The Road to Safwan: The 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry in the 1991 ...

94 The Road to Safwan
grenades into the buildings. When it was all over, the infantrymen
had wounded three American soldiers and no Iraqis were
in sight. Fortunately, the covering infantry platoon and A Troop
held their fire or the incident could have been worse. 23
Wilson was in a position to listen to and partially observe
the attack. Once he realized what was happening he ordered
the company to cease-fire and hold in place. He then ordered
the company commander to report; when asked what happened,
the company commander said he lost control when the
shooting started. A Troop’s executive officer, 1LT Jon S. (Scott)
Raynal, called in a medical evacuation helicopter while the
troop medics treated the wounded. It turned out that the evacuation
helicopter did not have the secure communications
equipment that the squadron used. This made it very difficult
to guide it to the pick-up point. The danger was that the Iraqi
Army could monitor open communications and direct artillery
down upon the hapless company at As Samah. The squadron
and the medics worked around the problem, but it was another
example of the kind of difficulties that can happen when units
do not train to combat standards. It was not a good way to end
the final hours of Combat Command Carter. 24
At 1615 hours that afternoon, the squadron came under operational
control of the 3rd Brigade. The brigade had the mission
of breaking across the border, creating gaps in the berm,
and setting up a screen line a few kilometers on the other side.
After three weeks of operations, Wilson and his cavalry troopers
had adjusted to operations in the desert. As with any unit,
the squadron had had its share of bad reports, confusion, and
wrong decisions. Stories of camel attacks and wisecracks about
the “killer” bulldozer would continue long after they returned
to Fort Riley. However, Wilson and his leaders could look back
on the preceding weeks with pride. The squadron had done its
job with its only unfortunate casualties belonging to the attached
infantry company. Ground vehicles and aircraft were
operational and ready for combat. They would now begin to
expand their operations across the border and into Iraq.