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

Task Force Iron 97
a ridge. A quick search of the area located a dug-in outpost
within sight of the berm. It was quite crude, with only a large
hole dug into the ground and no overhead cover. The only
amenities were spaces for cooking and storage. However, it was
well camouflaged and the scouts could not see it until they
were almost on top of it. The platoon leader, 2LT James Copenhaver,
sent dismounted scouts to clear the area around his platoon
and police up the gear left behind by the surprised Iraqis.
The squadron also discovered other evidence to prove they had
not been imagining their enemy while conducting their screen
the previous few weeks. Just beyond the berm were several
bunkers full of communications equipment, mortar ammunition,
and grenades and it was obvious that Iraqi soldiers had
been operating on both sides of the border. The squadron commander
could not resist personally inspecting some of the
hastily abandoned bunkers, and LTC Wilson and the crew of
HQ-66, his Cavalry Fighting Vehicle, acquired an Iraqi flag that
is now on display in the Cavalry Museum at Fort Riley, Kansas. 9
By 1430 hours, both units had established a screen line two to
three kilometers north of the border. The engineers had cut
eight good breaks in the berm and continued to improve the
traffic lanes over the next few days, widening some gaps to almost
100 meters across and wide enough for the large division
and corps support vehicles to drive through.
It was clear to the soldiers up front that the Iraqis knew that
the Americans had crossed the border. The most telling evidence
came from A Troop after one of the platoon leaders, 2LT Mitchell
A. Osburn, was called back to CPT Pope’s location for a meeting
of the troop’s leaders just after he arrived at the screen line with
his platoon. According to Pope, Osburn often complained about
having to come in for these impromptu gatherings and this time
was no different. A few minutes into the meeting, the officers
heard some artillery fall in the general direction of Osburn’s platoon.
CPT Pope decided that they had to spread out, so he
rushed the operations order he was issuing and sent the troop’s
platoon leaders back to their units. When the lieutenant returned
to his original location, he discovered a crater and black
smoke marking the location where he and his Bradley had been
only an hour or so earlier. Osburn called Pope on the radio and