Kilo 3/5 Website Desert Storm Stories Page: Steve Welch's Stories
Kilo
3/5's Deployment to the Gulf in 1990
by Steve Welch
As you know, the Iraqi's invaded Kuwait in early August of 1990.
Kilo 3/5 had just returned from a west pack tour. As the United States started deploying
forces to Saudi Arabia, Kilo 3/5 was not initially
scheduled to be involved. In mid October of 1990, President Bush ordered another massive
troop movement to the Gulf. Kilo 3/5 was then notified that it would be going to Saudi.
I had just completed the School Of Infantry at Camp Pendleton in
late October of 1990. After reporting in to my new unit, (Kilo 3/5). I was quickly
notified that we were scheduled to deploy on December 1st. There's a side story related to
this that I don't have enough time or space to go into now. It involves my marriage. It's
pretty interesting. But, I'll save the details for another time.
During the month of November 1990, Kilo 3/5 trained, packed, cleaned
weapons, made out wills, got our medical stuff up to speed, and made the necessary
preporations for deployment. On Friday November 30th, the whole 5th Marine Regiment loaded
up trucks, busses, and Armored personnel carriers and made out way south for the big Navy
Base in San Diego. The 50 mile trip didn't take too long, but, it did stretch out for
quite a ways. Over thirty U.S. Navy Warships were deploying that day. We were designated
the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, or 5th MEB. Once on the base, Navy personnel loaded
up the APC's, Tanks, Artillery, etc., while the troops were assigned what ship we would be
on.
My MOS was 0311 Infantry. Kilo 3/5 was assigned a Navy LST 1195,
"USS BARBOUR COUNTY" as our new home for the up coming voyage. The next morning
bright and early, everyone was out of the rack and on the deck of the ship while family
& friends gathered on the pier waving & saying their good-by's. At 09:00 Hrs, most
of the other ships pulled away from the pier and made their way out of San Diego harbor to
an assembly area. They would wait there for all the ships in this convoy to arrive.
The USS Barbour County had some sort if engine problem and was
delayed in leaving for two hours. While Navy mechanics worked on the problem, Kilo's
family & friends were allowed to come on board. Once the engine problem was fixed, our
ship departed around 11:30 Hrs and made our way to the assembly
area.
Kilo Company had Captain J.W. McKellar as the Company Commander. He
was a graduate of Texas A&M, commissioned as a 2nd LT in 1982. He attended the Army
Airborne school, was a Operations officer, served in the recruiting field, graduated the
Advanced Infantry Officer school at Ft Benning, Ga, and assumed Command of Kilo 3/5 on
09/04/1990. Very bright, well trained, over all a good Commander.
Our Company 1st SGT was a tough Vietnam Veteran who loved battle. He
was 1st SGT J.E. Lechnar. A Warriors Warrior to say the least. He joined the Corps on
November 15, 1971 in Pittsburg, PA. Naturally, he went to Parris Island for Boot Camp. (A
Side note here. Last I heard, this man was promoted to SGT Major several years ago. If any
Marine deserves it, it's this man. The kind any enemy would hate to face in battle.)
During his career, 1st SGT Lechnor served in all three Marine Divisions with every
regiment in the 1st & 3rd Divisions. During his career, he has served as a Machinegun
Instructor, NCO School Instructor, Squad leader School Instructor, Jungle Patrolling
Instructor, Senior Drill Instructor at Parris Island, and Senior NCO Recruiting Chief. He
completed numerous tough military schools including Army Airborne Ranger School, Special
Forces School, Marine Force Reconnaissance School, and several others. He assumed command
as Company 1st SGT on November 8th, 1990. I'm telling you, this guy could battle a 12 foot
tall grizzly bear and win. But, he was also fair and even nice..... at times. He
definately had a good sence of humor. I'm glad
he was on our side.
Kilo Company consisted of three regular Infantry platoon. We had two
squads of Machinegunners, two mortor teams, and a Anti-tank Dragon missile team assigned
to my platoon. We were 2nd platoon. On our ship, Kilo Company accounted for a majority of
the Marines aboard. We also had a Company of AAV's aboard. (Amphibious Armored Vehicles,
also known as Amtracks). They were Alpha Company, 4th AAV BN.
Once our whole fleet of ships was assembled at the assembly area, we all headed west, out
accross the big Pacific Ocean.
Our first destination was Pearl Harbor Hawaii. We were scheduled to
arrive at Pearl around 08:00 Hrs
on December 7th. Just in time for the annual Pearl Harbor ceremoney's. However, we didn't
arrive until December 8th. I'll explain more on that in a few moments. Once all the ships
were west bound, the fleet spread out considerbly. Each ship was within sight of each
other. We were told that several American Submarines were escorting us to the Gulf.
Naturally, we never saw any of them. The first day on ship, the Navy personnel manned
their duty stations on a regular schedule. The Marines aboard had to learn how to walk
correctly with the ship rocking back & forth in the high seas. Believe me, that LST
ship did rock! It's a flat bottom ship used tor Troop Transport and AAV Transport. We
quickly learned that everuthing aboard a ship is different and a challenge. Eating,
showering, cooking, cleaning, everything! Most of the Marines immediately got sea sick. I
guess I was one of the lucky ones. I never did. I've also never been out to sea before.
I've hardly spent any time even in a boat.
The next day, revelie was sounded at 06:30 Hrs. The Kilo Marines immediately began a
training schedule that was put togather by our Command staff. This training included
weapons firing off the back of the ship at floating
balloon targets, Iraqi language classes, hand & arm signal classes, Infantry tactics,
Desert Survival tactics, close quarter combat tactics, many Nuclear Biological &
Chemical Warfare classes, many First Aide classes, Enemy Intelligence briefings with
satellite and recon photo's, Marine History classes, physical training in the ship's
weight room and runs out on the flight deck, and several other classes. All this went on
for several days
while we sailed for Hawaii. During all this, the Navy did periodic ship evasive maneuvers
for training purposes. Our fleet even went through a pretty sever storm somewhere between
San Diego and Hawaii. Let me tell you,
the waves came up above the flight deck for several hours while the ship rocked, dipped,
lundged, pitched, and rolled from side to side. Needless to say, many Marines and some
sailors got real sea sick. However, Kilo's
training schedule didn't slow down because of the weather. We just conducted most of the
training below deck.
Here is a interesting little story I was told about while pulling radio duty in the Kilo
company office. On the second or third day out to sea, a Soviet Nuclear powered Submarine
was trailing our convey of ships submerged.
Somehow, the U.S. Navy detected it and immediately issued radio orders for the Soviet sub
to stop trailing our fleet. According to the report, the Soviet sub Captain requested
permission to accompany our fleet as a guest or
escort to the Phillipine sea. Once there, they would turn and head back to their base in
Russia. Naturally, our Fleet Admiral rejected this immediately. He supposedly contacted
the State Department and the Pentagon,
and ordered the Soviet sub to leave the area immediately! I heard that U.S. Submarines
escorted the Soviets away from our fleet. Wow! That's not something you hear about
everyday. For the Soviet Captain to claim that they
want to accompany us as a guest. Yea right! They wanted to track our vessels and watch our
Navy's war games maneuvers, not to mention monitor our radio transmissions. Anyway, back
to the story. This storm that we got in delayed the fleet by 12 to 15 hours.
On December 8th 1990, our fleet finally pulled into historic Pearl
Harbor around 09:00 Hrs. All the Marines lined the rails on each ships. We finally got to
the pier around 10 or 11 A.M. . Once secured to the pier, the Navy personnel basicly did
some minor ship board maintenance, picked out Marine working parties to assist in taking
on fresh water & supplies, and other things. Each Kilo Company platoon then did it's
own rigerous PT session before "Liberty" was finally sounded.
When Liberty was finally sounded, everyone quickly changed into
jeans & t-shirts, and headed for the Bars, the clubs, the good restaurants, the mall,
the pay phones, etc. That was my first time to Hawaii and I really liked it.
On December 10th, our ships departed Pearl Harbor and headed out
accross the vast Pacific Ocean for the Philippines. This would take us a long two & a
half weeks to reach PI. Rough seas were again present, however, by now, we Marines had
developed our sea legs. Our fleet of ships were again in formation and tried to outrun,
Typhoon Russ. However, we were not successful. Talk about a misreable time. Again, Marines
& Sailors were vomiting due to sea sickness. The medics handed out sea sickness
medical patches and preventive medicines. Somehow, I never got sick during this whole
journey.
The Kilo Company Command designed a regular training schedule of
combat preparation classes, physical training, medical & first aid training, weapons
cleaning, Bible studies, etc.
Chow was a interesting event. The daily chow line stretched all the
way out to the flight deck. Sailors &
Marines stood in line waiting for the substance the Navy cooks called, "Food".
It was a joke. But, it atleast kept us from starving to death. In the evenings, Kilo
Marines watched movies, wrote letters, played cards, drank sodas, took showers, prepaired
for the next days events, and slept.
The constant rocking of the ship made it easy to fall asleep. Some
Kilo Company Marines were required by the Navy to serve on Mess duty, Guard duty, Laundry
duty, and constant working parties. Naturally, it was the Privates, the PFC's, and the
Lance Corporals who held these positions. None of it was fun. But, it did pass the time.
Our Company Commander & 1st SGT were very strict on appearence.
All our cammie uniforms had to be ironed, our boots had to be spit shined, and our hair
had to meet the proper standards. We didn't like it at the time. But, I think it did us
all some good in the long run. We looked professional, acted professional, and were
professional. We had daily Company formations out on the flight deck. Sometimes these
formations were for awards & promotions. Other times they were a chance for the
Company Commander & 1st SGT to give
us the latest news as to what the Iraqi's were doing.
December 25th, Christmas day was misreable for everyone on board. We
were still out to sea and in a storm. Everyone slept late that day. Church services were
held by the Chaplins. The Ship's Captain turned on the speaker system throughout the ship
and played Christmas music. It was nice to hear. But, I think it did more harm then good.
Naturally, everybody had thoughts of home and being with families on their mind. The Mess
hall served everyone miniture steaks & lobsters that day for chow. That was the best
meal we had had while on ship up to that point.
Finally, on December 27th, (17 days after leaving Hawaii) we arrived
at Subic Bay, the Phillipines. It was good to see land again. The whole battalion did a
practice amphibious landing exercise. This was designated, "Operation Quick
Thrust". We then spent the next three days on combat maneuvers, Jungle training, and
live fired our weapons. Once back to ship, the Battalion was given a couple days of
Liberty. We celebrated New Years Eve out in town at Olongapo at the clubs, the bars, the
hotels, the restaurants, the gift shops, and anywhere else we could find. The townspeople
fired off tons of fireworks. It sometimes sounded like a live fire training range to the
Marines.
On January 2nd, 1991, our fleet of ships sailed out of Subic Bay with plenty of fresh
supplies and and some badly needed R&R and mail. Our destination was now for the
Persian Gulf. The daily ship routine and training schedule was quickly reinstated by the
Kilo Command. Needless to say, a very intense Intelligence, detailed Battalion &
Company missions, and contingency briefings were conducted daily by various Kilo Company
officers. We did three hour long humps wearing full combat gear, weapons, Chemical suits
& gas masks on the flight deck. We also had very intense hand to hand combat classes
and exercises. We also started very detailed classes and training exercises in the ship's
well deck about heavy resistance for the upcoming Amphibious Assault. As you now know,
this Amphibious Assault never took place. But, it sure did scare the Iraqi defending the
Kuwaiti coast.
Since we had several really big helicopter assault carriers in our
fleet, our ship started receiving daily helicopters loaded down with live ammunition, live
grenades, live missiles, live rockets, ect. These
helicopters were usually CH-46's or CH-53's. Both are large cargo capacity and troop
transport choppers.
A 24 hour a day Marine armed Guard was now stationed outside the
ships armory. The Ship's Captain put a ship wide series of training drills togather that
included our combat stations if the ship was ever attacked. Other training drills included
mass casulities first aide, abandon ship drills, man over board drills, damage control
drills, and more air & sea self defense combat drills. As a ship, we received very
little official outside news. Hardly any CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, or anything else. Basicly
only what the Command staff passed along.
This frusterated alot of the Marines. We figured that if we were
going to be expected to go in and fight to secure a hostile beach in Kuwait City, that we
wanted to know what was happening that we were not being told about. We cautiously voiced
our openions about this matter. But, very little was ever done to improve the situation
any.
Finally on January 15th, 1991, the much antisipated deadline for the Iraqi withdrawal from
Kuwait came and went. The pressure and stress level on board the ship was now very high.
Our Regimental and Battalion Commanders flew over to our ship for a Kilo Company formation
and detailed briefing. We all gathered around in a semi-circle around the Colonel while he
gave us details about the Iraqi's and what to expect in Combat that we had not heard
before.
He also told us what other Coalition Forces were doing. Forces like
the U.S. Army. As far as we Marines were concerned, our mind set was that we were better
trained and far superior to the Army or any other military force in the Gulf. The Colonel
then talked about the casualty rate of the Marines that the Regiment expected to take in
this huge Amphibious Assault that we had trained for. According to what he said, the
Regiment expected to take about a 35 to 40% casualty rate in the initial assault. That's
of course without any Chemical or Biological weapons being used. If they were in fact used
in the Assault, the casulity rate would no doubt be much higher.
WOW!! That hit us like a Bomb when we heard that. We started looking
around at our friends in our platoon. According to the Colonel, 1 out of every six Marines
would become a casualty without the Chemical or Biologicals. Either dead or wounded. The
reality of that sank in like a knife.
The Colonel continued by saying, "EVEN WITH THE LARGE CASULITY
RATE WE ARE EXPECTED TO TAKE, WE'RE GOING TO SECURE THE BEACH AND REACH OUR
OBJECTIVES".
The Colonel concluded his briefing a little more then a hour later. The Battalion
Commander then got up and spoke for about 30 minutes with more Intelligence details. We
saw several satellite photo's, ariel photo's, Navy
Seal and Force Recon ground photo's. The Iraqi's had constructed a awesome, very deadly
coastal fortification trench line along the Kuwaiti shoreline. They had thousands of
landmines and water mines lined placed along their front. They had anti-aircraft weapons
pointed down to shoot the Amtracks, Armored Personnel Carriers, Tanks, and other vehicles
that would be coming ashore.
The Iraqi's had stationed 200,000 troops along the coast. Their
Artillery Cannons were well within easy range of the beach. Seeing all this was good to
know what we would be up against. But, it sure didn't comfort us any. Infact, it down
right scared the hell out of us. We knew that we were good and very well trained. But
seeing all that scared even the toughest of us.
Finally on January 17th, 1991 at 03:00 Hrs, the loud "GENERAL QUARTERS" alarm
sounded aboard our ship. Everybody immediately jumped out of their racks, quickly grabbed
out gear & weapons, shut the water tight doors, and prepaired the entire ship in a
matter of two minutes for combat operations. All that from the heavy sleep we were in. All
weapons were loaded with live ammo. All safety's were removed. All Combat stations on the
whole ship were now manned. We were ready! One minute later, the ships's Captain came on
the loud speaker system and announced that offensive combat operations of Operation Desert
Storm had just begun moments ago. Every ship in the Persian Gulf was now at 100% alert and
ready for War. He then said that during the
night, our fleet was now well within reach of enemy aircraft bombing & missile range.
As a result, these combat stations aboard ship would now be manned 24 hours a day until
the War ended. The Captain then put a live
broadcast of the CNN on the loud speaker for the next several hours. Shortly after the
start of the War, the 5th MEB linked up with the 4th MEB's Marines from the east coast.
Our fleet then sailed slightly southwest to the
country of Oman. This only took a few hours. The sight of seeing over 40 amphibious
Warships from one horizion to the other was very impressive. Both to us and to the people
of Oman.
Both MEB's then kicked off, "OPERATION SEA SOLDIER IV". This was a massive
practice amphibious assault followed by a very intensive week of Desert combat training
and survival. This was nearly 20,000 Marines that partisipated in this operation. As tough
as this training was, it was gladly welcomed. It allowed us to get off ship, live fire our
weapons, and prepare for operations in Kuwait. Heavy emphasis was placed on obstacle &
minefield breaching, Infantry movement, Infantry & Tank operations, calling in
artillery and air strikes, prepairing to fight on a desert chemical battlefield,
patrolling, special operations, and the use of combined arms teams and scouts. It also
allowed us to vent alot of the built up stress and pressure that we had been under.
Kilo 3/5 Marines even found time for a quick desert Football game
using a empty canteen for the ball. Everybody
enjoyed this.
By the first of February, both MEB's found ourselfs back on ship and
ready to sail north up near the Saudi/Kuwaiti coast. By far, the hardest thing about the
long Pacific Ocean crossing and arriving in the theatre of combat operations was the lack
of mail. A four week backlog of mail was definately taking it's toll on moral. As soon as
we got back to ship, the large backlog caught up with us. We all received letters and
packages from parents, wives, children, girlfriends, brothers & sisters, grandparents,
friends, complete strangers that had sent their letter, "TO ANY MARINE", school
teachers & students, American Corporations, banks, actors, rock groups, professional
athletes, and churches.
The amount of support, encouragement, love, friendship, and prayers
was completely awesome. It not only boosted our moral, it also gave us a fresh new sense
of patriotism and motivation to accomplish our objectives and get back home as soon as
possible.
As the Air War continued over Iraq & Kuwait, many new changes in
possible missions were being considered by the Central Command leadership in Saudi Arabia.
Two things seemed more certain everyday. One was that Kilo 3/5 would be going ashore with
the rest of the 5th MEB somewhere. The second was that the much anticipated ground war was
in fact going to take place.
Rumors were spread almost hourly about where & when we would go
ashore. This did nothing except motivate us as a company. All the training we had done to
get to this point was about to be unleashed full force against the Iraqi Military.
After more then a month of heavy Allied arial bombardment and
Saddam's continued stubborness to leave Kuwait, it became clear that a full scale ground
war was only hours away. Live ammunition was broken out and issued to the Kilo Company
Marines late in the evening on February 23rd. A few hours later, the Ground War officially
kicked off just after midnight. Later that Morning, the entire 5th MEB went ashore on Blue
Beach in Al Mishab, (SAUDI ARABIA) in amtracks, landing craft, other amphibious vehicles,
and helicopters. At the same time, the 4th MEB remained onboard their ships off the
Kuwaiti coast to give the Iraqi's the impression that a huge amphibious assault was still
going to take place.
As the units of the 5th MEB came ashore, they quickly consolidated
inland and prepared to move north in a long convoy that stretched for miles. Remember that
not only did we have our tanks, armored personnel carriers,
and assault crafts. We also had all our own Supply trucks. (Gas, Food, Water, Ammunition,
First Aide Supplies, ect.) At this point, we were only 15 miles from the Kuwaiti border.
Once the convoy started moving northwest
under grey cold skies that included biting wind & pockets of rain, everyone setteled
in for a long and unexpected "9 hours" of travel.
As we moved northwest, the Iraqi for the most part were in retreat
mode inside Kuwait. This is why it took us so long to reach the battlefield. Also, the
thick sand of the middle east slowed our vehicles down. Even the tracked vehicles such as
the Tanks had a difficult time moving forwards at various places. About 100 yards to our
immediate left was a long convoy of flatbed and other cargo trucks heading south. These
vehicles were loaded down with Iraqi Prisoners of War. We were told that they were being
transported to heavily guarded POW Camps in Saudi Arabia. Seeing this gave us Marines more
confidence every second.
All through the night, the colume of 5th MEB vehicles continued to
procede northwest. We began to see the true signs of a combat zone. Iraqi Tanks, trucks,
APC's, and bunkers lined the road. Several of these were destroyed
and on fire. The others had simply just been abandoned. The smell of death was in the air
and all around us. The reality of what a heavily armed U.S. Marine Brigade could do in
combat was overwelming. As we continued
northwest, we were constently within range of Marine artillery support, if and when it
become necessary.
Our convoy stopped at Kibrit, Saudi Arabia to refuel the vehicles,
stretch our legs, get some chow, and do a quick weapons cleaning. All this took about two
hours to complete. Once we resumed, we turned directions, now
heading west. We continued this course for an additional 81 miles to an assembly area just
inside the Kuwaiti border. This move took us 28 hours to complete. Naturally, it was a
long boring ride for the Infantry. We kept
busy by telling stories about our families back home.
By the evening of February 26th 1991, 3/5 was just setting up a
Battalion size defensive position for the night. Everybody was tired, dirty, hungery,
cranky, and very sleepy. However, very little sleep was to be had that night. Since we
were in Kuwait and in enemy territory, the Battalion immediately deployed security and
recon patrols out around the Battalions position. The already dark night sky was made much
worse by all the oil well fires. Thick black smoke was shooting high into the air, thus
blocking all natural illumination. However, the fires themselves could be seen from
horizion to horizion.
The security & recon patrols radioed back that they had spotted
a small number of Soviet made Iraqi T-55 main battle tanks. However, by the morning, it
had been determined that the tanks had been previously destroyed by
allied air forces. The whole area showed signs of War zone. Large fires burned in the
distance that use to be enemy armored vehicles, artillery cannons, and supply trucks. Now
they were nothing but worthless twisted
pieces of melting steel.
Later that morning, 3/5 received orders from Regimental HQ to
conduct route & security sweeps along the main supply routes from the Saudi border to
the Al Jaber Air Base in Kuwait. This was a large area. However, we accomplished the
mission relativly easily without a single shot being fired. We found bunkers full of
stockpiled Soviet weapons and ammunition. We also found intelligence paperwork. The
remainder of the day the Battalion continued to move to new positions. Once it was dark,
Regimental HQ ordered us to stop and deploy more security & recon patrols for the
night. Again, it was another night with very little if any sleep for anyone. Kilo Company
Marines were instructed not to remove our boots. If we did receive a enemy attack during
the night, the Command didn't want us trying to put them back on while fighting back. This
same policy remained in effect throughout the rest of the War.
On the morning of February 28th 1991, a shortwave radio reporter
just announced that a ceasefire was in the works and would probely be implemented within
hours. Shock, disbelief, and frusteration hit the Kilo Marines all at the same time upon
hearing that. We were shocked that the War was actually winding down. We were in disbelief
because as far as we were concerned, there were still many Iraqi Soldiers in Kuwait. We
were frusterated because we had been in a combat zone for several days now and not even
been allowed to engage to enemy in a single firefight. We knew that we were good. We just
wanted the opportunity to prove it.
Little did we know at the time, that opportunity would come soon
enough.
A few hours later, the official radio report was broadcast over
every radio in the Battalion. All offensive combat operations were to cease immediately.
Very few expected the success that the Coalition had experienced to be so rapid. The
ground war was stopped exactly 100 hours after it had began. However, that didn't mean
that all shooting stopped. In fact, the shooting would begin shortly for 3/5.
Regimental HQ ordered 3/5 to clear our sector of Kuwait of all
bypassed Iraqi units. In the process, we also cleared enemy bunkers of Iraqi Soldiers,
gathered intelligence documents, and patrolled the area again without a shot being fired.
Once completed, the Battalion reassembled and started movement on March 1st 1991 to clear
a wide area of minefields. The immediate area was littered with Iraqi debris. At various
places, dead emeny soldiers lay in the sand. Destroyed weapons were around. The smell of
burning flesh was thick in the air. It made alot of us rather sick. A countless number of
Artillery & Infantry positions were scattered throughout the area. 3/5 searched &
secured each one.
That night, the Battalion again dug into defensive positions. The
patrols were also deployed. That night, Regimental HQ radioed 3/5 that 2/5 had received a
barage of enemy RPG-7 fire. In response, 3/5 was ordered to reposition for possible combat
operations on March 2nd. This involved an early morning breach of the southern minefields
and to begin sweeping operations into the Al Wafrah Forest.
The Al Wafrah forest was an area with several low trees, small
farms, agriculture & livestock plots, homes, and a small town that was centrally
located. The Al Wafrah oilfields were not too far away. The minefields had been under the
watchful eyes of Marine Snipers throughout the night. Every now & then the Snipers
would fire a round and take out a enemy soldier in one of the many bunkers. Once again
Kilo 3/5 participated in clearing operations of the houses, buildings, and bunkers at Al
Wafrah. Shots were fired. However, this was standard operating procedures when clearing a
house or building.
Kilo Company as well as each company in the Battalion was reinforced
with two M-60AE main battle tanks, a Combat Engenieer squad, and a squad of M-60
machinegunners. The remaining tanks, TOW anti-tank missile crews, and 81mm mortar platoons
were held back in reserve to give support when needed. Extensive Psychological Warfare
operations, (PSYOPS) were began, giving the enemy still in the area every oppertunity to
surrender. This proved to be a complete waste of time and resulted in no enemy soldiers
surrendering. At 12:00 Hrs, the enemy started sporadic small arms firing at the Battalion.
Marine Snipers quickly took out the enemy soldiers and stopped the firing. Cobra attack
helicopters patrolled the skies above while the small weapons firing took place. We took
no friendly casulties diring this.
After clearing an additional 9 kilometers of area, 3/5 setteled in
Company size defensive positions for the night. This proved to be another sleepless night
for Kilo Marines. Patrols were again deployed out around the perimeter. Throughout the
night, radio reports came in about possible enemy activity. However, none of these reports
were ever confirmed. March 3rd, 1991 brought a continuation to the clearing operations.
This was followed by a direct attack by four of 3/5's Infantry Companies on suspected
enemy held bunkers & buildings near the Al Wafrah oilfields.
Kilo Company was one of the four attacking companies. Immediately
upon entering the area, we noticed destroyed enemy tanks, APC's, and supply trucks that
had been attacked by Cobra helicopters. We also noticed hundreds of dead animals spread
over a rather wide area. Cows, Goats, Sheep, Dogs, Chickens, birds, and cats. Upon closer
examination of the animals, we quickly noticed that none of the animals had any bullet
holes or shrapnel wounds of any kind. We also noticed that the ants and other insects that
normally swarm over a dead animal were also dead. Hundreds of them lay dead all around the
animals. This made us stop and think for a moment.
Here we were standing in front of these dead animals that had no
ovious wounds. Someone finally thought about sampling the air for any possible detection
of Chemical Warfare agents. After several minutes, a Marine FOX vehicle reported low
levels of a nerve agent was present in the area. This was immediately reported up the
chain of command.
While waiting for some sort of answer from HQ, the Marines took
pictures of the site. As far as we were concerned, the only way those animals could have
died was through the use of some sort of Chemical or Biological weapon. We also noted that
no rivers or streams were in the area. That answered the question about whether the
animals could have been poisoned from the water supply. However, after several minutes
went by, the Command determined that the area was non-toxic and that we should not put on
our Gas masks.
Kilo 3/5 resumed it's mission.
A short time later, the Battalion found bunkers stockpiled with
Soviet ammunition. We also found folding stocked AK-47 assault rifles in the bunkers. We
reported these findings to Intelligence. They came back with a
report that these weapons specifically belonged to either a Iraqi Republican Guard unit or
to an Iraqi Special Forces/Commando type unit. Regaurdless of which it was, these findings
confirmed what the Intelligence guys had been suspecting all along. Somewhere close by was
an elite Iraqi unit. Their tactics proved this another way by their refusal to comply with
the cease-fire agreement and to continue to fight.
By 13:00 Hrs on March 3rd 1991, the Al Wafrah Forest was considered
all clear. Now it was time to clear the oilfields themselves. Marine 155mm Artillery and
Marine Air Support was immediately called in to prep the oilfields for our invasion. Cobra
attack helicopters patrolled the skies while the prep continued. More then a hour later,
the Artillery & Air Support firing missions were stopped. Instantly, all four 3/5
Infantry Companies sprang into action and secured the area without any opposition. As the
four Companies completed their operation, the Battalion started receiving direct small
arms & automatic weapons fire from enemy soldiers located in an abandoned building 400
meters to the north.
The Battalion immediately returned fire and called in additional air
support. The abandoned building was quickly hit by a series of TOW missiles, Dragon
missiles, M-16 rounds, 40mm Grenade launcher rounds, and automatic machinegun rounds.
Within seconds, two Cobra attack helicopters arrived over head and fired their gatling
guns into the building. All this firepower was brought to bear on the building. After a
minute or so, a cease fire was called and the building was then searched. There inside lay
five dead Iraqi Soldiers. No friendly casulties.
Later that afternoon, the Battalion received more small arms &
automatic machinegun fire from a group of buildings just farther north. Kilo 3/5 again
joined the rest of the Battalion in returning fire. Tanks, Tow missiles, Dragon missiles,
machineguns, M-16's, grenade launchers, Cobra attack helicopters, and Artillery Cannons
all fired in unison at the buildings. We continued this firefight for 45 minutes straight.
This was the chance we had all been waiting for. All of our built up frusteration over the
past two weeks was taken out here.
Very aggressive gunners and well placed shots did exactly what it
was suppose to do. Once a cease fire was called, Recon teams proceded forwards to check
out the damage assessment. Pictures were then taken of the battlefield that lay before us.
Hand shakes, pats on the back, and congratulation shouts immediately started. We had done
what we had trained to do in combat.
Minutes later, 3/5 received orders from Division & Regimental HQ
to gather all our gear, equipment, & vehicles and depart Kuwait immediately. We
proceded back to Saudi Arabia in one final road march that took about nine hours.
Once back in Saudi, the APC's dropped off the Infantry at an
assembly area. The APC's then proceded on their own towards the ports in Al Mishab. That's
where they would link up with the ships.
The Infantry then unloaded & turned in ammunition, cleaned
weapons, ate a half way decent meal, and tried to get some sleep. We were all exhausted
from nearly two full weeks of cold weather, rain, the desert, and nearly 300 miles of
continous operations.
The next morning, a fleet of Marine Ch-46 and CH-53 helicopters
landed at our position. The Infantry boarded the choppers and were transported back to the
port to link up with our ships.
Once back on board, Kilo 3/5 immediately started cleaning weapons,
gear, and equipment. We then ate some hot food, took badly long needed showers, and
finally went to sleep in a bed with sheets. Kilo 3/5's involvement in
Operation Desert Storm concluded with every Marine and sailor alive, well, and accounted
for. Kilo 3/5 had just helped make history. We had gone through a major ground war and
lived to tell about it. We were ready to
return home. However, this was not to be the case.
Days slowly turned into weeks. Weeks slowly turned into months with
us still sitting anchored in the Persian Gulf. We were told that the contingencies for
pulling out of the Gulf were very complex, varied, and often hard to follow from day to
day. Leaving was being tied to whether Iraq signed the official ceasefire agreement.
Then and only then would U.S. forces still in southern Iraq be
pulled out. Saddam's continued attacks upon the Kurdish rebels complicated the situation
for us. Battalion 3/5 was to be part of the rapid contingency force should further
Coalition military action be needed.
On board ship, time was spent trying to keep that edge and maintain
a high state of combat readiness. This was accomplished through Battalion Commander
inspections, officer inspections, SNCO inspections, platoon Sergeants inspections,
Battalion staff exercises, military classes, more weapons cleaning, PT sessions, and the
never ending equipment maintenance.
Despite these onboard ship activities, the ever present waiting
lines lingered throughout the day. The monotony was broken up by regular port visits &
liberty calls to Jebel Ali, Dubai, Abu Dabi, and Bahrain. It didn't take us long to
discover that the Arabs didn't particularly like Americans too much. But, they did like
the money we spent. As a result, they treated us half way decently.
Being in port during the Muslim celebration of "RHAMADAN"
was quite an experience in itself. No public eating or drinking during the day was allowed
to anyone except in the American Hotels. This being the case, the hotels naturally charged
roughly $20 for a burger, fries, and a soda. Anything fancier such as Steak, Lobster, and
other things got really expensive. At night, the city streets would come alive with
activity. Shopping malls and gift shops would be open till after midnight. Different
tourist attractions would be packed with American Military personnel. Pay phones would
have long lines.
Finally, in early May 1991, the day we had all been waiting for
arrived. We got the word that we were going home. Kilo Company Marines jumped for joy and
shouted with excitment as the ships anchor was raised and the fleet of ships rejoined back
into formation for the voyage home.
Somehow, something just didn't seem right. A lot of Marines had this
same feeling. Three days later, we found out that the feeling they had turned out to be
right. We were finally out of the Persian Gulf and already into the Indian Ocean when word
came that our fleet would be redirected to procede to the country of Bangladesh to assist
in Humanitarian relief efforts.
Bangladesh had just been hit by a devastating storm which left an
estimated 130,000 people dead and more then 9 million homeless. Stopping the voyage home
for any reason was hard for Kilo Marines to accept. But, this was a unique situation and
those people needed our help. Without hesitation, the ships turned and we were on our way.
The official name for this mission was, "OPERATION SEA ANGEL".
3/5 was ordered to establish a logistical base for small boats and
helicopters at the port in a town called, Cox's Bazaar. This was done in order to move
food, water, and medical supplies to the worst sections of the country. On May 19 1991,
massive amounts of supplies began to flow to those in need. Navy & Marine helicopters
flew around the clock missions delivering supplies. Medical teams treated the injured and
cared for the sick. Combat engineers rebuilt roads & bridges. These same efforts
continued around the clock for the next two weeks. A total of 589,736 tons of relief
supplies were delivered by helicopter from our fleet during those two weeks. The boat
teams delivered another 100,000 lbs of supplies. It was a very worthy and satisfying
operation.
The people of Bangladesh received some badly needed aide and we
received both their genuine love and appreciation, a hightened awareness of how fortunate
we as Americans truely are, and also the inner satisfaction which comes from selfless
service.
At the end of May, our mission was complete and we continued our
journey home. We arrived back at Subic Bay, the Phillipines a week and a half later. It
was good to be back to somewhere that we had been before. We spent the next five days on
Liberty call, packing gear & equipment up, and getting ready to return to the states.
We finally left Subic Bay. The very next day, a rather large Volcano
erupted in the Phillipines near Clark Air Force base. The whole area was covered in ash
from the volcano. The rumors immediately began that we were going to return to P.I. to
assist them with relief efforts. However, to our luck & satisfaction, nothing ever
materialized from the rumors.
We continued our course back accross the big Pacific Ocean to Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii. This two week journey was spent having classes, doing PT sessions, more
weapons cleaning, and packing up equipment. Every new time zone we entered gave us one
hour less of sleep every night. That didn't bother us too much because we were on our way
home. That's all that seemed to matter.
A day before we pulled into Pearl Harbor, a team of U.S. Customs
agents was flown out to our ship on a Navy CH-53 helicopter. Kilo Company Marines were
immediately told to grab everything we owned and assemble on the flight deck in Platoon
formation. Once there, each Marine dumped his personal stuff out
into a pile for inspection. The Customs agents announced to everyone that it was their job
to search for weapons, explossive devices, night vission equipment, or other items that we
might be trying to smuggle in. These
included so called, "SENSITIVE PICTURES" that might be considered a threat to
National Security. What we found out a few seconds later was that these "sensitive
pictures" was a direct referal to the ones we had about all the dead animals we
photographed in Kuwait. Someone in either the Pentagon, the CIA, the NSA, the State
Department, or the White House had to have tipped off the Customs Agents ahead of time
what to look for. Including pictures. As the photo's were confiscated, we were issued a
receipt for them and told that maybe one day we would receive them back. That's all that
was said. Their word was final and we could not appeal this. The Customs Agents then began
their search through all our stuff.
The next day, our fleet pulled back into Pearl Harbor. What a sight
for sore eyes. Atleast we were back on American soil again. Home to good food, hot
showers, pretty girls, and adult beverages. The Battalion issued Liberty call immediately
upon our arrivial at the dock. Two days later, we pulled out of Pearl and headed for our
final stretch home.
This was now a happy time for everyone on board. That final week was
spent getting ready for our return.
Finally, on June 30 1991, Kilo Company 3/5 boarded our Amtracks for
the last time, with all our personal as well as professional gear. We splashed ashore on
the beaches of Camp Pendleton, California a half hour later.
Naturally, this was one of the best feelings in the world. A large
crowd of friends & family was there to greet us as we arrived. Marine bands were
playing, people were cheering, military equipment was being displayed, and the hugs &
kisses began.
Yes, Kilo Company 3/5 was finally home.
|
|
