IPNET- CNA +++ELF TRANSMIT+++
Routing: Pcom (01.121.01.225.12) Idaho; sched (fox) Icept B-19 (01.121.01.184.07)
subject: Snake Eaters
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Lorne,
I have read your reports about rumored US Army SO teams. This is what we have from other teams:
1- US-SO teams appear to use freeze technology similar to Morrow technology.
2- They are heavily armed, but often lack civilian resources.
3- No US-SO teams appear to have been frozen with vehicles.
4- Their intelligence was very good. One reported contact claims that US-SO team were triggered to wake on Morrow activation signal.
5- Morrow Security was tracking several "leaks" before the war, but the presence of "Snake Eaters" suggests that Morrow security was breached, possibly more than once and by more than one group.
6- US-SO teams appear to be recruited from military personal suffering from readaption syndrome. Readaption syndrome occurs when military personnel are demobilized without preparation for the civilian world. Highly successful military personnel use to a rigid life style find it difficult to survive in the "chaotic" civilian world. This is worse when family members / loved ones are not present to cushion the blow. The project avoided bringing in many of these types due to issues with violent behavior and delusional world view that affects roughly twenty percent of all people who suffer from readaption syndrome.
7- In relation to (6) above, "Snake Eater" teams seem to follow two patterns. When well led and given a new goal and mission, they become professional and capable, in two cases cooperating with project teams. In at least one case (possibly two), poor leadership caused teams to take on "warlord" models. The first case is extant, with no assets in place to deal with. The second case is historical and apocryphal, and ended when farmers hunted down and hung most of the team.
As to the names you sent me, I do not know any of them, but in my day SF and other SO units had around thirty thousand people, of which about ten thousand were combat operatives. I never served outside of the 7th. Just to let you know, one of the latest reports does contain a name I knew. He was an ass (cheated at poker), but he was a very capable person.
Your worries about facing SO types are justified, but you shouldn't panic. SO types are well trained, and usually well motivated. They also suffer from the "any things possible" delusion. A friend of mine, a UDT type in a Navy SEAL unit, died of hypothermia on Mount Washington in New Hampshire. He was caught in a rain storm, but decided to continue to the top. He was found two days later, in an dugout shelter less than a mile from the summit. If he had built that shelter when he got wet, or better yet, walked back to the parking lot, he would still be alive today.
The best thing you can do if facing SO types is look at their leader. A glory hound type can waste an SO team, and is easily manipulated. Several SO teams were destroyed in Vietnam because their leaders charged into poorly recced situations without thought of mission. Under a good commander though, an SO team is capable of almost anything. Your best bet is to lay your cards out on the table, and bet that the US Government picked a good commander for the team. Remember that the SO team is probably scared, unsure of their situation, and looking for a way to make sense of what has happened, just like most Morrow teams. Inviting the SO team to dinner may be your best move.
Consider this a Morrow order though. DO NOT LIE ABOUT THE PROJECT. Their is no point now, and if we ever want these people to work with us, we have to be truthful. I have kicked several teams butts for playing the "we priests of the Rhienmetal god" stick. In the long term, we can only loose if we get a reputation for dealing from under the deck.
Off the subject, make sure you say hi to Sandy for me. Also, remember that joke you told me: the day is long, Jack has a big nose, and the cow is in the kitchen. I understand the punch line now, its on Page 80.
BTW- good luck, hope to hear from you again.
M-
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