WrrH THE 2D MARINE DWiSION IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM                        55

11time on target" (rOT), with "zone and sweep" to cover this lucrative target.
The entire enemy battalion was put out of action.*18~
   In preparation for the day's attack, the 6th Marines had run several air
strikes on the "ice-tray." This built-up area contained a large concentration of
bunkers and dug-in tanks.1~ As an additional assurance that there would be no
disruption from this area, another regimental TOT was fired into its center by
the 10th Marines.187 A final issue to be resolved before the division moved off
in its attack was the location of the eastern boundary. The 2d Marine Division,
consolidated along Phase Line Red, was several kilometers ahead of the 1st
Marine Division, which had not yet captured Al Jaber airfield. The original
boundary ran just about one and a half kilometers west of a hard-surfaced road
leading due south from Kuwait City to Al Jaber, placing the road within the 1st
Marine Division's zone. It was along this route that the enemy had launched the
"Reveille Counterattack" earlier that morning. To secure this flank, a change
of the boundary, on a line running diagonally to the northeast and placing the
road in the 2d Marine Division's zone, was approved by I MEF.lU As additional
protection, the 2d LAl Battalion was ordered to screen the northeast sector of
the division's zone.189
   As the two Marine regiments and the Tiger Brigade made their final
preparations for the assault to Division Objective 1, General Keys directed units
to destroy all enemy equipment in zone. Colonel Richard further advised them
to keep the division's momentum going by waving EPWs to the rear. They
would then be taken into custody by follow-on elements and transported to the
special camps established for them. `~~ By 1315, all subordinate units had issued
their orders and the division resumed the attack. As Colonel Livingston recalled,
it was "the highlight of a career" to look across the desert and see a Marine
division on line preparing to attack.191
   Even as they prepared to cross the line of departure, the 6th Marines came
under artillery fire. The 10th Marines quickly began counter-battery fires. By
1341, all of the division's assault units had crossed the line; the attack continued
through incoming artillery, tank engagements, and small-arms fire. The 6th
Marines attack was led by the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, and the 2d Battalion,
2d Marines, with the 3d Battalion, 6th Marines, and supporting tanks as the
regimental reserve. A platoon of tanks from Company C, 8th Ta~ik Battalion
was  attached to Company  C,             1st Battalion, 6th Marines. This platoon's
experiences were representative of the actions across the division's front on this
day. Commanded by Chief Warrant Officer-2 Charles D. Paxton, the tanks


   A TOT and a zone and sweep are two methods by which an artillery unit can control its
fires. in a TOT, all of the guns of the unit are timed to be fired so that all of their rounds impact
on the target at exactly the same time.  In the instance cited here, this meant that every gun in
the 10th Marines was fired to land with no warning on the enemy battalion.  To ensure the
destruction of this target, the zone and sweep was also used. Because an artillery battalion would
occupy a large area, after the TOT the regiment's fires were shifted both in depth and laterally
to a series of predetermined coordinates.  in this way the massive artillery fires boxed in and
destroyed the enemy target.