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

74 The Road to Safwan
squadron’s communications section, he coordinated a mess section,
the medical platoon, maintenance platoon, maintenance
personnel sent from the direct support battalion, and initially at
least, the three M3A2 Bradleys that A Troop could not fully crew.
Wilson commanded the fighting elements of the squadron
through three subordinate command posts. CPT Bills’s B Troop
was in position on the screen line and was joined by CPT Pope’s
A Troop on January 28. Both unit commanders led from their
M3A2 Cavalry Fighting Vehicles, accompanied by a fire-support
team vehicle (a modified M3 called the FIST-V), while their
executive officers coordinated troop activities from M577 Command
Post Vehicles. CPT Christopher Philbrick’s Flight Operations
acted as the third subordinate command post. Normally
located in the 4th Brigade assembly area during static operations,
it now set up just west of the squadron TOC. Flight Operation’s
mission was to coordinate the combat activities of CPT
Jim Tovson’s C Troop, CPT Roy Peter’s D Troop, and CPT Peter
Smith’s supporting E Troop.
As the squadron settled in, Wilson’s immediate task was to
protect the corps forward logistics depot; he therefore had to assess
the threat. He deployed air and ground patrols to locate
any units in the area. Again, the image of the seamless war portrayed
on television disintegrates when confronted by the evidence
of unprotected units scattered around the desert. The
scouts discovered a corps equipment maintenance unit about
ten kilometers west of the squadron’s screen line, and a communications
unit, with sensitive equipment, even farther away.
With nothing between them and the Iraqi units north of the border,
they were quite vulnerable.
In another instance, a VII Corps ordnance company began
driving north towards Iraq past the squadron’s positions. Its
company commander was navigating with a large-scale
(1:250,000) map, compass, and the vehicle odometer. He did not
have a GPS and was quite relieved when MAJ Burdan drove
over in his M3 Bradley. The captain explained to Burdan that
they were going to set up a corps ammunition supply point a
few kilometers north of the squadron. In other words, this unprotected
ammunition unit, without appropriate navigation
equipment or security, was heading towards Iraq! Burdan