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

156 The Road to Safwan
arm the Iraqi infantry, CPT Pope had 2LT David Palmieri lead
his 3rd Platoon into line and the troop continued to advance to
the east. 2LT Michael Osburn’s 2nd Platoon, moving on the
southern portion of the troop’s zone, also encountered an Iraqi
infantry platoon. At first, they could only identify the bunkers.
Suddenly, the Iraqi troops decided not to fight and poured out
of their positions with their hands in the air. One Iraqi soldier
even jumped on Osburn’s Bradley, allegedly trying to surrender.
The lieutenant stuck his 9-mm pistol in the Iraqi’s face, encouraging
him to get back on the ground. Meanwhile, his platoon
continued to destroy a number of vehicles including
BMPs, BTRs, and a variety of artillery. At this point, A troop’s
SWT arrived on station and quickly expended its initial load of
ammunition and left to be rearmed and refueled. 2LT Palmieri
estimated the depth of the defensive positions they were fighting
through to be approximately five kilometers, beginning
with tanks and BMPs in the initial positions and ending with
artillery in prepared positions. Beyond the artillery further east
were cargo trucks and trailers including full tankers with fuel. 66
As CPT Pope’s troop neared its limit of advance, he realized
his unit was in a pre-planned artillery zone as Iraqi fire began
creeping in from the north, across his position. Fortunately,
the fire swept behind the troop’s position and inflicted
no casualties on the American cavalrymen. As the artillery fire
ended, A Troop’s second aeroscout weapons team, led by Chief
Warrant Officer Wayne Grimes, C Troop, arrived and began
searching for any Iraqis that the ground troop had missed during
its advance. They slowly worked their way in front of the
troop and on to its flanks. As his scout aircraft cleared a small
ridgeline to their front, CWO Grimes got a report of enemy vehicles
just over the ridge to his front. The Cobra cautiously
edged forward and observed BMPs, tanks, trucks, and artillery
moving rapidly to the east. Grimes quickly relayed a spot report
to Pope and asked for permission to engage the enemy.
He received an enthusiastic approval. The aviators destroyed a
number of vehicles including several BMPs and three T-72
tanks beyond the range of what A Troop could see. 67 Finally,
around 0715 hours, the troop consolidated along its limit of advance.
Its final positions rested in the middle of an Iraqi logis-