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

78 The Road to Safwan
ported an unidentified movement about 500 meters forward of
the screen line. As the troop commander stood up in his turret
for a better look, a burst of green tracer arched up towards the
helicopter hovering behind him. Hayles shouted a warning and
took evasive action, backing off from the line. Bills still could
not see where the fire was coming from, but when he heard the
rounds bouncing off his vehicle, he too dove for cover. Then the
fire ended as quickly as it had begun and an eerie quiet returned
to the screen line. The Apaches continued to pick up
movement in and around the screen line but the reports could
not be confirmed by the OPs. 19
While Wilson waited for the troops to verify their locations,
he cross-referenced the reported enemy location on his map.
Soon he determined that the alleged enemy unit identified by
Hayles was an A Troop vehicle. He was furious and scolded the
troop first sergeant, who had been monitoring the situation, for
not knowing the actual location of his unit and for not making
sure that the aviators knew they were friendly. Thus avoiding a
potential fratricide incident, the squadron commander directed
the Apaches to cease-fire and move out of the area. From that
moment forward, Wilson made it standard procedure to always
be on the command net when Apaches were passing through or
operating within the squadron’s area of operations. 20
Early the next morning, B Troop noted more movement toward
the screen line and its scouts fired two TOW missiles,
both of which missed the targets. In addition to the Iraqi patrols,
there were other indications that the Iraqi forces were interested
in this sector. As LTC Hayles was returning from his
engagement around 0300 hours that morning (February 2), he
noticed a break in the border berm. Another Apache flight after
dawn confirmed the break that opened onto a primitive road
into Saudi Arabia. In front of the gap were several “dragon’s
teeth” or cement blocks designed to slow vehicle movement.
Soon, patrols discovered other gaps and an Iraqi bulldozer hard
at work tearing into the berm. A squadron Cobra helicopter destroyed
the offending bulldozer that morning, scattering the
Iraqi soldiers working in the area. Cavalry reconnaissance patrols
later found three additional gaps in the berm with new antitank
ditches in front of them. The 1st Division Intelligence Of-