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

Operations in the TAA 63
were set for rations. He ended up trading some standard, but
boring, B-rations and MREs for some British fare. Soldiers of
the other troops also took advantage of the opportunity to trade
for food and uniform items, providing a useful diversion and
the development of some mutual understanding and respect
between the two armies.
Iraqi Scud attacks were the prime indicator that the Iraqis
were fighting back against the coalition. These inaccurate Soviet–made
missiles caused quite a degree of terror during the
war since they could be armed with either chemical or high-explosive
warheads. Early on January 19 the squadron’s sleep
was interrupted as SCUDs noisily flew over the camp. Someone
called, “Gas, Gas, Gas” over the division command radio
net because an M8 chemical alarm alerted in the 1st Engineer
Battalion’s assembly area. In response, the squadron put on all
of its chemical protective clothing and masks. This was very
uncomfortable, but served to heighten the squadron’s sense of
discipline. At 0230 hours, the division ordered units to go back
to normal status, as subsequent testing showed no sign of a
chemical hazard. 19
As the squadron prepared for its security mission, the division
placed it back under its control and assigned it detachments
from support units to provide special capabilities. Often,
it took time to bring these soldiers up to the appropriate
level of readiness for their part in the unit’s mission. For example,
the Stinger (an air-defense artillery missile) section that arrived
on January 19 had a number of problems. While it did
have thirty missiles, it had no maps, flak jackets, or communications
equipment. 20 Similar issues took place with the arrival
of CPT Gary Rahmeyer’s field artillery fire support element,
1LT Jimmie Mitchel’s Air Force liaison team, and the combat
engineers. Once they joined the squadron, they had to achieve
the same level of readiness as the remainder of the unit.
Meanwhile the movement of the remaining squadron elements
from the port to Camp Mackenzie continued. The next
major group to depart the port consisted of the small but essential
aviation troops (C/D/E). On January 19, the wheeled convoy
departed in the morning and arrived in TAA Roosevelt
around 0700 hours the next day. It immediately headed for an