by Tom Clancy
Under Jerry Rutherford, 3rd AD continued to provide assistance to the refugees at the camp in Safwan and to the inhabitants returning to the town, as well as protection to a second camp just over the Kuwait border that was run by the Red Cross.
Our protection mission put us in an awkward situation, since U.S. troops were no longer supposed to be in Iraq after the treaty went into effect. In order to avoid that, the plan was for the governments of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to take in the refugees. But that plan did not work; both governments initially refused to take in any Iraqi refugees.
Meanwhile, John Yeosock had been talking to officials in the Saudi government, and on 17 April they committed to building a camp sixty kilometers north of Rafha in Saudi Arabia, just south of the Iraqi border. This timely and compassionate move by the Saudi government was widely reported in Arab regional newspapers, but not, to my knowledge, in the West.
The Saudis then hired a contractor, who told us it would take them sixty to ninety days to build a camp.
"No way," I said. I didn't want us to have to wait around while they took their time to build the camp. "Our engineers will build a temporary camp, if you will agree to build a more permanent one." They agreed, and from 21 to 27 April, our engineers built Rafha II. Our temporary camp was roughly 1.4 kilometers by 1.1 kilometers. Around its perimeter were placed twelve 5,000-gallon water bladders that our engineers kept full. Our engineers (the 588th out of Fort Polk) also placed bottled water and food inside the camp, as well as 250 wooden showers and 250 latrines. These were urgently needed.
In the meantime, we notified Iraqi refugees at both Safwan and Rafha I that we were setting up the temporary camp inside Saudi Arabia, and camp leaders were allowed a visit there. They then had to make a choice: since the U.S. force was leaving soon, they had to make up their minds whether they wanted to stay in Iraq or go to the new camp, with the Saudi government's promise to build a more permanent camp. Most decided to leave. We gave those who chose to stay in Iraq seven days' worth of food and water.
The Kuwaiti government erected a fence around the Red Cross site with the only exit into Kuwait. The government of Iran accepted some 350 refugees a day from this camp flown out of Kuwait City International Airport.
Our VII Corps official report says:
"Movement of refugees from Rafha I to Rafha II began on 28 April. 11,500 refugees were moved, with the final closing of refugees in Rafha II on 8 May. Refugees from Rafha I were allowed to bring automobiles across the Saudi border and park them outside the camp… During the period 28 April to 7 May, a total of 8,430 refugees were flown by USAF C-130 aircraft from Safwan to Rafha," a distance of about 500 kilometers. For all those going to Saudi, our personnel soldiers made new ID cards with photos. It was a masterful operation by both 3rd AD and CENTAF. Likewise, 2nd AD (Forward) did a superb job in moving refugees to Rafha II.
I vividly remember, during the transfer, scenes of U.S. soldiers digging into their own belongings and providing food, blankets, or even Army sweatshirts. As our report puts it, "The individual soldiers' generosity is evidenced by the number of government-issued blankets among the refugees and the U.S. Army sweatshirts hanging from the arms of the children."
The results were staggering: almost 20,000 refugees were resettled. Safwan was reopened as a village, with civil affairs soldiers helping local inhabitants regain self-sufficiency. Total meals of all types distributed during this entire period reached well over a million. Tons of flour, rice, and beans were distributed. Over 1.5 million gallons of water were produced, and close to a million gallons of bulk and bottled water were transported and distributed. Seven hundred cases of baby food were provided. In the hospitals we set up for the Iraqi people, corps doctors, nurses, and medics treated 29,450 Iraqi patients, with 601 of these evacuated to Saudi for further treatment. Many of them were returned and reunited with their families.
Our last message on this operation closed with the words: "The same soldiers and leaders who a short time before had relentlessly attacked and destroyed the Iraqi army in sector turned to and accomplished this humanitarian mission with compassion, discipline, and pride in being American soldiers. Doing both so well is a mark of who we are and what we stand for. JAYHAWK. Franks."
RESIDUAL FORCE
But we were not done.
As the signing of the cease-fire came closer, there began to be talk that we would have to leave a residual force in Kuwait, and I was informed that it was true when Secretary of Defense Cheney visited on 7 May. He told me the Kuwaitis wanted us to stay until the end of the year, but that the President would decide that, and that another force would replace the brigade as soon as possible. He also made it a point to visit the soldiers who would have to stay.
The brigade Jerry Rutherford selected to remain was a composite 1st Brigade commanded by Bill Nash (made up of units from other brigades). Because the decision had come so late, some of the soldiers were on airplanes about to leave, and we had to get them off and take them back to their equipment in Kuwait. It was not a good time for the troops. They had come on no notice, trained hard, won a great victory, done unexpected humanitarian work in and around Safwan — and now this.
I told 3rd AD to pick out a spot for the brigade that had something more than temporary facilities. Bill Nash looked around and recommended a place north of Kuwait City called Doha that had large warehouses for troop shelter and a large hardstand for equipment storage. It also had running water. Jerry Rutherford agreed, and after I took a look, I said that is it, move in.
By this time, CENTCOM HQ had departed the theater and were back in Tampa. John Yeosock departed with ARCENT on 10 May (John had been in-country from the first in August 1990). The CINC left Gus Pagonis in command of CENTCOM forward.
On my last day in-country, 11 May, I flew the 400 kilometers from King Khalid Military City to Kuwait to visit with the soldiers whom I had ordered to stay. I wanted to look them in the eye and explain why. It was not an easy meeting. They were hostile at first and had many questions: Why had they been told at the last minute? What about their families in Germany? Who would tell them? What else after this? How long? I told them we had won a great victory, and that, in the judgment of our government, a residual force was needed to continue to ensure that it lasted. It was a matter of trust. The soldiers accepted it, and said OK, we'll get on with it, it's our duty. It only intensified my sense of urgency to get them home. I told them we'd have them out in thirty to forty-five days, which was going out on a limb, because at that point we did not know who was coming to replace them. I also told them I would personally talk to their families in Germany.
That night I burned up the phone lines with Lieutenant General Denny Reimer in Washington, along with General Gordon Sullivan, to get a replacement force named fast. Sully promised me that he and General Vuono were dedicated to getting the 3rd AD troops out as quickly as possible. Earlier, there had been talk about sending the 199th Light Armored Brigade from Fort Lewis, Washington, but I was against it because they would have to bring their own equipment from Fort Lewis and they would take forever to get there. I had proposed the 11th ACR out of Germany, and General Butch Saint had agreed. They would be here the fastest of any unit, and they were a perfect match for the equipment and the mission.
One of the first things I did when I got back to Germany was to visit the families in Giessen whose military spouses had remained in Kuwait while the rest of the VII Corps had gone home. They were just as hostile as the brigade had been in Kuwait. I could not blame them. Yet all they wanted was some straight information. I identified myself as the one who had made the decision on the brigade of the 3rd AD, and explained the reason. Like their military spouses, they accepted it without question.
Who could ask for anything more of soldiers and their families? I was almost overcome with emotion when I saw how resolute they all were and willing once again to do what they had to do. I promised them their spouses would be home within forty-five days.
T
hey were home in thirty-six.
FULL CIRCLE
It was a time for closure.
VII Corps had many ceremonies, and the individual units had their own.
In early March, as a gesture, all units in the theater were ordered to pick representatives to go home early. Our commanders and command sergeant majors selected soldiers by lot, and on 8 March we assembled them in formation at Al Khubar Village. Our VII Corps band and the troops in their new desert BDUs (we finally got them in time for the troops to wear home!) were all together. It was an emotional day, as all these ceremonies proved to be. This was the first.
General Schwarzkopf attended, as well as Lieutenant General Cal Waller, to say farewell to the soldiers and to tell them thanks. I met General Schwarzkopf that day at the airfield and escorted him all day, including at the formation. Not a word passed about any of the incidents of the war. During the ceremony, he said, "It was a helluva job on the part of VII Corps all the way around… I'm proud of them. The country's proud of them. The world's proud of them. And they should be proud of themselves."
My message was, "No matter what is written, said, or shown about what happened here, your courage, heart, toughness, teamwork, and willingness to take the fight to the enemy without letup in bad weather, day and night, will be forever stamped in these desert sands… You are the best we have… You are all heroes and I am enormously proud of each and every one of you… I have been honored to be in your ranks and privileged to be given the responsibility to lead you in battle."
It was a message I would tell to as many VII Corps soldiers as I could reach, and at each departure ceremony in Saudi, as individual major units of the corps departed.
We arrived home on 12 May to a brief ceremony at the Stuttgart Airport attended by, among others, Ambassador Vernon Walters, SACEUR Commander General Jack Galvin, and Lord Mayor Rommel of Stuttgart. Our arrivals back home in Germany were short on ceremony and long on hugs with spouses, family members, and friends. Denise was waiting for me, as well as Margie, Greg, Jake, and Mickey when we arrived at Kelly Barracks. There was the national anthem, then more band music, and big cheers from the family members on the floor of the gym, who were waving yellow ribbons and U.S. flags. I never hugged and kissed Denise so much as I did at that reunion. Similar scenes went on all over VII Corps and Germany, with "Proud to Be an American" and "From a Distance" by far the most popular songs played.
On 31 May at Kelly Barracks, we had the most emotional ceremony of all. In the small soldier chapel there, amid the stained-glass windows, we paid tribute to the lasting memory of those who had lost their lives in Desert Storm. VII Corps Command Sergeant Major Bob Wilson[56] and other CSMs read the roll of all the soldiers who had died, one by one. There was neither a sound nor a dry eye. It was a profoundly moving moment, and spurred a vow from us all to remember them that day and every day.
On 27 June at Kelly Barracks, all units who had been members of the VII Corps Desert Storm team—900 soldiers and commanders, including the British, with their own band, and the French — assembled to honor the corps. Special guests included Ambassador Walters, General Sullivan (the new Army Chief) and General Butch Saint. It was a particularly windy day, with gusts of over forty knots (which perhaps reminded some of the desert winds and sandstorms through which we had fought), but the color guard would not let the flags drop, and their hands had to be pried off the flagstaffs after the formation. We awarded medals to deserving soldiers for valor and humanitarian service, and to civilians and those who had done so much at the VII Corps Base operation in Germany.
General Colin Powell flew over specially to attend the ceremony, and spoke warmly and emotionally to those assembled. In part, he said, "Thank you for your magnificent victory in the Gulf, and I also want to say thank you on behalf of the liberated people of Kuwait and others in the Persian Gulf region whose security you have ensured by your gallantry in action… You have raised the levels of warfare to new heights. You fought a war of complexity and integration that no one has ever seen before. You were at the top of the profession of arms… You have made America proud again. You have made America feel good about herself again. You have made America realize that there is nothing we can't do if we put our hearts to it, if we put our minds to it, and if we put our muscles to the task before us. You have shown that the armed forces of the United States, and especially the JAYHAWK Corps, are the best and brightest of the nation." Following the ceremony, he stayed to greet as many people as possible in the open reception, then flew straight back to Washington. It was another reminder to me of the difference between Desert Storm and Vietnam. General Powell's leadership was one big reason.
In September 1991, Denise and I were invited back to our hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania, for a parade and other ceremonies to honor all Desert Storm veterans from Reading and Berks County. My dad came and sat on the reviewing stand with us, as did the Pennsylvania adjutant general, and a World War II Medal of Honor winner. It was a wonderful event, arranged in part by those who had gone before, our fellow Vietnam veterans who themselves had not had such parades. Following the parade was a large celebration at the Reading Municipal Stadium — the same arena where I had played football and baseball as a boy.
There were other parades as well, in New York and in Washington, as I have written before. They were at once different and the same. For the rest of my life, I will remember the generosity of our fellow citizens to our soldiers who went and did their duty.
In New York, the parade was more intimate. We were closer to the people than on the broader Washington, D.C., streets. Ticker tape fell as we marched through the canyon of office buildings. Looking right and left, all we could see were the faces of America, all ages, all backgrounds, most waving small American flags and smiling and yelling. As we marched proudly down those New York City streets, we reached out and shook hands and said our own thanks to our fellow citizens who had come to honor us so. I only wished all the VII Corps soldiers could have been there (we'd brought only representatives of the units back from Germany).
In Washington, after the 4.2 miles down Constitution Avenue and the enormous outpouring of emotion from our fellow Americans, Denise and I returned to the quiet place — the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We touched the names and remembered friends, relatives, fellow soldiers who are never forgotten. Never far away. This one was for you, too, the memories of heroes who did what our country had asked and had not had this day.
Now there were more friends. Other members of our Army family. Soldiers of VII Corps talking quietly with their own families, and the next of kin of those who, like before, had not returned. Proud. Confident. Remembering.
It was not like before. Not like after Vietnam.
"Don't worry, General, we trust you." I'll never forget that.
Trust reunited.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
TRADOC and the Future of Land Warfare
HEIDELBERG, GERMANY, 17 JUNE 1991
"SIR, General Sullivan wants you on the phone," Toby Martinez announced to Fred Franks. General Gordon Sullivan had recently been named to succeed General Carl Vuono as the Army's thirty-second Chief of Staff. He would be sworn in on 21 June. This was not a social call.
At the time, Franks was at a luncheon with General Butch Saint in Heidelberg at USAREUR HQ; Franks excused himself and went to the club manager's office.
"Freddy, Sully," General Sullivan began. "I want you do something for me."
"Name it and it's done."
"I want you to command TRADOC. We have a lot of work to do, and you are the man to get it done for us."
It did not take long to answer. The Army could not have found a better fit for Fred Franks. It would be hard to imagine a job more suited to his talents and experience.
"I am honored and value your confidence. I'll give you the best I've got, and do my best to work your agenda. What about timing?"
"Figure sometime in August. You have to get Senate confirmation. Take some leave and get r
eady to go to work. We have a lot to do. Downsizing's going to take a lot of attention. We can't get dragged down by that. We have to keep our heads up and looking ahead. Tell Denise, but otherwise keep this to yourself."
"WILCO."
When Franks returned to the table, he tried to keep a poker face. After he told General Saint who had called, Saint seemed in no way curious about the nature of the call (he had been giving Franks advice on future assignments and probably already knew what it was all about).
When he got home and told Denise, she was as excited as he was. They were going home to the U.S.A. She knew TRADOC and what commanding it would mean to Fred, and she was familiar with Fort Monroe in Virginia, which was TRADOC headquarters. It was a good place to live.
After Franks's return from Desert Storm, he and Denise had held many discussions about their future. There were two possibilities: to stay in Germany and inactivate VII Corps in the spring of 1992; or come to Heidelberg to be DCINC in USAREUR (John Shalikashvili, the current DCINC, was about to become assistant to Colin Powell on the Joint Chiefs of Staff). Now there was a third: to go to TRADOC.
TRADOC it was.
SENIOR-LEVEL SELECTION
Congress makes three- and four-star rank available to the military services for specifically authorized positions, and as positions become vacant, the services nominate officers to fill them. Sometimes the Senate holds hearings on the nominee, sometimes it does not. After being confirmed by the Senate, the nominee normally serves in that position for a specified term (most often, two years at a time), and when that term is completed, there are options: the officer can be reappointed to the same position, moved to another job, promoted (requiring another confirmation), or retired. In the U.S. Army, there are twelve four-star generals and forty-two three-star generals in an active force of 495,000. Six of the twelve four-star generals fill command positions in the Joint Command structure (such as CENTCOM commander).