WrTH THE 1ST MARINE DrvISION IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM            87


personnel carriers in the fight. The company forward air controller directed a
flight of AH-~W Cobras and knocked out four armored personnel carriers.
Meanwhile Company A moved to the battalion's right flank where it engaged
enemy vehicles and infantry. Colonel Hodory then detached the uncommitted 1st
Battalion's Company D, which had just gone through the breach, to assist the
1st Tank Battalion with its prisoners.
   Colonel Hodory moved into the breachhead with his "Alpha" command
group in trace of the 1st Tank Battalion. During the tank battalion's engagement
Colonel Hodory located the command post in the center of the task force
position. He kept the "Bravo" command group south of the minefield. From
there it coordinated the movement of units into the only functioning lane at the
time. Work on   clearing  additional lanes continued. The obstacle-clearing
detachments completed an alternate lane and the engineer task force moved to
the minefield and began work clearing two additional lanes. Work on lane 3
suddenly stopped when another M60A1 tank struck a mine.
   By then it was getting dark. Colonel Hodory consolidated his position. He
turned over lane control to the regimental S-4 and moved "Bravo" command
group north to his location. He established a temporary enemy prisoner camp
on the north side of the breach. Continuing resistance, however, caused Hodory
to leave the logistics trains and the engineer task force on the south side.1~ Papa
Bear's assault battalions remained where they were and completed the formation
of a breachhead into the Al Burqan Oil field. The 3d Battalion, 9th Marines,
occupied the left sector of Task Force Papa Bear's zone. Tlie 1st Battalion, 1st
Marines, moved north into the oilfields to anchor the center of the line. The 1st
Tank Battalion faced east and the open desert on the right flank.
   Though enemy resistance diminished, the area of the breakthrough remained
volatile. "Bravo" command group, traveling in a lightly armed AAVC7Al, no
sooner cleared the minefield than it caine under fire from a T-55. A missile
fired from an accompanying HMMWV mounted TOW knocked out the Iraqi
tank. The assault battalions spent the next few hours sweeping their areas and
making final dispositions in a landscape littered with enemy bunkers, revetted
positions, and wrecked tanks, personnel carriers, and vehicles of all types.
Behind the task force, between the two obstacle belts, moved support units of
the 1st Marine Division as they took up night defensive poSitions in the gather-
ing darkness. To the north the burning wells belched great columns of flame
and smoke. The entire Al Burqan Oilfield seemed to be on fire and no one
knew what enemy force might be lurking there, if indeed any Iraqis remained
in the oilfield at all. Light from burning wells overpowered thermal sights and
smoke obscured the area. Growing concern about what lay in front of the
division prompted General Myatt to have Colonel Hodory push Papa Bear's
antitank screen several kilometers into the oilfield at 2100 that evening. t4S
   At 2330 General Myatt gave Task Force Papa Bear a new mission. Myatt
wanted to consolidate the division position before resuming the offensive. Like
a snake getting ready to strike, he began building combat power for the next
day's attack on Kuwait International Airport and Kuwait City. Myatt ordered
Task Force Papa Bear to defend east and northeast to cover the landing of Task