadron consists of six squads, ranging from Platoon A to Platoon F.
Because each of the six squads is led by at least a senior Master Sergeant (E8), the squadrons do not have a Sergeant Major supporting them.
The Operations Groups (OGs) within a squadron are somewhat unique, somewhat similar to a conventional platoon.Within each squadron, Teams A, B, C, D, E, and F are each combined into an Operations Group, with one Squad performing the assault mission and the other providing cover and support.
This two-squad collaboration, operating in pairs, was similar to the role of a shooter and a support in video games.
Each OG is also commanded by an O3 officer, a Captain, who coordinates the two squads.
The lowest-level Squad has no officers and is led by at least a Senior Master Sergeant (E8).
A squad has a full complement of eight members. The captain and logistics sergeant are permanent and require dedicated personnel to fill these roles.
Other roles include the deputy captain, demolitionist, sniper, intelligence sergeant, platoon leader, medical officer, and fire team member.
These roles are relatively flexible, limited by the number of personnel in each squad, and all members must simultaneously perform two or even three roles.
Each combat operation requires at least four personnel to form an effective operational team.
For larger operations requiring the entire squad, temporary reinforcements are often called in when the squad is understaffed.
This time, Team B, known as Bravo Team, was short on personnel, so they were recruiting reinforcements from Green Team.
Long Zhan, having gained a basic understanding of DEVGRU’s structure and how it operated, finally entered the Bravo Team meeting room.
The room was already packed, so the arrival of Long Zhan and Clay immediately made them the center of attention.
The other men stared at him with admiration, scrutiny, amusement, and even doubt, but Long Zhan faced it all calmly.
Only the gaze coming from the front of the conference table made Long Zhan feel embarrassed and amused for a moment.
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