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

36 The Road to Safwan
normal. A few days after the holiday, Wimbish’s wife Delores
slipped CPT Morrison a package to take to her husband who
had left with the advance party. It was his Christmas present
from her and their two children. 16
The Burdans hosted a gathering of the squadron’s operations
section. This gave Bridget a chance to talk to those wives
remaining behind so that the S3 chain of concern would be
firmly in place before the squadron’s departure. MAJ Burdan
took that chance to say “thanks” for the hard work that everyone
had put into the deployment effort to this point. Of course,
not everyone in command was able to enjoy Christmas. CPT
Morrison and 1SGT Colangelo spent Christmas Eve getting
about forty troopers loaded into buses with their bags for an
early departure to Saudi Arabia. It was an unexpected departure
responding to an available aircraft arriving at Forbes Field.
Just after Christmas, A Troop began its scout platoon leader
training. LTC Wilson arranged to have an abbreviated version
of the Armor School’s Scout Platoon Leaders’ Course taught at
Fort Riley and the Fort Knox instructors gave up much of their
Christmas break in Kentucky to pull it off. To accommodate this
badly needed training opportunity, A Troop would not depart
as scheduled, but would take a later flight with the aviation
troops. Those with experience, such as SFC William Molitor, A
Troop’s 1st Platoon Sergeant, saw it as a great opportunity to
work with the other members of the unit for the first time. 17
A heavy snowstorm delayed the squadron’s scheduled departure
for twenty-four hours. The next day, December 29, was
cold and clear at Fort Riley when the Quarter Horse’s main
body began its deployment to Saudi Arabia. The first elements
to go were CPT Bills’s B Troop and the remainder of CPT Morrison’s
Headquarters Troop, accompanied by Wilson, the
squadron’s colors, and his staff. The remainder of the unit was
scheduled to depart on January 10, with CPT Chris Philbrick in
charge of the remaining soldiers.
Most families came to the unit barracks where the deploying
soldiers were assembling to say goodbye. The nagging personal
problems continued right up to departure. While everyone was
forming up, SSG William Ball’s mother called the office with an
urgent request that he call home. Ball had to wait in line for al-