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

40 The Road to Safwan
the airlines wanted only volunteers. The reason for this policy
became obvious as the pilot gave the troops an intelligence
briefing over the intercom while they were on the way in:
OK . . . if something happens in the area and Dhahran
and King Fahd Airport are under attack, we will divert
to Jiddah or wherever we can, like Bahrain. If we are on
final approach, we’ll do the best we can, land, off-load
the airplane as quick as we can and get back into the air. 2
As the aircraft came to a halt, Morrison, who was up front
and paying attention to everything around him, watched as the
flight attendants kept everyone in their seats and kicked open
the door. One of the ground crew pushed in a huge cardboard
box. The Headquarters Troop commander looked inside and
discovered, to his consternation, that it contained chemicalbiological
protective masks, one for each member of the flight
crew. A pretty stewardess looked him in the eye and assured
him that they were all trained on how to use the masks and
what actions to take in the event of an attack on the aircraft on
the runway. 3
The somewhat shocked officers and men disembarked and
moved under Air Force direction off the runway to wait for
buses. MAJ Bill Wimbish and CPT Steve Harmon, who had
traveled on an earlier flight, arrived in the executive officer’s
HMMWV. They were a welcome sight, being familiar faces in a
very uncertain environment. After an exchange of greetings
and small talk, Wimbish outlined what was ahead for the
squadron. Over the next two weeks the troopers would assemble
at the port of Dhahran, unload the equipment they had sent
by ship, and receive new tanks and M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting
Vehicles. They would then move in stages out to an assembly
area called TAA Roosevelt. The XO had already visited this
inhospitable patch of desert south of the Kuwaiti border that
was going to be the squadron’s home for the remainder of
Desert Shield.
Since the buses to take the troops to the port had not yet arrived,
the squadron took the opportunity to uncase the colors on
the airfield. It was a traditional ceremony that gave notice to all
that the 1st Squadron, 4th United States Cavalry was in South-