Defense of Hill 781 (6 page)

As it turned out he stressed the more immediate half of the operation, the road march, and he tried to overcontrol the movement, which revealed his inexperience with mounted operations. A short discussion was held in regard to the deliberate attack that was to commence at dawn, suggesting that planning to be
done that afternoon and night would further clarify each unit’s part in the operation. Always echoed the lament of his staff that higher headquarters had not generated an adequate intelligence picture for detailed planning for the attack. The only bright spot during the briefing was the radio call from the scouts that they had completed their route reconnaissance and set up the designated checkpoints. All was in place for the night movement.

By 1445 Always realized that any further delay of the orders group would be counterproductive. He dismissed them with the following general orders: B Company, leading with its dismounted infantry, would spearhead the main attack along Axis RED followed by its own Bradleys and then C Company’s tanks. A Company, also leading with dismounted infantry, would conduct a feint along Axis WHITE. D Company would hesitate, then commit along whichever axis proved most vulnerable. All committed forces would orient on Objective BLUE. E Company’s antitank systems would provide covering fire from the high ground south of Checkpoint 2 (CP 2), as would the mortars. The scouts would secure the line of departure (LD) along the road running northwest to southeast below CP 2. Almost as an afterthought, having listened to the discussion of his S-2 and chemical officer, Always arranged for a smoke screen to be set down along that same road.

Even as they drove away, Always was having serious misgivings. If only he knew more about the enemy. If only he had more time. Why was it that his air defense platoon leader and engineer officer looked so uncertain? And the observers—they had certainly looked smug throughout the dreary briefing. He took a long pull on his canteen; the temperature on the desert floor had soared to over 105 degrees. Under the canvas cover of the tactical operations center, where all the orders group and observers had jammed tightly together, it must have been over 110 degrees. If the air had not been so hellishly dry they surely would have all been drenched in sweat. Instead white salt stains
had broken out on their battle dress uniforms. Always forced himself to concentrate. He would have to get centralized control of this horde he was about to unleash.

Time continued to speed away from the colonel. Within an hour and a half of the order the quartering parties were readying themselves for departure at dusk. Always was surprised at both the size of the parties (one vehicle per platoon) and the necessity to get them out so far in advance. He realized how little time he had given his subordinate commanders to do their own planning and get their elements in motion.

He moved his command to his Bradley fighting vehicle. With darkness arriving soon he wanted to go over the procedures he would employ in order to both retain command and be prepared for personal combat from his Bradley. As he made the vehicle ready, his fire support officer came by to ask where he should be during the mission. This was a question Always had not considered before. After a quick discussion he decided to leave the artillery captain in the TOC. After all, that was where he kept his computers and the majority of his communications. It was also where he would best be able to keep abreast of the developing situation, with the intelligence officer present as well as the assistant operations officer. Always had already resolved that he was going forward with the main attack. It had long been his nature to go where the action was the heaviest, to lead by example, and to be able to make key decisions at the critical point.

Because of that decision he was anxious to move toward B Company during the last light of the day. Unfamiliar with vehicular movement in the dark, he wanted to get within sight of the company before the sun set and the units began to move out. He had delegated overall control of the battalion during the night road march to the operations officer, who was similarly situated in a Bradley. The executive officer would be fully occupied with the movement of the support elements that would have to
refuel the vehicles at the conclusion of the road march and before the dawn attack, as well as recover and repair any equipment that broke down during the night. Again Always had been impressed with Major Walters’ grasp of detail. He had covered every contingency, to include a quick resupply of ammunition and enough water to get the task force through the first day’s fighting. In the desert, water might be the most critical supply element of all.

As his Bradley rumbled by the various formations, Always was inundated with diesel fumes. Thousands of tons of steel were readying for movement, and the massive engines it took to propel them forward filled the desert air with the heavy smell of exhaust. Adrenaline pumped into the commander’s veins as the fuel of the two hundred vessels pumped into their engines. The ground seemed to vibrate as the monsters lumbered into position, tanks weighing in at more than sixty tons each, the infantry vehicles at more than twenty-five. It was exciting, and he was filled with an exuberance he had never felt with his light forces. It was as if he had an unstoppable force, impervious to anything that might be thrown at it. He was a giant, and each of these incredible machines was an extension of his sinews. Always was ready for battle.

Night fell as suddenly as morning had dawned. The stars came out and filled the desert sky. Mountain peaks faded in the distance, and the prominences Always had studiously memorized before dark now became confused in the uncertain, shadowed outlines against the black sky. The radio stayed silent. The plan was to move without any broadcasting, the better to delude the enemy, who surely must be scanning the frequency spectrum to pick up any chatter. Although the radios were secure, it was always safer to minimize traffic. Even if conversations could not be monitored, the mere breaking of the radio waves could tip off an experienced listener that something was about to happen. With the outside sounds muffled by his radio helmet
(called a CVC), Always sat in the commander’s hatch in relative solitude. Two feet to his left sat his gunner, eyes affixed to the thermal sight, peering out into the darkness. Several feet away, separated from the vehicle commander and his gunner by several tons of steel, sat the driver looking through a light intensification scope. Gunner and driver were both silent, allowing the battalion commander the quiet of his thoughts. The three of them could talk to each other over the intercom system, but for the moment Always preferred to reflect on the mission ahead. The peacefulness of the moment relaxed him, perhaps for the first time that day. Then Bravo Company moved out.

“Let’s go.” Always ordered his driver, Private First Class Spivey, to move.

The road march was uneventful. Occasionally there was a halt in the column as some congestion up front out of sight created a delay, but soon enough it was sorted out and the units resumed their movement. Always realized that he had little control over what was taking place. In reality he was just along for the ride. With no radio communication, with visibility reduced to a few meters (the colonel was not using any night vision devices, trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness and keep abreast of the movement by reading the terrain features he passed by), and with no contact with any of his soldiers save the two with him in his vehicle, Always could only assume from his own proximate location and the lack of calls on the airwaves that things were going more or less according to plan. As they passed an occasional scout checkpoint he congratulated himself on his forethought in placing them to keep everyone on track. Yet, not being sure of the condition of the rest of the task force caused a certain uneasiness in the commander. After all, they had traveled several dozen kilometers, and even at the outset the column, with all of its planned intervals between units and vehicles within the units, had been stretched out over more than a few kilometers.

Shortly before midnight Bravo Company arrived in its assembly area. The quartering party came out to meet it, each platoon representative picking out his platoon in the dark and leading it into predesignated positions. Movements were silent and efficient. Captain Baker had a crack company. Immediately it set in a hasty defense, sighting vehicle guns, disembarking infantrymen who began to dig foxhole positions out in front of the Bradleys, laying wire back to the company command post, and sending out a patrol to secure the outlying area from enemy probes. It occurred to the colonel that by organizing the companies as pure infantry or pure armor he had severely handicapped his tankers. They could not spare anyone from their limited four-men tank crews to flesh out their defenses. They would have to rely on whatever work the quartering parties had done to secure their positions. Patrols would be out of the question. He made a mental note not to repeat this mistake.

Always remembered what disdain he had held for mounted soldiers, whom he saw as essentially sheltered from the strain of having to march by foot and carry everything on their backs. These men had been working nonstop ever since he had arrived on the scene two days ago. Before dusk they had crawled into the back of their tightly packed vehicles, simmering in the late afternoon sun, then further heated by the crush of elbow-to-elbow bodies and running engines. They had been jostled over a four-hour road march and were now setting in an arduous defense, and facing an operation that would have them on their way by 0300 in order to get into position for the attack by dawn shortly after 0400.

Neither did the vehicle crews get any rest. They refueled their vehicles, checked maintenance, and manned their sights. There was no guarantee that the enemy was not lying in wait for them even within the assembly area.

Always realized again that he had blundered by positioning the scouts along the route without stressing that they clear the
assembly area first. It was only sheer luck that the quartering parties had not run into a buzz saw of enemy. There were plenty of places for an ambushing force to hide. They might be there even now. Always wished he had kept the artillery officer with him. He wanted to develop a fire support plan, not just for the attack, but for defense of the assembly area as well. His units were vulnerable, and the thought of it accentuated the chill in the night air.

Concern overwhelmed him as he considered his lack of forethought. Here he was alone in the dark, aware of the status of only one of his companies, out of contact with his tactical operations center and under a self-imposed radio silence. In a few hours dawn would come. Would everybody be ready to kick off on time? What intelligence did they have of the enemy? Had Brigade passed them anything of use? He knew he was missing something there, he just didn’t know what. Nor did he feel like calling on the Brigade frequency; he might reveal his own ignorance.

What if enemy air appeared at first light? He had not thought to designate priorities to his air defense platoon. He didn’t even know where they were. Had they broken down to cover the various units? Were they covering the line of departure? What early warning system could he depend on?

My God, Always thought to himself, there must be a million things I forgot to cover. He felt miserable.

At that moment he sensed a dark figure climbing up on the deck of his Bradley.

“Excuse me, sir.” It was Captain Johnson, his assistant operations officer. “I’m sorry it took me so long to find you, sir. I knew you were in Bravo Company’s area, but I had to take my time to find you without compromising security. I have the status report for you.”

Always tried to contain his relief, receiving the report as if he had expected it all along. The news was reassuring. Almost
all the vehicles had made it in to their proper locations, and those that had not had been policed up by Major Walters bringing up the rear. He would have them rejoined with their units shortly. The air defense platoon was intact, confused as to what their mission was, but at least all accounted for and awaiting orders. Always told the captain to put two gun systems with each of the attacking companies. The teams of shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles had already been attached to the combat companies and had been following the respective commanders in their jeeps.