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

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an outpost near a collection of huts along the border called As
Samah. Allegedly, Iraqi troops had attacked them and their
headquarters ordered them to fall back to the American lines,
leaving behind radios and personal equipment. Taking no
chances, Pope’s troopers disarmed them and asked for instructions.
Meanwhile, now under guard, the Arab soldiers lay
down for the night. The next morning the word came that they
were indeed Saudis and that they were to be released at once.
The squadron’s shift officers apologized profusely and then
sent them on their way. 16
A few hours later, four Iraqi soldiers wandered across the
border and into B Troop’s sights. After a scout section fired a
few rounds of machine-gun fire in their direction they stopped,
raised their hands, and waved a white flag at the approaching
Bradley. While they claimed to be deserting, they had weapons
with them and had buried several hand grenades before the
Americans arrived. So, the squadron’s officers did not accept
the Iraqi explanation and suspected that this was a long-range
patrol sent south to discover what was on the other side of the
border. Again, there were some interesting moments as the division
and corps figured out how to process prisoners, obviously
a task the senior headquarters had not planned on performing
so early in the deployment. 17
With dawn, things quieted down, but that night at around
1830 hours the activity along the border resumed. A ground
surveillance radar squad identified vehicles moving toward the
screen line. Taking no chances, Rhame ordered the aviation
brigade to deploy Apaches to the 1-4 Cavalry’s sector. At 2045
hours, after a briefing by Wilson, LTC Ralph Hayles led a team
from his battalion on a sweep forward of the cavalry screen
line. 18 As Hayles and his wingman flew near CPT Bills’s sector
and prepared to return south of the squadron, they received
radar warning signals from their on-board sensors that there
were anti-aircraft systems in the vicinity. He reported the coordinates
to the squadron command post and requested permission
to engage. Wilson, monitoring events in the TOC, denied
his request and asked both ground troops to confirm their outpost
locations. He ordered Hayles to take up positions behind
Mike Bills’s M3A2. Hovering behind Bills, Hayles soon re-