Operation Constitution

[J.Hyde]

Drivindeath

With the food shortage still being felt, the kids were more interested in the food than they were in the football. Upon being given an MRE pack, they all eagerly began rummaging through the contents and hungrily eating everything they knew was easily edible straight out of the bag. Some were so hungry that they even decided to eat the more messy items that required a plate or bowl, such as the soup or sausage and bean packets, without even heating them. It didn't matter that the food was cold, what mattered is that there was food of any description to eat. As the food began to vanish down hungry throats, some reached the fruit-flavoured drink powder packets and swiftly tore them open so they could pour the contents into their mouths, oblivious to the fact that the powders needed to be added to water for usage.

As a result, some ended up choking or coughing slightly on the strong-tasting powder, causing them to exhale massive clouds of coloured dust in surprise. Those who were slower to eat were more than happy to laugh and chuckle at the misfortune of their peers, while some took it as a hint that the powder was actually a toy, and began trying to open their packets up to join in the fun.

 

[Drivindeath]

The soldiers would laugh at how happy the kids were and the fun they were having. The soldier that gave the kids the food, grabbed a plastic bag that came out of one of the bags and filled it with water from his canteen and showed it to the kids as a gesture to let them fill their bags with water. He would give that bag of water to one of the kids. The rest of the soldiers joined in filling their bags until all their canteens ran dry. They would smile at the deed that they have done before saying goodbye and carrying on with their patrol route.

J.Hyde

 

[J.Hyde]

Drivindeath

The kids were amazed at how clear and sparkling the water coming from the soldiers canteens were. Most of the water they had been forced to drink throughout their lives was normally infested with floating bits of human excrement and raw sewage, and was normally the colour of rust and opaque. This water was transparent and didn't have any foreign objects floating in it. Some of the children took a moment to dip their fingers in the clean water and swirl it round to confirm that it was water, some even brought their wet fingers to their lips and suckled, just to experience what proper clean water without any additives, like the fruit flavoured powder, tasted like. They then added the fruit powder and ravenously guzzled down the fruity concoction, for one in their lives they were confident that they weren't going to suffer from horrific diarrhoea due to the waterborne diseases that lurked in the water they usually had to survive on.

Before the soldiers left, one child took the opportunity to hug the leg of the soldier who'd stopped to hand out MRE's before bidding them goodbye and taking the opportunity to play with the football they had been given.

 

[Drivindeath]

Patrols would change out and orders from higher came down:

"1-1 Alpha this is !-X-ray, OVER."

"1-X-ray this is 1-1 Alpha, OVER."

"1-1- Alpha, you are tasked with taking a mounted patrol through the City Centre, BREAK, you are to scan sectors and located the local Police Headquarters, BREAK, from there locate whomever is in charge and begin building relations with the local Police Forces there, OVER."

"1-1 Alpha, COPIES ALL, we will make a mounted patrol to the local Police HQ and establish contact, OVER."

"GOOD COPY, 1-1 Alpha, 1-X-ray, OUT."

---

1st Platoon of Alpha Company, 1st Infantry Battalion would pack up their encampment and get there vehicles mounted. They would radio the dismounted patrol to return to the encampment. Once they arrived back they would mount up and proceed down various streets. After searching for about 20 minutes they finally located the Police Station in Central Harare.

Soldiers from the 3rd, 4th,and 5th trucks dismounted leaving only the gunner in the vehicles. They proceeded into the Police Station.

J.Hyde

 

[J.Hyde]

Drivindeath

The Zimbabwean police had vanished after the collapse of the government, due to it no longer being protected from being purged for its corruption for over 20 years. However, that was in the process of being replaced by a brand new law enforcement agency. While the police station itself was closed, it was not derelict. It was being staffed with trainees, who were using it as their headquarters and training location.

The soldiers were met by a black police recruit staffing the reception desk. He was about to inform the entrants that the police station was closed, and wouldn't be able to help them at this time, but stopped when he saw that he was speaking to peacekeepers.

"Good morning, gentlemen," He greeted. "How may I help you today?"

 

[Drivindeath]

"Good afternoon sir, I'm Lieutenant Ferguson, this is Company Sergeant McCoy." The LT would point to an NCO beside him.

"We are with Alpha Company of the 1st Infantry Battalion, Republic of Ireland Peacekeepers. We have supplies of pharmaceuticals, food, and water to help with your operation here." He would signal for the soldiers to start brining in supplies.

"We will be here for 3 days until we are relieved by one of our other units. We can help provide security here in the Center of Harare. We have other units spread across Harare. Are you in charge here?" His tone was sincere and non-commanding. He would also pull out the map with all the Lines and X's drawn on it to show to the Trainees there.

The soldiers would bring in 24 box's of pharmaceuticals, 24 box's of MREs, and 24 containers of water. They would then leave the Police Station and begin providing security around the Police Station. This left only LT Ferguson and CS McCoy with the trainees in the Police Station.

J.Hyde

 

[J.Hyde]

Drivindeath

"No, sir, that would be Inspector Gamba Khupe. I'll go and get him for you." The recruit replied before leaving his desk to venture deeper into the building. After a few minutes had elapsed, a bald black officer with two pips on his epaulettes approached the Irish with the recruit in tow.

"Gentlemen!" Inspector Khupe boomed, while offering a hand for them to shake. "How may I help you today? I was in the middle of a training session with the rest of the recruits assigned to this station, but I can spare a little time to give them a break, and assist you."

 

[Drivindeath]

LT Ferguson would extend his hand to meet Inspector Khupe's hand.

"A pleasure sir, I'm Lieutenant Ferguson with the 1st Infantry Battalion, Alpha Company. We have some supplies for the people of Zimbabwe."

He would point to the 24 box's of pharmaceuticals, 24 box's of MREs, and 24 containers of water that the soldiers brought in.

"We are here to provide security to the capitol here, in accordance with your Provisional Government. We are not law enforcement however. Our primary role is infantry, however we do have 500 Military Police back at Mugabe Airport. We could provide a detachment of 100 MPs to help with law enforcement operations and training."

J.Hyde

 

[J.Hyde]

Drivindeath

"A mixture of both soldiers and MPs would be helpful, Lieutenant," The inspector said. "We've been instructed by the executive council to prepare ourselves for the worst once expansion out of Harare begins. As such, constables are being given military, as well as policing, training. It sounds to me like they're expecting another Bush War. I served in The British South Africa Police when Rhodesia still existed, and had to serve alongside soldiers and fight communists with army weapons of war. Some of the anti-guerrilla support units were basically extensions of the army at the height of The Bush War, and it worked well, so... Don't fix what isn't broken, am I right?"

 

[Drivindeath]

"If we can prevent a war then we will. I aim here is humanitarian efforts not to get into conflict. I will send word back to HQ and have them reinforce this position with 100 MPs from the 1st Military Police Company. We will have them come with more supplies as well. We are only here for 2 more days before we have to depart, while we are here we will provide extra security while these supplies can be distributed out. When our units return to base we will instruct them to drop off their supplies here as well, if they have anymore. Our mission for these 3 days was to make contact with key leaders, and distribute supplies. We are more or less on a reconnaissance mission right now, however we will soon be pushing out further troops into the city at a later date, more likely next week. Is there anything you need of us right now?"

J.Hyde

 

[J.Hyde]

Drivindeath

"My station is one of 20 scattered across the city. I have a map of them, if it'll be useful," The Inspector replied as he walked behind the reception desk to retrieve it. "I don't know where you have bunkered down, but if you want to operate out of this station, you have my blessing. I'm sure the station inspectors of the other 19 will be more than happy to let you or your fellow squaddies base yourselves with them. They're currently using the stations as training sites for their stations personnel, while the rest of the constables being trained are getting their tuition at Mugabe International."

"And no one joins the military or police to start crime or war, but we must be ready to fight when the time comes." The Inspector mused as he handed the map over. "I remember when I was serving in the Tribal Trust Lands of Rhodesia. Communists raided one of the villages, when we came to investigate, they'd taken a knife and cut the lips and one of the ears of a man, and then forced his wife to cook and eat it. That was early in my service as a black BSAP constable. Sure, the whites were racist, they looked down upon me, because of my skin, the soldiers joked about how they'd 'slot floppies', but they never did anything like that. Since that day, I was 100% behind the white man, even if the white man wasn't behind me."

 

[Drivindeath]

"Fantastic, I'll inform HQ and get the MPs out here." He would take a look at the map.

"Would you mind if we bring this map back to HQ?" The LT would ask.

CS McCoy would have the soldiers make a perimeter around the blocks of the Police Station. All 12 trucks would be on security, 2 per truck, doing rotational shifts. The other 15 soldiers soldiers would go on walking patrols around the perimeter, the remaining 21 soldiers would stay inside the police station and rotate with the soldiers in the truck if necessary, They would also be on alert as Quick Reaction Force (QRF).

---

Meanwhile the other units would be doing their daily tasks and continuing on with their missions.

J.Hyde

 

[J.Hyde]

"Take it, I copies elsewhere!" The inspector replied with a dismissive flourish of his hand. "If anything, you gentlemen can staff the front desk until we've finished training and being equipped. We may have to use leftover Zimbabwe Republic Police uniforms, but we do intend to make a fresh and better service compared to them. I was given the option of staying on as a member of The ZRP when it took over from The BSAP, I refused for obvious reasons."

The police officer then cleared his throat before asking a personal question.

"Have you ever been under fire?" He asked bluntly. "I know Ireland had some history in The Congo, but that was a while back, and things have been relatively quiet."

 

[Drivindeath]

"Thank you for the map." The LT would say as he folded it up and tucked it away in a pocket.

"I have never been under actual fire, the closest thing I can relate to combat was at Cadet Training. We used Sim Rounds to fire at each other with but never had a 'real' bullet shot at me. My father however fought in the Congo, but I don't know much besides what's in the history books." The LT would reply.

By this point all the soldiers have got to their positions. The CS would have a few personnel man the front desk while the others got some sleep.

J.Hyde

 

[J.Hyde]

Drivindeath

"Well, let me give you a word of advice, Lieutenant," The inspector said calmly. "When you see your enemy, don't hesitate, make sure to shoot them before they get a chance to shoot you. You may have doubts over whether you are doing the right thing, but the enemy won't spare a second thinking about it. As far as they're concerned, they are the good guys, and when you're the good guys, anything you do to win is justified. Call it intuition or an educated guess, but the international community threw Rhodesia under the bus to placate the communist terrorists in 1980. These people have 15 years of fighting under their belt, I have no doubt that they'll spend another 15 reasserting control over the nation Mugabe lost."

 

[Drivindeath]

The LT fell unnerved by this response.

"Will do, my soldiers and myself have been through enough training, I feel as if we are ready for anything an enemy might throw at us."

---

After the three days have passed the LT and his soldiers packed up their personal gear. He would call over the radio for all forces to stop at their location and drop off their excess supply of phamaceuticals, food, and water before heading back to HQ.

"Good luck I hope our paths meet again." The LT would say to the Inspector. They would then Load up in their trucks and head back towards HQ.

Hours went by with platoons stopping by and dropping off whatever extra supplies they had before returning to HQ.

J.Hyde

 

[Drivindeath]

Arriving at HQ the LT's gathered their intel and gave it to the Company Commanders. The Company Commanders then reported to their Battalion Commanders. The Battalion Commanders briefed Col Patrick. The map the LT recovered from the inspector reached the hands of Col Patrick. Col Patrick would go to the Zimbabwe Representative for the task force Tapiwa Mhlanga, chief of administrative affairs and show the map.

"Excuse me Mr. Mhlanga, I have a map from the central police department in Harare, one of our teams was able to make contact.

We will station 25 of our MP's at each station to ensure security and train any locals that wish to volunteer. Is there anywhere on here that we should set up a permanent site? Such as Checkpoints (CPs), Medical Aid Stations (MASs), or Resupply Points (RPs). I want this city secure fast. There are rumors of an insurgency that may try to claim Harare in the near future.

I will also contact our Defence Forces in Ireland for a resupply and additional vehicles."

J.Hyde

 

[J.Hyde]

Drivindeath

"That would most likely be the wisest course of action." Tapiwa replied. "The first thought that springs to mind is to set up check points on the roads leading to the capital."

The bureaucrat retrieved a pen and marked several points on the map.

"These being primary examples, since they are the main roads and avenues into the city. I will see what The Council have to say about instituting some form of identification, so that the work of the checkpoints can be streamlined, As for the provision of military police to assist in training our constables, that is most welcome. We are training a massive amount of officers, but need expertise that is not available since the former Zimbabwe Republic Police was corrupt to the core."

 

[Drivindeath]

"Excellent, any locations for medical stations we should set up? We have 400 medics in country. If there are clinics or hospitals we could assist in? When we mobilize back into Harare this time, we are keeping our forces there to assist. The first group was only Recon."

J.Hyde

 

[J.Hyde]

Drivindeath

"The medics can assist the Argentinians and Canadian Red Cross volunteers with manning the clinics and hospitals throughout the city. We are in dire need of clinicians since the state-run medical system collapsed." Tapiwa replied. "Forgive me for potentially overstepping my boundaries, but are you also willing to provide the trainee constables with firearms training? We, sadly, do not possess any firearms of our own to use for the purposes of training, the ability to training our constables in the usage of various forms of firearms would be most appreciated, since the intention is that the police will be routinely armed, however they naturally require proper training in their safe use."