DESERT SHIELD-STORM INTERVIEW

File: 102896_jun96_decls6_0020.txt
Page: 0020
Total Pages: 64

Subject: DESERT SHIELD-STORM INTERVIEW                                   

Box ID: BX001608

Unit: 101ST ID    

Parent Organization: XVIII CORPS 

Folder Title: DSS 101ST ABN DIV INTERVIEW CDR 101ST SG - C                                                    

Folder SEQ  #:         83

Document Number:          2







          DSIT-AE-103: COL Roy E. Beauchamp


          group headquarters. We were there until we were redeployed
          the next phase up to (near) Rafha, in Tactical Assembly Area
          [TAA] CAMPBELL where the [101st Airborne] Division was
          located. The 29th Corps Support Battalion'9 stayed at
          GUARDIAN CITY, and then in late December, perhaps the first
          week in January, the deployed directly from GUARDIAN CITY to
          King Khalid Military City [KKMC]. So you see kind of the
          leap-frog effect here. The battalion ... the group and
          elements of group moved forward 110 miles, and then a short
          time later the 29th Trans Battalion bounded over and moved
          another 250 miles up to King Khalid Military City. And then
          as soon as the ground war started on the 17th of January,
          they'were ideally positioned to move quickly into Rafha and
          set up the airfield operation there and establish the Rapid
          Refuel Point (RRP] which was a pacing event for the 101st
          Airborne Division.


          MAJ HONEC: Oh, really?

          COL BEAUCHAMP: Absolutely. We had a million gallons of
          fuel. We set up that Rapid Refuel Point and serviced almost
          5,000 helicopter sorties while they were in operation. We
          had almost a million gallons of fuel--150,000 gallons of
          fuel for storage capability. That was absolutely critical.
          They began deployment on the 17th of January into Rafha, the
          Tactical Assembly Area [TAA] CAMPBELL. They began pumping
          fuel. They arrived on the 18th and they were pumping fuel
          on the 21st.

          MAJ HONEC: Quite impressive.

          COL BEAUCHAMP: That was very, very impressive.

          MAJ HONEC: That's quite a short time to be setting up a
          fuel point like that and make sure everything is squared
          away. How long did the troops work to get that
          accomplished?

MP: It was a round-the-clock operation, that's
          right. We didn't have all 25 points in, of course, in two
          days. We worked with division engineers who were laying out
          the ground. We planned for that. But we moved in, set up
          the airfield operation in Rafha--at the airfield in Rafha
          there--in preparation for receipt of the soldiers that were
          moving in from King Khalid--I mean King Fahd--by air. And
          we had moved some 18,000 soldiers through there on the
          deployment phase, both 101st Airborne Division soldiers and


   19 The composite multi-functional battalion controlled by Headquarters
  Headquarters Detachment (HHD), 29th Transportation Battalion.

                                        17

Document 64 f:/Week-22/BX001608/DSS 101ST ABN DIV INTERVIEW CDR 101ST SG - C/desert shield-storm interview:10019616504029
Control Fields 17
File Room = jun96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-22
Box ID = BX001608
Unit = 101ST ID
Parent Organization = XVIII CORPS
Folder Title = DSS 101ST ABN DIV INTERVIEW CDR 101ST SG - C
Folder Seq # = 83
Subject = DESERT SHIELD-STORM INTERVIEW
Document Seq # = 2
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 01-OCT-1996