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

Safwan 189
spending the night with the 3rd Armored Division, he decided
to make another attempt to find A Troop. Thanking his host
scout platoon leader, he headed east toward the Basra Highway.
Finally, about mid-morning, he pulled in to the troop’s assembly
area, after a three-day absence full of adventure. SFC
Steven Kuder, the object of his search, also linked up with A
Troop that day. Kuder had spent the last few days trying to locate
and catch up to the squadron. He and his crew had, like
Parkey, even spent time with elements of other units before
they finally learned where the squadron was located and rejoined
the troop. 7
However, not everyone was able to rejoin the squadron that
day. 2LT Lowndes and his small team of vehicles had still not
found B Troop that morning as he had hoped. The broken
tank’s maintenance problems had proved daunting and he had
had to quit working late the previous night. He got his crews up
early on the morning of February 28 and finally completed the
short-tracking of the tank by mid-morning. They began moving
immediately to the east, but could go no faster than twenty
kilometers per hour because of the damaged tank’s limited mobility.
Around noon they ran into elements of the 2nd Armored
Cavalry who gave Lowndes a hot meal, fuel, and water, as well
as the news of the cease-fire. Plotting his new direction, the lieutenant
was again on his way in the early afternoon for Kuwait.
The tank’s slow speed continued to hinder movement, and
with darkness fast approaching, the young lieutenant decided
to spend another night in the desert and not risk getting the
tank stuck in a ditch or wadi in the darkness. 8
Late that afternoon the division ordered Wilson’s squadron
to establish a screen line just north of the positions it had occupied
the previous evening. Once again, B Troop moved to the
west of the highway facing northward and A Troop set up its
line across the highway and off to the east. The squadron still
maintained its combat configuration with the air troops remaining
with the 4th Brigade, the field trains with the 1st
Brigade, and combat trains, flight operations, and the squadron
TOC each occupying their separate positions behind the screen
line. As evening approached, the squadron prepared to settle in
for a well-deserved rest. The commanders were told to get