[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by darthfanta

A company sized unit isn't too large. Besides, they could have had the company wait outside camp no before Rabbitfoot gets out without letting them in. The area was just a part of the Guantanamo Naval base. There's no way the guards would assume that Camp No was anything special.

*shrug* I think we'll have to agree to disagree here, given that a full accounting of what is or is not available for escort is never going to fall into our hands. And again, from what we see, it appears that Camp No relied primarily on secrecy - having additional guards to escort Rabbitfoot runs the risk of compromising that secrecy. The more people in the know, the greater the chance the secret gets out.

Admittedly, if that secrecy is compromised, then whatever light forces available can be overwhelmed by an attacker who knows exactly what she is facing, and has planned accordingly. Which is exactly what happened here.

From what I have been told by my friends who are in the military, and from what reading I have done, having a company-sized unit to escort a single person is overkill, particularly given that the package is moving inside a US Navy base, and that any attackers would first need to penetrate the base's security cordon.

(Yes, yes, I am quite aware that a skilled special forces team can infiltrate secured facilities like Camp No; cf Red Cell, and that Lehm-tachi did exactly that.)

Originally Posted by darthfanta

Either they weren't close enough or the guards they assigned were just too weak. I suspect the later, and whoever planned the whole transport is just stupid.
1. There just wasn't enough troops to hold off the attackers long enough to make an ambush succeed.

In all fairness, the guards appear to be either Marine MPs or Navy SPs/MAAs (I can't really tell, as the coloration of AOR 1 and Desert MARPAT is a bit too similar for my tastes). Their paradigm would be more towards securing the prisoner and ensuring no escapes, with external attack next on the list.

Also, Night Nine's CO may have wanted to have some distance between his platoon, the friendlies, and Koko's team, so as not to get friendlies in the crossfire. SEALs as a general rule view other members of the US Armed Forces as relatives - you may not like them very much, but you'd rather not they get shot.

The most likely reason, however, is just plain physics/drama - it took that long for Night Nine to reach the attack site, and then to pursue Koko's team.

Originally Posted by darthfanta

2. Fine, you want secrecy, at the very least, send another special forces team to make the escort. Deploy another SEAL team, the Delta Forces, Green Berets, whatever.

Firstly, that presupposes that another SOCOM asset is available. Remember that USSOCOM is tasked worldwide, and that there is a demand everywhere. Also, the more boots on ground, the more you risk information leaks reaching Koko - notice how the appearance of Night Nine caught her team offguard: They were expecting pursuit, but did not expect a SEAL platoon to be chasing them.

Also, you need the right tools for the right job. Delta specialise in surgical strikes, hit and fade raids and blending into the locals: notice how Koko's team performs two outta three, thanks to Lehm's influence. Green Berets are oriented towards hearts and minds, teaching and mentoring: a Green Beret is a warrior teacher, who works with locals to train them to fight the enemy; he can do direct action, but it's not his specialty. Rangers are just light infantry with a bit of SF lite skillset.

The SEALs are the best option for this situation, being a force specialised for direct action in all theaters, and trained to react quickly to changes and adapt to an ever-changing situation. (The fact that the Navy gets to handle this in-house, without involving the Army, is a further bonus). The problem with this is that the SEALs are always in demand; while theoretically the 8 active SEAL Teams have their own Area of Responsibility, in practice they're being parceled out wherever they're needed. No SEAL Team has, as far as I know, deployed as a single team in recent history, but as platoons to designated AORs. It's not unheard of for a SEAL platoon to be split even further to handle AORs on opposite ends of the earth. From what reading I've done, it's rare for more than one SEAL platoon to be in one AOR in the first place.

Only SEAL Team Six, as far as I know, has deployed in large numbers, for Operation Neptune Spear. And even that was an unusual case.

Originally Posted by darthfanta

3. Use a helicopter to transport her, for God's sake--the safest way possible. They can't get her unless they shoot down the helicopter, which they wouldn't do since it might endanger Rabbitfoot as well.

Firstly, the use of a helicopter for internal transport within the base is problematic, as you can't just land a helo anywhere it's physically possible to land - you have all sorts of issues with patrols, flight paths, landing clearance - all of which adds to a paper trail, and more questions raised. Which is what you don't want if your Camp doesn't officially exist, and is reliant on secrecy to protect itself.

Secondly, given the extremely bad weather - a tropical storm with high winds, and rain so strong it throws off aim - I personally doubt that a helicopter would be able to take off. Note how Lehm has them exfil on foot, instead of the Little Birds they used for the Baburin job. Also, note that when the Predator is shot down, they can't launch the backup Reaper due to the weather.

The NSA officer who commanded this operation was too short sighted to realize that the success of the operation isn't the annihilation of Koko's team, but making sure that Rabbitfoot doesn't fall into their hands. It's useless to annihilate Koko's team since she can always rebuild one. If they lose Rabbitfoot, it's game-over. He took an unnecessary risk by trying to ambush Koko's team by using Rabbitfoot as a bait.

I agree to an extent, though I should also point out that it's implied that Palme is an ambitious and talented officer, and that he's trying for a win that will give a boost to his career. It does have some merit: He neutralises the kidnap attempt on Rabbitfoot, and annihalating Koko's team will force a delay while she rebuilds, which allows time more options to be pursued. To Palme, who wasn't expecting armed HCLI drones or Dr. Miami's quantum computer fucking with the GPS and maps, this would have appeared as a reasonably risky plan with proportionate rewards. (As a real world example of this thinking, look no further than Operation Gothic Serpent, which did achieve its tactical objectives, before everything went off the rails.)

Remember, Night Nine came within inches of killing Koko's team, despite the loss of the Predator's intel, GPS being jammed and the tactical datalink being hacked. They outgunned, outnumbered and outmatched Koko's team, and it was only her cheating that saved her team.

Of course, as they say in special forces, if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.