7TH ENGR BDE COMMANDER REPT VOL 18A

File: 970815_sep96_decls58_0012.txt
Page: 0012
Total Pages: 49
Subject = 7TH ENGR BDE COMMANDER REPT VOL 18A                             

Parent Organization = ARCENT      

Unit = VII CORPS   

Folder Title = 7TH ENGR BDE-COMMANDER REPT-VOL 18A -FORWARD AND COMMANDERS PERSPECTIVE                         

Document Number =          1

Box ID = BX000313








                 Nearby was "tent city" the overflow area for warehouses.
           Well over a hundred tents were erected side by side. All were
           jammed with soldiers. Dozens of now tents went up each day.
           Always more soldiers. Tent city, like the port area, was a
           beehive of activity around the clock. The only difference was
           that the area was in sand -- an old land fill-- and men and
           equipment turned dusty within a day.

                 American soldiers are the most industrious I have ever seen.
           Scraps of wood were collected; chairs, tables, and clotheslines
           were constructed. If a soldier could do anything to improve his
           conditions, it was usually done. Nothing was wasted. When cargo
           was unloaded from ships, every pallet or scrap of lumber was
           preciously saved for transport to the desert. Wood of any kind
           is a scarce commodity in the desert. Wooden pallets were prized
           possessions. Later they would become floors for tents, mess
           halls, and operations centers; anything to get out of the sand.
           It was warm and soldiers wore shorts and tee shirts enjoying the
           easy gulf breezes. Word arrived that it snowed 10 inches the day
           after we left Germany.

                 The tons of ammunition grew as did the number of soldiers.
           Soon all realized the port was an ideal target and everyone
           wanted to leave at the earliest opportunity. Some brilliant
           staff officer suggested that since we had all our soldiers we
           could go ahead and move to the desert. When told our life
           support systems had not arrived, he suggested we could live out
           of our rucksacks and sleep on the ground in puptents.
           Fortunately my staff prevented me from maiming this guy for life.
           We went no where until our equipment arrived!

                 In time, our ships began to arrive. Soldiers worked side by
           side with dock crows unloading equipment and vehicles, conducting
           inspections and parking everything in huge marshalling areas.
           Logistics and Maintenance officers were speeding around the huge
           city of Dahariran establishing accounts, setting up contracts for
           parts and supplies and procuring last minute essential equipment.

                 An advanced party was dispatched into the desert. I lead
           this operation. Mission: to convoy to the predesignated
           Tactical Assembly Area, arrange route markers, establish and mark
           out the bivouac area and arrange for delivery of portable showers
           and latrines from a forward stockage area. I had flown the route
           a month earlier on the commanders' recon to Saudi. It had taken
           3 hours one way by air. The 500 miles now took nine hours to
           drive.





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