G-3 (Feb. 21)
Though the division's main combat effort did not occur for
another four days, the division's first actual combat operation
was conducted as part of a theater-wide deception effort. In the
days before the actual ground offensive, deep artillery fires and
attack helicopter raids were executed to fix Iraqi forces in the
vicinity of the Wadi Al Batin. On the night of Feb. 20, 4th
Battalion, 27th Field Artillery and Battery A, 94th Field
Artillery,equipped with a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS),
moved east from FAA Garcia some 50 kilometers to the 1st Cavalry
Division's sector near the Kuwait-Iraq-Saudi Arabia tri-border
area. The next day, the two artillery units joined with elements
of the 1st Cav's division artillery to attack known and suspected
enemy locations in Iraq at noon and 3 p.m. During the first
mission 26 of 27 self-propelled launchers (SPL) fired 312 rockets
while 23 of the SPLs fired 276 more rockets on the second
mission. Upon completion of the mission, the units returned to
division control in FAA Garcia and continued to prepare for
future combat operations.
G-1 (Feb. 23)
As part of the final preparation for the operation, the
division's leaders conducted a two-hour sand model exercise at
the Division Tactical Command Post (DTAC) which began at 1 p.m.
All commanders and key staff officers down to battalion task
force and separate company level rehearsed the opening phases of
the division's operational plan during the walk-through. While
the rehearsal was underway elements of the 19th Engineer
Battalion moved earth-moving equipment to within six kilometers
of the Saudi Arabia-Iraq international border berm. Sixteen
bulldozers poised to breach the berm, the first anticipated
obstacle to the division's northward movement. After the
rehearsal confirmation of enemy positions throughout the sector
of operations to the vicinity of Al Busayyah was finalized using
aerial photos received from U-2 reconnaissance planes and
analyzed by crack intelligence soldiers like Sgt. Tamara
Kalwaitis, "Sergeant K," and PFC Sandra Larsen from the
division G-2 section. The Force Artillery and direct support
artillery battalions (2nd and 3rd Battalions, 1st Field Artillery
and 2nd Battalion, 41st Field Artillery) adjusted target areas
and brigade S2s were updated. At 9:15 p.m., an attack helicopter
company from 3rd Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment of the
division's 4th Brigade, equipped with AH-64 Apache helicopters,
conducted armed reconnaissance missions in zone out to Phase Line
(PL) MELON. The results of the recon added further credence to
the G2's sector template which anticipated few enemy forces
capable of impeding the division's initial attack.