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

266 The Road to Safwan
referred to as the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, or 2nd ACR, in
reference to its complement of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles,
and self-propelled artillery. Its honorific name was the 2nd Dragoons,
referring to it original configuration in the 1840s. In this account,
2nd Cavalry and 2nd ACR are used interchangeably.
16. 1st Squadron 4th Cavalry, “Riders on the Storm: A narrative history
of the 1-4 Cav’s campaign in Iraq and Kuwait-24 January-
March 1991),” Armor 100, no. 100 (May–June 1991): 15; Wilson interview,
28 July 1991; Philbrick interview, 12 March 1994.
17. 2nd ACR Operations Summary; 1st Infantry Division TAC Journal,
26 February 1991, entry 43. Burdan notes. The “easting” was
the vertical line on the map that signified east-west movement.
The 2nd Cavalry was in the process of fighting a battle along the
“73 Easting,” so the contact points were about ten kilometers behind.
18. Department of the Army, Field Manual 71-100, Division Operations
(June 1990), 6-17 to 6-18; Department of the Army, Field Manual
100-15, Corps Operations (September 1989), 7-15 to 7-16.
19. VII Corps TAC Journal, 26 February 1991, entry 8; Wilson interview,
28 July 1991; Rhame interview, July 1991.
20. Details of this doctrine are described in Department of the Army,
FM 71-100 Division Operations, 1990, 6-17.
21. Maggart, “A Leap of Faith,” 25.
22. Bills interview, 25 May 1996.
23. Gregory Fontenot, “Fright Night: Task Force 2/34 Armor,” Military
Review (January 1993), 42.
24. Vogel, “Hell Night,” 15.
25. Maggart, “A Leap of Faith,” 27; Fontenot, “Fright Night,” 44.
26. Vogel, “A Swift Kick,” 61.
27. Rhame interview, July 1991; Vogel, “Hell Night,” 15; Maggart, “A
Leap of Faith,” 27.
28. See Stephen A. Bourque, “Correcting Myths about the Persian
Gulf War: The Last Stand of the Tawakalna,” The Middle East Journal
51, no. 4 (Autumn 1997), for details on this battle.
29. 1st Infantry Division Commander’s Report (26 February 1991); 1st
Infantry Division TAC Journal, 26 February 1991, entry 53.
30. VII Corps FRAGO 144-91 (26 February 1991).
31. Each tank and mechanized infantry battalion contained a Bradleymounted
scout platoon.
32. Maggart, “A Leap of Faith,” 27; “The Centurions on Operation