Earlier this morning, a squad of US Army Rangers responded to a pending Nationalist attack on Kabanino, defending the town from an ambush no sooner than they arrived. The Rangers cleared the surrounding area of Nationalist camps, removed the instigating insurgency from nearby Stary Sobor, and through the surrender of a Nationalist fighter, gleaned the location of the first ChDKZ supplied Nationalist stronghold. Just as the Rangers had cleared the stronghold, the squad obtained a document detailing a consolidation of all remaining ChDKZ-Nationalist supplies and forces for an imminent attack on Balota and its airfield. No sooner than the document was retrieved, the Rangers destroyed a ChDKZ-Nationalist convoy en route to retrieve supplies from the first stronghold, confirming the intelligence.

The time is now 15:00 and the US Army Rangers are inserting a mechanized squad via C-17 Globemaster airdrop to prevent the destruction of Balota, uproot the final ChDKZ supplied Nationalist stronghold, and put an end to the cooperation of OPFOR and Independent forces for good.

The US Army Ranger Squad is tasked with securing Balota and its airfield as soon as possible, preventing the planned attack on the town and providing any needed humanitarian aid to the residents. Additionally, the Rangers are tasked with finding and destroying the last of the two Nationalist groups supplied by Gustav Mikel, along with the destruction of the final caches of ChDKZ weaponry, while preserving as much of the local infrastructure as possible.

An AC-130U Gunship has been assigned to support the US Ranger squad, assisting with securing Balota from the imminent attack, reconnaissance efforts for the suspected Nationalist stronghold, maintaining perimeter security in strongly Nationalist territory, and providing CAS as requested.

1x US Ranger Mechanized Infantry Squad
2x M1127 Strykers

1x AC-130U "Spooky" Gunship
1x C-17 Globemaster

The Estonian Armed Forces have been tasked with assisting Kabanino with damages sustained in the ambush and will not be accompanying the US Army Rangers on this operation.

Chernarussian Movement of the Red Star (ChKDZ) Forces are a state-backed paramilitary and as such, have access to a modern array of Russian equipment. Following the capture of Gustav Mikel, we are not expecting any ChDKZ presence outside of their frontline.

Chernarussian Nationalists are comprised primarily of ex-military, police and civilians. They are typically equipped with a mix of older Soviet and Western equipment, although recently funneled ChDKZ supplies have resulted in an increase of vehicle presence. The Nationalists currently occupy all territory surrounding Balota and will fire on sight. The final ChDKZ supplied Nationalist stronghold is expected to be nearby Balota.

1) Secure Balota and its airfield from the imminent Nationalist attack and provide humanitarian aid.

2) Find and destroy the final ChDKZ-Nationalist stronghold.

3) Destroy all ChDKZ weapons found in Nationalist hands.

4) Bring an end to the cooperation of OPFOR and Independent forces.

After discovering the location of and destroying the ChDKZ-Nationalist stronghold, friendly forces reconvene at Balota airfield for airlift and ENDEX.

The purpose of this operation is to put an end to the co-operation of ChDKZ and Nationalist initiatives. The operational intent is to quickly deploy, maintain momentum and disrupt all hostile schemes and movements to this end with minimal civilian loss of life and property.

Staging

Bishop and Castle elements prepare to depart from Sakums Airbase by means of C-17 Globemaster airlift paradrop through Knight. Rook takes off and establishes a loiter orbit around Balota.

Insertion

Bishop and Castle airdrop over DZ Hot Wire. All elements expedite and consolidate at RV COLD SHOE for immediate mounted movement towards KOMAROVO.

OBJ Intervention

At WP1, Bishop dismounts to rapidly bound and overwatch 500 m towards Balota. Bishop advances to clear the town west-to-east. Squad consolidates with Castle prior to securing Balota Airfield, likely SW to E. Once all hostile resistance is dispatched, Bishop coordinates humanitarian aid and intel gathering in Balota proper. Follow-up manoeuvres will depend on the intel and timeliness thereof. Leaders and squad members must show initiative and decisiveness to maintain momentum.

Bishop and Castle elements will depart fully loaded and provisioned with operational squad supplies in Stryker inventories. The squad is responsible for its own ammo and equipment. In the event of a necessary logistics package, Knight call sign will be responsible for airlifting it to a DZ / LZ. If a vehicle is disabled and unrecoverable, it must be demolished and a replacement will be airlifted.

Close Air Support shall be provided by a loitering AC-130U, call sign ROOK, authorised by BISHOP 8.

CAS requests will go through BISHOP 8 in an abbreviated SOP format: weapons release authorisation is granted upon completion of the correct target info readback.