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

Coming Home 235
Huebner and finally departed for Ad Damman via CH-47 and
arrived at Khobar Towers later that day. That afternoon the
squadron’s tracked vehicles began to be loaded up on the HETs
for the long trip to port. On April 26, the squadron’s tracked vehicles
began to arrive in port and by late afternoon all of the
tracked vehicles had arrived. The squadron’s trail party under
MAJ Wimbish was now all that remained at AA Heubner.
The third phase of redeployment, preparation of the vehicles
for the return trip, began at the port early in the morning
on April 25. The troopers moved their wheeled vehicles from
the holding area to the West Heliport. Here the corps engineers
ran the vehicle wash racks. There was a long list of what the
squadron was supposed to accomplish at this facility, and the
troopers went about their business with a determined efficiency.
Since this was a twenty-four-hour a day operation, once
in line, it was only a matter of time until the vehicles were on
the way to the final holding area. The next day the tracked vehicles
began arriving, and, under CPT Bills’s supervision, they
began joining their wheeled brethren in the long lines. 10
On April 28, at 0730 hours, the last of the squadron elements
finally arrived at Khobar Towers. MAJ Wimbish and the
squadron trail party had arrived. They immediately moved
their equipment into the squadron area and then departed for
the wash racks. The washing project at the West Heliport was
operating at full capacity. In addition to the wheeled vehicles,
the aircraft were hauled to the wash racks. The temperature at
the Heliport rose to 120 degrees out on the tarmac, and the mist
from the water was one of the few compensating benefits for
hard work in the heat. After each aircraft was clean and dry, it
was wrapped in plastic and heated by large blow dryers, creating
what was known as the shrink-wrap effect. Now protected,
the helicopters were moved to their own holding area in preparation
for loading on the ships. The squadron’s tracked vehicles
were now in line at a wash point on the outskirts of Ad
Damman. This was the main wash point for all the division’s
tracked vehicles. The line was quite long and the vehicles had
to be manned twenty-four hours a day or the crew risked losing
their place in line.
On April 30, after working twenty-four-hour days, with