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

16 The Road to Safwan
ment was now calling Operation Desert Shield, directed his
staff and commanders to assume a potential deployment.
While the essential deployment aspects of Wilson’s tasks would
not change, the Iraqi invasion now modified many of their details
and gave him and his officers a renewed sense of purpose.
Many cavalry troopers envisioned themselves flying to Saudi
Arabia to reinforce the units from the XVIII Corps. Since Rhame
had no solid instructions, he and other officers were simply
prudent in anticipating a combat role for the command.
Squadron leaders now began paying attention to administrative
details that they often glossed over. For starters, they
took steps to improve combat vehicle and helicopter crew stability,
leaving soldiers in their positions longer so they could
improve their proficiency. Troopers 2 inventoried unit equipment
and ensured that their hand receipts, indicating property
they had responsibility for, were up to date. They updated their
load plans, documents that acted as a packing guide for each
piece of equipment to prepare vehicles and soldiers for overseas
deployment. In addition, leaders began making tough decisions
regarding their soldiers and began removing those
whom they could not count on from positions of responsibility
and even from the army. 3
The pre-deployment training in which the 1-4 Cavalry participated
was based on a rather routine cycle of activities common
in the 1980s. The parent unit, in the cavalry’s case the division’s
4th (Aviation) Brigade, planned and evaluated these
exercises. These included soldier training, crew and platoon
weapons firing events, maneuver exercises from squad through
platoon level, and staff training sessions. The squadron also
participated in externally sponsored or evaluated events, such
as rotations to the National Training Center and a demanding
series of simulated combat experiences, to include a rotation
with the Fort Leavenworth-controlled Battle Command Training
Program, which trained the squadron, brigade, and division
staffs. The squadron had several of these events scheduled
before the Iraqi invasion, and the prospect of deployment to a
war zone heightened the soldiers’ sense of purpose.
In August, as units from the XVIII Corps continued deploying
from bases across the United States to Southwest Asia, the