XBradTC

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XBradTC

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Desert Storm- Day One

I’m reminded that this is the 24th anniversary of the beginning of Operation Desert St0rm. Your humble scribe was then attached to A Company, 7th Battalion, 6th Infantry, a part of the 1st Armored Division. The company command group, the dismounts, and most of the company was deployed in an assembly area somewhere to the…

I’m reminded that this is the 24th anniversary of the beginning of Operation Desert St0rm.

Your humble scribe was then attached to A Company, 7th Battalion, 6th Infantry, a part of the 1st Armored Division. The company command group, the dismounts, and most of the company was deployed in an assembly area somewhere to the south of Kuwait. What wasn’t there were the Bradley crews, nor the Bradleys themselves. They were still on a ship en route from Germany. They wouldn’t arrive in the assembly area until February 1, 1991.

Our position was a triangular encampment with two man fighting positions chipped out of the hardpan of the desert floor. Our armament was individual rifles with about 40 rounds per soldier. The heaviest weapons were a pair of M2 .50cal machine guns, with 100 rounds each. Had the Iraqis launched a spoiling attack against us, it might have gotten a tad exciting.

I distinctly recall the night of 16-17 January. We’d been watching jets fly over our position for many days and nights. But this night, there were a whole lot more than usual. Pretty soon, listening to the AM radio broadcast of the BBC, we learned that the air war had begun. Several hours later, the Army got around to telling us the same thing through official channels.

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  1. Shaun Evertson

    Nearly a quarter-century has passed. How did that happen? Lots of memories.

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  2. Quartermaster

    I was in Engineering school, my second semester back in full time. I had a 4″ B&W TV in my dorm room and finally had to unplug the thing and put it away as it was too much of a distraction. Next morning, the service vets and local National Guard troops sat around discussing events. One of my classmates was a Captain in the 278th ACR, which was the local lash up in that part of the state, and they were annoyed they had not been activated to go over. Same with the 30 Armored BDE on the other end of the state. Probably could have gotten them over quicker and easier than European stationed units.

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  3. LT Rusty

    Huh.

    I was in 8th grade.

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  4. xbradtc

    We got there just about as fast as any other heavy unit did. In fact, in spite of not having any loadout plans or practice, I’d say we got the division loaded out in pretty damn respectable time. Trust me, I spent a buttload of time helping load tanks and tracks for the trip to Bremerhaven.

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  5. Esli

    I had ETS’d from active duty six month previously and was now alternating between wishing the WA ARNG unit I was in would be called up and worrying that I would get killed if they were called up, because the unit sucked. My ill-thought out plan was finally to leave them and find the first active duty infantry unit I could find, if we got called up. luckily, for my subsequent career, we weren’t called up. Who knew that I would get three other trips to Iraq after all?

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