1st Cavalry Division
The 1st Cavalry Division's participation in Operation Desert Storm began long before other VII Corps units when the division formed in Saudi Arabia in October 1990 as part of XVII Airborne Corps. The division's deployment to Saudi Arabia lasted throughout September and October.
The division moved its equipment by rail from Fort Hood, Texas, to ports along the Gulf of Mexico. From there the massive sealift took the unit to the Saudi Arabian port of Dammam.
First Team soldiers flew from Robert Gray Army Airfield to Dhahran International airport near Dammam. They settled into warehouses and tents to wait for their equipment to arrive.
Moving to the desert
As soldiers married up with their equipment, they headed into the desert to a holding area approximately 160 kilometers west of the port. There the unit began joint training with French, Egyptian and Syrian forces in the region. The division, taking the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division under its wing, conducted both heavy and light operations.
From October through December, the First Team trained with new weapons systems that began replacing older models of tanks and armored personnel carriers. The M1A1 Abrams, with Its 120mm cannon, shored up the division's firepower, and the M2A2 Bradley Fighting vehicle extended the cav's mobility.
The division joined VII Corps in January 1991 as U.S. forces shifted from defensive thinking to offensive planning. The division moved 500 kilometers further west, setting up operations briefly near King Khalid Military City. The division's stay ended almost as oon as it began as First Team soldiers got the word to move closer to the front. Meanwhile, the air war began and other Allied forces began positioning themselves for the eventual ground assault.
As those other forces moved, the 1st Cav began a calculated war of deception in the wadi area where Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia join. To weaken the Iraqi right flank, thedivision began a series of operations designed to make the enemy think the attack, when it came, would come from the Hafar Al Batin area.
First Team raids Iraq
Executing a series of massive artillery raids, feints, demonstrations and reconnaissance-in-force missions, the 1st Cav. attracted much attention. Both 1st and 2nd Brigades went forward on "BermBuster" missions, blowing gaps in the border obstacle and probing northward into the Iraqi defenses. The limited attacks implied an imminent large-scale assault. During these critical missions, the division took approximately 1,800 enemy prisoners of war and, through interrogation, gained significant intelligence that later proved valuable during the ground offensive.
The division's artillery and armored attacks caused extensive destruction and confirmed enemy positions for targeting. On its first combat mission, Battery A, 21st Field Artillery's Multiple Launch Rocket System repeatedly lit the night skies, battering enemy targets. The 82nd Field Artillery fired Copperhead, rocket-assisted projectile and hundreds of standard high-explosive rounds with charge eight "Red Bag" deep into Iraq. The enemy responded, focusing forces toward the Coalition threat in the Wadi area, more than 100 kilometers away from where the initial attack finally came. The enemy stripped forces from his right flank, and the deception worked.
Pinning the Iraqi defenses
On the opening day of the 100-hour ground offensive, the 2nd Brigade moved into Iraq on a reconnaissance-in-force mission. The brigade pulled out of contact, taking fire and causing the enemy to light the oilfilled trenches he had constructed. The brigade withdrew south to rejoin the division.
On March 27, Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf directed, "Send in the 'First Team's Destroy the Republican Guard." The division charged west, to the left side of the corps area, pausing only to refuel before heading north though the obstacle barrier, Racing north, then east, the division moved as a vast armada of armored vehicles, stretching from horizon to horizon. Within 24 hours, First Team covered more than 250 kilometers, slicing deep into the enemy rear. The cease fire stopped the division just as it reached a Republican Guard division deep within Iraq.
The division, whose history comes steeped in rough-riding traditions, was formed in 1921 at Fort Bliss, Texas with the constitution of the National Defense Act. The division drew from famous regiments from the nation's past, such as the 7th Cavalry Regiment which took part in wars with the Sioux, Arapahoe and Apache nations in the late 1800's. The Cav dismounted in 1943 after moving to the Pacific for operations against Japan. The division made its own name in fighting auround Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur ordered the division to drive through to Manila, a trip which covered 100 miles in a day.
First Team troopers entered combat again in 1950 when the division landed inside the Pusan Perimeter in South Korea. The division saw 18 more months of fighting before war ended there.
1st Cavalry goes airmobile
In the mid-60s, the nation again called on First team soldiers to fight for freedom. The division became mounted once again, in a sense, operating in Vietnam as the Army's first airmobile division.
After a brief hiatus as one of the Army's "TriCap" divisions, the 1st Cav. became a full-fledged armor division in 1975.