by Tom Clancy
29 Division Support Command, of four battalions, responsible for the resupply of the division.
30 LORAN is a commercially available system used mainly by the oil people in Iraq. It depends on signals sent from towers and uses triangulation to get accurate readings. There are, however, delays in getting signals back from towers.
31 Special Operating Forces--Mark had flown with Task Force 160, an elite Special Forces unit.
32 "Eavesdropping" is important, and should be constant during a battle. You "eavesdrop" by listening to a radio net for significant information passing between two other stations on the net; another technique is to turn to a subordinate radio frequency and listen to what is going on. That way you can get a feel for their situation without calling them.
33 In case you need your memories refreshed, here is the layout of the Iraqi frontline divisions: West to east were the 26th, 48th, 31st, 25th, and 27th Divisions, with the 52nd mostly positioned in reserve behind the easternmost divisions. One of their brigades was farther west, however, behind the 48th.
34 Long-haul comms to Riyadh and the VII Corps main CP.
35 We had a company of these large cargo helicopters in our aviation brigade that were used for emergency resupply.
36 I should make clear that the term RGFC connotes their command HQ, not individual units; the RGFC HQ controlled all the operational reserves, including non-Republican Guards subordinate units.
37 Each of these rounds has eighty small bomblets that are released when the shell bursts in the air.
38 On the afternoon of 27 February, General Schwarzkopf personally moved the FSCL into the Gulf in our sector and north of the Euphrates in XVIII Corps sector. When he did that, he eliminated air's ability to interdict escaping Iraqi units.
39 Casualty reporting considerably lags combat action and did in Desert Storm.
40 The technical term is unexploded munitions. But they were duds because they did not go off as they were designed to. Even the slightest movement may be enough to set unexploded munitions off. Thus, the saying "Duds can kill."
41 Petroleum Transfer Point. There fuel was transferred from larger, less mobile trucks to smaller, more mobile fuelers, which could travel with relative ease through the terrain and keep up with advancing units. Fuel was also placed in huge bladders on the ground as temporary storage, and could refuel returning division fuelers that way.
42 I should say here that I knew nothing about Colin Powell's wartime conversations with General Schwarzkopf until long after the war. Likewise, I knew nothing about General Schwarzkopf's criticisms of me until February 1992 (the criticisms were later spelled out in his book).
43 We thought MARCENT was then attacking north, roughly on Highway 8. In fact, they had actually reached the end of their attack.
44 Chinooks: medium-lift helos for resupply.
45 Singson was my aide in 1st AD, in VII Corps in combat, and at TRADOC, and was part of my close family team.
46 Bert was my executive officer at HQ TRADOC from June 1992 until his promotion to brigadier general in early 1993, when I made him the chief for doctrine.
47 Greg later became chief of my strategic planning group at HQ TRADOC, and then went to command a 1st AD brigade in Germany, and then Bosnia. We had lots of time to discuss the actions of his battalion that night.
48 Many of these accounts were originally reported in Army Times. See Bibliography and References.
49 Combat lifesavers were soldiers with additional medical training, which allowed them to perform emergency first aid until medics could arrive. In combat, the first hour of treatment is critical to survival. Combat lifesavers in crews saved many lives because they were right there.
50 I was informed after the war that the CINC had moved the FSCL out into the Persian Gulf in our sector, and north of Basra and the Euphrates in the XVIII Corps sector. That action took CENTAF out of the isolation attack, since inside the FSCL, CENTAF needed eyes on target to prevent fratricide. However, there were no eyes to be had on the causeways over the Euphrates in the XVIII Corps sector. Brigadier General Steve Arnold and Air Force Brigadier General Buster Glossen had agreed to hit those bridges every four hours to keep them down. When he learned of the FSCL shift, Buster asked the CINC about it, and Schwarzkopf told him he would get back to him. He never did. The result was that theater air was no longer used north of Basra or on the Euphrates bridges. Theater air could not have been used in our sector anyway, as we were out of deep room. But it was in the XVIII Corps and Third Army sector that there was a problem of escaping RGFC units.
51 When these soldiers surrendered, there was a distinct difference from those prisoners taken earlier, Whitcomb notes. These soldiers were disciplined, had good equipment and uniforms, were well fed, and fought hard till they were killed or surrendered. Those surrendering were in uniform, had weapons, and were under control of their officers. They did not, as advertised, merely fire a few rounds and give up.
52 On the morning of the twenty-seventh, Schwarzkopf asked Yeosock how much more time he needed, and Yeosock answered, "They'll"--the RGFC--"be done for by tomorrow night," 28 February.
53 The Shatt al Arab is the river formed north of Basra by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates; it flows into the Gulf.
54 Both issues have been discussed in some detail in General Schwarzkopf's autobiography and in the various histories and commentaries on the war.
55 Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel are soldiers or civilians who are specially trained to deal with explosive munitions.
56 I selected Bob Wilson in late January 1991. We had served together in the Blackhorse in the early 1960s. He was vital to our success in preparing for war and in solving soldier issues. He later put together a pamphlet at TRADOC that outlined senior NCO performance in Panama and Desert Storm.
57 Since 1973, five foreign armies have formed TRADOC-like organizations of their own. The U.S. Marine Corps has established at Quantico a counterpart organization they call MCCDC; in 1996, the USAF established its own doctrine organization within its existing training command; and in 1992, the U.S. Navy located a Navy doctrine center in Norfolk, Virginia (so that it would be near TRADOC).
58 This deputy, added in 1995, was not there when Fred Franks commanded TRADOC.
59 The colonels running the day-to-day operations of the labs were key pioneers: Bill Hubbard, Dave Porter, Arnie Canada, John Eberle, Don Kerr, Norm Williamson, Tom Nicholson, Mike Williams, and Mike Dallas.