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Subject = OPNS DESERT SHIELD STORM DIARY   807TH MASH                     

Parent Organization = ARCENT      

Unit = VII CORPS   

Folder Title = SUBORDINATE COMMAND HISTORICAL REPORTS-2D COSCOM-332D MED-341ST MED-912TH MED                   

Document Number =          3

Box ID = BX000308







       Sleepy eyes and groggy fingers attempt to tune     radios to Armed
   0   Forces network for the latest news. Then it's      official:
       Operation Desert Shield has become operation Desert Storm
       as Air Force and Navy jets roar north to pound Iraqi targets.
       The 807th MASH has entered the war, and suddenly loudspeakers
       begin to blare, "SCUD alert ... MOPP level four ... SCUD alert ... MOPP
       level four". Suddenly, our training at Ft. Campbell becomes a
       lot more important, as we all scurry into our MOPP gear. Boots,
       pants, shirt, rubber gloves, mask, make sure everything is
       snapped, tied, buttoned and zipped. The lights are out, now, and
       we have been previously informed that the Saudis think a SCUD can
       only penetrate the top two floors of our building. in total
       darkness, punctuated only by the red-lensed flashlight beams, all
       250 members of the 807th troop down three flights of stairs. As
       we occupy the empty apartments, each person sits on the floor,
       alone inside his mask except for his or her thoughts and fears.
       For 2 long hours we breathe claustrophobic air in hot chemical
       suits, until, with dawn, we hear, 'IALL CLEAR, MOPP level zero".
       We all trudge up the stairs to try and sleep, and prepare for the
       next night. No SCUDS tonight. We later find out that radar
       confused our own returning B-52's with SCUDS. Fortunately, we
       learn that after the war has ended.


       18 January 1991

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