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

Objective Norfolk 151
but opted not to challenge him. While he was controlling the
command radio net, Wilson was awake in the B Troop zone
and monitoring the tactical situation. Wimbish then updated
the S3 on the tactical situation. 52
As he updated his map with current unit locations, Burdan
noticed the gap between the two troops. Despite assurances
from the troop commanders that this sector was covered, at
around 0330 hours he and the squadron commander decided to
inspect the screen line. With two M3 Bradleys and the M113 carrying
the Fire Support Officer, CPT Gary Rahmeyer, the command
group headed for the gap between the two troops. 53 Simultaneously,
Bills’s command began noticing Iraqi soldiers
with RPG antitank rockets and tank crews moving towards
their dug-in tanks. As he evaluated the reports coming in from
his platoons, Bills realized that he was located in an Iraqi kill
zone, with only darkness preventing a fire-fight. 54 Now, using
the night-fighting capability of the M1 tank, B Troop began destroying
Iraqi vehicles, beginning with a T-55 tank that moved
out of its hide position. 55
As the command group reached the end of B Troop’s line, it
swung northward into the gap between the troops. Wilson
made sure both troop commanders knew exactly where he was,
to preclude a friendly engagement. Moving very slowly, in the
extreme darkness, the group’s gunners scanned the terrain to
their front. Suddenly, Burdan’s driver, Specialist Roland Baker,
noticed something out of the corner of his eye: “Sir I thought I
saw someone standing on a berm on our left.” Startled, Burdan,
who had been checking his map, grabbed his night vision goggles
and looked over the left side of the M3, discovering an
Iraqi crewman jumping into a T-72 tank, which was in turret
defilade and not generally visible from the surface. His gunner,
Sergeant Brad Carpenter, was scanning the sector away from
the enemy. 56
Shouting “tank” over the intercom, Burdan ordered Baker to
back up. After they had withdrawn about fifty meters, it was obvious
that the command group had just missed moving into another
Iraqi kill zone. Carpenter could see the vehicle’s defensive
berm, but could no longer see the tank itself. Soon his gunner
identified a BMP infantry-fighting vehicle just off to his left and