WITH THE 2D MARINE DIVISION IN DESERT SHiELD AND DESERT STORM             57


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                                    Photograph courtesy of Col John B. Sylvester, USA
Covering the division left flank, armor wtd mechanized Thfantry of the Tiger Brigade
concentrate for their assauk at noon, 25 February 1991.

and 500 meters, Tiger Brigade had already reached Phase Line Horse, its limit
of advance for the day. During this advance, the brigade's commanding officer,
Colonel Sylvester, personally accepted the surrender of a second Iraqi officer,
the commander of the 116th Iraqi Infantry Brigade of the 7th Iraqi Infantry
       Division.'~
   The division objective was secured by the 6th Marines and the Tiger
Brigade. But the division was now far forward of the Arab forces on its left and
the 1st Marine Division on its right. Because of the uncertainty of the locations
of these units, the division held its advance along Phase Line Horse.1~ In the
gathering darkness all division units consolidated their positions for the night.
   Earlier in the day, Lieutenant General Boomer arrived at the position of the
division's Headquarters Battalion, which had not yet gone forward. He was
accompanied by members of his staff and several reporters. His concern was
to draw the enemy's operational reserves out of the area of Kuwait City. He
wanted to use a series of short thrusts by 2d Marine Division units, as well as
artillery bombardments, to get them to react. At about 1600, the battalion was
prepared to move forward to link up with the division's mobile CP, bringing
General Boomer and his party along with it. Prior to its departure, the 6th
Marines reported the location of a hasty minefield, and this was plotted on his
map by Colonel Roger C. McElraft, the Headquarters Battalion commander.
As the battalion moved forward, a darkness came over the area which was so
deep that all who experienced it would remember it as the worst they had known
in their lives. With no ambient light, night vision goggles became useless; to
compound the problem, the Global Positioning System ceased to function at