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

112 The Road to Safwan
handy guide commanders could use during the fight. Due to the
number of changes to the operation order, called fragmentary
orders or “FRAGOs” that the brigade issued during this period,
keeping the plan organized turned out to be quite a task. Captains
Tedesco and Sauer worked all night prior to the squadron
rehearsal to produce what was referred to as the operational
narrative. They, along with the other members of the TOC, also
prepared fresh copies of operations overlays, issued final orders,
reviewed recent aerial photographs, and refined the intelligence
available on the Iraqi defenses. After the final rehearsal on February
23, Chaplain Parker held one last prayer meeting and had
a picture taken of the squadron’s leaders.
That night the sky filled with flashes as the division completed
its artillery raids on the Iraqi forces and began bombarding
the forward defenses. For the first time in their professional
lives, leaders saw artillery battalions firing en masse. Batteries of
new MLRS rocket launchers moved among the squadron’s positions
and unleashed their potent weapons. Of course, it was a
good thing that the Iraqi counter fire was almost non-existent,
since many of the firing units set up right next to squadron encampments.
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Few of the squadron’s almost eight hundred soldiers slept
that night. Artillery firing, vehicles coming and going, last
minute packing and checking kept them all awake. As before
any battle, soldiers thought of home and family. They also
fought their own fears. We should not forget, now, after the fall
of the Hussein regime, that the Iraqi Army appeared to be a serious,
formidable force in 1991. Many of its soldiers had been in
uniform for over a decade and one had to give them the respect
they had apparently earned. For the American soldiers then, the
prospect of battle was simultaneously frightening and exhilarating.
Fortunately, LTC Wilson and his leaders had used their time
wisely since the notification to deploy back in November. Both
ground troops were ready to go, equipped with their new
Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Abrams tanks. The helicopter
crews were comfortable with flying in the desert and working
with the ground soldiers. It was time to put it all together.