2.
Ranger Forward Observation Base, Salerno, Afghan-Pak Border—October 2009Rob McKenna was the highest in rank on the special operations team—a second lieutenant. But with sixteen months total in the Marine Corps and only a short five months in-country, he was the youngest by far in combat experience of the four-man team. Besides, rank meant little or nothing on this kind of operation by Force Recon—the tiny Special Forces branch of the Marines. Master Gunnery Sergeant Brown was a grizzled thirty-year lifer, a veteran of both Gulf Wars plus a number of spec ops around the world; Staff Sergeant Owens had two service stripes on his dress greens, been a trained sniper at the start of the second Gulf War, and had served in Force Recon for the last four–and-a-half years; Tech Sergeant Rodrique
