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

The Basra Highway 183
had hindered the Iraqis’ observation during the night. The several
combat-ready brigades of the Iraqi Army’s Republican
Guards (Hammurabi, Adena, and other divisions), stationed
nearby possessed more than enough combat power to damage
Wilson’s troopers in an early-morning attack. Would they have
attacked the cavalry if they knew they had the chance for an
easy victory? Could Wilson’s tired, prisoner-of-war encumbered
soldiers have stopped such an attack? We will never know.
At dawn, COL Jim Mowery, the Aviation Brigade commander,
arrived in an Apache at the squadron’s position. Mowery
briefed Wilson on the division’s final attack towards the
Iraqi border. Soon COL Moreno arrived with his 2nd Brigade
and seeing CPT Mike Bills he jumped off his tank and gave the
surprised captain a big hug. 68 By noon, the 1st Squadron, 4th
Cavalry had resupplied and began preparing for whatever mission
the division commander had in mind. 69 Meanwhile, Wilson’s
staff coordinated directly with the division and began
moving the prisoners to the rear on flatbed trucks. Fortunately,
it would have no more missions that day. In a controversial decision,
President George Bush decreed an end to the fighting on
February 28, 1991. The original temporary cease-fire time of
0500 hours was extended in the early morning hours to 0800.
For over fourteen hours the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, had
held an important defensive position astride the Basra Highway.
Beyond the range of supporting artillery fire, with intermittent
communications to its senior headquarters, and with
only two ground cavalry troops, the squadron was fortunate
that the Iraqis did not mount a major attack against them.
It is something of a paradox that confusion, fatigue, and the
friction of war, combined with initiative and a sense of mission,
created conditions that allowed the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry
to attain its intended goal without the rest of the division. The
ultimate result was not only the unit’s isolation, but also its
seizure of an objective that could have been important if the
Iraqi Army had chosen to stand and fight in northern Kuwait.
MG Rhame’s clear intent, and Wilson’s understanding of it, allowed
the squadron to accomplish the division’s mission in the
absence of additional orders. Discovering an undefended area
between Iraqi units, the squadron headed for the highway.