WITH THE 1ST MARINE DIVISION IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM             47


                                 Final Preparations

    The Iraqi offensive against Khafji hastened the northern movement of divi
sion units. Wifl~in hours of the assault on OP 4, Colonel Fulford had Task Force
Ripper on alert and ready to maneuver north. Major General Myatt directed
Colonel Fulks, commanding Task Force Grizzly, to redeploy the task force to
a position 30 kilometers south of OP 4 known as Al Qaraah. The next day,
Fuiks moved the 2d Battalion, 7th Marines, to the site. The 3d Battalion, 7th
Marines, ft~llowed soon after that. The deployment of 2d Battalion, 7th Marines,
was supported by Company C, 1st Tank Battalion, detached from Task Force
Papa Bear. Task Force Papa Bear started its redeployment on 1 February and
was in position north of Al Qaraah by nightfall the next day.
    Once the excitement of the first large engagement subsided, life for most
Marines returned to the familiar routine experienced over the previous months
in the desert. They awoke each morning to an almost featureless landscape,
washed themselves, brushed teeth, ate what were known as "meals ready to eat"
(MREs)73 or food sent from the United States, shaved as best they could, and
trained, performed their duties, and otherwise went through another 24 hours
in the desert.
    Like ant hills, the battalion laager camps came alive each morning. Vehicles
drove in and Out taking officers to meetings, picking up or delivering supplies,
or carrying individuals simply on their way to do something different for a few
hours on one pretext or another. The turning point of each day was the arrival
of the truck carrying the "cooked" meal. Though some Marines grew fatalistic
of ever again experiencing good food on a regular basis, the food truck signaled
the shift in activities to preparations for another night.74
    It was February in Saudi Arabia and the weather got colder and wetter. Tents
collapsed in the     night from a combination  of rain and wind which resulted in
frantic cursing, confusion, and a sudden effort to put them back together. The


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                                                  Drawing by Sgt Charles G. Grow, USMC
Guard post, Combat Service Support Detachment 111, 29 December 1990.