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

The Port 49
cut the locks, found the equipment, and returned. 16
The war began shortly after midnight January 16 with coalition
air attacks and retaliation by Iraqi Scud missiles. Around
midnight, in anticipation of these counterstrikes, which would
possibly contain chemical munitions, the division commander
ordered all soldiers to go to a higher level of chemical protection,
called MOPP (for Mission Oriented Protective Posture)
and start taking the PB (pyridostigmine bromide) pills to assist
in case of a chemical attack. The aviators felt rather helpless as
they waited to move away from the port area. Few of them
knew what was going on and rumors circulated in an ever-increasing
tempo. MAJ Wimbish remembered listening to the radio
stations as they made several erroneous reports of attacks
on King Fahd airfield and the port area. The soldiers all took the
announcement in different ways. Some became very quiet and
turned to their Bibles for support, while others, caught up in the
excitement, did not give much thought to the consequences of
the attack. Some were visibly scared and it took the efforts of
their chain of command to calm them down. Wilson, not willing
to accept the uncertainty and confusion, ordered the aviation
troops to be ready to move to the tactical assembly area as
soon as possible. 17
At 0400 hours, the air raid sirens at Ad Dammam Port
sounded, warning of a possible Scud attack, and the soldiers
went to full chemical protective gear for about thirty minutes,
and then took off their masks but stayed essentially ready until
0700 hours. Most lay on their cots listening to the radio or playing
their Game Boys, little electronic pocket games that were
popular among troops. In some cases, there was a mad scramble
for the chemical protective gear as the soldiers had to pull it
out of their duffel bags. 18 After the last Scud attack, LTC Wilson
had had enough. To some of his officers he exclaimed: “You
know, this is stupid! I’m not going to hang around here. I’m going
out to join our guys in the middle of the desert. He then
looked at his executive officer and said, “OK Bill, you’ve got it.”
Wilson then headed out to TAA Roosevelt where he escaped
the port and took command of the squadron in the field. 19
That morning there was no hot breakfast, since the contract
civilian servers had not been allowed into the port area. The sol-