Charlie Mike-1 with Simmons. At 02:30, (14 Oct), we responded to tent city for a suspicious bundle. Kilo-4, SSgt Bullard, and EOD, came out and checked it out. It turned out to be just a bundle of papers. In this process there was a TSgt in charge of the security at Tent City, who could not understand why we were making such a fuss over this bundle of papers. But of course he should have been the one who called it in not us. And he just wanted to go over and pick it up. If he did, and it was a bomb, then we would have sent his pieces back home in a plastic bag.
Sun 14 Oct 1990:
Charlie Mike-8 with Accender. Nothing out of the ordinary happened on this date.
Mon 15 Oct 1990:
Charlie Mike-3 with Iwaskiewicz (Hammer). We conducted battery change and then went out, by request of Captain Stavaski, to let a Brit drive our hummer. He was a little bit afraid and said he didn’t want to break it. We told him to have fun. Notice the mounds in the back ground. These and some just like them became our playground, especially at night.
Captain Christian came out and told us about a proposed battle plan for the U.S. She said that the U.S. was going to let Saddam’s forces move to within 110 miles of us and then we would cut off his supply lines. Of course we thought it would be a mistake because once he got his momentum we’d play havoc trying to stop him. The rest of shift we just talked about it but didn’t let that bother us.
Fri 19 Oct 1990:
CM-1 with Dennis. As you see I haven’t written in a couple of days because it is all starting to be routine. But before we came to work we were awakened and told that a situation was in progress. 20:00 we were evacuated because it was bomb threat. We only had about three hours of sleep and then at 22:15 it was over and we were at work.
BDOC is at it again. Our commander found out that we have radios on post and Due to our Commands infinite wisdom we now can’t have radios on post. Radio’s that they know about that is. We are also to wear flak vest and helmets at the ECP’s (Good move).
I really think that there is a power struggle between BDOC and command structure. It seems that no one has any trust or confidence in each other. The commander and his officers don’t trust the NCO’s, and the NCO’s don’t trust the officers and those who are in the field. The ones in the field are the ones who know what’s going on and should at least be consulted about what will work. But instead, the chair born rangers, or arm chair quarterbacks will make a decision based on their own personal power and that’s it. It doesn’t matter if it will really work or not. Just don’t it because.
Sun 21 Oct 1990:
CM-3 with A1C Brown. As we made our rounds conducting post checks we met up with the patrol that Sgt William Twiggs Jr. was assigned to. Sgt Twiggs, from Whiteman AFB, and I came up with something that gave us all a laugh. He reached down and picked up a rock, which I still have by the way, and the “B.R.O.C.” was born. Sgt Twiggs, after picking up the rock, made a comparison between the intelligence of that “Rock” and “BDOC”. He said that this rock has more intelligence. This is because that the rock can make the same decisions and with more intelligence. It was funny. It would still be funny even after the next account.
Wed 24 Oct 1990:
I don’t remember which patrol I was on but we heard that SMSgt Green and Captain Christian were on a post check and were out on CE-3. It just so happened that Sgt Twiggs and Sgt Greg Hamlin were on this post. When asked how he was doing, Sgt Twiggs, in his usual jovial self, commenced to give them a rundown concerning the “ROCK”. Neither the Captain, nor SMSgt Green liked what they heard. But what the hey, it was only a rock. We did expect repercussions.
Thur. 25 Oct 1990:
General Horner made a visit to the barracks and BDOC was jumping through hoops to impress him.
Sun-Wed 28-31 Oct 1990: Mobile Reserve Duty.
Our time posted as Mobil Reserve Force duty was a boring time. All we do is sit around in the tent and then do some training and then sit in the tent and then, and then, and then. There was an engine test cell to our rear that was always running one up and man was it loud but, we did get to listen to the radio.
Hey here is something. I am of course retired and now live in Macon, Ga. In 2007 I started working at Robins AFB as a guard on the gates. During that time a man came in and became our boss, His name was Sanders Harris. Funny thing is, he was a TSgt with me at Dhahran and he was assigned to the Viper section and was in Viper Base, which was, as you look at the picture of the Mobile reserve tent, the tower he was in was to the right. Now he calls me “Lonnie Legend” because I have him on paper saying he was actually there.
Thur. 1 Nov 1990:
CM-1 with SSgt Nava. We are gearing up for war. We heard on the radio that there will be no rotations and that all ground forces will be in country for the duration of the war. Happy are we. Can we win? You better believe it, and not only can we win, but we will win. Saddam has done bitten off more that he can chew. The USAF is going to win the war before it even starts by bombing the daylights outta Saddam’s Republican Guards. So when the Army (18th AB, Corps) goes in, there won’t be anything to fight but sand dunes. And the Army, Navy, and Marines can’t say or do anything about it.
Sun-Wed 11-14 Nov 1990:
Reserve Force duty again and it is filled with fun and adventure. The Army has also been assigned to C-3, 3a, and CE-4. Oh boy. Also we are expecting another 44 man team to come in and of course a total miss use of man power will be the order of the day.
Sat 17 Nov 1990:
Hickam AFB came in today and will probably be assigned to airport security. Did Not Happen.
Fri-Sun 23-25 Nov 1990:
Happy Thanksgiving, I am on Mobile Reserve Force again. This time it’s not a waste of time. We trained on the PRC-77 tactical radio and learned how to call for fire from an AC-130 Gunship. Then we got to go out on the perimeter and put that to use, or at least the simulation of it. We used NVG’s and watched as the Gunship used infra-red to spot us and we saw them move to within a few meters of our feet. We also brushed up on the LAW anti-tank rocket, the 128 hand held radio, and the claymore. When we were not training we could read, write letters home, and listen to the radio, that we were not supposed to have, but we could not sleep.
Thur. 29 Nov 1990:
With all the cops we now have, Our Command Section did a good thing and it was well welcomed by us, the flights were put into 8 hours shifts. Yeah, we couldn’t believe it either, but here we are. Whiteman and Hickam will be days, Langley and Edwards will be swings, and Vandenberg is Mids. It did seem kind of odd however that only one base was Mids. In the past more personnel were on nights than on days or swings due to the fact that you needed more eyes to see possible enemy personnel if they tried to do anything. But who were we to tell them anything. MSgt Leon Robinson, from Vandenberg AFB, and supposed to be assigned to the midnight shift, is a man who believes he has all the experience, and is our new flight sergeant and so we expect things to get worse.
Fri 30 Nov 1990:
This is the first day of the new shifts and while Langley and Edwards are working, it became official. Washington reported that we, are, in fact, going to WAR! Ole Saddam has until 15 Jan 1991, set as the deadline, for him to vacate Kuwait. The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously that Military force will be used to, if necessary, drive him. But we all know, or have heard, that he has one of the most powerful militaries with his Republican Guard, and with those guys in place, he will not leave. Of course we all know it’s all about the oil and those that have a vested interest in it that is the driving force behind what Saddam and the US wants. So, for the sake of the oil, not national defense or the defense of another nation, although that is right, it is the OIL. The first SPS, although ready and expecting it, is preparing for the action to come. We have heard and it has become our biggest fear was that of Chemical use. We don’t know to what extent.
THE DEFENDER 