I use UN-stabalized views, so i was steadying it with the keys, and waiting for the pick up confirmation.
thankfully i wasnt retired or mothballed after RTBing with the mission incomplete. close call.... heres to heading out for another patrol

..but i have a 'hunch' the war is ending in 3 more months
i have a lot of patience for this game, i mean HOURS and HOURS of it, but i just couldnt take it any longer. seriously i must have picked up 30 guys...
the only thing i could think of was this; the mission was assigned to me on monday. i drove around like a blind man for DAYS, i think 4, then all of a sudden, about 50 friendly contacts popped up, by the time i figured out how to pluck them up, they had drifted about 50 miles South West. (and whats with little people drifting at 5kts?!)
the only thing i could think of is perhaps i let them drift too far from the "life ring" on the map before picking them up, maybe they didnt count cause they were too far away???
i dunno but im glad its behind me and i hope i dont get it again!